1. X-Men (2000): In Congress, Senator Robert Kelly attempts to pass a "Mutant Registration Act", which would force mutants to publicly reveal their identities and abilities. Magneto begins his plans to level the playing field between mutants and humans. Meanwhile, a girl named Marie (a.k.a Rogue) runs away from her home in Meridian, Mississippi. She meets Wolverine in Canada. Suddenly, both of them are attacked by Sabretooth, a mutant and associate of Magneto. Cyclops and Storm arrive and save Wolverine and Rogue and bring them to the X-Mansion. Professor Charles Xavier runs the facility, and leads a group of mutants who are trying to seek peace with the human race, educate young mutants in the responsible use of their powers, and stop Magneto from starting a war with humanity.
Senator Kelly is abducted by Mystique and Toad, and brought to Magneto, who tests a machine on Kelly that artificially induces mutation. Kelly manages to escape imprisonment with his new abilities. After an accident causes Rogue to use her powers on Wolverine, she is convinced by Mystique (disguised as Bobby Drake, a boy whom Rogue likes) that Xavier is angry with her and that she should leave the school. Xavier uses Cerebro to locate Rogue at a train station. Mystique infiltrates Cerebro and sabotages the machine. Wolverine convinces Rogue to stay with Xavier. A fight ensues with Wolverine, Cyclops and Storm against Magneto, Toad and Sabretooth. Rogue is taken by Magneto. Senator Kelly arrives at Xavier's school, but dissolves into a puddle of water when his mutation becomes unstable.
The X-Men learn that Magneto intends to use Rogue's ability on himself so that Rogue can power his machine. Xavier attempts to use Cerebro to locate Rogue, but Mystique's sabotage causes him to fall into a coma. Jean fixes it and uses Cerebro to find Magneto's machine on Liberty Island, which Magneto intends to use on the world leaders who are meeting for a summit on nearby Ellis Island. Just as the group arrives at the top of the statue, Magneto and Sabretooth incapacitate the group and continue with their plans. Magneto transfers his powers to Rogue who is forced to use them to start the machine. Wolverine breaks free and initiates a fight with Sabretooth; however, Wolverine is thrown over the side of the statue and Sabretooth redirects himself to the group to finish them off.
Wolverine returns, and Cyclops, with Jean's help, blasts Sabretooth out of the statue. With Jean stabilizing him, Storm uses her abilities to send Wolverine to the top of Magneto's machine. With time running out, Wolverine attempts to stop the machine and save Rogue, but Magneto, now having regained some of his strength, halts Wolverine's claws. Cyclops manages to find a clean shot, wounding Magneto and allowing Wolverine to destroy the machine. Placing his hand to her face, Wolverine succeeds in transferring his regenerative abilities to a dying Rogue. Professor Xavier recovers from his coma, and the group learns that Mystique is still alive when they see her impersonating Senator Kelly on a news broadcast. In an attempt to help Wolverine learn more about his past, Xavier sends him to a military base near Alkali Lake. Xavier visits Magneto in his plastic prison cell, and the two play chess. Magneto warns his friend that he will continue his fight, to which Xavier promises that he (and the X-Men) will always be there to stop him.
2. Ocean’s Eleven (2001): Shortly after being paroled from prison in New Jersey, Danny Ocean (George Clooney) breaks parole to visit Los Angeles, meeting up with Rusty (Brad Pitt), a former partner in his criminal schemes, to propose a new scheme he has in mind. The two head to Las Vegas to approach wealthy friend and former casino owner Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould), with a plan to rob the vaults of the Bellagio, The Mirage and the MGM Grand casinos. At first Reuben is very reluctant, knowing himself how much security there is in every casino, but Reuben, seeing this as a way to get back at his rival, Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), owner of the 3 casinos, finances the option and suggests the plan be executed on the night of the highly-anticipated Lennox Lewis/Wladimir Klitschko boxing match. By Nevada Gaming Commission rules, the casinos must maintain adequate funds in their vaults to cover all bets, and during the busy casino night coinciding with the match, more than $150 million is expected to be stored in the Bellagio vault. Danny and Rusty begin to recruit former colleagues and other criminal masterminds into their group. The team plans and carries out a series of reconnaissance missions at the Bellagio to learn as much as possible about the security, the lay of the land and the routines and behaviors of the casino staff. At the same time, they recreate a perfect replica of the Bellagio vault to practice evasion of the vault's formidable security systems. During this planning phase, the team discovers that Danny's ex-wife, Tess Ocean (Julia Roberts), is currently Terry's lover, and Rusty urges Danny to drop the plan, aware that Tess may warn Terry that something is afoot if she sees Danny, but Danny figures this into the plan.
On the night of the fight, the plan is put into effect. Danny himself goes to the casino in order to be seen by Terry, who, as he expects, has him locked up in a storeroom to be beaten up by one of his bouncers. The bouncer, however, is in Danny's pocket, and he allows Danny to escape through a ventilation shaft and meet with his team in the vault. The team activates a stolen pinch device to temporarily disable power from the city, allowing them to breach the vault undetected. As Terry tries to restore order in the casino after the power outage, Rusty anonymously calls him via a cell phone that Danny planted earlier in Tess's coat. He lets him know that his vaults are being robbed and that all the money will be blown up if Terry does not cooperate to load half the money from the vault into a van waiting outside. Terry observes video footage of the vault that confirms Rusty's demands, and concedes to help move the money, but orders his men to follow the van when it departs while also calling a S.W.A.T. team to attack the vault. The S.W.A.T. team's arrival causes a shootout and the explosion of the other half of the money. The S.W.A.T. assures the situation is secure and departs with their equipment, leaving Terry to contemplate the ruins.
Terry realises that the vault video feed was faked when he notices that the vault's marble-inlay floors are missing the Bellagio logos, which were only very recently installed in the vault. His men following the van find that it is being driven remotely, and is only filled with "fliers for hookers". A flashback reveals that Danny used his vault recreation to create the fake video feed. The rest of Danny's team posed as the S.W.A.T. team, and took all of vault money unchecked. Terry returns to the room where he left Danny, finding that Danny is still there, leaving Terry no way to connect him to the theft. Danny offers to assist Terry in finding the money on condition that he give up Tess, to which Terry agrees. However, the team routes the live security feed of this conversation to Tess's suite. Angry at being used by Terry, she leaves him and returns to Danny. Danny is still arrested for violating parole, the police having been tipped off by Terry, and spends some months in prison. When Danny is released, he is met by Rusty and Tess, and the three drive off, closely followed by Terry's bodyguards.
3. Hulk (2003): David Banner is a genetics researcher who experiments on himself, trying to improve human DNA. Once his wife gives birth to their son Bruce, David realizes his mutant DNA has been passed on and attempts to find a cure for his son's condition. The government, represented by General "Thunderbolt" Ross, shuts down his research after learning of his dangerous experiments. David, in a fit of rage, causes a massive explosion of the facilities' gamma reactor, and accidentally kills his wife. He is then put into a mental hospital, while 4-year-old Bruce is sent into foster care and adopted, taking on the last name of Krenzler, believing his biological parents are deceased. The events surrounding his mother's death leave Bruce unable to recall details of his early childhood.
Years later, Bruce is a brilliant researcher freshly graduated at the University of California, Berkeley. The military-industrial complex, represented by the unscrupulous Major Talbot, becomes interested in the research to build regenerating soldiers. David reappears and begins infiltrating Bruce's life, working as a janitor in the lab building. Ross, now an Army general, also begins to investigate. Ross, the estranged father of Bruce's ex-girlfriend and co-researcher Betty Ross, becomes concerned both for his daughter's safety around Bruce, but also because Bruce is working in the same field as the father he does not remember.
Bruce succumbs to a scientific experiment accident. Afterwards, we see Bruce sitting in a hospital bed telling Betty that he's never felt better, which she can't fathom due to the fact that the nanomeds have killed everything else they've touched. The radiation has intertwined with Bruce's already-altered DNA. That night, his father confronts him, revealing their relationship and hinting at the mutation inside Bruce. Using Bruce's DNA, he begins experimentation on animals. Soon after, the building rage within Bruce stemming from all of the stresses building up around him activates his gamma-radiated DNA, transforming him into the Hulk.
After the destruction at the lab, Bruce is found unconscious and at home by Betty. Bruce barely remembers his transformation, a sensation similar to birth. Ross arrives, suspicious, and places him under house arrest as well as taking over Bruce and Betty's lab. That night, David phones Bruce and tells him he has unleashed three mutant dogs to Betty's house. Enraged and attacked by Talbot, Bruce transforms again and, after seriously injuring Talbot and the guards, fights and kills all three dogs and saves Betty. The next morning, Bruce is tranquilized and taken to an enormous underground base in the desert. Betty tries to convince her father to allow her to attempt to help Bruce control his transformations, but Ross remains extremely skeptical, believing Bruce is "damned" to follow in his father's footsteps. In the meantime, David breaks into the lab and subjects himself to the nanomeds and the gammasphere, gaining the ability to meld with and absorb the properties of anything he can touch.
Talbot, seeing an opportunity to profit from the Hulk's strength and regenerative capability, attacks and taunts Bruce, but fails. Talbot puts him in a sensory deprivation tank and induces a nightmare that triggers his repressed memories and transforms him into the Hulk, eventually leading to the death of Talbot. David confronts Betty and offers to turn himself in. In exchange, he asks to speak to Bruce "one last time." The Hulk escapes the base in the process. He battles the army in the desert, defeating four tanks and two Comanche Helicopters, and leaps all the way to San Francisco to find Betty again. Betty contacts her father and convinces him to take her to meet the Hulk, believing that he needs "a chance to calm down." Bruce's love for her comes through the Hulk, and he transforms back into his human form. David is allowed to visit the base and talk to Bruce. David, having descended into megalomania, fails to convince Bruce to give him his power. David transforms into a powerful electrical being after biting into a wire and absorbing the energy. Bruce then transforms into the Hulk and battles his father. Both are presumed dead after Ross orders a Gamma Charge Bomb to end the fight, leaving no trace of them. A year later there have still been numerous sightings of the Hulk. Bruce finds exile in the Amazon Rainforest as a doctor in a medical camp.
4. X-Men 2 (2003): Nightcrawler, a teleporting mutant, attempts to assassinate the President of the U.S. in the White House, but he fails and escapes. Wolverine reappears after discovering nothing at Alkali Lake, while Storm and Jean find Nightcrawler with the help of Professor Xavier and Cerebro. Cyclops and Professor X visit Magneto in his plastic prison to see if he had any part in the attack on the President. Reading Magneto's mind, Professor X discovers that a covert government operative, William Stryker, has been extracting information from Magneto. A trap is sprung and Cyclops and Professor X are captured by Stryker and his assistant Yuriko Oyama. A military raid of the X-Mansion begins, with the soldiers sedating every student they find; most escape and six are captured, while Wolverine encounters Stryker, who fails to shed any light on his past.
Impersonating Senator Robert Kelly and Yuriko, Mystique gains information about Magneto's prison and provides a means for him to escape. Wolverine, along with Rogue, Iceman and Pyro, heads to Iceman's home in Boston. After a 9-1-1 call by Bobby's brother Ronnie, the police arrive just as the group is about to leave, ensuing into a dispute with Pyro. The X-Jet arrives to pick them all up, and the X-Men team with Magneto and Mystique. Magneto has learned Stryker orchestrated the attack on the President and has been experimenting on mutants, using a drug injected directly into the back of the neck to control them. Jean reads Nightcrawler's mind and determines that Stryker's base is located at Alkali Lake, inside the dam. He has also stolen enough equipment from Xavier's own Cerebro unit to build a second Cerebro, with which he plans to kill all the world's mutants.
Stryker gains control over Professor Xavier through his son, Jason Stryker, who is able to project powerful visions in the mind, blinding a person to reality. Professor X is instructed to use Cerebro to find and kill all existing mutants. Mystique infiltrates Stryker's base using a number of disguises. As the X-Men enter Storm and Nightcrawler pair off, searching for kidnapped students. Jean, Magneto, and Mystique are attacked by a brainwashed Cyclops on their way to rescue Professor X, causing damage to the generators that keep the dam from collapsing. The force of Jean's telekinetic blast awakens Cyclops from his brainwashing. Wolverine finds Stryker in an adamantium smelting room along with Lady Deathstrike. Wolverine and Deathstrike begin fighting, and after a brief struggle Wolverine defeats and kills her. Wolverine finds Stryker on a landing pad, where Stryker attempts to bargain Wolverine for his life with stories of his past. Wolverine refuses and leaves him for dead, stabbing him and chaining him to the helicopter wheel.
Mystique, disguised as Stryker, uses Jason to convince Professor X to kill all humans. Magneto and Mystique use Stryker's helicopter to escape Alkali Lake, chaining Stryker to concrete rubble, and are also joined by Pyro. Meanwhile, Nightcrawler teleports Storm inside of Cerebro, where she frees the Professor from his telepathic illusion. A malfunction aboard the X-Jet prevents it from taking off, and the dam finally bursts. The flood gets stronger, drowning Stryker. Jean leaves the jet and creates a telekinetic wall in order to stop the wave, and at the same time raises the jet above the flood waters; all the while surrounded by a corona of fire. Jean activates the X-Jet's primary engines, before releasing the torrent of water down on herself. The X-Men are able to supply the President with files from Stryker's private offices, and Professor X warns him that humans and mutants must work together to build peace, or they will destroy each other through war. The film ends with a voiceover by Jean Grey on the process of evolution (a speech originally made by Professor Xavier in the introduction of the first film). The camera floats over Alkali Lake, showing a vague shape of a Phoenix in the lake.
5. Ocean’s Twelve (2004): Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) rounds up the eleven members of Danny Ocean's (George Clooney) gang, and threatens them to pay back the $160 million that they stole from his Vegas casino from their previous heist, along with $38 million in interest, within two weeks. Collectively, the group is short by nearly half, and are forced to stage another heist to collect the funds. The group opts for a European target as they are too well recognized in the United States, and select the world's oldest stock certificate issued by the Dutch East India Company in 1602, being kept in a private home in Amsterdam; the value would not be enough to settle the debt but sufficient to extend their deadline. While the group is able to breach the security of the house, including physically lifting the house to gain the correct line of sight to deactivate the security codes, they find they have been beaten by another master thief, François Toulour also known as "The Night Fox" (Vincent Cassel). Toulour invites Danny to his home, and reveals that it was he that tipped off Terry on Danny's casino heist, due to being upset that his mentor Gaspar LeMarque (Albert Finney) has believed Danny was the world's best thief. Toulour challenges Danny to see who could first steal the Coronation Egg within the week, offering to pay off Terry's debt if Danny should win.
As Danny's group prepares to steal the Egg during its exhibition at a museum, Europol detective Agent Isabel Lahiri (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who has long been on the trail of LeMarque and Toulour, discovers the theft of the stock certificate. She manages to connect the theft to Danny's group due to her previous relationship with Rusty (Brad Pitt) and begins to track them. As such, many of the group are captured in their first attempt to steal the Egg, leaving only Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon) and two others free. Linus comes up with a second plan, in which Danny's wife Tess (Julia Roberts) is to pose as a pregnant Julia Roberts as to allow them to get close to the Egg, but the group is inadvertently foiled by the appearance of Bruce Willis (playing himself) who recognizes Tess is not the real Julia Roberts. While Lahiri prepares her case against Danny's team, they are extradited by Linus's mother Mrs. Caldwell (Cherry Jones) posing as a U.S. official.
Danny and Tess return to Toulour's estate at Lake Como in Italy, where he reveals his glee at their fate and that he had stolen the Egg at night using his agility to sneak past the laser sensors. Danny informs Toulour that he still lost the bet. Danny explains that when they arrived in Europe, they were contacted by LeMarque and told of the plans to transport the Egg from Paris to Amsterdam by way of a non-descript carrier while a show of an official convoy was made. Danny's team was able to switch the courier's backpack during transit with an identical looking one carrying an imitation of the Egg without notice, thus stealing the Egg before it even went on display. Toulour is forced to admit his defeat and pays the debt owed to Terry.
LeMarque reveals in a meeting with Danny and Rusty that he had been playing a long con. LeMarque wanted to humiliate Toulour by taunting him into the bet with Danny, as well as to regain possession of the Egg that he had stolen himself long ago, only relinquishing it due to his wife's nagging. But more importantly, LeMarque wanted to be reunited with his daughter, revealed to be Lahiri, which could only be done after Danny's crew were extradited. With Rusty's help, Lahiri is flown in to an emotional meeting with her father. The group pays the money back to Terry, though under watch by Toulour, and then enjoy a private poker session, with Lahiri rejoining with Rusty.
6. Hellboy (2004): In 1944, the German Nazis work with the undead Russian mystic Grigori Rasputin on an isolated island off the coast of Scotland to build a dimensional portal. They intend to use it, with Rasputin's help, to awaken the Ogdru Jahad, monstrous entities that have been imprisoned and asleep since an undisclosed time, to destroy their enemies. But Rasputin secretly intends to use the entities to bring about the destruction of the entire Earth. He is aided by his servant, Ilsa von Haupstein, to whom he has granted eternal life, and Nazi Lieutenant Colonel Karl Ruprecht Kroenen, Hitler's finest assassin and leader of the Thule Occult Society. The United States sends a small Army team to destroy the portal, guided by a young doctor, Professor Trevor Broom, who is well-versed in the occult. In the ensuing battle, the German scientists and soldiers are killed and the portal is destroyed, in the process absorbing and apparently killing Rasputin. Ilsa and Kroenen escape capture. As the Army team surveys the ruins for anything that may have sneaked into their dimension through the portal, they discover an infant demon with a stone right hand. Broom coaxes it into his arms with a Baby Ruth candy bar. They name the little creature "Hellboy."
Sixty years later, a young FBI agent named John Myers is transferred to the B.P.R.D., run by Broom. He is introduced to Hellboy, now an adult. Also employed with the B.P.R.D. is a fish man named Abe Sapien who has advanced psychic abilities, and Liz Sherman, a pyrokinetic who has yet to learn to control her firestarting abilities. Liz has recently left the bureau (for the thirteenth time) and checked herself into a mental hospital in an effort to protect others from her talent. Despite regular visits and coaxing from Hellboy, who appears infatuated with her, she is determined not to return.
Meanwhile, Kroenen and Ilsa resurrect Rasputin. Rasputin and his companions travel to New York and the Machen Library of Paranormal Artifacts. There, they open a display and, through magic, release a monstrous hellhound known as Sammael. Rasputin imbues Sammael with the power to reincarnate and split his essence, causing two of the creature's "eggs" to hatch and mature in seconds each time one dies. Rasputin then visits Liz as she sleeps, reactivating her powers and causing the near-total destruction of the hospital. Afterwards, Myers talks to her, and convinces her to return to the bureau, at least for the short term.
The multiplying Sammael quickly becomes a major problem, as Hellboy repeatedly kills it, creating dozens. Abe is injured during an attempt to retrieve some of their eggs, and Kroenen kills one of the FBI agents sent with Hellboy, and Sammael kills the other two agents. Kroenen, whose mutilated body is now run by mechanic parts, then shuts himself down and pretends to be defeated just before Hellboy arrives. Kroenen's body is brought to the bureau for examination. FBI Director Tom Manning is angered by Hellboy's recklessness, which he feels is indirectly responsible for his agents' deaths. Hellboy gets mad and threatens Manning just as Liz returns, almost causing her to leave again just as quickly. Myers, in an effort to help her overcome her difficulties with Hellboy, takes her out for coffee and to talk. Hellboy, jealous, covertly follows them.
While they are away, Rasputin appears at the bureau, reanimating Kroenen before they confront Professor Broom. Out of twisted respect for Broom's protection and nurturing of Hellboy, Rasputin promises him a quick death, but first offers him a vision of the future, showing Hellboy is the agent that has destroyed the world. Rejecting Rasputin's vision of Hellboy's destiny, Broom is stabbed in the neck by Kroenen and, clutching a rosary, collapses and dies.
Manning takes over the B.P.R.D. and, with the help of Hellboy and the others, manages to find Rasputin's physical body located in a mausoleum in an old cemetery outside Moscow, Russia. An enraged Hellboy, with Manning's help, defeats Kroenen once and for all, to avenge the death of his father. Telling Manning to stay back, Hellboy reunites with Liz and Myers at Sammael's nest to defend them, but the creatures overwhelm him. In an effort to help, Liz, with some encouragement from Myers, ignores the fear that has prevented her from unleashing her full potential and uses her pyrokinetic powers to encase herself in fire, which she uses to incinerate the army of Sammaels and all the eggs. Unfortunately, this effect renders Hellboy, Liz and Myers unconscious and they are captured by Rasputin.
To force Hellboy to release the Ogdru Jahad, Rasputin sucks Liz's soul out of her body, telling Hellboy that Liz will come back to life only if he complies. Hellboy, not wanting to lose Liz, awakens his true power as Anung un Rama, causing his horns to regrow. He nearly releases the Ogdru Jahad, but the injured Myers reminds him of who he is and that he has the right to choose his own path. He snaps off his horns, returning to his former self and resealing the Ogdru Jahad. As Rasputin screams his frustration and disappointment at Hellboy, Hellboy stabs him in the belly with one of his broken horns.
However, Rasputin has one last trick up his sleeve: he is possessed by a creature from the Ogdru Jahad. The tentacled Behemoth bursts out of Rasputin's body, grows to immense size, and kills Rasputin and Ilsa. Hellboy grabs a stone sword from a nearby statue and attacks the Behemoth's tentacles, then allows himself to be swallowed while detonating a belt of live hand grenades. The subsequent explosion tears the Behemoth apart from inside, destroying it. Liz's vital signs are gone when Hellboy returns from the fight, but he whispers into her ear, and suddenly her life is restored. When she asks how her soul was returned, Hellboy replies that he simply told the creatures from the other side the cost of taking her: "Hey, you on the other side. Let her go. Because for her I'll cross over, and then you'll be sorry." She and Hellboy kiss as she surrounds them in flame, and the narrator, Myers, says that what truly makes a man is "Not how he starts things, but how he decides to end them."
Finally, the film ends with a humorous mid-credits scene, where a forgotten and frightened Manning is lost several levels down in the dank and dim halls of the mausoleum, listening to maybe the rustle of footsteps, and looking to see if there's anyone around.
7. Fantastic Four (2005): Dr. Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd), a brilliant but timid and bankrupt physicist, is convinced that evolution is triggered by clouds of cosmic energy in space, and has calculated that one of these clouds is soon going to pass near Earth. Together with his friend, the gruff yet gentle astronaut Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis), Reed convinces his equally brilliant but conceited MIT classmate Dr. Victor von Doom (Julian McMahon), now CEO of Von Doom Industries, to allow him access to his privately-owned space station.
Von Doom agrees, in exchange for control over the experiment and a majority of the profits from whatever benefits it brings. He brings aboard his chief genetics researcher (and Reed's ex-girlfriend) Susan Storm (Jessica Alba), and her hot-headed brother Johnny Storm (Chris Evans), his private astronaut, who was Ben's subordinate at NASA but is his superior on the mission, much to Ben's disgust. The quintet travels to space to observe the cosmic energy clouds, but Reed has miscalculated and the clouds materialize well ahead of schedule.
Victor refuses Reed's plea to abort the mission, knowing he must produce results to justify his expenditure, no matter the human cost involved. Knowing Ben is space-walking to set up equipment, Reed, Susan and Johnny leave the shielded inner area of the station to rescue him, and Victor closes the shield behind them. Whilst Victor is seemingly safe, the others are exposed to the cloud. Ben receives full exposure out in space, while the others receive a more limited dose within the station.
The astronauts make it home intact; however, before long they begin to mutate, developing strange powers. Reed is able to stretch like rubber; Susan can become invisible (by bending light around objects) and create force fields, especially when angered; Johnny can engulf himself in fire at up to supernova-like temperatures, and is able to fly; and Ben is transformed into "The Thing", a large, rock-like creature with superhuman strength.
After Ben, brooding about his situation on the Brooklyn Bridge, accidentally causes a major traffic pile-up whilst attempting to stop a man from committing suicide, the four use their powers to prevent any loss of life and to rescue a fire truck and its crew from falling off the bridge. The media dubs the team the 'Fantastic Four'; whilst Johnny eagerly embraces his powers and new life, Ben - the only one whose transformed appearance is permanent - suffers.
His disfigurement has caused his fiancee, Debbie, to abandon him and has seen him shunned and feared by much of New York. Blaming himself, Reed vows to return Ben to his human form. Therefore he, Susan and Ben work on a cure, constructing a healing chamber in Reed's high tech Baxter Building loft-turned-laboratory. During this time, Reed and Susan begin to rekindle their attraction to one another. Susan admits that she is not interested in Victor, but had turned away from Reed because he feared to make a binding vow, thinking only in terms of variables.
His excessive caution was hard for Susan to deal with, and now it begins to test Ben's patience, as he is eager to return to his human form while Reed is taking his time on the machine. Unknown to the others, however, Victor's body is also mutating; he is turning into organic metal capable of absorbing and manipulating electrical energy. As a result of the disastrous expedition, his company is going bankrupt and he is losing public stature; blaming Reed for his misfortunes, Victor swears revenge.
After killing a bank chairman who had pulled out of the Von Doom Industries' IPO, Victor sees the opportunity to finish off his rival once and for all. Manipulating Ben's insecurity and anguish, Victor tricks Ben into thinking that his teammates are not working on a cure with due diligence; after a vicious argument between himself and Reed, Ben storms out of the Baxter Building. Reed experiments with the curative machine on himself and nearly dies in the process, but learns that the machine only needs more power to fully succeed. Victor, who has been spying on Reed, tricks Ben into entering the machine and provides the extra power.
Ben becomes normal again, while Victor's own mutation increases exponentially, increasing his power but also physically disfiguring him. When Ben realizes that Victor merely wanted the super-strong Thing out of the way so that no one could stop him, Victor immobilizes Ben. Reed discovers them and Victor attacks him, taking him prisoner, and sarcastically asks "What happens when you super-cool rubber?" while getting him frozen to prevent him using his powers of distention. When Susan and Johnny realize what has happened, Victor - now calling himself 'Doom' - fires a heat-seeker missile at the Baxter Building, intending it to target and kill Johnny.
Johnny uses his powers of heat and flight to lead the missile to open water, where he ignites a garbage scow to dispose of the missile. However, he is thrown into the water, and whether he remains alive is not shown. Meanwhile, Susan attempts to rescue Reed and confronts Doom. She soon proves no match for the powerful Doom, and he is on the verge of killing her when Ben - having activated Reed's machine and used it upon himself to restore his mutation - bursts into the room. Doom and Ben fight, until the battle spills onto the street below.
But no matter how hard Ben attacks him, he is unable to overpower Doom, and Doom knocks him flat on his back. He is about to deal the finishing strike, when a recovered Reed and Susan arrive to save Ben. Doom begins to scorn them, when he is blasted from behind with fire from none other than Johnny, who survived his encounter with the missile unharmed. Doom absorbs all the electricity in the area that he can to begin the final showdown. At first, it seems that Doom has the advantage, as the team struggles under his onslaught of electric blasts.
Reed manages to use his elastic body to temporarily restrain Doom, and then coordinates the team for an offensive attack, trusting his initial judgment for the first time. He starts by telling Johnny to unleash his supernova heat on Doom, despite the fact that even Johnny agreed this was dangerous. Johnny uses this to surround Doom in a vortex of fire, while Reed gets Susan to try to contain it (and its dangerous amount of heat) within a force field.
She manages to do so while Doom makes futile attempts to break free with his electric blasts. When Johnny and Susan give out, it looks as if Doom is just starting to melt, but he is still on his feet and merely sneers "Is that the best you can do? A little heat?". Reed responds "Time for your lesson - Chem 101. What happens when you rapidly cool hot metal?" Ben then kicks the top off of a fire hydrant, and he and Reed direct the water shooting out of it at Doom. The steam created as the water hits Doom forms a thick cloud, and when it settles, Doom is seemingly left as a statue of inert metal.
Ben informs Reed that he has accepted his condition with the help of Alicia Masters, a blind artist for whom he has developed feelings, and the team decide to embrace their roles as superheroes and unite officially as the Fantastic Four. Reed proposes marriage to Susan, who accepts. Doom's remains are being transported back to his homeland of Latveria when the ship carrying them experiences unusual electronic interference.
8. Ocean’s Thirteen (2007): Veteran confidence man (and partner in the two prior "Ocean's" capers) Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould), in an effort to legitimize himself and secure himself financially in his later years, partners himself with notorious hotelier Willy Bank (Al Pacino) to build a major hotel and casino in Vegas called "The Midas". Bank double-crosses Reuben by modifying the partnership in the final contract so as to freeze Reuben out and subtly threatening his life, forcing Reuben to sign over his half of the business. Reuben suffers a heart attack, and is bedridden, seemingly having lost the will to live. Reuben's friend Danny Ocean (George Clooney) attempts to persuade Bank to reconsider the deal, but Bank refuses. Danny gathers the same group of con men seen in Ocean's 11 and Ocean's 12 to exact revenge on Bank, by making the casino (Now renamed "The Bank") an immediate flop on its opening night.
The group launch a multi-faceted attack on Bank. They bribe the Bank's concierge with a job offer for a casino resort in Macao, and having Saul Bloom (Carl Reiner) pose as the AAA hotel reviewer. Bank is counting on recieving another "Five Diamond Award" rating for this hotel, as he has for all his other hotels. The real reviewer (David Paymer)is made as miserable as possible, the crew contaminating his room with horrible odors, freezing him out of the casino's best restaurant (by bribing the maitre'd), giving him food poisoning and a horrible (but harmless) rash, then (with two members of the crew disguised as Bank security men) evicting him from the hotel. Ocean very publicly 'steals' Bank's high profile, rich guests (known in Las Vegas parlance as 'whales') having them leave The Bank for other accommodations. These are just misdirection and harassment tactics, as the crew work towards their ultimate goal: taking all of Bank's money. The crew plans to rig the gaming machines to give off massive payouts to the opening night crowd and force Bank to lose the $500 million he needs to retain ownership of the hotel. They infiltrate a dice-making factory in Mexico to contaminate and rig the dice for the whole casino at the source. They also plan to modify the card dealing machines and rig slot machines to pay off on a specific sequence of coin drops.
While the caper largely goes according to plan, some complications arise. The Mexican factory suffers a strike and a lockout by management. Livingston (Eddie Jemison)cannot make the card dealing machines work as planned. Worst of all, they discover that Bank has set up an elaborate and supposedly unbeatable artificial intelligence system called the "Greco" that would discover any manipulation of the gambling machines, and can identify cheaters by use of biometric readings. They consult their con artist friend and technical expert Roman Nagel (Eddie Izzard) for help. Nagel determines that while the Greco cannot be beaten, it can be disabled for several minutes by activating a magnetron near the mainframe. Using Bank's own greed against him, the crew acquires a prototype cell phone that they know Bank has been asking for. The crew secrets a magnetron device in the phone that can be activated to disable the Greco. While this will allow the casino players to break the bank, it will not make them leave. To ensure the winners do not simply put their money back on the gambling tables, the crew must simulate a disaster, such as an earthquake. To do so requires the purchase of the underground boring machines that constructed the Chunnel to create a fake tremor that evacuates the building. When the cost of acquiring the machines proves more than the crew can afford, they recruit millionaire casino owner Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), the 'mark' of the first Ocean's caper. Benedict, who loathes Bank for being classless and soiling the reputation of all casino owners, agrees to help on two conditions - he is reimbursed the money he fronts for the operation, and the crew must steal Bank's collection of diamond necklaces, (Bank has bought one for each of his other AAA "Five Diamond Award" winning casinos around the world). While the crew first balk at the idea of adding a jewel heist to the plan at the last minute, they concoct a scheme - planting young Linus (Matt Damon) in a position to seduce Bank's attractive (but slightly older) assistant Abigail Sponder (Ellen Barkin).
While the rest of the crew works at their various tasks, Basher (Don Cheadle) has been sending Reuben heartfelt letters to encourage his recovery. Basher, stuck manning the boring machine, asks Linus to read the to Reuben, but Linus is embarrassed to read the sentiments aloud, and leaves them on Reuben's nightstand. Reuben eventually reads them himself, and slowly regains his strength and reassurance. He finally finds the stamina to visit the Bank on opening night and watch the crew put the plan into action.
Most aspects of the plan work as expected. The Greco is disabled, the tremor evacuates the winners, and Linus succeeds in seducing Sponder and getting her to let him into the secure diamond room, on the top floor of the casino. However, other aspects fail catastrophically. FBI agents arrest Livingston, caught trying to plant the rigged card dealing machines. The rest of the crew narrowly avoids capture when Bank runs Livingston's fingerprints and attempts to determine Livingston's known criminal associates through the Las Vegas 'black book' database. Only the fast work of Basher (impersonating a stunt cyclist hired to perform at the casino opening) distracting Bank, and a quick hack of the database by Virgil and Turk Mallor (Scott Caan, Casey Affleck) to alter the images of the crew prevent Bank from uncovering the scheme. The FBI agents also arrests Linus. Linus and the lead FBI agent proceed to the roof of the casino.
It is then revealed that the FBI agent is in fact Linus' father, Bobby Caldwell (Bob Einstein). Caldwell has maintained a deep cover identity as an FBI agent. Livingston's arrest was part of the plan, as the actual rigged card machines are seen being put into place by Roman. Linus and Caldwell await retrieval by Basher in a helicopter, but are confronted and held at gunpoint by François Toulour (Vincent Cassel), the European thief named the "Night Fox" they had encountered before. Tolour demands the diamonds from Linus. Toulour then parachutes off of the roof, seemingly with the diamonds. Linus, Caldwell, and Basher then steal the real diamonds by making off with the entire Diamond Award display case with the help of the helicopter and planted explosives. Tolour sees the helicopter fly off, and quickly discovers the 'diamonds' he took from Linus are fakes. He throws them in a dumpster ans stalks way, muttering.
As the guests evacuate the hotel and his diamonds fly way, Bank realizes he has been duped, that Saul is not the hotel reviewer, his casino is bankrupt, and he has been ruined by Ocean. Bank threatens to send people after Danny and his crew. Ocean confidently informs him he knows that Bank, who achieved most of his success illegally, won't go to the police, and that nearly everyone else on the other side of the law holds a grudge against Bank and would rather remain in Danny's favor than aid Bank in his revenge. Ocean admonishes Bank by reminding him that he once shook Sinatra's hand, and should know better.
The group gives Reuben a deed to 4.6 acres (19,000 m2) of land on north end of the Las Vegas Strip to develop a new hotel. Danny learns that Benedict hired Toulour to interfere with the plans. As 'revenge', Ocean takes Benedict's money and donates it to a children's charity which earns Benedict an appearance on "Oprah" obliging him to the role of heroic philanthropist.
As the group disperses, they repay the real hotel reviewer for the unpleasant experience they made him go through by setting him up him to win $11 million on an airport slot machine.
9. Surf’s Up (2007): A documentary crew follows the events of Cody Maverick (voiced by Shia LaBeouf) a small rockhopper penguin residing in Shiverpool, Antarctica (a pun on Liverpool, England). After a childhood visit from surf legend Zeke "Big Z" Topanga, Cody aspires to emulate the renowned legend by becoming a famous and respected surfer.
Eventually, talent scout Mikey Abromowitz (voiced by Mario Cantone) arrives in Shiverpool scouting for surfers to compete in the Big Z Memorial Surf Contest. Cody joins the group of surfers, once he's proven himself to Mikey, and quickly befriends Chicken Joe (voiced by Jon Heder), an easy-going surfer from Wisconsin. Other prominent surfers are part of the scouting tour as well, Renato Mendes (Brazil), Rory Nubbins (Australia), and Tatsuhi Kobayashi (Japan). Soon after arriving at Pen Gu Island, Cody crosses paths with the local lifeguard named Lani Aliikai (voiced by Zooey Deschanel) as she rescues the penguin child, Arnold, from "drowning." Shortly thereafter, Cody has an altercation with the egotistical Tank "The Shredder" Evans (voiced by Diedrich Bader), a large muscular penguin and nine time winner of the Big Z Competition, when he witnesses Tank hurling stones at Big Z's memorial shrine. The disturbance catches the attention of promoter Reggie Belefonte, all too eager to allow Cody to challenge Tank to a surf-off on the spot. Unfortunately Cody's inexperience with the challenges the competition has to offer leads to a terrible wipeout; unable to come up for a proper breath of air, he is pulled under and injured when he steps on a fire urchin. Lani takes the injured and unconscious Cody to the jungle home of a hermit called the Geek (voiced by Jeff Bridges) in order to get help for his injuries and to recuperate. The Geek studies the injury, removes the urchin spine, and uses an old trick taught to him to heal the poisonous sting, urinating on it.
By morning Cody is woken by the Geek, who is eager to remove the young surfer from his premises. On the escort back, Cody realizes that he has lost his Big Z necklace. Geek is less than impressed, though shows curious reactions to Cody's tale of Big Z and how Cody received said necklace. He shows Cody the route back to the beach, and leaves the young penguin be. A short time having passed, Geek has found Cody's necklace in his hut and quickly returns to the path fork, finding Cody still sitting on the log, and returns the Big Z necklace. As if in an effort to make up with the surfer-to-be, Geek notices the log's type, Koa (of which all the best surfboards are made), and decides for Cody that they're making him a surfboard. Cody, bemused and surprised, reluctantly agrees and the two attempt to haul the log back to Geek's hut.
A little slip up on Cody's part and soon the log is rolling in the opposite direction, with Geek soon with it. The log ends up flying off a cliff, Geek, however, stays hanging on for dear life on the cliff itself. After a quick rescue from Cody, the young surfer notices what the cliff looks over: a beautiful and pristine beach. Unable to contain his curiosity, Cody treks down the steep cliff, inadvertently taking Geek with him. On the beach now, Cody explores a toppled tree and soon realizes it houses several old surfboards, those of Big Z's. Geek is seen investigating a dilapidated shack littered with messages of grief from Big Z's fans, and from his reaction, Cody realizes that the Geek is Big Z.
Almost instantly, Cody's excitement that his lifetime hero still lives is unleashed in a torrent of questions and theories as to what happened, much to the chagrin of Z, who quickly takes to hiding within his old home. Cody is now convinced that this is his chance, with his hero by his side to train him, he can win the Memorial Surf Off no question. Eventually Cody lures Z from the hut, having pulled Z's old boards from their resting spot and attempting to surf with them out in the crystal blue ocean. Cody takes a few more wipeouts as he attempts to get Z in the water, but slowly manages to work tips from Big Z; Z, however, is still not impressed, and with one last (and Z predicted) wave, Cody is pulled ashore ("Don't touch my stuff, man.") and told that he won't be doing any surfing until he has made a board of his own.
Eager Cody and mellow Z finally get to work on the Koa board, halving the log from earlier, and getting a pattern drawn. The two are quickly at odds with one another, Cody becoming frustrated with his mentor's overbearing attitude towards the board ("No, no I don't want your help!"). Z backs off, and allows Cody to pry his way through the wood, creating a "work in progress" gouged plank that quickly snaps once actually in the water. Cody becomes irritated and leaves the beach, leaving Z and the documentary crew behind (Z offering them barbecue cooked over the broken wood). He's soon reunited with Lani, on her way to Geek's hut with a satchel full of clams. It is revealed that Lani knew of Geek's true persona, she was his niece, and in her very own excitement, she takes Cody to a special spot on the island, the Lava Tubes. After a thrilling race through the tubes and a "winning" landing in glow worm droppings, a shower, and a talk, Lani convinces Cody to return to Z. Cody complies, realizing his folly, and returns to Z's beach, beginning work on a new surfboard under the bright moonlight.
By morning, he has finished the board, Z is surprised and pleased, Cody has successfully created a proper board this time. Z, being the playful sort, puts Cody through a few more land-based tests first, before he allows Cody in the water, all intended to make Cody realize that surfing should be about having fun, and not contests and winning. Once the young surfer has proven that to Big Z, they're off to the water! A true feat, Z's first attempt at surfing in over 10 years proves that he's still the soul surfer he always was. Lani soon arrives on the beach and joins the duo as they surf the rest of the day away.
Now evening, Cody, Lani, and Zeke are resting beside a fire, cooking a few shrimp, Z is entertaining them with his personal ukulele song, while Cody waxes his new board. Cody soon asks Big Z to come and watch him surf in the Big Z Memorial Surf competition. Z is highly reluctant, becoming irritated with the questioning, but ashamedly reveals the truth behind his disappearance. Ten years ago, winning had become everything to Z, he was facing Tank Evans in a Reggie Belafonte backed contest, and realizes soon enough that he couldn't beat the then up-and-coming Tank. Not wanting to end up a loser and wash-up to his fans and friends, Z decided the only right choice was to disappear.
On that last big wave, Z lets go of his board, allowing it to careen into the Boneyards, himself slipping off into the wave and out of sight, permanently. Cody is in disbelief, his hero had given up. Tossing his necklace into the dark waves, Cody storms off, intending to win the contest alone. Cody continues through the forest and is caught in a trap set by the natives of Pen Gu island. Chicken Joe appears, having been looking for Cody ever since his disappearance, and since had befriended and apparently traveling with the Pen Gu-ins, retrieves Cody just as the horn blows for the start of the Surf Off.
The first waves remove most of the surfers from the contest, leaving Tank, Cody and Chicken Joe to continue on. Things become heated and Tank makes it clear his intentions to take out Chicken Joe, leaving Cody with an opportunity to win, an opportunity he does not take. Instead he clashes with Tank, sending them both to "The Boneyard", a section normally roped off and considered the most dangerous section due to the rough nature of the waves and the lacerating and towering rock formations. Tank is knocked out cold after colliding with some of the rocks, Lani rescues Tank and brings him to shore while Cody hangs on to dear life on any surface he can grab. Big Z appears and with the help of a particularly large and crashing wave, rescues Cody from the dangers of the Boneyard. Once together on Zee's old board they exhaustedly paddle safely to shore. Finally ashore, Z is quickly revealed to the curious and questioning onlookers. After standing up to Reggie in his attempt to auction off the "deceased" Cody's board, Z invites everyone to his old beach spot to surf. Cody finishes talking with the documentary crew at this point and joins his friends in the water. Having learned that friendship and fun is the heart behind surfing, Cody finally catches a tube with Big Z. The film ends with Z, Cody, Lani, and many others surfing the waves as the sun sets.
By Richard Moody & Susan Kendall Moody
1. Garfield The Movie (2004): The story takes place in Muncie. It begins when Garfield who lives with Jon Arbuckle is a fat lazy cat (voiced by Bill Murray) who wakes up from a good night's sleep and awaits a tasty breakfast. Jon is woken by the fat cat with a dogpile. After switching his liver flavored cat food with Jon's corned beef hash, Garfield spots a pie outside on the neighbor's window. He tricks the Doberman Pinscher Luca (voiced by Brad Garrett) in order to get the pie and tangling his leash around many bushes and ceramic ducks. He also tricks his dimwitted neighbor cat Nermal (voiced David Eigenberg) to tip over a milk bottle for Garfield's breakfast.
After walking the cul-de-sac, Jon spots a mouse and counts on Garfield to get it. Garfield refuses and Jon runs after the rodent. He then trips on one of Garfield's toys and says "What good is it to have a cat, if it can't catch a mouse". Garfield then runs outside and catches up to the mouse. The mouse turns out to be Garfield's best friend and his name is Louis (voiced by Nick Cannon) and he was warned by Garfield that he should not run around the house when Jon is home. Jon walks out after Garfield and sees Louis in his mouth. Jon is proud of the tabby cat and when he leaves Garfield spits him out and spares his life. He only did it so Jon wouldn't hurt him.
At the telegraph tower, Happy Chapman (the main villain played by Stephen Tobolowsky) the star of a Saturday morning show is sick of cats (because of his allergies) and wishes for a dog star along with him, and to outdo his more successful twin brother Walter, a news anchor. After his show, Jon comes home with some food he bought at the store. Garfield pigs out of the lasagna trays and Jon is terribly disappointed. Garfield is brought to the vet (Garfield previously thought he was going to Chuck E Cheese's, Wendy's, Taco Kitty or Olive Garden), with Jon and is checked out by Liz (a vet played by Jennifer Love Hewitt), a nice and attractive veterinarian and is also Jon's high school crush. Jon tries to ask her out when a dog is brought in. His name is Odie and Liz asks Jon to take care of Odie or he will not survive on his own. Garfield comes out of the vet and sees Odie in the car, and Liz ends up asking Jon out.
Garfield is (needless to say) not very happy now that a dog is running amuck in the house, sitting in his chair, getting the paper, and sleeping beside Jon when Garfield is not allowed to. To make things worse, Liz shows up and Jon, with Odie, leave to go to the town dog show, and Garfield chases after them. At the dog show (where Liz is a judge) and where Jon is in the audience with Odie, Garfield unwittingly walks right into the show, is spotted by the dogs competing in the show and runs away with the dogs in hot pursuit. The music goes on and Odie leaps out of Jon's hands and attempts to dance (just as when Garfield was dancing back at the house). The judges are impressed as well as the audience. Garfield succeeds in escaping and Odie is rewarded by Happy Chapman (also a judge) He says Odie may have a future in television, but Jon turns it down. When a picture for the news paper is taken, you can see Happy looking greedily at Odie.
Garfield hangs on under Liz's truck on the way back, and Jon and Liz plan a dinner on Sunday. Garfield is very angry because Odie got all the attention. He smacks a ball which starts an unusual Rube Goldberg contraption and results to the square shelves above the computer to fall down (along with leaving the house in shambles). Garfield gets kicked out and he watches in the windows how much Jon loves Odie. He sleeps on the porch that night and Odie comes out to comfort him. Garfield is touched, but then hops inside and locks the doggy door, and locks Odie out. Odie runs away and ends up found by a sweet old lady.
Jon finds out Odie has gone and he feels terrible. After putting up posters around town, Liz arrives for the dinner, Jon cancels the dinner and tells Liz about Odie. Jon and Liz than work to together to find Odie. Meanwhile Happy Chapman finds a found poster by the old lady and knows it is Odie. He takes back Odie (which is a crime, because it is not his dog) and the dog performs on the Happy Chapman show. Garfield sees him and Happy announces that he and Odie are going to New York by train for a big performance. Garfield attempts to show Jon, but the show goes to a Wendy's commercial. Garfield then sets out on a mission to rescue the pup.
In the city, Garfield meets Louis again and the mouse guides the fat cat to the Telegraph Tower. Garfield can't go in by the doors, so he climbs the vents and finds Odie in Happy's room. Happy comes in and puts on an inhumane shock collar that with a press of a button, Odie gets a small shock and performs backflip. Happy than heads to the Train Station and Garfield follows behind, The tabby is than caught by Animal Control and is thrown in the pound. Jon sees Liz at a clothing store and tells Liz that Garfield has run away too. The couple goes and investigates. Finding a found poster of Odie, the old lady says Odie is Happy Chapman's dog and the two drive to telegraph tower.
Garfield, at the pound meets Persnikitty (voiced by Alan Cumming), Happy's last show cat that he threw inside the pound. A family arrives to take a cat home for a pet. Persnikitty, Garfield, and 3 other cats are taken and lined up behind a wall. The little girl picks Persnikitty. The old show cat tells Garfield that he will press the red button (which opens all the cages) in order to escape. All the caged up animals ran like mad cows out in the city.
At the Train Station, Happy places Odie in the luggage cart and sits down for lunch. Garfield just misses the train. Jon and Liz arrive at the Train Station after being told that Happy was going to leave. Garfield sneaks into the control room, and messes with the commands. The tracks get rearranged that all the trains are on the same tracks. Just when the trains are about to collide, Garfield stops all the trains with the press of a certain button. Garfield climbs in the luggage cart after the train returns to the station. He reunites with Odie.
Happy sees Garfield and Odie run out and is shocked. He runs out and chases them into the station's luggage halls, traps the two animals and threatens Odie with the shock collar. Garfield jumps to the rescue and Happy throws the tabby on some luggage. Garfield gets up and is greeted by the pound animals. They've come to help. The animals corner Happy, and Garfield gives orders to attack and place the shock collar on Happy's neck. The pound animal leaves than Garfield and Odie finish off Happy with 2 shocks of the collar. Jon and Liz arrive, Jon furiously punches Chapman. Jon promises the cat and dog to never leave them out of his sight. Chapman gets arrested and Garfield is now known as a hero.
Back home, Liz and Jon began a relationship, along with a passionate kiss. Garfield learns friendship and love, and they live as a big happy family....But all that changes when he intentionally pushes Odie off his chair over and over again.
The film closes with Garfield singing and dancing to James Brown's "I Got You (I Feel Good)". He does a split and can't get up.
2. War Of The Worlds (2005): The story opens in Newark, New Jersey, with dock worker Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) finishing the third shift in the morning. His pregnant ex-wife Mary Anne (Miranda Otto) and her wealthy new husband Tim (David Alan Basche), drop off Ray's 10-year-old daughter Rachel (Hannah Dakota Fanning) and teenage son Robbie (Justin Chatwin) at his house. They are staying with him in Bayonne, New Jersey, while Tim and Mary Anne visit her parents in Boston, Massachusetts for the weekend. Rachel suffers from a panic disorder, while Robbie harbors resentment and outright disrespect towards his father. Later that day, Ray wakes up from a nap and is told by Rachel that Robbie has stolen his car and left.
Ray immediately sets out to find him, but is distracted by a strange wall cloud formation near his neighbourhood. As he and Rachel view it from the garden, the clouds begin to unleash electromagnetic pulses, disabling all of the working electronic devices in the area, including cars. Ray finds an apologetic Robbie, and tells him to take care of Rachel in the house while he goes to look at a hole in the ground that Robbie mentioned. Traveling past, he advises a mechanic to replace the solenoid of a Plymouth Voyager he is repairing. Ray and many other people find the mysteriously cold hole in the intersection, from which a large Tripod machine emerges. It begins to vaporize all humans within its range, and starts to destroy all the buildings in its path. Ray however, manages to escape and returns to his house. After packing food, Ray and the kids abandon their home and steal the Plymouth Voyager, which, due to Ray's advice of changing the solenoid, is the only operating vehicle in town.
The family drive to Tim's house, and take refuge in the basement for the night. During the night, a tripod destroys an airliner that crashes into the development, demolishing many of the houses. In the morning, Ray meets a small news team, who show close-up video footage to Ray of the lightning in the previous "storm". In slow-motion, they see what they believe to be a pod, deducing that the aliens "rode" down the lightning into the ground where the Tripods were located. The reporter believes that the machines were buried in the Earth long before the rise of humanity. After hearing the siren of a nearby Tripod approaching the area, the news crew flees, leaving Ray to assemble his kids with the intention of driving on to Boston.
As the family continues on their journey and stop for a bathroom break, Rachel is startled by the sight of mutilated corpses floating along the Hudson River. Then they are passed by a convoy from the U.S. Army. Robbie begs the soldiers driving by to allow him to join and fight, but is ignored until Ray confronts him along with Rachel. In the evening, their van is attacked by a mob along their travel route - who are desperate for transport - and the family only survives the small riot because Ray had a revolver. However, after a man steals the van by holding Ray at gunpoint (forcing him to drop the revolver), Ray and his children are forced to continue on foot. They reach a Hudson River ferry in Athens, New York, but as a Tripod appears over the hills on the horizon (joined by two others), the crowd panics and the ferry immediately sets off. However, evasion proves futile as a fourth Tripod hiding underwater capsizes the ferry. Ray, Robbie, and Rachel manage to escape and swim to safety, while other refugees are captured or killed. On a hill, they witness the town of Athens being destroyed.
Later, the family come across U.S. Military forces somewhere in Massachusetts, attacking a group of Tripods; an entirely fruitless effort as the machines are protected by force-fields. Although their weapons are ineffective, the military continues with their assault to delay the advance of the Tripods, and give some time for the refugees in the area to escape. Robbie attempts to join the battle, and Ray reluctantly lets him go in order to save Rachel from being taken away by a couple nearby, who see her waiting alone by a tree and worry for her safety. In the ensuing chaos an enormous firebomb erupts, and Robbie is separated from Ray and Rachel, and they assume he is dead.
Immediately following the battle, Ray and Rachel are offered shelter in a basement by a man named Harlan Ogilvy (Tim Robbins), who lost his family to the Tripods. The invaders settle close to the house where the trio are hiding, and tensions start to emerge between Ogilvy, who wants to strike back at the aliens, and Ray, who is preoccupied with his own safety and that of his daughter. Later that night, a Tripod probe gains access to the basement, and the three barely manage to escape detection. A small contingent of aliens then enter to explore afterwards, and Ray struggles to stop Ogilvy from attacking them. But the aliens are summoned back to the Tripods by a siren, before Ogilvy has an opportunity to shoot them with his shotgun. Meanwhile, the invaders begin spreading a strange "red weed", which appears to be a mysterious plant fertilized with the blood of captured humans. Subsequently, Ogilvy mentally cracks after witnessing one of the Tripods harvesting blood and tissues from a helpless human victim. Ray, concerned that the commotion Ogilvy is creating might draw the attention of the invaders to himself and his daughter, makes the decision to murder Ogilvy and thereby silence him. Rachel goes to comfort her father afterwards, who is clearly affected by having to carry out the killing. The pair then fall asleep, but are awoken by another probe entering the basement, which sights Rachel. Ray attacks the probe with an axe and it retreats, while Rachel flees the house.
Ray attempts to find Rachel, but is attacked by a Tripod. As he tries to find safety in a truck which the Tripod tosses upside down, Ray spots his daughter standing nearby, screaming as the Tripod advances towards her. The Tripod captures Rachel and ignores Ray's provocation, forcing him to harass it with some hand grenades he finds nearby. Though the shield protects the Tripod, it immediately captures Ray and deposits him in a metal cage with many other captives, and a traumatized Rachel. A closed chute above the cage releases a mechanical arm which periodically grabs a human, to be violently processed within the machine. After it grabs Ray, the other prisoners fight to save him, and successfully pull him out from within the interior of the Tripod. Ray reveals that he left the remaining grenades primed within the Tripod, and the grenades detonate, destroying it. The cage is dropped on a tree, and Ray and Rachel - along with the other surviving captives - escape.
Soon afterwards, Ray and his daughter continue to move towards Boston. It is there that they find that all the "red weed" is dying, and the Tripods are beginning to seriously malfunction. After seeing birds fly near, and land, on one still-moving Tripod, Ray realizes that the shields are no longer operational. He draws this to the attention of a group of soldiers who are trying to lead refugees to safety, and the soldiers attack the Tripod with several Javelin missile launchers - successfully bringing it to the ground. When the soldiers advance towards the Tripod afterwards, it discharges a cargo of blood-colored liquid, and one of the dying aliens within. With the threat gone, Ray finally brings Rachel to Mary Anne and Tim at her parents' house, where she has been waiting for them. Robbie also comes out of the house, revealing that he survived too. The movie closes with Ray and Robbie hugging, and Ray crying in relief.
Afterwards, the narrator reveals that the Tripods were breaking down because the invaders and their weeds were suffering from terrestrial diseases, for which they had no immunity.
3. The Pink Panther (2006): The film opens with the Chief Inspector, Charles Dreyfus (Kevin Kline), who tells the story of the Pink Panther diamond theft case. A flashback appears as Dreyfus tells the story. Yves Gluant (Jason Statham) comes down the stadium, showing his trademark Pink Panther diamond ring. He then happily kisses Xania (Beyonce Knowles), his girlfriend, after whispering to her. Yves' team won the match, but then Yves dies with a poison dart in his neck, and the Pink Panther diamond ring has vanished from his hand. Inspector Charles Dreyfus, eager to win the Légion d'honneur (translated as the "Medal of Honor" in the film), appoints clumsy third class detective Jacques Clouseau (Steve Martin) to the case as Dreyfus assembles a team of investigators to tackle the mystery in secret, while planning to take over the case and win the Légion d'honneur. Dreyfus also appoints Gendarme Gilbert Ponton (Jean Reno) to report on Clouseau's whereabouts at all times.
Clouseau makes little progress at first, bungling one situation after another. Bizu, a star player who hated Gluant and was the prime suspect, is shot in the head and killed. A girl witness had heard him say "Oh, it's you" immediately before being shot; therefore Clouseau tells Ponton to gather all the people in Paris with the name "You". He interviews an old Cantonese woman (credited as "Yu") and appears not to understand her, though it is revealed later that he understood every word. While at a casino, with the intent of asking some questions of owner Raymond Larocque (Gluant's business partner, played by Roger Rees), he encounters British Secret Agent 006 Nigel Boswell (Clive Owen, parodying James Bond). Boswell later poses as Clouseau in order to conceal his identity while stopping a robbery by the notorious "Gas-Masked Bandits". Clouseau receives credit for the deed and thus is nominated for the Légion d'honneur, much to Dreyfus's annoyance.
Believing that Xania knows more than she has revealed, Clouseau follows her to New York City, having tried to gain a flawless American accent but with no success. Before he can return to France, his bag is exchanged for another by a woman working for Dreyfus while he waits in line at airport security. The new bag, which contains several weapons (including a flail, a pocket knife, nunchucks, a grenade, and a revolver), sets off the metal detector. After he refuses to empty his pockets, which contain hamburgers, he is arrested, being unable to explain his situation as a result of his inability to pronounce the word "hamburger", the only word Clouseau's dialect coach tried (and failed) to teach him. Upon Clouseau's return to France, Dreyfus insults him and strips him of his inspector rank, preparing to win the case. Based on his evidence — that the poison that killed Gluant was derived from Chinese herbs — Dreyfus deduces that the killer is a Chinese envoy named Dr. Pang, whom he plans on arresting at the upcoming Presidential Ball. Dreyfus later orders the event's planners to remove Clouseau's name from the guest list.
Having returned home, Clouseau finds a photo of his arrest on the Internet. He sees something significant in the photo, and immediately makes his way to the Élysée Palace with Ponton, where they sneak into the Presidential Ball with the help of Clouseau's girlfriend Nicole. Dreyfus arrests Dr. Pang for double murder, but Clouseau and Ponton are able to prevent the murder of Xania by pursuing and capturing the real killer, who turns out to be Yuri, the French soccer team's trainer. Clouseau then reveals that the Cantonese woman "reminded" Clouseau that all soccer trainers must be learned in Chinese medicine; furthermore, Bizu was shot in the occipital lobe of the brain, a location that would be known to Yuri on the premise that all soldiers who served in the Russian military (as Yuri was) must also be expert marksmen and know the precise location of the occipital lobe (though in the film the shot was actually into the frontal lobe). Clouseau also reveals that Yuri tried to kill Xania because she went out with Gluant and Bizu and ignored him, as all women is like an artichoke, because you have to do a bit of work before you can get to her heart. Xania is revealed to have the Pink Panther diamond sewn into the lining of her purse, having received it from Gluant as an engagement ring. Clouseau then reveals that he had seen the diamond in her purse while examining the photograph of his arrest, which also showed a view of her purse as it appeared to the airport's luggage scanner. Dreyfus makes a clumsy attempt to take credit, saying his arrest of the Chinese envoy was a ploy to draw out the real killer. For his success, Clouseau wins the Légion d'honneur.
Later, Dreyfus is severely injured when Clouseau's Smart car drags him on the road for several minutes after Clouseau unknowingly closes the door on his pant leg. A visit by Clouseau to a hospital where Dreyfus lies bandaged culminates in Dreyfus's plunge through a hospital window into a river as he lies on a gurney, screaming, "Clouseauuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!" (Note: The original theatrical release has him mumbling loudly while plunging into the river, and his voice is not clearly heard)
4. Alvin & The Chipmunks (2007): The tree that the chipmunks Alvin (voiced by Justin Long), Simon (voiced by Matthew Gray Gubler) and Theodore (voiced by Jesse McCartney) live in is cut down and driven to Los Angeles to become a Christmas tree. Once in LA, the Chipmunks meet struggling songwriter David "Dave" Seville (Jason Lee) who had his latest song rejected by JETT Records executive Ian Hawke (David Cross), who was Dave's college roommate. Dave once had a relationship with his beautiful next door neighbor, Claire (Cameron Richardson). She broke up with him because she felt he was too busy and irresponsible and he didn't have any time for her.
Once the Chipmunks sing Dave's song, however, they become extremely successful. Managed and promoted by Ian, the Chipmunks continue to be wildly popular. When Dave expresses concerned for their well-being and insists that the Chipmunks are "kids" who don't need so much craziness in their lives, Ian tells the Chipmunks that Dave is holding them back.
Eventually, Dave and the Chipmunks have an argument and, in anger, Dave tells them that if they like "Uncle Ian" so much, they should just go live with him. Although their life with Ian starts off great (they arrive at his mansion to a room full of expensive toys and the declaration is that the only rule is that there are no rules), after they set out for their coast-to-coast tour, Ian suddenly becomes a jerk and begins to change their image completely and overwork them to the point of exhaustion.
Right before a big concert is supposed to begin, a doctor says that the Chipmunks can't sing because their voices have given out. Ian doesn't want to hand out refunds and orders the Chipmunks to lip sync (which Simon calls "cheating"). With the help of Claire, Dave sneaks into the concert, but is grabbed by the security guards. When the Chipmunks see Dave being taken away, they realize they've been tricked, decide that they've had enough of Ian, reveal that they were lip-syncing and run amok, ruining the concert. They are soon caught by Ian just when Dave is about to rescue them. He locks them up in a cage (where Alvin screams "You'll never take us alive!" and Simon replies "They just did take us alive, Alvin"). Dave tries to convince Ian to let the boys go but Ian refuses. Ian then leaves in his limo with the boys and Dave chases them but the boys have mysteriously ended up in his Car. The boys thought they wanted to live with "Uncle Ian" to make more money for him. Dave immediately pulls over and admits that he loves them like his own family. Meanwhile, Ian looks in the cage and sees the boys have replaced themselves with ugly look-alike dolls (something Ian tried to get Dave to sell earlier in the film - Ian had mentioned earlier in the film to Dave that these dolls speak Spanish, however, they were actually speaking Japanese).
Sometime later, the boys are now "Sevilles" and they invite Claire over for a meal (toaster waffles). Alvin mistakenly breaks Dave's priceless china cabinet and short out the circuits trying to open champagne. Dave decides not to say it, but it causes a blackout. Dave decides to say it, and receives his trademark "ALLLLVINNN!!", and Alvin responds with "Okay!"
5. The Dark Knight (2008): In Gotham City, the Joker robs a mob bank with his accomplices, whom he tricks into killing one another, ultimately killing the last one himself. That night, Batman and Lieutenant James Gordon contemplate including new district attorney Harvey Dent in their plan to eradicate the mob. However, Batman wonders if Dent can be trusted. Bruce runs into Rachel Dawes and Dent, who are dating, and after talking to Dent, he realizes Dent's sincerity and decides to host a fundraiser for him. Mob bosses Sal Maroni, Gambol, and the Chechen meet with other underworld gangsters to discuss both Batman and Dent, who have been cracking down on the mobster's operations. Lau, a Chinese mafia accountant, informs them that he has hidden their money and fled to Hong Kong in an attempt to preempt Gordon's plan to seize the mobsters' funds and hide from Dent's jurisdiction. The Joker appears and offers to kill Batman for half of the mafia's money, but they flatly refuse and Gambol places a bounty on the Joker's head. Not long after, the Joker kills Gambol and takes control of his men.
In Hong Kong, Batman captures Lau and delivers him to the Gotham City police, where Lau agrees to testify against the mob. In retaliation, the mobsters hire the Joker to kill Batman and Lau. The Joker issues an ultimatum to Gotham: people will die each day until Batman reveals his identity. When Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb and Judge Surillo are murdered by corrupt police, the public readily blames Batman, prompting Bruce to decide to reveal his identity. Before Bruce can turn himself in, Dent holds a press conference to try and persuade the public not to sell Batman out just because of one terrorist, but the public insists that Batman turn himself in, so Dent announces that he himself is Batman and is arrested as part of a plan to draw the Joker out of hiding. The Joker attempts to ambush the police convoy carrying Dent, but Batman and Gordon intervene and capture him. In recognition of his actions, Gordon is appointed the new police commissioner.
Later that night, Dent and Rachel disappear. At the police station, Batman interrogates the Joker, who reveals that Dent and Rachel's police escorts were on Maroni's payroll and have placed them in warehouses rigged with explosives on opposite sides of the city — far enough apart so that Batman cannot save them both. Batman leaves to save Rachel, while Gordon and the police head after Dent. With the aid of a smuggled bomb, the Joker escapes police custody with Lau. Batman arrives, but finds Dent instead of Rachel. Batman successfully saves Dent, but the ensuing explosion disfigures Dent's face. Gordon arrives at Rachel's location too late, and she perishes when the bomb detonates. Aboard a cargo ship, the Joker burns Lau to death atop a pile of the mob's money, and has the Chechen killed before taking control of his men.
Meanwhile, an accountant at Wayne Enterprises finds out Batman's identity and after failing to blackmail the company, decides to go public. However, realizing that he does what he does only because of Batman, The Joker changes his mind about revealing Batman's identity and issues a public ultimatum: either the accountant is killed, or the hospital Dent is at will be destroyed. When the police refuse to carry out his demands, The Joker goes to the hospital and frees Dent from his restraints, convincing him to exact revenge on the people responsible for Rachel's death, as well as Batman and Gordon for not saving her. Dent begins by flipping for the Joker's life, and spares him. The Joker destroys the hospital on his way out, and then escapes with a hijacked bus full of hospital patients.
Out of the hospital, Dent goes on a personal vendetta, confronting Maroni and the corrupt cops one by one. The Joker announces to the public that anyone left in Gotham at nightfall will be subject to his rule. With the bridges and tunnels out of the city closed due to a bomb threat by the Joker, authorities begin evacuating people by ferry. The Joker has explosives placed on two of the ferries—one ferry with convicts, who were evacuated in an effort to keep the Joker from freeing them, and the other with civilians—telling the passengers the only way to save themselves is to trigger the explosives on the other ferry; otherwise, he will destroy both at midnight. Batman locates the Joker and the hostages he has taken. Realizing the Joker has disguised the hostages as his own men, Batman is forced to attack both Gordon's SWAT team and the Joker's henchmen in order to save the real hostages.
The Joker's plan to destroy the ferries fails after the passengers on both decide not to destroy each other. Batman finds the Joker, and after a brief fight, is able to subdue him, preventing him from destroying both ferries. When Batman refuses to kill the Joker, the Joker acknowledges that Batman is truly incorruptible, but that Dent was not, and that he has unleashed Dent upon the city. Leaving the Joker for the SWAT team, Batman searches for Dent. At the remains of the building where Rachel died, Batman finds Dent holding Gordon and his family at gunpoint. Dent judges the innocence of Batman, himself, and Gordon's son through three coin tosses. As the result of the first two flips, he shoots Batman in the abdomen and spares himself. Before Dent can determine the boy's fate, Batman, who was wearing body armor, tackles him over the side of the building. Gordon's son is saved, but Dent and Batman fall to the ground below resulting in Dent's death. Knowing that the citizens of Gotham will lose hope and all morale if Dent's rampage becomes public news, Batman convinces Gordon to hold him responsible for the murders. Images are shown of Gordon delivering the eulogy at Dent's funeral and smashing the Bat-Signal. Police swarm the building, and Batman flees as Gordon and his son watch.
By Richard Moody & Scott Moody
No comments:
Post a Comment