ianhornbaker Reviews

The Angry Birds Movie (2016)

The Angry Birds Movie attempts to capture the magic and excitement of the game. It's just too bad that you have to drudge through a full hour of pee and fart jokes to find it.

[3/10 · 15 May 2016]

Angry Birds The Movie. Many people might not realize this, but the mobile game did have a plot. Pigs invade the lives of the angry birds, take their eggs, then the birds have to destroy the pigs homes in order to get their precious eggs back. And as thin as that plot already is, the movie was somehow able to stretch it to an hour and a half. They just had to fill it with unnecessary action, unfunny slapstick comedy, and fart jokes.

The Good:

The characters were each unique and interesting. The voice actors even did a decent job portraying the different characters. I mean they got voice talent from Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, and even Peter Dinklage. Man. For the dialog they were given it was acted well. It's just sad that almost every joke falls flat or ends in a character laughing. When are studios going to learn that just because a character laughs at a joke, doesn't mean it's funny.

The animation was also pretty good. They were able to take the characters from the game and put them on the screen in a visually appealing way. It's just too bad that when they finally get to the destroying part, the movie is almost over.

The Ehh:

I can't tell you how much music there was. And I don't mean film score, I mean licensed music. They had hip-hop, rock, country, disco. I think the covered every single genre. With so much music it felt more like a music video than an attempt at storytelling.

The Ugh-ly:

It was so slow. Now, don't get me wrong, there are things happening nearly every second if you include fart jokes, bright lights, and zany characters. But the plot takes forever for anything to happen, and even when it does, there is almost no point for it to happen. The only good part of the movie are the last 30 minutes. Everything leading up to the is boring, drawn out, and almost completely pointless.

Conclusion:

Now, I understand that this movie is for kids and that is probably why I didn't like it. My theater was filled with kids that were laughing and engaged the entire time. That is why minions did so well last year, families with kids kept going to the theater. This movie will probably follow the same path. Large families with children will continually attend and it will probably enjoy a very nice run in the theaters. So that being said, I'm going to enact a dual recommendation. If you have kids that are between 4 and 10, this movie is a definite wait for redbox, but if you have older children, then I'd say don't bother. Visit Unpopped Review for more reviews from a movie lover, not a movie critic.

Money Monster (2016)

Money Monster is your typical hostage thriller with a predictable ending, but the surprising twists keep you guessing and at the edge of your seat.

[6/10 · 12 May 2016]

Money Monster features George Clooney as one those loud obnoxious Finance TV hosts. It also features Julia Roberts as the shows director. However, when an angry investor played by Jack O'Connell, breaks into the studio and holds George Clooney hostage till he gets some answers, George Clooney has to do anything he can to stay alive.

I originally went into this movie with relatively low expectations. I thought the plot was going to be predictable and boring, but overall, I found it to be very entertaining.

The Good:

The performances. You can always expect a good performance from George Clooney And you can honestly say the same thing about Julia Roberts. That being said this is the 3rd movie that features Jack O'Connell in a leading role and let me just say that he is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors. At this point, I think he can do no wrong.

The next thing I liked were the clichés in the movie. This movie reminded me a lot of John Q in that it is a normal person standing up for something he knows is right, even though the means might not have been the best. That being said, even though many of the hostage clichés that you get in movies like John Q, the Negotiator, and The Inside Man, are still here… the result of the clichés took a completely different turn. So although I thought they were going to be cliché, they actually turned out to be completely unique.

Money Monster was also surprisingly funny. Now don't get me wrong, I wouldn't call it a comedy by any stretch of the imagination because there were moments that were roll-you-eyes obnoxious, most of which came from the TV shows production, but there were definitely moments where I found myself laughing out loud.

The Ehh:

As I said already I liked how the movie would start a plot point with a cliché and then completely turn it on it's head. I only wish the same thing could be said about the ending. I figured out roughly how the movie was going to end by about 5 minutes into the movie. It was pretty obvious where they were going, but it was still refreshing how they ended up getting there.

The Bad:

The dang TV show that George Clooney's character hosted. I can't stand shows like Mad Money, and Money Monster is an extreme version of that. Luckily the main story line started pretty quickly so I didn't have to see too much of it.

Recommendation:

Even though Money Monster is your typical hostage thriller with a predictable ending, the great acting and surprising twists keep you guessing and at the edge of your seat. For those reasons I recommend that this movie should be seen in theaters. Visit Unpopped Review for more movie review from a movie lover, not a movie critic.