Mr. and Mrs. Kraus Blog

Avatar came out on December 18, 2009.  I finally saw it yesterday, almost 2 months after its debut.  I had heard a lot about the movie.  Some said its plot was predictable.  Some said it pushed a liberal agenda.  So what would I think?

I saw it in 3D IMAX, and it was… EPIC!  I enjoyed the technology aspect of it a lot.  If you are going to go to this movie, you must make an effort to see it in 3D.  It won’t be the same experience without it, and you will be missing out.  The special effects are amazing in 3D, something truly special.  Plus, one of the reasons this movie was in the makings for so long was because James Cameron was waiting for the 3D technology to catch up to his vision for the movie.  If you ignore that and see it without 3D, you are missing the point.

So what of all the talk about the storyline?  How can I say this gently…  give it a rest people!  It was just a cool movie, and the storyline was fine.  I did not feel it was too predictable.  As a matter of fact, there was one moment in the story where I thought, “Wow… things are looking so dire!  How in the world is he going to make it right?”  When I saw how the story developed, I personally felt it was a “bravo!” moment.

I also did not feel the least bit annoyed by any political message or agenda.  I suppose if you take issue with movies like Dances With Wolves or Disney’s Pocahontas, then maybe you will also have a problem with Avatar.  But if that is your situation… seriously?  Good grief!  What I’m trying to say is juuuuust go see the film in 3D before you miss out on one of the coolest movie experiences we have had available to us in recent years.  It won’t be the same on DVD.

Some final comments:  I thought the cast of Avatar was great, and the acting was well done.  I enjoyed the landscapes and exotic creatures, and the futuristic weapons and aircraft were just cool.  I was very impressed with the animation of the Na’vi people, how perfect the lips moved with the words, and how realistically they showed emotions.  It didn’t take long to feel completely immersed in the 3D world of the planet Pandora.  Definitely see this movie in the theater in 3D if you haven’t gone yet.

Chad Kraus movies

I went to District 9 on Sunday afternoon with friends.  I walked into the movie knowing zero about it other than it had something to do with aliens, and that it was produced by Peter Jackson.  A couple of my friends seemed really excited to see it, so I tagged along.

I liked the movie.  It was definitely “unique”, something I hadn’t quite seen before.  It had a lot of action, and some pretty good acting.  Wikus van de Merwe is played by Sharlto Copley, an actor/director/producer that I had never heard of before.  Apparantly, (and I didn’t learn this until after seeing the movie), Copley improvised all of his dialogue in this film.  That is very interesting to me because I felt torn about this acting performance.  On one hand, it was very, very good.  He gives this kind of nutty, funny performance, while still managing to kick some butt in action scenes, show fear in terrifying situations, and express deep love and sorrow when talking to his wife.  Yet, when he gets angry or flustered, his vocabulary becomes limited to mostly F-bombs, which I admittedly do not care for.

The biggest critique I have about the film, is that I was unable to establish much emotional attachment to any of the characters in this movie.  On one side you have the human race who fears or hates the aliens, and confines them to living in slum-like conditions.  Maybe I should hate them and cheer on the aliens?  But the aliens go around killing people, and look like giant, upright grasshoppers.  So then should I cheer for Wikus?  Well, he is part of the human establishment that persecutes the aliens and later becomes a target himself, so really from start to finish I’m just not sure who to side with.  The result is a very cool, unique movie, where I found myself excited to see what happens next, but not really caring what that might happen to be.  Who lives, who dies– who cares– oh that was a cool explosion!

In summary, I liked the movie for its action, special effects, uniqueness, and some good acting, but the film isn’t perfect either.

Chad Kraus movies

Tonight Mrs. Kraus and I saw Star Trek with my sister and her friend. I had heard it was really good, and some of the new actors in the cast seemed promising to me. I was especially intrigued by Zachary Quinto playing Spock (he plays Sylar in the hit TV show Heroes). So what did we think?

Perfect move! We loved it! First, let’s talk about the cast. Zachary Quinto did indeed make a great Spock. Chris Pine was awesome as Captain James T. Kirk. He was confident and cool, and did the original proud. I liked John Cho as Dr. Sulu (oh Harold, how far you’ve come!), and Karl Urban was a great Bones. Anton Yelchin, I had never seen before, but he performed admirably, and had some funny moments in the role of Chekov. And I loved Simon Pegg as Scotty.

Now the story line. Don’t worry– I won’t ruin it for you. I’ll just say it was brilliant, and I couldn’t find anything to gripe about. It was rather ingenious what they pulled off: a story line that enables a whole new set of adventures rather than remaking the old ones, with the same winning cast of characters.

This is kind of a big deal for me to praise a Star Trek movie so much. I’ve always thought of myself as more of a Stars Wars guy. If you look at the classic Star Wars movies and the Star Trek movies, I always preferred Star Wars. But for me, the three newer Star Wars films fell a bit short of what they could have been, due to some strange story lines, obnoxious characters, and downright poor acting. This new Star Trek movie, however, a totally different tune. Fantastic story line, wonderful characters, and top notch acting. Let’s just say, I can live without the light saber.

What about the special effects and action sequences? WOW. Once again I’ll avoid the details so I don’t give anything away. Just know you are in for a real visual treat.

So if you plan on dropping some cash on a movie in the near future, be sure to make Star Trek your choice. You won’t be disappointed!

Chad Kraus movies

Wow. I knew nothing about Iron Man walking into the theater on Wednesday evening. I hadn’t even seen a full preview for it. I vaguely remembered catching the end of one commercial where Iron Man was flying in the air, but no specific parts or dialog. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even know who would be playing the part of Iron Man.

Whenever I see a movie I know nothing about that turns out to be a fantastic film, that just makes it BETTER. We are all familiar with the action scene or joke that we see in previews 15 times before the movie even comes out. That’s great to get us excited about a movie, but when the time comes for the big joke, it’s not funny. We might laugh out loud, but it’s only our attempt to remember how we laughed the FIRST time we saw it.

I’m not going to talk about specifics of Iron Man. Anyone who reads this article and knows nothing about the movie should be able to go to it and experience it like I did– walking in with no knowledge of it.

I’ll just say it was the best movie I can remember seeing in… well I’m not sure how long. I loved Lord of the Rings: Return of the King in 2003, but I’m almost afraid to say that because those who aren’t fans of the LOTR series will think Iron Man would only appeal to that type of movie viewer. Don’t make that conclusion.

My full-hearted recommendation to all type of movie-goers is, “Go see Iron Man!”

Chad Kraus movies