Blade/Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull/Alien Vs. Predator II: Requiem
12:13 PM| Blade | |||
| This is probably one of the better minor- comic book movies. I thought this was very slickly done, with good effects, action, and characters. It's got some great black humor too. Plot Synopsis: Blade, a vampire-hybrid (with all of their strengths, but none of their weaknesses) hunts vampires around with globe with the help of his partner Whistler. He's hunting a group belonging to Deacon Frost, when a haemotologist crosses his path. He takes her in, after she is bitten, and she assists him as he tries to unravel what Frost is up too. Frost is attempting to stage a coup, and wants to use the heads of the born vampire clans to awaken La Magra, the Blood God, giving him ultimate power of the Earth. He eventually discovers he needs Blade's blood to effect the transformation, and captures him (killing Whistler in the process), and uses his blood to empower himself. Blade is aided in escaping, battles Frost in an underground temple. Blade ultimately defeats him, and continues hunting in Russia. |
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| Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull | |||
| This was better than expected, with mixed reviews. I enjoyed the movie just fine, and my earlier misgivings about the obvious looking CG-ness of it all, went away - I think I felt the trailer scenes of Area 51 looked a bit fake initially. Ultimately it was a lot of fun, and I would probably rank it ahead of Last Crusade. If they do a sequel though, I would like to see them make the storyline a little more challenging, as it seems a little simple compared to the previous movies (although I think that's why I'm not as fond of Last Crusade). Plot Synopsis: Russians break into the US facility at Area 51 that's housing all the collected Occult artifacts looking for something. They've abducted Indiana and his current partner. After locating a coffin with a magnetized corpse inside, and enduring a double-cross by his partner, Indy escapes with the help of a rocket sled. Wandering onto an atomic test site, he narrowly escapes being vapourised inside a lead-lined fridge. The US Military discover him, and after decontamination, question him about his dealings with the Russians. Back at the University, Indy is suspended from his job after accusations of dealings with the Reds. When Indy decides to leave on the train, he meets up with Mutt who's been sent to find him because his mother and Indy's mentor Oxley have gone missing after searching for a Crystal Skull. When they are pursued by Russian agents, Mutt helps Indy escape on his motorcycle. They then travel to South America, to pick up Ox's trail. They discover some clues which leads them to a graveyard, the resting place of a Conquistador that had found the City of Gold, and bought the Crystal Skull. They locate the Skull, but are captured by the Russians. Taken into the jungle, they are reunited with Ox and Marion Ravenwood. They escape again, but are quickly recaptured after becoming stuck in quick sand. Indy discovers that Mutt is his son with Marion. When they are taken deeper into the jungle, they make another escape attempt, this time successful. Marion pilots their stolen 'duck' amphibious vehicle down the river, and over three water falls. At the bottom, they find their way into the City of Gold. They are almost killed by natives, but Ox uses the skull to keep them at bay. Indy helps them get inside the temple's inner sanctum, where they find vast stores of wealth. Deeper inside the pyramid, they find a chamber with crystal skeletons sitting on thrones around the chamber walls. When the Russians arrive, their leader takes the Crystal Skull, and when it is reattached to one of the bodies, the skeleton's come alive. The temple also comes alive, and as it starts to fall apart, Indy and his group make their escape. The Russians are disintegrated in thirst for power, and Indy's group watch from the hillside, as the temple crumbles, and a silver flying disc rises from the rubble. It leaves in a burst of light. Indy finally marries Marion. |
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| Alien vs. Predator II: Requiem | |||
| This is a much better effort than the previous installment. Sure you don't care much about the characters, and a lot of the character development doesn't amount to anything (for instance, Dallas has returned from prison, and its hinted at some event having occured, but it's never explained, and doesn't mean anything in the story). But at least it's adult, it's gory, and violent, and what the Alien-/Predator- franchises are about - vicious creatures battling it out. The effects are really good, and they attempt to introduce new devices and expand on the Predator universe a bit more. It connects in nicely to the first movie, picking up directly after the first concludes. Overall a good effort, lets hope the third installment continues to raise the bar. Plot Synopsis: An alien bursts from the chest of the Predator that was killed at the end of AVP, and goes on a rampage through the Predator's ship. The larger ship releases the smaller hunting ship, and the smaller ship returns to Earth, crashing after the Predators blast a hole in its hull while trying to repell the Predator/Alien hybrid. Face huggers are freed in the crash, and escape the wreckage along with the hybrid. They retreat into the sewers where they begin impregnating victims from the local town. The crash of the ship alerts a Predator 'cleaner' on their homeworld, and he is dispatched to Earth to clean up the mess. He arrives and goes to work, disposing of the wrecked ship, and tracking down the Aliens. The town is eventually consumed in the war between the two races. One group eventually manages to escape the town in a helicopter from the local hospital, as the town is destroyed by the National Guard with a nuclear weapon. Finally, Ms Yutani (of Weyland-Yutani) is given recovered Predator technology from the town. |
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