A Week of Movies

Last week, I made a choice to take some time for myself and do some things I enjoy.  The result was seeing three films over a period of seven days:  Legend of the Guardians, What If, and Social Network.  Rather than doing three separate reviews, I thought I'd just lump them all together here.

I had high hopes for Legend of the Guardians which were quickly crushed.  The animation was beautiful; the music was nice.  The story itself was boring and uninspiring.  I watched moviegoers young and old leave the movie after devoting an hour to the film.  At that point, I considered leaving as well; I decided that the comfortable chair and some mindless activity was a better use of my time than leaving.

I have heard from many that the book the film is based on is great.  All I know is that the film did not inspire me to grab the book!  I went to see Legend in order to be informed about the film in case I was asked about it by parents in my church.  There are definitely some teachable moments -- discussions about believing in what you can't see permeate the film.  However, the undertones of Eastern mysticism and New Age ideologies keep me from recommending this film for children.  All things considered, the best part of this movie outing was the previews.  Mega-Mind and Nutcracker 3D both look promising.  My rating:  2 out of 5 stars.

Am I the only one who was completely unaware of What If?  This film features Kevin Sorbo and John Ratzenberger in a movie that explores how different life would be if we were given a second chance to follow God's will rather than our own.  Without being overly preachy, the film presents sound theology in an entertaining and believable story line.  I would recommend this film for youth groups as well as adults;  there are great possibilities for discussions of a spiritual nature.  The film has been out for almost a month, so it may not be in theaters much longer.  Definitely worth the effort to see if possible.  My rating:  4.5 out of 5 stars.

The last film of the week was Social Network.  I had mixed feelings about this story of the roller-coaster development of Facebook.  As I watched the process that lead to the creation of the website, I was fascinated.  About halfway through the movie, Justin Timberlake's character enters the scene and becomes more central than I would have liked.  Honestly I found his performance far superior to those of the young actors in the leading roles.  As we move back and forth between legal depositions and flashbacks, I found the plot to be predictable.  Was I looking for a scandal?  Maybe...I really don't know.  I did find the ending to be a bit of a letdown.  I would probably suggest my friends see the film because of the fact that Facebook has had such a tremendous impact on our generation, but not because of the movie's entertainment value.  My rating:  3 out of 5 stars.