Thursday, May 16, 2013

"Star Trek Into Darkness" (2013)

Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Benedict Cumberbatch
Written by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Damon Lindelof
Directed by JJ Abrams
Rated PG-13 - Sci-fi action/violence and language
Running Time: 133 Minutes
Trailer

While conducting a survey of a primitive civilization on an alien world, the crew of the USS Enterprise discovers a volcano eruption will likely annihilate the indigenous people. A plan is concocted to save them by rendering the volcano inert, but when Spock (Zachary Quinto) becomes trapped inside of it, Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) breaks the Prime Directive, Starfleet's highest rule, in order to rescue his friend. But while Kirk ignores the incident in his reports, Spock, being an honest Vulcan, does not. As a result, Starfleet Admiral Marcus (Peter Weller) removes Kirk from command of the Enterprise, demotes him, and gives the ship back to its original captain, Admiral Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood).

But before the Enterprise can ship out again, a secret Starfleet research facility beneath the streets of London is attacked by a terrorist named John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch). Marcus organizes the commanders of all Starfleet vessels in the region to hunt down Harrison, but the the bombing was merely bait to set the trap: Harrison attacks the meeting of Starfleet captains, killing Pike and wounding the others, leaving only Kirk and the Enterprise in any shape to chase down Harrison.

With Kirk back in command, the Enterprise will head deep into Klingon territory to locate this dangerous fugitive. Kirk's mission, one which his entire crew desperately pleads him to abandon, is to fire an experimental torpedo at Harrison's base in an abandoned city on the Klingon homeworld. Risking all-out war with the vicious Klingon Empire on a mission of murder, Kirk must make difficult decisions to rise above his desires for vengeance, and become the hero and commander his crew, and the Federation, deserve.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

"Superman: Unbound" (2013)

Starring Matt Bomer, John Noble and Stana Katic
Written by Bob Goodman
Directed by James Tucker
Rated PG-13 - Animated violence, peril, language, offensive gestures
Running Time: 75 Minutes
Trailer

Things are in flux for the Man of Steel. Superman (Matt Bomer) is struggling to teach his young cousin Supergirl (Molly Quinn) how to temper herself on Earth, not to go too far hurting the bad guys. At the same time, his girlfriend Lois Lane (Stana Katic) is frustrated that Clark refuses to allow knowledge of their relationship to go public. He worries that if anyone ever discovered that Clark Kent is Superman, Lois would be in trouble. She counters that she's already in trouble all the time, anyway.

But things are about to change, and Superman's world will be rocked the core by the arrival of an alien scout belonging to Brainiac (John Noble) a vast intelligence whose sole mission is to ingest the knowledge of entire worlds. But Brainiac's flaw is that he destroys every world he encounters after absorbing its knowledge. Supergirl tells Superman that Brainiac visited Krypton shortly before its destruction, and somehow stole its capital city, Kandor.

Superman tracks down Brainiac, who is in the process of consuming an alien world. He attempts to stop Brainiac, but is captured. Brainiac is intrigued by Superman's existence, and through him, learns of the planet Earth. Now, thanks to Superman, Brainiac is on his way, and not even the two powerful Kryptonian heroes may be able to stop him.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

"Iron Man 3" (2013)

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Kingsley
Written by Drew Pearce and Shane Black
Directed by Shane Black
Rated PG-13 - Superhero violence, peril, language
Running Time: 130 Minutes
Trailer

After fending off the alien invasion of New York, the Avengers have once again gone their separate ways. But life has not quite returned to normal. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) can barely sleep. He stays up all night at home, tinkering and producing bigger, badder suits of Iron Man armor. His girlfriend, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) runs Stark Industries, but comes home frustrated with her relationship with Tony. His best friend, Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) is also struggling to fit into his new role as Stark Industries' head of security.

Meanwhile, a vicious terrorist known as the Mandarin is taking credit for a series of deadly bombings across the United States. Col. James Rhodes (Don Cheadle), the Iron Patriot, can't seem to locate the Mandarin, and informs Stark that the bombings are strange in that there appears to be no actual bomb at the sites.

Unfortunately, the latest bombing has brought this battle to Tony's doorstep: Happy is left in a coma, near death. Stark, enraged, challenges the Mandarin to a one-on-one fight, and the Mandarin responds by sending attack helicopters to destroy Stark. Left with only one malfunctioning suit of armor, Stark takes on the investigation himself to locate and destroy the Mandarin. But what does all this have to do with a scientific research company called Advanced Idea Mechanics, run by Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), an old acquaintance of Pepper?

To figure it all out, face his demons, and stop the Mandarin's mad plans to destroy America, Tony Stark will have to abandon his fancy tricks and slick technology and learn what the man inside the suit is capable of.