Vin Diesel is back for Pitch Black‘s sequal, The Chronicles of Riddick. When I first saw previews for this movie months ago, I didn’t realize it was another in the series. The action follows along pretty good, but you really need to see Pitch Black first to get all of the background of the character Riddick.

Diesel plays the part of a animal-like human if that’s what you want to call it. I’ll just say he’s not your ordinary Joe. He can kill just about anyone with his bare hands, especially since he can see in the dark. He’s followed around the universe by bounty hunters who want nothing more than the money paid to put him in prison. At heart, Riddick doesn’t know if he cares about others or if he’s just out for himself. He has a decision to make…does he save mankind or just go for his own revenge? The movie does get a little sappy near the end which I didn’t care for. Keep Riddick a badass!

There’s a lot of action in the film and some pretty decent special effects to go along with it. The movie kept me entertained and I wasn’t looking for much more. I give it a B.

Saw looked like a neat idea for a movie when I saw the previews, so I went to see it last night. I thought it was pretty good. It’s the type of movie with a lot of plot twists, which I always like. On the other hand though, my brother and his girl, hated the movie.

The only actor’s name that sticks out is Danny Glover, so don’t look for any star performances from this one. I wouldn’t expect it from a movie of this type though. It’s your typical thriller and will make you jump a few times. It’ll make you laugh roughly the same amount of times though, which seemed to work well in the movie. Following the “Jigsaw killer” thoughout the movie kept me entertained and you can’t ask for much more.

One of the highlights of the film was a preview for The Ring Two, due out in 2005. The Ring was a great movie to watch in a theater, so I’ll likely do the same for it’s sequel.

I give Saw a B-.

I watched this movie earlier in the week and was pleasantly suprised. I wasn’t expecting much at all from Van Helsing, so I think that helped. I’d heard mixed reviews about it, but most had said it wasn’t great.

Hugh Jackson played an excellent lead role and Kate Beckinsale was hotter than ever in this movie. Richard Roxburgh was a perfect pick to play Dracula because he has the look. The acting was good all-around and the plot kept me interested. There were some cool special effects too.

Overall, not a movie that will knock your socks off, but Van Helsing is a type of movie that I enjoy watcing. I give it a B.

Some of the commercials on TV for The Day After Tomorrow had parts that made me want to see the movie and parts that made it look too much out of this world. I decided to watch the movie anyway. I thought it was pretty good, so I’m glad I did.

The basic idea behind the movie is a change in the North Atlantic current which sends the Earth’s climate into a machine change. This change involves a new ice age in the northern hemisphere. It’s sounds pretty whacky, but it was done exceptionally well. I thought the special effects were some of the best I’ve seen in recent movies. It can’t be easy to simulate the flooding of New York City by 20+ foot waves from the ocean. The freezing that came down from the upper atmosphere was pretty cool too. The movie had more than special effects to it though. There was a typical feel good family story involved and also a friend giving his life to help keep a father’s promise to his son.

Not one of the greatest movies I’ve ever seen, but worth watching. It gets a B.

Say it with me in your best Howard Cosell voice, “Down goes Vader! Down goes Vader! Down goes Vader!” I just couldn’t resist that intro.

Over the past 26 hours I watched the Star Wars Trilogy. I had only seen the trilogy in its entirety once or maybe twice and this was the first time I had seen all three movies in succession. The first three (as far as production, but last three in the story) Star Wars movies are truly the greatest trilogy of all time. I guess that’s why we refer to them as “the trilogy.”

Before watching the movies this weekend I had never realized how far ahead of their time they really were. Sure, I know George Lucas spruced them up for the release of the DVD box set, but the originals had some pretty good special effects when they were created.

One question I kept asking myself was who did Vader’s voice. I quickly found out it was James Earl Jones, and as soon as I saw the picture it all made sense. While hearing Darth Vader during the films I knew it was a familiar voice and now I can sleep soundly knowing exactly who it was.

There are countless movie reviews on the films and I’m sure 95% of you have seen them yourself, so I’m not going to bother with any other details. If you haven’t seen the trilogy in awhile, it’s time to get the new DVDs. A++ all the way. Maybe tomorrow I’ll watch the special features DVD and review it.