He-Man & She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword (1985)

 

"I've got that flying horsey in my sight"

He-Man & the Masters of the Universe was a massive hit toy line and a massive hit animated TV series. He-Man ruled the airwaves in the 80s and it would only make sense to not only make a feature length theatrical film but also a new spin-off series with a new character!

The film follows Price Adam/He-Man as he embarks on the search for his twin sister. Turns out that a new villain by the name of Hordak had kidnapped He-Man's twin sister shortly after birth and taken here to another dimension on a planet called Etherea. No one knows what happened to the little girl, Adora. But, with this information and with a magical sword, He-Man is on his way to find Princess Adora. 

What much can be said of "The Secret of the Sword", it's not necessarily a film for cinemas as there is nothing special enough about the movie for it to warrant a theatrical release, other than the length of the film. The animation remains the same as the TV series. And the reasoning behind this is because the movie is the first 5 episodes of "She-Ra: Princess of Power" edited into a film. The film had to add some things and/or edit out other things in order to keep the flow of the story, so the episodes when aired are slightly different than what appears in the film.

As an overall movie, if you grew up watching He-Man or you're a fan of the TV series, then you will more than likely enjoy this film. If you don't like He-Man or haven never seen the TV series, chances are you probably won't like it. I don't think today's kids could relate the cheap animation and corny characters/storylines.

8 Mile (2002)

 

"You ever get to a point when you gotta stop living up here and start living down here?"

 

2002 must have been the year for singers starring in movies. Just like Britney Spears earlier in the year with "Crossroads", Eminem follows suit with his film debut, "8 Mile". However, unlike Britney Spears, Eminem puts in a stellar performance and this movie is actually really good. 

"8 Mile" follows Jimmy 'B-Rabbit' Smith as he tries putting his life back together. B-Rabbit has to move back in with his mother and little sister and, at the same time, he is trying to get his rapping career off the ground with his attempt, and utter failure at local rap battles. Smith's friends are constantly fighting with the New World led by Papa Doc (Anthony Mackie). Smith's friend Future (Mekhi Phifer)sees Smith's talent and signs him up to battle other rappers again, against Smith's wishes. Smith eventually gets his life back together in order to battle in the final scene.

The reason that "8 Mile" is so good is that Eminem's acting is phenomenal. I believe his emotion and I believe he IS this character. I'm sure it helps that this film is semi-biographical, Eminem did grow up like this, he did have a dysfunctional mother and he did rap battles. The film isn't short on talent either including Academy Award winner Kim Basinger as his mother, Brittany Murphy, Mekhi Phifer, Anthony Mackie and Michael Shannon (playing his mother's boyfriend) and directed by Academy Award winner Curtis Hanson. And let's not forget that Eminem, himself, won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for this movie. 

There is very little bad about this movie, if anything. I remember when this movie came out originally, I honestly thought Eminem was going to be an actor and surprisingly he did not. I'd love to see him star in another movie because he really is a good actor.

Crossroads (2002)

 

"All we have is now, and right now we have each other"

 

Crossroads came out in 2002, during Britney Spears's heyday. Younger people may not realize how big Britney Spears was in the early 2000s. It was natural for her to make her way into acting. Problem is, Britney Spears isn't a very good actress.

Directed by Tamra Davis, Crossroads is a very formulaic coming of age film. Lucy (Spears) is a new high school graduate who is under the rule of her father (Dan Aykroyd), all he wants her to do is ignore her social life and become a doctor. Meanwhile, Lucy has broken up with her friends during high school. Her friends consist of Kit (Zoe Saldana) who has become a self-centered model and Mimi (Taryn Manning) who has become pregnant trailer trash. Lucy, now has the reputation of being a goody two shoes. When Mimi brings the trio back together to dig up a time capsule they buried as children, she reveals she will be going across country to go to L.A. for a singing competition. The trio head out with Ben (Anson Mount) who is allegedly a murderer (we later find out it was rumor). And that's pretty much the entire movie.

This is a very bland and (as mentioned before) formulaic. There is nothing in this movie we haven't seen previously in other films. Britney Spears is a cardboard actress (at least in this movie). Taryn Manning plays trailer trash which is a stretch for her from playing previous trailer trash characters. Manning was clearly put on this earth to play trailer trash. Even Zoe Saldana, who is a good actress, is bad in this movie. 

Also, this movie treats pregnancy as a disease. During a karaoke scene (which is only there to promote a single from Britney's 2001 album "Britney") Mimi attempts to sing, which she sucks at, you hear a random guy in the crowd yell out "SHE'S PREGNANT!" and then later on when Dan Aykroyd's character finds Lucy he says to here "This isn't like you, running way... with a PREGNANT GIRL!". I mean, come on! Pregnant women are still women, they can stand and sing, they can travel, it's not something taboo or crazy. Yes, she is a teenager, but she's 18, so what difference does it make?

Overall, this movie isn't very good. With the bland acting and the poor writing, this movie is just a promotional video for Britney Spears and her recent album at the time. That being said, this movie has a special place in my heart as I am a pretty hardcore Britney fan and I was definitely a hardcore fan in 2002. So, I enjoy this movie but I can see its major flaws and recognize this movie as bad.