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If you’re wanting some mindless comedy, then Get Smart is for you. It’s very true to the original series, which I’ve always been a big fan of… I love some Mel Brooks. Get Smart is not a spy spoof movie, its a spy movie with a lot of comedy thrown in. It’s obvious that the cast had a great time making this movie, it shows through in almost every frame. Steve Carrell was perfect for the Maxwell Smart character. I love his comedic timing. The man has a gift. I also think Dwayne Johnson (the Rock) did a really good job. He’s actually very funny. I loved the chemistry between them all, they all seemed to work well together.

There was a cool scene where Maxwell and Agent 99 crash a party and Maxwell winds up dancing with an overweight lady, by his choice. At the end of the scene you expect her to be the joke, for them to make fun of her, but they flipped it on its head and instead of mocking her, she winds up with the last laugh.

There may have been a few jokes that fell flat, but overall it was a very fun movie that never slowed down. I’d give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

I’ve been meaning to write this review for a week now and I just keep putting it off (I am the king of all procrastinators). I saw The Incredible Hulk opening weekend, and I really liked it. It wasn’t as good as Iron Man, (review) but it was waaay better than Ang Lee’s Hulk a few years back. This is definitely the summer of the superhero, and once the summer is over, I don’t think it will land at the top of the list, but that doesn’t mean its not a great movie. Also, I’m a huge fan of Ed Norton, he is as great as usual. 

I loved the way the story started, with greenish flashbacks of the gamma radiation that created the beast, which is better than spending half the movie telling us a story we already know. Then it fast forwards to Bruce Banner hiding in Brazil while trying to find a cure for his condition, when the U.S. government find him and the chase begins. The chase through the barrio of Brazil was a very cool scene, I kept waiting for the Hulk to emerge, but director Louis Leterrier waited and waited to reveal his monster. And when he did, it was worth it. I wouldn’t say it was the best CGI ever, but the close-ups of the hulk were really amazing.

It’s definitely worth seeing in the theater. I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

I’m a big fan of Spike Jonze, I think he’s extremely quirky and original. I ran across his ‘97 short film ‘How They Get There’ and I thought it was pretty clever. Spike Jonze was the guy who directed ‘Being John Malkovich,’ which is a pretty great movie, plus he directed Fatboy Slim’s hilarious music video to ‘Praise You.’ He’s in production right now on next years ‘Where the Wild Things Are,’ which I’m stoked about because that was my favorite book as a kid, and I think he’ll do a great job (even though I’ve read there’s was a little drama on set).

Back to this film. I think its really great, he accomplishes quite a bit in 2 minutes, without any dialogue, and nice pacing. It’s a complete story, beginning, middle, and end. Take a couple of minutes and watch it.

As I shared in my previous post, there were several moments in the new Chronicles of Narnia film, Prince Caspian, that opened my eyes to truths that I needed to see. It’s so easy for our faith to become stale, and its a beautiful thing to find it reawakened in the most unexpected places, like a movie theater. 

This moment comes from the same portion of the story as the first one, but its a different statement that Aslan makes. Lucy is wondering why he hasn’t saved them the same way he did last time. Why he hasn’t swooped in and made it all better. Saved the day in the same fashion as he had done in the previous story. 

He simply says, “Nothing happens the same way twice.” 

Now my questions is this, how did that affect the way they were fighting? Were they doing the same thing they had done before expecting to get the same response from Aslan. 

How many times do I go through the same motions of worship and faith expecting God to do the same thing, give me victory over the same battle, that he did last time. Even though I’m giving him nothing new of me, just my good ol’ trusty formula that I’ve always offered up. Every week I go through my 3-step process of worship and every week I’m expecting Christ to keep showing up the same way in my life as he did last week or last year.

I’m thinking he deserves more every day, more heart felt honesty, more vulnerability, more passion, more love, more surrender than I gave him the week before. Why, because nothing ever happens the same way twice.

Give him something new, a new part of you that you’ve been trying to hide. And see if he gives you a new victory.

I’m not necessarily one of those that spiritualizes every movie or whatever, but obviously our dear ol’ C.S. Lewis’ work is full of parallels to our life as a believer. And I can’t pass that up.

Now to be honest, I didn’t really loooove the newest Narnia movie Prince Caspian. For lots of reasons that I won’t go into in this post. Why, you ask so politely. Well, because I think it may get me stoned by the Christian community. You know us and our “christian” entertainment.

But there were several moments in the film and/or book that have taught me some simple truths about our faith and our Savior. Is it something new? Not really. But its a new lens on older truths that I myself needed a new view of. 

I thought I’d share a few over the next couple of posts.

Toward the end of the film, Lucy heads off into the woods to find Aslan, when she finds him, she makes a statement about how much bigger he is from the last time she saw him.

He replies, “I am not bigger, but every year you grow, you will find me bigger.”

I love that. Just when you think God can’t be any bigger or more powerful, as you grow he grows… or what you see of Him grows. Every year or day I’m growing in my walk and faith, I’m able to see just how big he really is.

If you thought He was big on day 1, the day you surrendered your heart, just give it some time, grow in your faith, and every time you look up he’s even bigger. He’s more powerful than you’ve ever imagined. 

This encourages me to keep growing, keep moving toward my God who is so big that he holds me and everything else in the palm of his hand. 

Iron Man was probably the most relevant (I try not to throw that word around a lot) superhero movie I have seen in a looooong time.  Not only was it relevant but it was extremely entertaining. I loved the quick dry humor, the cast was solid (hello oscar noms all over the place – and one win), and of course the special effects were incredible. But I’d have to say the best thing about this movie is that it was fun, which is what summer movies are all about.

Robert Downey Jr. was perfect in the leading role. Lately he’s been great in everything, have you seen Kiss Kiss Bang Bang – hilarious! His dry wit is priceless and it made the movie. There’s a reason this is one of the highest rated superhero movies of all time… because it takes the genre to another level. Oh yea, that suit is so flippin’ cool.

One other thing, if you’re a hardcore comic book fan you may want to stay until the end of the credits, if you’re not, the surprise at the end just won’t be worth it.

I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Have you seen it? What’d you think?

UPDATE: Marvel has announced that Iron Man 2 will hit theaters on April 30th 2010. Anybody else excited?