The Lizzie McGuire Movie (3 out of 5 stars)
Disney/Release Date: August 12

Now that Hilary Duff has severed her ties with Disney and branched out on her own Olsen Twin-style empire, this movie will have no sequel. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
A fan of the Lizzie McGuire show, I was eager to see the film (albeit not in public.)
Lizzie goes on a school graduation trip to Rome with her friends (Gordo, Kate and Ethan) where she is mistaken for Italy’s biggest pop star Isabella, and falls for Paolo, Isabella’s singing partner.
She begins to sneak away from class-organized trips to sight see with Paolo who convinces her to pretend to be Isabella for a while and enjoy life as a pop star.
All this is fine and dandy, and basically an introduction to Hilary Duff: The Pop Star. The movie coincided with her recording her own album so it works as great promotion.
One thing that annoyed me was Lizzie’s wardrobe and makeup – far too advanced for a girl who just graduated grade eight. And that body! Most girls this supposed age are flat as a surfboard.
The movie is a reflection of the Lizzie McGuire television show and that could be the problem. While the show is great on the small screen with small adventures, Lizzie taking on Rome as a pop star might be a little too out there.
But little tykes who love the show will probably enjoy this candy-coated flick. And they’re the ones who will be buying the Hilary Duff CD’s, make-up and bedsheets.

Final Destination 2 (4 out of 5 stars)
New Line Cinema/ Release Date: July 22

While no one even knew this was out on theatres, Final Destination 2 has been getting a good run in the video store. And surprisingly, it’s quite good.
It’s no film masterpiece, but as teen slasher flicks go it’s a very very good time.
Not having seen Final Destination should not deter you from renting this one – everything you need to know is explained in the very beginning.
When Kimberly Corman has a vision of a huge dealthly highway pileup she saves many lives by blocking the onramp. But those she saved were meant to die on the crash and now Death is after them.
They start dying off in a series of unfortunate events and Kimberly has to figure out a way to stop Death, before it kills everyone, including her.
The film is super-gory, every death scene (and there are plenty) is shown in detail from the guy who gets impaled in the eye with the fire escape ladder, to the woman decapitated by an elevator.
It’s a very entertaining movie that doesn’t take itself seriously and tries it’s best to make the audience jump.
The DVD is an Infinifilm so it includes a lot of cool extras like deleted and alternate scenes, documentaries and DVD-ROM extras.
So get this film before it gets you…mwa-ha-ha-ha.

Past Reviews:

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