Twelve Monkeys

Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt

Directed by Terry Gilliam

Rating: B

Time traveling, an army of 12 Monkeys, and a virus set to kill five billion people makes for a promising movie. Oh yeah, and Bruce Willis plays the lead character in this mind-twisting sci-fi thriller.

Time traveling movies may be predictable but in this one, director Terry Gilliam has viewers guessing all the way up to the last twenty minutes. It may become a bit confusing when James Cole (Willis) is sent back and forth in time to feed information to future scientists about a rebel group called the 12 Monkeys. At first Cole is sent six years earlier than his set date of 1996 and finds himself in a mental institution for beating up police officers in a post-time jump haze. Add some mumbling and an insane Brad Pitt come the next scene, viewers may be questioning why they are still watching it.

It's not until a few time jumps later and a psychiatrist once held hostage by Cole that he starts to get help trying to prevent the destruction of mankind. It's up to the two to find the 12  Monkey's and grab a sample of the virus to prevent the oncoming apocalypse.

Similar to this movie is 2012's "Looper" where events come full circle, which seems to be the pattern in time traveling movies. In both movies, Bruce Willis comes back in time to change future events and what drives him to try doing so is to get his life back. In "Twelve Monkeys" Cole is a prisoner volunteering to reduce his sentence by going on a mission to find the 12 Monkeys. It shows a serious acting skill to see Willis in a role as a man who is sane but appears to be insane. Brad Pitt is equally frightening as a mentally unstable person in this movie, who gets worked up as he goes into a spiel about life.

While it may seem slow in the beginning and a little confusing, "Twelve Monkeys" is worth sticking out to the end. Chances are if you liked "Looper", "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest", or "Children of Men", then "Twelve Monkeys" is the sci-fi thriller for you.

Mega Piranha

Paul Logan, Barry Williams, Tiffany

Directed by Eric Forsberg

Rating: 1 star

Mutant piranha's get unleashed in the amazon, swimming towards Florida. A group of scientists and military people try to stop them and figure out how to kill them.

Yep, that pretty much sums up this movie. It was THE worst sci-fi movie I have ever seen. It shouldn't have been made; the special effects were terrible, the cast couldn't act, the piranha were digitally added and completely laughable. Don't get me wrong, when you hear a title like Mega Piranha, you know it's got to be a horrible movie. I couldn't finish watching this movie because it was boring and the bad acting was unbearable. I would only recommend this movie to those who enjoy bad sci-fi films. Be warned: it is only fun to laugh at if you are watching this with a group of people. If you watch this alone, that will be 92 minutes of your life you will never get back.

I Am Number Four

Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Diana Agron, Callan McAuliffe

Directed by D. J. Caruso

Rating: 4 stars

I Am Number Four follows the story of a teenager who has abilities no human could have. John (Alex Pettyfer) has been used to moving from town to town with his guardian Henri (Timothy Olyphant), always on the run to keep from being noticed. There are very few people like John and enemies who have taken over his home planet are scavenging for the last of John's kind. So far they have killed the first three and as the title says, John is number four. In Ohio, John must learn how to use his powers to keep himself alive and battle those after him.

Overall, I Am Number Four was a pretty good movie. It had action generally throughout it and an interesting plot to keep you watching. John is used to being the new kid but when he moves to Ohio, he is tired of trying to keep a low profile. It's sort of hard when a girl, Sarah (Diana Agron), who carries a camera around school keeps taking photos of you. When the jocks pick on a smaller kid, John does his best to help Sam (Callan McAuliffe) which makes him the new target. What makes I Am Number Four good is the action and the cast was picked well so that helps. The end of the movie suggests a sequel and personally, I probably will go see it if it is made. Though the movie has a rating of PG-13, I don't think anyone younger then eight years-old should see it because it might have some scary scenes. Other then that, I think most people might enjoy this film if you enjoy action, thriller, or sci-fi kind of movies. I went into this movie with the mindset that it wouldn't be that great but left the theater feeling like it was money worth spent.

The Sea Beast

Corin Nemac, Mariam McDonald, Gary Hudson, Daniel Wisler

Directed by Paul Ziller

Rating: 2 stars

A man gets killed while out with his fishing crew during a rough storm. Everyone said it was because he simply fell overboard but Will McKenna (Corin Nemac) saw something grab him off board. He keeps it to himself until an innocent teenager gets killed by the Sea Beast on the dock. Sheriff Jay McKenna (Gary Hudson) (Will's brother), refuses to believe him, claiming it was something that came out of the woods. So all the macho-men go out into the woods and run into the Sea Beast. Will's daughter Carly (Mariam McDonald) went to a small island with her boyfriend and best friend. However, the Sea Beast kills Carly's friend and we find out that the Sea Beast has babies! The boat is gone and Carly is stranded with her boyfriend. The Sea Beast has dozens of little terrors that everyone is trying to kill off until Will, followed by Carly and her boyfriend destroy the whole egg nest in an abandoned ship.

The Sea Beast is a cheesy and dumb made-for-tv sci-fi (science-fiction for those who don't know) movie that should have never been made. However, this is a movie you should not watch alone, preferably with someone who can make you laugh along with it. This movie deserves two stars because it is just so bad. It deserves two instead of one star because at least you can laugh a little at how ridiculous it is. First of all, Sea Beast? This aquatic monster looks like a mix between the Creature from the Black Lagoon and a barracuda. Second, Carly definitely wears the pants in her relationship. She ended up saving herself and boyfriend a few times from the Sea Beast's babies. And third, her boyfriend is stupid. He tried to take a picture of the Sea Beast baby and it bit his hand... The bite later swells and then he tries to squeeze it. Definitely an ew factor when the pus comes out. Yeah, that movie went there. I would recommend this movie for people who enjoy bad sci-fi movies, like Frankenfish and Deep Blue Sea.