Pandas and Mutants

I watched Kung Fu Panda 2 and X-Men: First Class this week. The goal was to watch Fast Five instead of Kung Fu Panda 2, but a mix-up over movie times occurred and so we went to see Kung Fu Panda 2 instead. Fast Five is no longer showing in SB anymore either, but there's always the DVD!

Kung Fu Panda 2 (Jack Black, et al.) - I enjoyed the movie, but a 1.5 hour movie does feel really short these days. At any rate, this movie had the theme of finding "where you belong" and "who you are". In particular, it touches upon adoption (Po (the Panda) has a goose father). It's a cute movie and has some good animation that I enjoyed. It's a definite family film and I enjoyed Kung Fu Panda 1 and I also enjoyed this one just as much. I'd probably say this would be more of a movie rental than an on-screen watch, but that also comes down to preference. Dreamworks does put out good animation films too. I'm looking forward to Puss in Boots in the fall. They do seem able to push out 2 movies a year vs Pixar's 1 and their quality is still pretty good (How to Train Your Dragon is now apart of my "comfort movie" list. I watched it again just this past week and I've watched it more times in the past year than any other film). At any rate, watch it in theaters if you like the franchise, but other than that, I'd wait for DVD. Grade: B/B+

X-Men: First Class (James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon) - I really, really enjoyed this film and it's been the first summer film that I can actually say I really enjoyed. It's also been getting good reviews. I kind of feel like THIS movie is the start of the summer blockbusters than Thor or some other movie. It was excellent. It's a character driven movie rather than action movie like the triology (X-Men, X2, X-Men: Last Stand). I'd even say it's more character driven than X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Wolverine's movie was supposed to be his background and how he came to be. It certainly makes up for X3 and even Wolverine; it basically gives me hope that the franchise isn't going down the tube -- it's that good. McAvoy and Fassbender do a great job in developing a friendship despite their characters' differences and gathering forces to save the world and then the end when they split you feel that they're both sad for the differences they can't agree on. There's a smattering of action here and there, but the end main fighting scene isn't drawn out and long (like sometimes I felt PotC: At World's End sometimes felt like). You feel sympathy for Erik (aka Magneto) in his early years and even in his adult years to avenge the man who killed his mother and turned him into who he is. You respect Charles (aka Professor X) from the get-go for for his knowledge and compassion for mutants. It's just a well done X-Men movie and makes me glad I went to see it in theaters. I could even be talked into seeing it again in theaters if need be. Would I buy the DVD? I'm not sure. I might when it gets cheaper. The movie also reaffirms my appreciation for McAvoy. He's done a lot of different films (Family (Narnia - Mr. Tumnus), Drama x 2 (Becoming Jane, Atonement), Action (Wanted), Animation (Gnomeo & Juliet), and Sci-Fi (Professor X)) and I've enjoyed him in all of them (except Atonement since I have not seen it).  Grade: A