In the Theatre with Kevin Murphy - Rango -Paramount Pictures/Nickelodean Films

Fuzzy bunnies, cute duckies talking ponies subliminal messages targeted towards teenagers; maybe you'd find those in a magical disney movie but in Rango defiantly not. The new Johnny Depp dark comedy animated film directed by Pirates of the Caribbean's Gore Verbinski that hit wit, humour, adventure and heart and a solid thumbs up from me.

A lizard with no name is abandoned in the desert and travels to a small town inhabited by talking animals like himself. Upon entering a bar he makes himself out as a rough traveler with the allies Rango through his talent of improving. When he accidentally kills a hawk that threatens the natives Rango is appointed town sheriff and his number one priority is to find out why the town has been without water for so long and protect it from outside bandits before the public and two native girls that like him find out that he is not all he is cracked up to be.

An instant A, Kids and Adults
will love this witty film

For the first wee bit of the movie i was bored and the movie got on my nerves because it had bad acting but once Rango arrived at the main setting of the film I warmed up to it since we got to see more of who this character is and who he is trying to turn into. Once the movie maid a better leap in story i got to know Rango and Johnny Depp's position as the reluctant reptile who is trying to make himself as a someone in a town of strangers when he is to the outside a nobody. His sense of improve gets him out of every situation, yet at the same time can get hims tuck back into a bigger problem. Isla Fisher and Ned Beaty were also really good to the story as they added much more development to a dry story that was filled with conflict and made it spring into a puddle of boiling water that I loved.

Bill Nighy who worked with Depp in Dead Man's Chest (2006) and at Worlds End (2007) showcases the same chemistry he showed with Depp in the Pirates series, in fact it's almost the same with Nighy on top and Depp on the bottom. Although Rattle Snake Jake was really cool i still thought the chemistry was a rip on Verbinski's last series.

The animation for Rango is incredible. And what makes it really incredible is its realism that Pixar is still trying to get closer to everyday and Dreamworks isn't evan close to getting. The backgrounds of the movie are very authentic and the scenery of the village evan captures a live-action western. Evan the animal characters themselves have great realism in them because they look so much like their real life counterparts. But the problem is sometimes this realism takes you away from the fact that you are supposed to be watching a animated film, especially when they showed humans, which i think they should have shown from the waste down only or not include humans at all in the film. But still the realism of the animation makes the movie evan more worthwhile to see.

The western film is perhaps the birthplace of action films starting with the Great Train Robbery (1905) moving up to a piece of garbage like Jonah Hex (2010) This isn't primarily an action film but it is still a good example of western film because it implies what a western is about; courage, adventure and getting the girl away from the big threat to the town. It's also not afraid to show the gore of the film since it showcases the dead and injured and gets away with real firearms in the movie (something computer films arnt well known for doing).

Rango is a good film. Its a lot darker than your average animated films but thats ok, sometimes kids need something dark to teach them how tough it is out there in the real world. And Rango has a lot more maturity and realism than most animated films these days. Rango you are one cool lizard.

My Rating: 3/4 Shamrocks

In the Theatre with Kevin Murphy - Unknown - Warner Bros.

Liam Neeson is one of my favourite british actors, and one of my favourites that isn't in the Harry Potter films that is still alive. He's been in a lot from Schindler's List (1993) to becoming a master of the force in the Phantom Menace (1999). Well in Unknown you can call him a phantom menace as he plays a Doctor in a country where nobody he knows, knows who he is and I say that this phantom makes a really good film.

Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) and his wife Liz goes to Berlin, Germany for an important conference. After realizing he forgot his brief case at the airport he returns to get it but on the way he gets in a brutal car crash causing him to lose his identity. When he finds his wife four days later she is with another man who assumes his identity. His anger collides with his confusion to discover what is wrong with him and this leads him on a wild chase across Berlin to find out what the hecks wrong with him.

You will be on the edge of your seat
 from start to finish. Its really cool. 

I really liked this movie, the plot had many twists to it and it kept you guessing up till at least 20 min before the climax which in itself is pretty epic. The opening to the film is really good and when compared to the ending proves that Liam Neeson is a great actor, since he really gives you a run for your money. As I said in the opening of this review he has been a lot; from his academy award winning performance in Schindlers List, his role as Qui Gon Jinn in Star Wars episode 1 and evan brief guest appearances on the Simpsons and Sesame Street, Liam Neeson has proven himself to be an actor who can step into any shoes and take on a new challenge regardless of its size. Evan though he has done thriller films before the shoes he's in are new and fresh for audiences to see.

If a movie is set in a non-fictional place it has to be filmed in that non-fictional place. In this case its Berlin, one of the worlds most famous cities and the capital of one of the worlds leading powers.Berlin having been the site of some of the epic moments in European history is the setting for this very epic movie. The way the director captures Berlin is really incredible from its unground, to its nightclubs and its war memorials this movie showcases the very best of Germany and how they use the city to their advantage in the movie is really incredible. Speaking of the director this is arguably Jaume Collet – Serra best movie he has ever made compared to the god awful horror movies he has made such as House of Wax and the Orphan. Unknown is arguably a much better film.

Their were two things I didn't like about this movie. The first is that this movie doesn't really seem to know when to give it a rest. Once the mystery is solved it seems the director keeps going with material that the audience doesn't need to know yet and would be better saved for later evan though that material is good. The other thing I didn't like about this movie was that they never give Liam Neeson a moment of one of his famous pause and think moments and this causes him to spit out his anger like an angry dog and I don't like that quality of Neeson when he is acting, he's much better when he's calm and thinking.

However I still liked Unknown. Liam Neeson has some really good moments in it, the acting from the rest of the cast is good and I thought Berlin was captured beautifully in this film. Unknown is a solid contender for a good action/mystery film.

My Rating: 3.5/4 Shamrocks