Review: From Paris With Love

From Paris With Love sees James Reece (Johnathan Rhys-Meyers) paired up with Charlie Wax (John Travolta) as American CIA Agents working in Paris to take down a planned terroist attack in the city. From Taken's Pierre Morel, From Paris With Love is a fast paced and all out action flick.

Travolta shines as Wax (bad pun, I know) and plays the humourous good guy very well. He sorta comes across as the good side to his bad guy in The Taking Of Pelham 123. Rhys-Meyers is good in the supporting role and for those who are unfamiliar with The Tudors, Yes it's him from Bend It Like Beckham.

As the action is very over the top, I'd recommend this as a guy's film and one of those that's good to watch if you want a bit of mindless fun. Yes the film has it's flaws some namely being Rhys-Meyers' sometimes over reacting but as I said it's a good fun action flick.

***

Review: The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker is, as most of you may know, a hot favourite for awards season. It comes from Katheryn Bigelow (Point Break) and is set during the on going wars in Iraq.

I enjoyed The Hurt Locker. I thought Jeremy Renner gave a very strong performance and the film was a all round solid take on the Iraqi wars.

The direction and cinematography were fantastic and I really enjoyed Guy Pearce & Ralph Fiennes' small roles. Although for me personally the middle of the film sank a little, Bigelow really made the film sell in the tense moments.

The Hurt Locker for me, is a more suitable awards choice than Avatar. Call Of Duty fans will be pleased.

****

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Last Catch Up

Ok so in addition to yesterday's post, This is the last big catch up i'm doing. As of now I will blog reviews via my iPhone after I have watched a new film. They'll be short & sweet, Just like these.

Bruce Almighty - Great fun with Jim Carrey on top form - ****

Dawn Of The Dead (2004) - Very fun Zombie Horror - ****

Harry Brown - The slap in the face this country needs - ***

Inglourious Basterds (2009) - Confusing in parts, French & German in others. Slow burner but the ending picks it up - ****

It's Complicated - Not Meyer's best but still a decent couples film - ***

Law Abiding Citizen - Very fun all out thriller - ****

P.S I Love You - Effective Rom-Com but one for the Ladies - ***

Paranormal Activity - Not believeable at all. Whatever's pestering them picks the wrong spots. - *

Sherlock Holmes - Dull, Boring but it's a good job Downey's in it - **

The Descent Part 2 - Like the first but worse. - *

The Fourth Kind - Stupid Alien Film - *

Twilight - Yeah, you know what it is. - ***

Twilight New Moon - Like the first but with Werewolves - **

Vantage Point - A little repetitive but an all round decent film - ***


Later today I'll be watching The Hurt Locker and seeing either The Road or Up In The Air tomorrow. 

Gamer

Dir: Neveldine/Taylor
Starring: Gerard Butler & Michael C. Hall

"Hey Kable, I'm Playing You"

Gamer is the first film, outside of Crank & Crank: High Voltage, from the collective minds of Mark Neveldine & Brian Taylor. It stars 300 actor Gerard Butler as death row inmate Kable & Dexter Morgan himself Michael C. Hall as Uber Billionaire Ken Castle.

The premise of Gamer revolves around a game called Slayers. Slayers lets the player take control of a "icon" and play as them in a game to the death. The only problem is, these icon's are death row inmates, who if they can survive thirty rounds get set free.

Slayers is the brain child of Ken Castle, who designed Slayers after his last experiment Society proved to be a major hit. Kable is chosen to take part in Slayers and is on his 26Th consecutive win when we begin Gamer.

Kable looks like he's come to the realisation that he is in the game for the long run and only hopes to see his wife and daughter again one day. Simon is the kid who's playing Kable. He's soaking in all the glory of playing as the most successful Slayer in the world at the minute. He's every Game Boy's role model. However everything goes wrong when Kable goes rogue and leaves the confines of the game.

That's all I'll say on the plot because as usual I don't want to give away to much. Honestly, I enjoyed Gamer. There were a few moments where I thought meh. But it was a fun action packed thrill ride which makes for good viewing with a bunch of friends. I went to see it with my Girlfriend and 3 other male friends and all but one of us thoroughly enjoyed it.

The linear narrative is very easy to follow but the only thing that is a little confusing to look at is the slanted camera angles and strange camera shots in the beginning of the film. Gamer does have a lot of T&A in it which is good for the single guys out there but there is a lot of action sequences with provides a good alternative for the taken guy who "swears he wasn't looking" I also really enjoyed how the ended the film with a screen saying "Game Over" and "Insert Coin"

I thought Gerard Butler gave a strong performance as Kable but, not just because I'm a Dexter fan, I think Michael C. Hall gave the best performance in the film. He was very undermined in this film though as he doesn't receive as much screen time as I would have liked. Terry Crews has a good showing as one of the film's villains but I urge you not to have White Chicks or The Longest Yard in memory when you see this film, it'll dampen any chance Crews has of scaring you.

Look out for Michael C. Hall's dance number. This is why he should make more movies.

Overall Gamer gave me a fun time at the cinema. There's a scene where Kable meets the Anti Ken Castle group Humanz which reminded me a lot of Children Of Men which made me happy as it's is one of my favourite films.

I enjoyed Gamer more than Hancock & Jumper but not as much as 500 Days of Summer but i suppose that's because their from different genre's and what not. I have contemplated what star rating I am going to give Gamer, either a 3 * or a 4 *. I was advised to scrap my belief of not giving half stars and go with 3 1/2 *'s but i am not going to do this. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say:

****

P.S - This will be my last review until about mid next week unless things change. I'm moving to University and have packed over 100 DVD's all of which will be reviewed.

(All reviews can be given a maximum of 5 *'s and i will not give 1/2's and 1/4's. I will write reviews on films i have recently seen and will review other films upon request)

Jumper

Dir. Doug Liman
Starring: Hayden Christensen, Rachel Bilson, Jamie Bell & Samuel L. Jackson

Jumper starts off with the back story of David who like anybody else is having troubles at home and at school. The back story is narrated by Hayden Christensen who plays David for the majority of the film. The back story fits in will with the film's narrative flow as it provides an insight into David's 'First Jump'

Soon enough we are thrown into the present day as Roland (Samuel L. Jackson, sporting a white haired look) introduces himself as an NSA agent looking into a bank robbery in which David was the culprit. As the film moves forward we learn that Roland is not an NSA agent but he is in fact a Paladin. A Paladin is someone who tracks down Jumpers in an attempt to kill them as they disagree with the way they live their lives.

Another Jumper is introduced in the form of Griffin (Jamie Bell). Griffin is a veteran at jumping and decides to let David know that he's not alone. Jamie Bell was the stand out actor for me in this film as Griffin. He's sharp and witty which is a big contrast to Christensen's David who is sometimes very emotionless.

Attempting to escape Roland, to begin with David returns to his hometown for the first time in 8 years. Despite this and the fact alot of people thought he was dead, he still decides to whisk his high school sweetheart Millie (Rachel Bilson) off to Rome.

After this Jumper throws so may things at you it's hard to keep up. You get to see David Mum Mary (Diane Lane) I honestly wondered where the hell she came from being as the story is 'She left when i was five' Not to worry though her presence is explained in 5 minutes at the end of the film.

Overall Jumper was an OK film, nothing more. There was plenty of fast paced action but the whole narrative seemed to be very compressed in order for it to fit a mere 84 minutes.

***

P.S - Look out for a pre Twilight Kristen Stewart.

(All reviews can be given a maximum of 5 *'s and i will not give 1/2's and 1/4's. I will write reviews on films i have recently seen and will review other films upon request)

Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia

Dir. Tim Matheson
Starring: Joe Manganiello & Mr. Kennedy

Give me a camera, a field, some actors and a few guns and I could make this movie.

Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia is the third Enemy Lines and WWE's fourth film as a major production company. Starring now ex WWE superstar Mr. Kennedy and One Tree Hill's Joe Manganiello, Behind Enemy Lines is a war movie about a conspiracy happening between the Colombian Army and the U.S Army.

From the outset I noticed that Behind Enemy Lines was 'different' to other films I have seen. They introduce the characters through a freeze frame and title cards. This didn't bother me as such until the film progressed some more and the characters barely ever communicated with each other using their names, why? I don't really know.

Some of the dialogue and plot lines had me scratching my head from the beginning. They were explaining who F.A.R.C where and said they are the 'Revolutionary Colombian Armed Forces' R.C.A.F? Also Kennedy's character has a crack at Manganiello by stated that he is 'too ancient to be leading us behind enemy lines' Manganiello is 32, while Kennedy (who is playing a younger character) is 33. Not a huge age difference but I personally think that both actors could have done with a role reversal to make it more believeable.

Behind Enemy Lines was a made for DVD movie and that's another thing that bothered me. You could tell where the budget was tight especially in terms of CGI. Moments like a Parachute Drop and News Reports could have been done better but clearly the budget was used on weapons and what not.

The camera work made me think I was watching Ultimate Force or something, It didn't feel like I was watching a feature film. Instead of moving the camera in order to make something fit the frame, make the frame bigger. It could have been done.

All in all the plot idea was very good, but not well executed. To it's credit the rescue mission is shot well and has a decent amount of action which gives the audience one of the only suspenseful moments during the 94 minute run time.

Did every American have to die in slow motion?

**

P.S - Whilst writing this review it became known that Patrick Swayze has passed away. My condolences go out to his family and friends. It seems as though a lot of well known faces have been lost this year. R.I.P

(All reviews can be given a maximum of 5 *'s and i will not give 1/2's and 1/4's. I will write reviews on films i have recently seen and will review other films upon request)

Hancock

Dir: Peter Berg
Starring: Will Smith, Charlize Theron & Jason Bateman

Ah Hancock, how you misled me.

So I'm in Morrisons and I see Hancock for £3.99, Why not? It's a Superhero film, I like Superhero films, Why not? Oh how I was wrong.

OK, I'm not saying Hancock is a bad film, I'm saying it fell apart half way through, Which it seems a lot of films are doing these days. Basically Hancock is a anti-hero, He's a drunken bum who doesn't take much care in his work.

The opening scenes seem promising, He's a guy with a difference but yet you can relate to him. He's seen as an outcast in the town even when he saves Ray (Jason Bateman) from an oncoming train, Hancock then begins working with Ray on his "image" and "public interface" It's Ray's idea to have Hancock go to jail for the choas he causes in the city and wait it out until the city comes calling for him, and sure enough it does.

Now it falls apart.

Ray is married to Mary (Charlize Theron) who, from the moment you meet her, is hiding something and it's not very well hidden. As usual I won't spoil the film but there's a twist in there which honestly, makes you scratch your head every time it's developed on.

I wanted Hancock to be great and for the first half it was but it just fell apart from there. I didn't like the fact that they felt they had to explain how Hancock got his powers in such a confusing way. I would have been happy if it was only hinted on, not fully revealed.

Watching Hancock made me realise how much I like Jason Bateman as an actor. From his work on Juno to his small role in Dodgeball, he's really impressing me with his acting. Looking at Will Smiths IMDB page as I write this, I own a lot of his films and have seen a lot more too but this is the one which i had most trouble with.

I believe Smith as Del Spooner in I, Robot, as Robert Neville in I Am Legend and even as James West in Wild Wild West but there are times where I don't believe him as a drunk superhero, you'll have to watch to to see what I mean.

On a last note, I wanted to see Hancock because Johnny Galecki (Leonard from The Big Bang Theory) is in it, but it's only a bit part. Kinda like Keith Richards in Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End.

Overall, I enjoyed Hancock for the most part but thought it could have done alot better without the silly twist.

***

P.S - Will Smith has 25 films in development on IMDB, can you believe that?

(All reviews can be given a maximum of 5 *'s and i will not give 1/2's and 1/4's. I will write reviews on films i have recently seen and will review other films upon request)