Inception

Traditionally, movies have been split into two groups (with various shades of grey in between): big-budget but intellectually dull movies and lower-budget but intellectually stimulating ones. The logic is that a bigger investment necessitates a lower risk and thus a story that's been proven. Well, this is one of those extremely rare big-budget masterpieces.

Start to finish, this is the work of a modern master. The script is somewhat unique in that a vast amount of resources are necessary for it to be possible, yet it also takes many chances and doesn't hesitate to leave the slower viewers behind for it to go forward with its ridiculously well constructed story. Whoever green-lit the funding for this is either a genius or a total idiot. At any rate, the structure, pacing, dialogue and ending are all perfect. The movie takes a lot of chances, but ends up succeeding every single time. Effects-wise, this has shots that you've never seen before, and that will undoubtedly surprise you with their pioneering originality. And then of course there is the excellently chosen cast that performs admirably throughout.

However, if I had to find one small thing to nag about, it would be the casting of DiCaprio. Don't get me wrong, he delivers and fantastic performance and is perfect for the role, but I kind of got flashbacks of Shutter Island, especially with such similar themes. It's a small and soon to be insignificant detail, but it's there nonetheless.

As of now, this is number 5 in my list of my top 10 favourite movies of all time.

In a sentence:

Possibly the most intelligent big-budget movie ever, with a script that will undoubtedly leave some viewers behind in its visually mindblowing wake, wondering what happened. Those that do understand, however, are in for what will easily be the best movie of 2010.

Despicable Me

Quite surprised by how funny this was. This ranks among the funnier CG animation movies that I've seen, mostly thanks to the decidedly Raving Rabbid-like minions. I frequently found myself laughing out loud, and one particular moment had me laughing for a good minute.

Still, it isn't all humour, and the more serious aspect of this worked surprisingly well. It's a lot cheesier than, say, Pixar, but it works, and it's actually slightly touching. Plus, nearly everything about the story is fresh and original, so as a whole this is a great display of how no single studio has a monopoly over great CG animated flicks.

In a sentence:

Some truly hilarious moments, a large dose of originality and well-handled (if cheesy) emotional scenes blend together to form one of the best non-Pixar animated features.

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The Sorcerer's Apprentice

This is the very definition of a typical Bruckheimer production: formulaic and predictable plot, jaw-dropping visuals, and witty humour. This particular film succeeds particularly well at the humour and dialogue aspects, relatively speaking, but falls prey more than usual to the "formulaic plot" problem. You've seen this story a thousand times, from every possible angle, and setting it in a world where Sorcerers hurl fireballs at each other doesn't really make it any more exciting intellectually. Most of the appeal of the movie thus becomes its constant barrage of wild effects shots, though Cage and whatshisname do a good job with the script they're working with. As a whole, though, this is a Hollywood popcorn action movie through and through, which will inevitably earn a bajillion dollars at the box office.

In a sentence:

Chock full of fantastic visual effects and well acted by the two leads, but the story is ridiculously overplayed and there is no trace of originality in the script.

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Twilight: Eclipse

Well, it's much better than New Moon, but that's not really saying much. Among the list of improvements are a reduction in the number of so-cheesy-it's-funny moments, the humour actually managing to hit the mark a few times, and the story at least making a bit of sense. The real improvement of this production, though, is the action and the cinematography; both benefit greatly from David Slade's direction, and this alone makes this movie watchable. However, the action is so improved (which basically means that it has evolved to simply being lacklustre compared to proper action films) that everything else now seems even more dull and uninspired than usual. All but a few scenes involving Bella, Edward and Jacob fall flat, which isn't helped by the poor subject matter and the awful acting. The viewer basically finds himself impatient for the end of the emotional scenes so he can get to the wolves biting off chunks of young vampires.

Actually, even the action scenes are sort of anticlimactic. The whole movie builds up to this epic, deadly, nearly hopeless duel with an army of savage and semi-legendary vampires, which actually ends up being only a few minutes of everybody easily slaying all the evil vampires with only one person sustaining one minor and inconsequential injury. Pretty lame, though still probably the high point of the "saga" so far.

Basically, it's better than New Moon, inferior to the "pretty good" original, and you'd forget about it fairly quickly if it wasn't so overhyped.

In a sentence:

Better, but lacklustre, action makes everything else seem even more boring than usual. Still, the humour works sometimes and the story makes more sense, so it's an improvement.

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Predators

A breath of fresh, nostalgic air as far as action movies are concerned. This is an 80s action movie through and through: characters pump out one-liners, you can see what's happening during the action scenes, the characters are all caricatures, badass stuff happens all the time, but most importantly, nearly everything is done with proper on-set effects and disguises. This alone really gives the movie an old-school edge. The predators feel appropriately heavy and grimy, punches and slashes seems to connect better, their movements seem more natural, and generally it's all very satisfying. There are a few CGI creatures that work okay, and the CGI mattes and techno-effects spruce up the movie very successfully, so as a whole I'd say it's the perfect blend of CGI and live-action.

The movie isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, though. Plot-wise, this is a very run-of-the-mill affair. This being Predator, it still works well and feels badass, but it's not going to stay in your head for very long (leave that to the original's tension and mystery surrounding the as-of-then unidentified predator). In other words, it's a great sequel that does all it can with what the original left it, but it can't hope to surpass it now that the mystery of what the Predator is has been lifted.

In a sentence:

A great old-school gory, campy and badass action flick that is the best sequel Predator has had thus far.

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Youth In Revolt

Pretty "trendy" and quirky movie, as you'd expect. Cera as the badass is really what steals the show here, and without this element, this would have been just your run-of-the-mill Juno-wannabe hipster movie. With it, it becomes actually quite entertaining, though it leaves you hoping Cera diversifies his character palette more often in the future. Regardless, this will keep your attention through to the end and entertain you fairly effectively, though it will also weird you out a little every now and then with its constant attempts at being hip. It's worth watching, though, especially if you liked Juno.

In a sentence:

Good acting from Cera through a decently interesting and quirky plot equals a pretty entertaining and light teen movie.

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Inception

Despicable Me

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Twilight: Eclipse

Predators

Youth In Revolt

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