This is one of those, yeah o.k. that movies was yeah o.k. Well maybe that is too harsh, all around good movie, truly, however the thing with sequels is usually they expose any weakness that existed in the first movie and should build on its strengths. FF4: Rise of the Silver Surfer was no exception. An enjoyable sequel that did not do a whole lot to make me a big FF4 fan, but I can appreciate a fun splashy summer movie with all the visual effects to go with it.
I would rather not take the time to do a story summary here. In short the FF4 have become world famous and are now trying to cope with their new found fame. Reed, Ioan Gruffodd, and Susan, J. Alba, are trying to get married, but saving the world keeps getting in the way and just when it looks like the ceremony is about to happen, the Silver Surfer arises to make the earth ready for Galactus, the devourer of worlds. Just as an aside I much prefer the giant planet eating purple space robot to whatever it they gave us in this movie. I mean if you are going to go all the way and not attempt to base the Silver Surfer in reality, why not give me a giant purple robot that eat planets, an additional aside, I never understand the basis for defeating something called “the devourer of worlds”. That seems like a pretty formidable foe to me. At any Surfer shows up the world is in peril, FF4 to the rescue.
I have to get this out of the way now or the rest of this review will suffer. No matter how you try to slice it, Jessica Alba is not Suzan Storm; she is not even an adequate knock off of Suzan Storm. No matter how hot she is, and eve that is starting to fade because she is loosing so much weight, she is not a double PhD genius that is capable of mentally keeping up with Reed Richards and is the powerful member of the team. She is by far the weak link in this franchise, her and this knock-off of Dr. Doom. People Doom is never not in the Doom mask, he is Latverian royalty, not a shady capitalist that wants to take over the world through bank mergers and military contracts. He is a psychotic evil genius with the wealth of a nation backing his twisted plots. I might actually be a bigger fan of this franchise had they not dropped the ball so bad on two of the five essential characters.
However clearly the strengths of the movie and franchise are The Thing, Chiklis, and Torch, Chris Evans. These two are spot on and really keep the moving rolling. This sequel actually gave us more of their relationship and the rivalry/friendship that exist between these two. They really are just like brothers and both actors do a great job of portraying that on screen. This movie would have no shot if it weren’t for these two. Although Laurence’s voice acting should not be taken for granted. Granted he sounds like Morpheous trying to do a deep extra-terrestrial alien voice, but it is still effective nonetheless.
Characters aside the visuals from the movie were enjoyable. All the effects were clean and sharp. Not Pirates of the Caribbean sharp, but sharp for sure. We got a couple of very cool action sequences, with Doom on the surf board and the chase between Torch and Surfer. So from that stand-point the movie was entertaining.
All in all it was an enjoyable experience. The negatives did not out weigh the positives and assuming Jessie doesn’t loose anymore weight she is still extremely attractive, even with the worst contacts in the history of contact lenses.
GRADE – C
Monday, June 18, 2007
DOA: Dead or Alive
Everyonce in a while a movie comes along and it is just too good to be true. You almost have to wonder, what it is you could have done to deserve such a special gift. A year ago I though such a gift was going ot be taken from me for good. I first started seeing trailers for DOA in early 2006 and then it just went away. I was confused, distraught. I felt cheated and yet somehow responsible, as if I did something wrong and this was my punishment, no DOA. But a year later rumors began to resurface and the trailers began to air online, a release date was set and for a moment I dared to dream it possible that I might actually get to see the DOA movie. Well I can't tell you what exactly I did to deserve this, but DOA has finally hit the theaters and I watched it and it was everything I hope it would be. Chessy action and scantily clad young ladies running around causing all types of trouble, Jamie Pressly is really easy on the eyes so is Holly Vance, Devon Aoki, Sarah Carter, and Natassia Mathle.
For those of us of the video game generation this is one of the games you would have never considered ever being made into a movie, because the concept of the video game seemed a little out there that idea of someone being able to turn into a movie, well just seemed not possible. However in the hands of Corey Yeun, The Transporter, this seemingly impossible movie became real. And not only did it happen it was great, well maybe not great, but a lot of fun. That probably had a lot to do with the fact that the movie was all of 45 mins long, well a little longer than that, but not much. See all other directors of video game adapted movies with little to no story line should take notice. If there is little story there you don't need to create story where none exist, you just focus on a couple of detials, mix-in some decent fight choreography, add Kevin Nash, Bass, and Brian White, Zach, along with a couple of really hot ladies and you can't go wrong.
What more could you want from a movie about a bunch of young girls fighting in their bathing suits. The movie was spot on in just about every area, the fight choreography was not offensive, the women were smokin, a recurring theme is this blog, and the movie even included volley ball. It really had it all. If I have to take issue with a couple of things I have to say I was disappointed that Hyabusa was not wearing his traditional ninja uniform being covered from head to toe and I have to point out that Ayane the japanese female was played by someone very not Japanese. Those two grips aside, this was good stuff.
Sometimes it is nice to just go watch a movie where everyone involved was very honest about what they were making from the begining and didn't try to get pretentious. The cast and crew of DOA said decided they were going to make a movie about a group of really hot female fighters coming together to fight and look really hot and it is nice to see that they stuck to it. Every movie doesn't have to be groundbreaking or moving or whatever sometime I just want to be entertained by the utterly ridiculous.
GRADE -C+
For those of us of the video game generation this is one of the games you would have never considered ever being made into a movie, because the concept of the video game seemed a little out there that idea of someone being able to turn into a movie, well just seemed not possible. However in the hands of Corey Yeun, The Transporter, this seemingly impossible movie became real. And not only did it happen it was great, well maybe not great, but a lot of fun. That probably had a lot to do with the fact that the movie was all of 45 mins long, well a little longer than that, but not much. See all other directors of video game adapted movies with little to no story line should take notice. If there is little story there you don't need to create story where none exist, you just focus on a couple of detials, mix-in some decent fight choreography, add Kevin Nash, Bass, and Brian White, Zach, along with a couple of really hot ladies and you can't go wrong.
What more could you want from a movie about a bunch of young girls fighting in their bathing suits. The movie was spot on in just about every area, the fight choreography was not offensive, the women were smokin, a recurring theme is this blog, and the movie even included volley ball. It really had it all. If I have to take issue with a couple of things I have to say I was disappointed that Hyabusa was not wearing his traditional ninja uniform being covered from head to toe and I have to point out that Ayane the japanese female was played by someone very not Japanese. Those two grips aside, this was good stuff.
Sometimes it is nice to just go watch a movie where everyone involved was very honest about what they were making from the begining and didn't try to get pretentious. The cast and crew of DOA said decided they were going to make a movie about a group of really hot female fighters coming together to fight and look really hot and it is nice to see that they stuck to it. Every movie doesn't have to be groundbreaking or moving or whatever sometime I just want to be entertained by the utterly ridiculous.
GRADE -C+
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Maximum Risk
You match Van-Damme with Natasha Henstridge in the middle of FBI/Russian Mob conspiracy story topped off with a dead twin and you have Maximum Risk. I mean the thing that you have to love most about Van-Damme is that the guy has never read a script he didn’t like. He is all about the wackier the better. Not that Maximum Risk is that whacky, I mean what is whacky about twins being separated at birth, one becomes a French cop, the other a major player in the Russian Mob. The Mobster ends up getting a hold of enough information to bury the mob and indict several dirty FBI agents. While the Russian Van-Damme tries to connect with his French twin, he is killed. The French twin Van-Damme vows to uncover the secrets to his brother’s death and expose the conspiracy. See I told ya, not that whacky.
So action, let’s get right to it. The movie opens with a pretty cool chase scene that starts off on foot, with Van-Damme leaping across buildings and crashing through windows and all that good stuff and than moves to motor transport, Van-Damme drive as motor-scooter type thing and is pursuers are in a car. The scene climaxes in a very harry death scene in which Van-Damme flies through the air and then crashes through the windshield of another car. Don’t worry we still have one more Van-Damme still in play.
The movies featured a handful of fights, which mostly featured Van-Damme fighting this one particular Russian named Red Face, played by some guys named Stefanos Miltsakakis. Van-Damme and Red Face, love that name, have three or four different fights scenes throughout the movie, that feature a mixed martial arts style, of stylized karate and street fighting. The both use a lot of throws and grappling moves. Van-Damme also incorporates more punching into his scenes. Although it would not be a Van-Damme movie without the jumping, spinning, roundhouse, split kick. So overall good stuff out of this flick. Van-Damme is definitely growing as a fighter on screen.
So action, let’s get right to it. The movie opens with a pretty cool chase scene that starts off on foot, with Van-Damme leaping across buildings and crashing through windows and all that good stuff and than moves to motor transport, Van-Damme drive as motor-scooter type thing and is pursuers are in a car. The scene climaxes in a very harry death scene in which Van-Damme flies through the air and then crashes through the windshield of another car. Don’t worry we still have one more Van-Damme still in play.
The movies featured a handful of fights, which mostly featured Van-Damme fighting this one particular Russian named Red Face, played by some guys named Stefanos Miltsakakis. Van-Damme and Red Face, love that name, have three or four different fights scenes throughout the movie, that feature a mixed martial arts style, of stylized karate and street fighting. The both use a lot of throws and grappling moves. Van-Damme also incorporates more punching into his scenes. Although it would not be a Van-Damme movie without the jumping, spinning, roundhouse, split kick. So overall good stuff out of this flick. Van-Damme is definitely growing as a fighter on screen.
Ocean's Thirteen
The definition of a nice film. Ocean's Thriteen is a perfect compromise between the greatness that was Ocean's Eleven and the utter let down that was Ocean's Twelve, thirteen fit nicely in the middle. Given that writing this review may be somewhat arduous becuase I did not have particularly strong feelings about the movie either way. I can say that it is nice to have all those guys making films together, they all work really well together. The key to the cohesion is the closeness between Clooney and Pitt. They have several alone moments together where the audience is catching them mid-conversation and those moments are just gold. They are discussing issues that come up amongst married people like any other pair of guy friends would, except these two are in the midst of trying to pull off the biggest con ever.
In addition to the original twelve, including Andy Garcia, this time around Pacino is added to play the heel. The caper goes like this. Saul, played by Elliot Gould, against the wishes of all of his friends and trusted callegues enters into a business partnership with Willie Bank, Pacino, a multiple Casino owner with a shark's reputation for screwing over his business partners. Bank strikes again and screws Saul out of their deal and leaves in near financial ruin, the shock of this betrayl leads to Saul's cardiac arrest. With Saul near death Danny Ocean, Clooney, assemblies his crew the ten remaining members of his crew to take down Bank and make thier friend healthy and whole again.
I really don't want to get into the nuances of the con, but it is elaborate, detailed, and expensive. That said all things come up aces in the end, and well go see the movie. It is a fun ride with lots of subtle humor to go along with the obvious gags. Everyone is great as usual and as I stated earlier the story moves a lot more smoothly with this one than the previous film. It can not compare to the original, but Ocean's Thirteen will definately make for a fun night out.
GRADE - B
In addition to the original twelve, including Andy Garcia, this time around Pacino is added to play the heel. The caper goes like this. Saul, played by Elliot Gould, against the wishes of all of his friends and trusted callegues enters into a business partnership with Willie Bank, Pacino, a multiple Casino owner with a shark's reputation for screwing over his business partners. Bank strikes again and screws Saul out of their deal and leaves in near financial ruin, the shock of this betrayl leads to Saul's cardiac arrest. With Saul near death Danny Ocean, Clooney, assemblies his crew the ten remaining members of his crew to take down Bank and make thier friend healthy and whole again.
I really don't want to get into the nuances of the con, but it is elaborate, detailed, and expensive. That said all things come up aces in the end, and well go see the movie. It is a fun ride with lots of subtle humor to go along with the obvious gags. Everyone is great as usual and as I stated earlier the story moves a lot more smoothly with this one than the previous film. It can not compare to the original, but Ocean's Thirteen will definately make for a fun night out.
GRADE - B
Friday, June 8, 2007
Mr. Brooks
Movies about serial killers are usually a tough sell for me. Call me a wuss, but I am not generally a huge fan of delving into that king of pathology, unless the embodiment of the psychosis is William Hurt. William Hurt should be everyone’s sinister twisted alter ego from now on. He is so good at being so twisted it is scary. And he is what makes this movie really work. Not to take anything away from Mr. Costner; he does a good job of keeping the title role, Mr. Brooks, from drifting too far into the absurd or over the top realm. But let me not get a head of myself.
Your recap: Mr. Brooks is the story of a successful businessman who has a loving wife and a highly lucrative box company. Mr. Brooks, played by Costner has a beautiful daughter in college, he has respect among his peers and he has rich clients. Mr. Brooks also has a secret he has an indulgence that no one else knows about, and his name is Marshal, played by Hurt. Marshal is the manifestation of Mr. Brook addiction to killing people. For two year Mr. Brook has been able to keep Marshal at bay, but he can’t fight his addiction any longer. Mr. Brooks has been doing this for many years, but this time he made a mistake and there was a witness to his most recent escapade. Now Mr. Brooks must find a way to maintain his business, his family, and deal with the evidence that exists against him that could put him away for good.
Likes – I really like William Hurt, granted he probably had the easiest role to play, but he made it much more. Every time he wasn’t on screen I wanted him on screen. Again Kevin Costner was expressive, contained, and professional, but Hurt was awsome. Regardin Costner this was a nice role for him and reminder that he still has the goods. Writer/Director Bruce Evans put together a nice piece of work. I particularly enjoyed the concept that when Costner and Hurt were conversing the entire conversation and all its elements were in Costner head, so Mr. Brooks could be yelling at Marshal it wouldn’t matter because no one around him knew anything was happening. It was a nice detail that made the story that much stronger because it gives the impression Mr. Brooks has been living this way for a long time.
Dislikes – Sorry Demi, but your time has come and gone. Not only did she bring nothing to the film from an acting standpoint, she is not even that hot anymore, she could have easily been replace by Kate Beckinsale or Eva Longoria. In either case we would have gotten a prettier actress that delivered the same performance, who knows they may have done better. I am also not a fan of the daughter’s character. Nothing against Marg Helgenberger, not that she was all that great an actress, but I was just annoyed by her character. I get why she was included in the story and what she represents. And the idea of Mr. Brooks’ addiction being somehow genetic and passing it on to his offspring is very intriguing, but the daughter just didn’t do it for me. Perhaps if her character was written differently.
So we like Mr. Brooks, an enjoyable movie if you can get over the fact that a serial killer is getting away with murder. Don’t worry its just a movie.
GRADE – B+
Your recap: Mr. Brooks is the story of a successful businessman who has a loving wife and a highly lucrative box company. Mr. Brooks, played by Costner has a beautiful daughter in college, he has respect among his peers and he has rich clients. Mr. Brooks also has a secret he has an indulgence that no one else knows about, and his name is Marshal, played by Hurt. Marshal is the manifestation of Mr. Brook addiction to killing people. For two year Mr. Brook has been able to keep Marshal at bay, but he can’t fight his addiction any longer. Mr. Brooks has been doing this for many years, but this time he made a mistake and there was a witness to his most recent escapade. Now Mr. Brooks must find a way to maintain his business, his family, and deal with the evidence that exists against him that could put him away for good.
Likes – I really like William Hurt, granted he probably had the easiest role to play, but he made it much more. Every time he wasn’t on screen I wanted him on screen. Again Kevin Costner was expressive, contained, and professional, but Hurt was awsome. Regardin Costner this was a nice role for him and reminder that he still has the goods. Writer/Director Bruce Evans put together a nice piece of work. I particularly enjoyed the concept that when Costner and Hurt were conversing the entire conversation and all its elements were in Costner head, so Mr. Brooks could be yelling at Marshal it wouldn’t matter because no one around him knew anything was happening. It was a nice detail that made the story that much stronger because it gives the impression Mr. Brooks has been living this way for a long time.
Dislikes – Sorry Demi, but your time has come and gone. Not only did she bring nothing to the film from an acting standpoint, she is not even that hot anymore, she could have easily been replace by Kate Beckinsale or Eva Longoria. In either case we would have gotten a prettier actress that delivered the same performance, who knows they may have done better. I am also not a fan of the daughter’s character. Nothing against Marg Helgenberger, not that she was all that great an actress, but I was just annoyed by her character. I get why she was included in the story and what she represents. And the idea of Mr. Brooks’ addiction being somehow genetic and passing it on to his offspring is very intriguing, but the daughter just didn’t do it for me. Perhaps if her character was written differently.
So we like Mr. Brooks, an enjoyable movie if you can get over the fact that a serial killer is getting away with murder. Don’t worry its just a movie.
GRADE – B+
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
