Just about every month, I have watched a different animated film so I decided to keep it going by watching another one for the month of April. The film I chose for today is called The Nut Job and it’s one that wasn’t done by Disney or Sony. The film follows Surly (Will Arnett), a squirrel who never seems to get anything right in his life and to the point that everyone in the park hates him. One day after a routine heist of nuts goes wrong, Surely is banished out of the park and all of the creatures in the park are left with no food to survive winter. A store that is being disguised as a nut store, but really is a front for a ban heist is opened nearby and Surly will try everything he can to pull off the biggest heist to regain the trust of the park. The film also stars Liam Neeson (Taken) as Raccoon, Brendan Fraser (School Ties) as Grayson, Katherine Heigl (Knocked Up) as Andie, Stephen Lang (Avatar) as King, Maya Rudolph (Bridesmaids) as Precious, Jeff Dunham as Mole, Gabriel Iglesias (Magic Mike XXL) as Jimmy, Sarah Gadon (Enemy) as Lana, and the film was directed by Peter Lepeniotis Gotta Catch Santa Claus).
What is the great thing about all or most animated films these days? Every great or good character has a comedic relief sidekick that keeps the audience glued and kids laughing. In this film, it would have to be Buddy The Rat who is constantly there to help his friend Surly no matter what. The one thing about this film that I really liked is that every character is very likable even the villain Raccoon (voiced by Liam Neeson). This was definitely an interesting and funny animated film for one that wasn’t made by either Disney Pixar or Sony, but it didn’t have a heck of a lot of laughs. It was definitely entertaining and it didn’t bore me, but it just didn’t have a lot of those funny moments in it like some of Disney’s films. I wondered why Psy’s music and song Gangham Style was attached to this film and it’s because it was funded by a bunch of different Korean producers hence the appearance he makes as an animated character. I was also surprised to see that Jeff Dunham voice acted in this film because I thought he only did the puppet gigs, but he was great as the mole. This is definitely a film that will more than likely fun for the kids and it will teach you the lesson that no matter how much of a screw up you think you are you can always redeem yourself. The film is available right now on Netflix as we speak so check it out. I am going to give the film an B for a final grade.
I could have saved today’s film and watched it on Wednesday for Ass Whoopin Wednesday, but there was nothing else on that I wanted to watch. So for today’s film, I chose to watch the third and final film in the Taken trilogy in Taken 3. In the third film, things seem to be going as smooth as usual in the life of former government operative Brian Mills (Liam Neeson). That is until he gets a phone call to meet his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) for some bagels and instead finds her dead in his apartment. The police believe that Brian is the killer and now it is up to him to fin who the real killer is and clear his name before it’s too late. The film also stars Forest Whitaker (The Last King Of Scotland) as Franck Dotzler, Maggie Grace (Faster) as Kim, Dougray Scott (Mission: Impossible II) as Stuart St. John, Sam Spruell (Snow White And The Huntsman) as Oleg Malankov, Don Harvey (Die Hard 2) as Garcia, Dylan Bruno (Saving Private Ryan) as Smith, Leland Orser (Taken Trilogy) as Sam, David Warshofsky (Captain Phillips) as Bernie, Jon Gries (Napoleon Dynamite) as Mark, Jonny Weston (Insurgent) as Jimy, and the film was directed by Olivier Megaton (Transporter 3).
I still have yet to watch the second Taken, but I am saving that one for Ass Whoopin Wednesday and hopefully that one is better than this one. This film wasn’t bad and you have to love the idea of Brian Mills being the one chased in the film instead of him always chasing others. My only issue with the film is that it wasn’t that exciting of a film like how the first film was. Who we think is the bad guy in the film isn’t even that cool of a bad guy either. He looks like an idiot and he hides in a hotel even though he is supposed to be so dangerous (a frustrating Russian mobster). I definitely liked the twist the film had as I had a feeling in the beginning, but with the more the film went on I sort of forgot about the person being a suspect. Forest Whitaker was as amazing as he usually is and definitely a highlight for the film. The action in the film in my opinion was pretty decent, but it just doesn’t top that of the first film. While there were some pretty good chase scenes like the highway chase, there wasn’t enough to boost the wow factor in me. By the this film, I think it’s safe to say that you should know what to expect by now. The only thing different is that the formula has changed just a tad and Liam Neeson is Liam Neeson.I think it’s also safe to say by this film that he is a really bad parent. I am going to give this film an C+/B- (can’t really decide yet) for a final grade.
For today’s Ass Whoopin Wednesday film, I had been meaning to check out the reboot. remake, re-imagining, or whatever you want to call it of The Transporter series. The Transporter Refueled was released last year and it was the first film in the franchise to not feature Jason Statham. The film actually stars Ed Skrein (Deadpool) as Frank Martin, the transporter. In this film, Frank takes a job from the beautiful Anna (Loan Chabanol), but what he doesn’t realize is that he is going to be a pawn in her game of revenge on a Russian crime lord in the south of France. When Frank tries to get out of it, they kidnap his father (Ray Stevenson) and use him as bait to get Frank to finish the job. The film also stars Gabriella Wright (Everly) as Gina, Tatiana Pajkovic as Maria, Wenxia Yu as Qiao, Radivoje Bukvic (Taken) as Arkady Karasov, Noémie Lenoir (Rush Hour 3) as Maïssa, Yuri Kolokolnikov (Leningrad) as Yuri, Lenn Kudrjawizki (Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit) as Leo Imasova, Samir Guesmi (District B13) as Inspector Bectaoui, Anatole Taubman (Captain America: The First Avenger) as Stanislas Turgin, and the film was directed by Camille Delamarre (Brick Mansions). To see the rest of the review of the film and to check out the stats, please click 
When the film Ted first hit the scene in 2012, I thought it was one of the best new ideas in comedy I had seen in a while. Now we all know that coming out with a sequel can be a daunting task especially when you’re trying to capture the magic of the first film. Well, that is exactly what Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy) was trying to do with Ted 2 which sees him return as our favorite vulgar teddy bear. This time around, Ted is sort of happily married with Tami Lynn (Jessica Barth), but John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) is not so happy since he’s divorced. Things are about to change for Ted as well when he and Tami Lynn decide to have a baby. After the couple decide to adopt, Ted is denied and is told that the government no longer recognizes him as a person, but property. With the help of a fresh lawyer named Sam Jackson (Amanda Seyfried), Ted will challenge the government in court to gain his civil rights back. The film also stars Giovanni Ribisi (Avatar) as Donnie, Sam J. Jones (Flash Gordon) as himself, Patrick Warburton (The Venture Brothers) as Guy, Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption) as Patrick Meighan, John Carroll Lynch (Gran Torino) as Tom Jessup, and Liam Neeson (Taken) as a Trix Cereal Customer.
While the film had it’s very funny moments, I just felt like it didn’t capture the magic of the original film. I am not saying that the movie was bad because it was actually pretty entertaining, it just wasn’t better than the first film. Mark Wahlberg’s character was a little more of the star of this film in my opinion than Ted. He was more sympathetic and at times he was a little more interesting than Ted. One of my favorite moments of the film came when they were on the roof throwing apples at joggers at night. That was a very funny exchange and give Amanda Seyfried some credit as well because she held her own with them. Giovanni Ribisi once again did an amazing job playing a creepazoid in the film as Donnie. Ribisi does an amazing job recapturing the creepiness and taking it to a new level in the second film. It was great to Sam J. Jones back in the film and Patrick Warbutton is hilarious as well as Guy (who has a new boyfriend in the film). The exchange between Ted and Liam Neeson over Trix cereal is worth watching the film for sure. While I enjoyed the writing for the film, it was a little predictable at times, but that’s OK cause it flowed well. I enjoyed watching the film and I think it’s worth watching at least once. I am going to give the film a B+ for a final grade.
365moviesin365dayschallenge 