The Mechanic

RATING:*** (3 stars)

An elite hit man takes on an apprentice and teaches him everything he knows, but the young learner also has a connection to one of his former victims.

Jason Statham stars as Arthur in this straight-ahead action movie, with Donald Sutherland, Ben Foster, and Tony Goldwyn in supporting roles. Really nothing notable to speak of in this film. There is lots of action and some particularly great scenes when "missions" are being executed, but there are no twists that you won't see coming from a mile away. There is even a nice few laughs to be had throughout. Depending on your personal tastes, it may or may not be worth seeing in the theater, but a great popcorn flick for when you can watch it at home.

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The Dilemma

RATING:*** (3 stars)

When Ronny catches the wife of his best friend and business partner cheating, he struggles with finding a way to tell his friend while they struggle to focus on an important business venture.

Almost everything about The Dilemma is pretty straightforward, two couples that are best friends dealing with stress and generally humorous circumstances. Nothing particularly exceptional or unfortunate about this film, but there are a couple things I want to point out.

First, the characters themselves--particularly Ronny (Vince Vaughn) and Nick (Kevin James)--come off as very real. They seem to have just the perfect ratio of flaws-to-charm that makes them relateable without being tragic characters in and of themselves. Secondly, perhaps the best parts of the movie are the beginning and the end where we are watching these characters try to work out their business deal with Chrysler. Whereas the actual meat of the film dealing with the infidelity seems to drag and is a rollercoaster of laughter and blah, the relatively unimportant scenes dealing with the sidestory of this business deal are incredibly well done and almost makes for a better story.

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TRON: Legacy

RATING:**** (4 stars)

Twenty-five years after the disappearance of Kevin Flynn, his son Sam goes to investigate his old office where apparently a call was made from a line that has been disconected for years. Sam is transported into the virtual world his father created and has been trapped in, and fights to escape and save them both.

The sequel to the popular cult favorite from 1982 about the virtual reality program, and to the films benefit the major actors are back reprising their roles: Jeff Bridges as both Kevin Flynn and Clu, and Bruce Boxleitner as both Alan Bradley and Tron. This time we are also introduced to Kevin's orphaned son Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) and Quorra (Olivia Wilde), a program within the virtual world that has allied herself with Kevin Flynn while he lives in exile.

Noticeably the visuals for TRON: Legacy have gotten quite the upgrade since the first film, and they really make everything come alive. Perhaps even better than the CGI was the very clever use of 3D in this film, much as color was used in The Wizard of Oz--the film does not switch to 3D until we are in the virtual world, and helps to further differentiate that otherness from reality. Everything about the TRON universe has been given a similar kind of slim, barely noticeable makeover that just makes a huge difference on the large scale that the whole world really just jumps off the screen.

The same things that people didn't like about the original film are present here as well, namely character development and plot. With the exception of in this case a single character, all of the characters are very static throughout the film. The plot is nothing fancy either, just another take on the reunion with estranged family with a "save the world" twist thrown in. To detract from TRON:Legacy on those two points, however, is silly because this is not a film pretending to masquerade as a powerful drama. From beginning to end, this is merely a fun film with some spectacular use of CGI and creative use of 3D. Obviously to fully enjoy the 3D, you'll have to catch it in theaters.

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1

RATING:***** (5 stars)

With Voldemort beginning a reign of terror after the death of Dumbledore, Harry Potter and his friends Ron and Hermione embark on a search for the remaining horcruxes--the key to Voldemort's power.

Disclaimer: Arthur has not read any of the Harry Potter books. Whether by popular demand from fans or otherwise, the final Harry Potter installment has been broken up into two parts, with the second being released in 2011. For those who have been following Harry since his debut on the silver screen back in 2001, you should be well-acquainted with the knowledge that evil wizard Voldemort is quite immortal and that Harry Potter is the "chosen one" needed to defeat him. You should also have a solid grasp of all of the major (and many minor) characters that have already been introduced over the last six films as HP 7.1 (as I am dubbing it) wastes no time in exposition.

One of the beautiful things about a cast that has stayed with a franchise as long as Harry Potter is watching and truly appreciating the growth of the young actors and actresses, particularly in this case when they have been surrounded by such a large assortment of Britain's finest actors and actresses themselves. Our three lead characters get plenty of chance to stretch and demonstrate their acting skill this go-around, with quite a large chunk of the two-hour film consisting of them on-screen by themselves.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 delivers much of the same in terms of music, effects, cinematography--a good number of things to be consistent with throughout any franchise remains true here. What is markedly different in this latest installment is the tension of our protagonists to the world around them and to each other. Without spoiling any of the details for any movie-goers who like myself are not familiar with teh book and do not know how things turn out, rest assured that HP 7.1 is exciting, funny, dramatic, and sets the stage beautifully for the finale next year.

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Unstoppable

RATING:**** (4 stars)

Two blue-collar men working together for the first time decide to chase down a runaway freight train with dangerous materials that threatens a heavily populated area.

Starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pine as our two primary leads, the star power alone almost demands a theater viewing. Luckily, we are given a tense drama with very human characters that can deliver an experience worthy of the big screen.

There really is not a whole lot of depth to the story: Frank (Washington) is a veteran of the train industry who has only a couple weeks left before his forced early retirement, while Will (Pine) is a young dad with marriage trouble who from one perspective got a nice job because he has relatives in the industry. The tension starts at the very beginning of the movie, and rides hard until the very end, so all of the character development (what little there is) comes along the way and cuts to the point--not unlike many people having normal conversation. It is in this aspect that Unstoppable really shines. We see two men that by all accounts are very "normal" people put into an extraordinary situation, and do the best they can under those circumstances.

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