Category: Movie Reviews

Movie reviews and rating.

Posted on

The Other Guys

Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell are partner detectives trying to become city heroes when two of their city’s finest dies on duty. This comedy duo pits Ferrell, a silly and awkward cop, against Wahlberg, a serious and high strung cop that is tired of being cooped up at his desk, to solve a case of corruption and fraud only to be fall short because of mishaps and mistakes.

This cop comedy film is funny all around but the plot of the movie isn’t as entertaining as the interaction of Ferrell and Wahlberg.

Rating: ★★★★★★★½☆☆

Posted on

Inception

DiCaprio plays Dom Cobb who is an “extractor”, one who enters a person’s dream to find hidden information and secrets. This time Cobb gets contracted for a job far different than what he normally does, called inception. Instead of finding information Cobb must plant an idea in the mind of a man who will be inheriting a corporation from his father. Where the idea would manifest itself to have the son believe that dissolving the corporation is what his father always wanted.

Inception is an intricate and complex film about espionage of the mind. The premise has been done a few times in the past but Inception nails it spot on twisting and bending the mind of its viewers. As a viewer you’ll have to pay close attention to every facet of the movie and using some of your imagination to understand complex concepts of dreams and how the mind works.

Rating: ★★★★★★★★★½

Posted on

Salt

Angelina Jolie is back playing a spy again, but this time you’re not sure who she’s spying for. As Evelyn Salt, Jolie plays a CIA agent who’s cover is supposedly blown as a double agent working as a spy for the Russian government.

This spy thriller keeps you on your toes as you guess whether Salt is a double agent or not. This is a decent summer action movie that has potential to be a Borne Identity franchise.

Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Posted on

Predators

Take it how you will. Some will call it a reboot or it could be considered a sequel. The film takes place 23 years after the first movie as one of the characters recall stories of events that happen back in 1987 when Arnie took on the original Predator.  The film starts off with the each of the characters unconscience and mysteriously parachuted into an unknown area, but they soon find out that they’re no longer on Earth, but on a planet where they being hunted. It’s kind of like Avatar, but in reverse, ok, maybe not.

The movie takes some of its queues from the original movie. From musical score to some of the action scenes. But unlike the original, the group being hunted are not a special ops team, but a select group of Earths best (or worst) soldiers and criminals. They must find a way to survive and and escape the planet. Many will quickly compare the movie to the original which is unfair, but this movie does hold its own.

Adrian Brody plays a convincing bad-ass mercenary and Oleg Taktarov is surprisingly warming even though he plays a Russian Spetsnas commando, but Topher Grace and his 70’s Show typecast role takes away the seriousness of the film. (Seriously, he basically plays Eric Foreman in all his movies) In the end it’s a decent action movie that tried live up to its predecessor (I’m not talking about Predator 2).

Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Posted on

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

The vampire and werewolf phenomenon has gone into overdrive with millions of teenage girls clamoring over the newest film of the Twilight saga. I’ve seen the first two due to a morbid curiosity. They were almost decent movies if it wasn’t for the corny acting.

Eclipse starts where New Moon ends. Unlike the previous movie Jacob and Edward must team up to protect Bella against Victoria and her newfound army. That’s pretty much it. Add a few plot holes and few scenes with a shirtless Jacob and you have the entire third film.  I never read the books, but it’s definitely clear that a woman must have wrote it. You have a girl whose being fought over by two guys; one who looks like a heroine addict and the other looks like he’s been eating Cherrios laced with steroids. The girl plays on both of these guys and none of them seem to mind. This third film felt like it was rushed and the whole plot stank because of it and I think it’s the worst of the three films. Enough with the vampire movies. We need more zombie flicks.

Rating: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

Posted on

Knight and Day

Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz join up again, this time in a Romantic-Action movie. Cruise plays charming, funny, and well trained Jason Borne-style spy/assassin/Federal Agent who is being chased down by the government agency he works for and an international Black Arms dealer. Diaz is the unsuspecting girls that  gets caught up in the mix and is forced to tag along with Cruise in order to stay alive.

Cruise and Diaz are fun to watch and their chemistry plays out well on screen. Though a little over the top in some scenes this is a fun summer action flick you would expect from a Tom Cruise movie, but I must say that Knight and Day is not as polished as his previous films.

Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Posted on

The Karate Kid (2010)

I was a fan of the original movie and when I heard they were doing a remake I was convinced that Hollywood has ran out of ideas.  After watching the trailer and following some reviews I decided to catch a showing at the mall. For those who are unfamiliar with martial arts the movie title is a misnomer. The movie has nothing to do with Karate, which is a Japanese martial art, and everything to do with Kung fu, a Chinese martial art.  Will Smith’s son, Jaden Smith, plays Dre, a 12 year old kid who moves to China because his mother’s job has been relocated. Unfamiliar with its culture Dre gets beat up and bullied. And then come Mr. Han, played by Jackie, to teach Dre Kung Fu and compete against those bullies in a martial arts tournament.

This movie is exciting, funny, and emotional that carries a serious tone to it. One would expect over the top slap stick comedy from Jack Chan, but his stoic character is anything but. Jaden, even at this young of age has serious acting talent, did a great job in The Pursuit of Happyness, and he does an even better job in this movie. He plays a very believable 12 year old kid loss in a world much different than his own, but does everything he can to fit in. It’s always the case when there’s a girl involved. Whether or not you’ve seen the original go see this movie. It runs a little long than it should, but it doesn’t disappoint.

Rating: ★★★★★★★★½☆

Posted on

Iron Man 2

Tony Stark and his suit of armor is back. This time he’s fighting more than just a villain who possess the same technology he does. Stark fights to stay alive from his arc reactor that keeps him going. The palladium poisoning is the side effect of that arc reactor and until he finds an alternative fuel source Stark gives up control of his company to his assistant and lives his life recklessly.

Iron Man 2 is not as polished as the first movie, but it’s fun and exciting with a few indirect cameos of other hero’s in the Marvel universe. We all know the Avengers movie is coming and it can’t come soon enough.

Rating: ★★★★★★★½☆☆

Posted on

Kick-Ass

Kick-Ass is a fun and action packed movie. Surprisingly it is a very dark film. Dave Lizewski is a high school geek  that decides to take matters into his own hands after getting tired of being bullied and seeing others suffering the same fate. With a colorful wetsuit and some batons, he sets out to fight crime as a Super Hero named Kick-Ass, but his little idea becomes more than he bargained for.

Kick-Ass is Superbad and Spiderman put together. It’s rarely that you find a good comedic action movie that you can really enjoy and Kick-Ass is one of those movies. The title of the movie refers to the main character of the film. Ironically it’s Hit Girl that really made the movie.

Rating: ★★★★★★★★½☆

Posted on

Date Night

Fey and Carell play a boring married couple whose date night has gone awry when their identity gets mixed up with another couple. This romantic comedy is fun to watch but it doesn’t deliver the ‘laugh out loud’ moments you would expect from two very funny actors.

Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆