Two Movie Reviews: Pan and The Walk

I'm getting behind in movie thoughts, so here's two at a time!

Movie: Pan
Genre: Fantasy
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Levi Miller, Garret Hedlund
Rating: PG 
My Rating: One thumb mostly up

The previews made this movie look really quite wonderful. And cute and fun. But then when it came out the reviews weren't that great, so I decided I'd probably skip it. But then we found ourselves with a free night and this movie fit our schedule, so we went.

Hugh Jackman as Blackbeard

And, it was... okay. A little too strange in parts. And very cheesy in lots of parts. I enjoyed the kid who played Pan. I enjoyed Hugh Jackman of course, who played Blackbeard. (He was not even recognizable, though my daughter Toto picked him out right off.) And Tiger Lily was okay, but the guy who played Hook? (Who in this adaptation is not a bad guy.. just a normal guy who is imprisoned by Blackbeard, just like Pan and a bunch of other kids/people.) He was jut not right. He rubbed me the wrong way. I guess I wanted him to be like Killian from Once Upon a Time. And he was SO FAR from that, and it made me crazy. Oh, well. It was enjoyable. The special effects were cool. So I deem it worth the $5 Tuesday! And kids will like it I bet.

The not-so-great Hook

Here's the trailer:





Movie: The Walk
Genre: Historical
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Charlotte Le Bon
Rating: PG13
My Rating: Two thumbs up

When I saw the preview for this movie, while at the Imax, I was like, NO WAY am I seeing this one! Well, just the opposite from Pan, the reviews were great and so I changed my mind and decided to go. But I HAD to see it in 3D. It was MADE for that! And we managed to get to it just before it left the theaters. Sweet.

I was nervous. I'm scared of heights. In movies, whenever someone is in peril from up high, my body totally reacts as if I'm really there. It's crazy. So I knew this movie would be hard in parts. But I was ready to give it a try.

Can you kind of feel the 3D with this one?

The story is a fun one. This guy from France decides to be a tightrope walker, and one day when he sees an article about about the Trade Towers being built in New York, he decides it's his life's mission to walk between them. He gets several people to help him and they pull of the "coop." It's all nail biting, not just the walk itself. But the walk? Oh my WORD I thought he'd never come down. And yes, I was squirming and closing my eyes and wringing my hands. Awesome. In real life the guy actually walked back and forth eight times...and he knelt and saluted the crowd below and he LAID DOWN on the wire and everything. This was all depicted and all I could think was GET DOWN NOW!!

Perfect for this role!

JGL was awesome and so cute and so lovely and so perfect for this movie. Pretty much, he  makes the movie. That and the re-creation of the two towers. In fact, the move ends up being not only a nod to the craziness of this guy, but the beauty of these buildings. Sad and bittersweet. He ends up with a lifetime pass to go to the top of the towers whenever he wants (yes, he didn't really get in trouble after all) that has no expiration date. Let that sink in. That's when I got teary in the movie.

So, I say, see this one, even if you aren't a fan of heights. And it will be good even without the awesome 3D effects we got to experience! Really. Go see it. Rent it. Just do it.

Here's the trailer: