UNDERWORLD: EVOLUTION

Theater: Movies Palace 6 Theaters, Elizabethtown, Kentucky

I don't know what I was expecting when I walked into this one. Its predecessor was fun, but not great; it didn't wow me.

I didn't re-watch the first one before I saw this, and now I wish I did; the sequel picks up directly after the first film ends, and I was playing catch up the whole time. Was this a bad thing? It's an action movie about werewolves and vampires, so it turns out plot points from before weren't too important.

The action is ... unimpressive. Lots of people die, and you see some cool things along the way, but nothing that outdoes the competition ... of course, being January, there is no competition in this genre, so it pretty much flies by on it's own lack of merits without really trying.

I remember after seeing The Matrix for the first time feeling amazed. Or Batman Begins, but for wholly different reasons (the first being peerless in action, the second for flawless execution in a story we all already knew).

Sadly, this film is only mediocre.

See it if - you want to see Kate Beckinsale (PG-13) naked on the big screen..
Rent it if - you want to watch documentaries on the special effects that you already know the secrets of..

MUNICH

Theater: Showcase Cinemas Stonybrook, Louisville, Kentucky

The last image you see in the film is of the New York Skyline in the 1970s. A skyline that includes the World Trade Center Towers overlooking the city.

The moral of the film is that there are bad people and good people. There's no morality play as to what the right course of action is, or was. Bad people do good and bad things, and good people do good and bad things. The mission Eric Bana and his co-stars embark on is too complicated to analyze. It is about vengeance, but it is also about compromising principle, and the violence that vengeance brings about.

When Golda Meir (played by Lynn Cohen) says, "Every civilization finds it necessary to negotiate compromises with its own values" it sums up the conundrum of the situation: is vengeance the correct response for a peaceful society? Does peace show weakness, or violence show lack of rationale?

It is a film that will stir your thoughts, but probably not change your mind from what you already believe. The issue is complicated, and as much of that complexity is left intact as can be from taking a tragedy and it's consequences and condensing it to film. Spielberg has done an impressive job translating it into film, and it's easily one of the best movies to come out of last year.

See it if - you like your movies harsh, real, and relevant.
Rent it if - it's not playing anywhere near you.

FUN WITH DICK AND JANE

Theater: Movies Palace 6 Theaters, Elizabethtown, Kentucky

I passed the movie theater the first time in Elizabethtown because it looks like a barn made of corrogated steel siding ... And the inside is unimpressive, but the small screens give you an intimate immersion into the films there, I suppose.

Fun with Dick and Jane is funnier than I thought it would be, if only because it went places I didn't expect it to go. This is much more a comedy about making ends meet than it is a comedy about a married couple who go rob people. Even though the climax is a big hustle, I found the funniest moments were those I didn't see coming: a chase/fight between men in suits to get to an interview before the others, attempting to work manual labor with illegal immigrants, or trying to make money participating in drug research studies.

I never saw the original, but it's a good time out at the movies.

See it if - you miss Jim Carrey on the big screen.
Rent it if - you want to see hilarious outtakes of some of the more violent stunts.