Let’s go to the movies

Its not even June and I think I’ve spent my summer budget on movies already.  Having seen the big three blockbusters, and a pretty good chick-flick in the last few weeks.  So I guess I should give you my ratings and mini-reviews:

In order of importance:

Made to Order – Saw it on a date with my bride, so that alone ranks it above the others.  Not bad for a chick-flick, though I thought the early womanizing was a bit passe, but I’m old and not down with the culture, though putting Mr.-no-consecutive-nights in a Slick Willy mask at the beginning, and bookend that with the final line being ‘Oh Monica’, brought a cynical smile to my face.  Go see it with your treasured companion, and enjoy.  Three stars.

Ironman – Took my middle kids with me to see this one on opening night.  I’m a sucker for the comic book movies, and this one did not disappoint (unlike Daredevil, and Ghost Rider).  The origin storyline was a good plot, and the effects were superb.  Robert Downey Jr. simply put on the Tony Stark suit and became the comic book character, and his simple humor was well done.  The ending fight was sort of a letdown, but so many good quotable lines and references pump this one in as my favorite of the summer.  Five Stars.

Prince Caspian – Took my younger three to this on on opening weekend, and we all enjoyed the movie.  While I haven’t read the book, the movie seemed tightly woven (though with some embellishments to the Lewis plot I’m sure) and kept the interest of even my six year old (that’s saying something!)  The battle scenes were awesome, the magic of Narnia palpable.  Enjoyable evening with the kiddos.  Four Stars.

Indiana Jones and the lack of good screen writers… – I took the boys to this one this past weekend, the Lucasfilms marketing to make Lego sets worked its magic on my 9 year old, and so it was a MUST SEE.  It had some promise in the beginning, and had all the winks and nudges you’d expect for a resurrected 80s blockbuster genre.  Implausible even beyond Narnia, but quite fun to watch, once you suspend belief.  The payoff at the end was a disappointment, though I kept expecting Richard Dreyfuss in sunglasses and orange jumpsuit to come crawling out of one of the passages in the aftermath of the final destructive scenes.  Mixed for me, and because of the Spielberg-induced mythos I have to downgrade it a bit as losing itself from the rich Indy lore.  Fun afternoon, but only Two stars.