Date Night

Steve Carell, Tina Fey

Directed by Shawn Levy

Rating: 3 stars

The Fosters are looking for a way to spice up their relationship. They've gotten used to the mundane routine a husband and wife go through with kids. So one night Phil Foster (Steve Carell) decides to take his wife, Claire (Tina Fey), out to a hard-to-get-in, fancy restaurant in New York City. When the host barely gives them the time of day, they decide to take the reservation of a couple who doesn't show up on a whim. This only causes them to be pursued by two thugs and a dangerous adventure out in the city.

Date Night is a movie you get excited about but when watching it, don't feel that excitement. Essentially, the film should have been great because Steve Carell and Tina Fey make an absolutely great pair. Nobody else could have played their role the way they did. So why did Date Night deserve three stars instead of four? Well, the movie started off with your average couple who love each other but they had kids and so life revolves around that. They decided to spice things up but then it gets boring. There's some action in this movie since the Foster's get chased around and there's this long car action scene. It doesn't grab your full attention though. Date Night is the kind of movie you've seen before and it's just "alright". I'm not sure it's worth recommending because of the "blah" factor it has. There probably are some people out there who thought this movie is worth owning but I would recommend renting it or watching it On Demand before mindlessly thinking, oh this will probably be good. (I almost did that and I'm very glad I didn't.) While Carell and Fey make a great on-screen couple and have good chemistry, Date Night is a movie you probably don't want to watch on yours.

Megamind

Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill

Directed by Tom McGrath

Rating: 5 stars

Megamind is the story of an evil genius who actually gets away with it. Megamind (Will Ferrell) and Metro Man (Brad Pitt) never got along. As they grew older they battled each other and Metro Man usually won. However, on the day of the unveiling of Metro Man's statue, Megamind has a new scheme and this time he actually defeated Metro Man! Megamind enjoyed running the city as he pleased but it just wasn't fun without battling a superhero so he decided to create one... Titan (Jonah Hill). But when Titan decides he doesn't like being good, Megamind has to face off with his own creation to save the town.

Megamind is a movie not only kids can enjoy but adults can too. There's probably a lot kids wouldn't understand but watching this with a bunch of college students was fun. Like when Megamind got a text from Roxanne Ritchie (Tina Fey) and he told Minion (David Cross) "Hold on... [to himself while texting back] 'L.O.L smiley face." Since little kids shouldn't be texting, they probably wouldn't understand what's so funny about that. This movie deserves five stars because it's funny, it has a great cast, and a plot you've never seen before (okay, maybe I've never seen but it doesn't happen often). Who's ever seen a movie before where the bad guy gets everything he wants, then turns into a good guy? Sure, we've seen bad guys turn soft and into a nice guy but we've never seen villains in an animated movie go that way. So Megamind had a unique storyline.

Overall, Megamind was just a great movie. Dreamworks usually does a great job at making movies kids and adults can enjoy; like Shrek, Madagascar, and How To Train Your Dragon. I would highly recommend this for anyone who enjoys a good laugh, animated movies, and Will Ferrell. You won't be disappointed.