Archive for the 'Action' Category

Rambo

Published
by
Chalupa
on November 6, 2008
in Action, Kidnapping, Sequel, Thriller and War
. 0 Comments

Before I even start, I must admit that I had been avoiding the 4th Rambo installment for a while.  It just seemed a little ridiculous to me that Sylvester Stallone would be doing another Rambo and another Rocky movie.  It was only after several friends tried to assure me it was good, that I decided to add it to my Netflix list.  Now, after seeing it, I must admit that Rambo totally redeemed Rambo III.

I think one of the big factors contributing to the worth of this film was Stallone stepping in as a writer, and directing the film.  He’s obviously had a lot of experience acting, writing, and directing and was aware “the people” would not abide more of the same considering what happened with Rambo III.  Another contributing factor was Stallone trying to shed some light on the atrocities currently happening in Burma.

Action.  If there’s one thing this movie has, it’s action.  I’m pretty sure Robin would say something along the lines of, “Holy belt-fed machine guns, Batman!”  Liz walked in and saw a short clip during one of the featurettes on the DVD and uttered, “gross!”  I must say I wasn’t grossed out, I actually thought it was kind of cool.  That must be the little boy in me.

The story was pretty general.  Rambo helps some people, against his initial instinct, and eventually ends up saving them.  I really appreciated the “wandering warrior” theme that has prevailed throughout the series.  Parts of the original score were also worked into this score which reall tied the films together.  The execution of the story is really what made it work for me though.  Stallone really pulled off the Rambo character as an older version, still searching for meaning in his life and slightly enraged at the atrocities around him.

If you’re even a tiny bit a fan of First Blood, I highly suggest you check this one out.  It’ll be well worth your time.  I only hope Rambo V builds off of the success of Rambo.

Rating: ★★★★☆

The Dark Knight

Published
by
Chalupa
on August 4, 2008
in Action, Based on a comic, Black Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Sequel and Thriller
. 0 Comments

Liz and I were able to catch the latest installment in the Batman series over the weekend.  We’re both glad we were able to catch it on the big screen.  After all the buildup, hype, and raving reviews, we finally got to see what everyone was talking about.


I was very impressed with Batman Begins and I wasn’t in any way disappointed with The Dark Knight.  I’m already looking forward to the next one.  Heath Ledger did an amazing job with The Joker.  I was reading someone’s comments somewhere and they were talking about how they’ve never been a Ledger fan until now.  They also never realized how menacing and diabolical the Joker could actually be, and after thinking about Jack Nicholson’s portrayal from 1989, they realized that Nicholson was just delivering the same role he had been for the previous 20 years or so.  You may or may not agree with that, but it was a little mind blowing to me.  Maybe I haven’t seen enough of Nicholson’s films, but I’ve never quite understood why people are so enamored by him.  Yeah, he has some good films out there with great performances, but I’ve never been that impressed.  It’s really too bad Ledger isn’t with us anymore for any follow-up films.

Often times in sequels, it’s hard to make something that lives up to the original.  I think Christopher Nolan did a good job in raising the bar by bringing in the Joker, but there’s always room for some improvements.  I don’t think Christian Bale had to really act that much this time around.  The gutteral “batman voice” got a little annoying and old, but it makes sense he was talking differently to try and hide his identity.  Aaron Eckhart did a decent job.  I’ll always remember him as Nick Naylor from Thank You for Smoking.  It’ll be interesting to see if he makes a comeback in the future.

I think Gary Oldman had a much more active role this time around.  He’s such a great actor and it’s nice to see him able to spread his wings a bit.  I liked Maggie Gyllenhaal more than Katie Holmes in the role of Rachel Dawes.  She also fit in pretty well.  It wasn’t like some films where actors change for a particular character and the whole time you’re confused as to who exactly that person is.  Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman were wonderful as usual.  Some friends of mine complained after the first film that they were grossly underutilized.  I kind of agreed, however, it was nice to actually have a “real” actor play the role of Alfred for a change.  I was just happy to have a live body in the role.

Some of the scenes with the Joker are a bit disturbing, but this is rated PG-13, so there’s not a whole lot to worry about.  They cut away at just the right moments in certain scenes.  Liz and I both said we got a little bored in the middle, but overall we thoroughly enjoyed it.  I would highly suggest getting out and seeing this one before it leaves the theaters.  You won’t be sorry.

Rating: ★★★★½

Get Smart

Published
by
nathanshorb
on July 5, 2008
in Action, Based on TV Series, Comedy and Crime
. 1 Comment

Let me preface by saying this: I am a huge Steve Carrell fan. He and Jack Black are tied for being able to make me giggle uncontrollably pretty much just by doing absolutely nothing. Just the other day, which shopping for a greeting card, I picked up one of those cards-with-sound that featured Steve Carrell mumbling something or other from The Office. In the middle of the card store, I laughed really really loudly and couldn’t stop. I love Steve Carrell.

And because of that love, I had relatively high hopes for Get Smart. I knew it wouldn’t be a great film or anything, but I expected to laugh quite a bit.

Well, it’s with great disappointment that I tell you: I wasn’t impressed. I really didn’t even laugh all that much.

It’s your typical summer comedy, a chuckle here and there and quite a bit of poor acting and cheesy delivery. But not even Mr. Carrell could redeem it. So much of the movie simply fell flat. You wanted to laugh, but it just wasn’t worth the effort.

Don’t get me wrong. Alan Arkin is decent as always, and Anne Hathaway is a lot of fun, too. The Rock is as bad as ever, and there are plenty of cameos to keep things interesting, too.

Speaking of cameos: I won’t mention who it is in case some of you are rushing out to see it after this stellar review, but one cameo features another one of my favorite actors, and I felt his 2 minute cameo was the best comedic delivery in the whole movie.

In the end, Steve Carrell just wasn’t allowed to shine enough in this film. While he was one of the main actors, the movie didn’t feature him. It also seemed like he wasn’t allowed to take his lines on as his own, and followed the script pretty closely, when we all know he’s at his best when he’s flying off the cuff.

It’s a fine fun summer movie, but don’t go spending nine dollars on it like I did.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Iron Man

Published
by
Chalupa
on May 27, 2008
in Action, Based on a comic, Superhero, Technology and War
. 0 Comments

Since I’ve now seen this film twice, I figure it’s about time I gave some thoughts on it. I must admit that at first I wasn’t too interested in this movie because it was going to be another comic-book-film and Robert Downey Jr. was going to be playing the lead role. Now don’t get me wrong, I think Downey is an amazing actor, I just have to always remind myself of that. Liz got onto his fan wagon way before I did. I didn’t really become aware of him until he started having his drug problems aired to the world and he spent some time in jail. I think mentally, I just wrote him off as another trashy Hollywood denizen. In contrast though, whenever I actually think about the roles Downey has done and some of the films he has been in, I can’t help but think he’s awesome and I’m proud to report he did not let me down in Iron Man.

The first and foremost thing I must say about this film is that even though it’s based on a comic book, it doesn’t come off as a comic book film. You know what I’m talking about - it’s that thing you just can’t quite put your finger on. In the same way you can recognize a film by your favorite director, there’s just something about the style on about 95% of comic-based films. Iron Man didn’t have this mark and I believe most of that credit goes to Jon Favreau for directing. If you don’t remember who Favreau is, you need to pop in Swingers and give it a watch. Favreau hasn’t always been directing, but he’s definitely very experienced in Hollywood with plenty of acting, producing, directing, and writing credits to his name.

Not having read any comics as a child, I didn’t really know much about the Iron Man story. I did have some action figures back in the day, so I knew what he looked like, but that’s where my experience ended. While most superheros have some special power they were either born with or developed, Iron Man is one of the few that is just a “normal” guy. The only other one I know of in this respect would be Batman. Tony Stark is a genius weapons developer that is kidnapped by some terrorists and told to create a missile or else. Instead of bowing to their demands and creating their weapon of mass destruction, Tony bows to their demands and makes his own WMD in the form of an iron suit complete with weapons and booster rockets. After escaping, Stark decides to try and help the world instead of just providing weapons for it and starts refining his suit into something much, much better.

One big draw to the movie for me was Jeff Bridges playing the bad-guy role of Obadiah Stane. Being a Lebowski-fan, I’m always interested in seeing more of Bridges’ roles and wasn’t disappointed with this one. Gwyneth Paltrow plays Pepper Pots, Stark’s assistant, and Terrence Howard plays Col. Rhodes and good friend of Stark’s. You also need to keep your eye out for Favreau’s role as Hogan. I loved seeing him in the casino scene. It’s also nice when a director plays a role in their own movie and can actually act.

I’ve heard mostly positive reviews about this film and am quite positive you’ll enjoy this one. So get out and see it before it leaves the theaters.  You might also be interested in knowing that Downey will be playing the role of Tony Stark in the upcoming The Incredible Hulk starring Edward Norton

Rating: ★★★★☆

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Published
by
Chalupa
on May 22, 2008
in Action, Adventure, Based on a book, Based on a novel, England, Family, Fantasy, Remake, Sequel and WWII
. 1 Comment

If you were disappointed by the first film in this more recent series, I think you might enjoy the second installment. I thought The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was too kid-like and G-rated for my tastes. Don’t get me wrong - I enjoyed it, it’s just that I thought a lot more could have been done with the fight scenes. I do realize this series was C.S. Lewis’ response to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and it wasn’t necessarily made for adults, but it could still be way cooler. If you didn’t know, they were pals back in the day and hung out at the same pub. They both decided to make something for the kids and these two great literary works are what came of it. I should know this because the university I attended and currently work at has a big part of their library dedicated to Mr. Lewis and an exact replica of said bar…

Anyways, back to the movie - I really enjoyed what was done with Prince Caspian. I think Andrew Adamson did a fine job at stepping up to the plate and directing something worth seeing. If you didn’t know, he did direct the first film along with a couple of the Shrek films. He’s also slated as a producer on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader set to come out in 2010.

If you’ve seen the BBC versions, you might be aware that Warwick Davis played several roles throughout those films. I’m not sure what he’s most famous for because he played an Ewok in Star Wars. He was also in Willow, the Leprechaun movies, Labyrinth, and many others more recently. He’s really made a career for himself as being the guy that gets into suits. He happens to play Nikabrik in this film and Liz and I thought it was really cool to see him in a movie with Peter Dinklage, another amazing actor who has also made a great name for himself.

Seeing the progression of these two movies, if there’s one to be seen, reminds me of the Harry Potter series in the way that it grows in age appropriateness with each installment. I really hope these films continue in this manner. I’d also like to see them tackle the last three books that the BBC never got to, The Horse and His Boy, The Magician’s Nephew, and The Last Battle. It’s always been my opinion that these three are the coolest of the seven, and also the hardest to make due to needed special effects.

Rating: ★★★★½

Appleseed: Ex Machina

Published
by
Chalupa
on March 11, 2008
in Action, Animation, Anime, Based on a comic, Based on a graphic novel, Conspiracy, End of the world, Foreign, Future, Japan, Martial Arts, Sequel and War
. 1 Comment

This is my first-ever sponsored review. I haven’t done anything like this before. If you’ve never heard of Appleseed: Ex Machina before, you should know it’s an Anime sequel to Appleseed. This film does come from Japan, but the Region 1 DVD release has been dubbed into English. Directing this film is the legendary Shinji Aramaki. I say legendary because this man has been very influential in the world of animation and the drawing of cartoon machines. This guy worked on the drawings and designs of the first Transformers toys, MASK, the Genesis series, and Fullmetal Alchemist. Producing this film is John Woo of action and martial arts fame.

If you know anything about Anime, you know it’s a style of animation from Japan. John Woo happens to be from China. The two of them working together, in a creative manner, is nothing short of amazing due to the long history of being at odds that their two countries have. The fact Woo is involved leads a lot of credibility to the project and puts the film on the radars of many potential fans. Even though Woo is known for his fight scenes, there’s the element of emotion that many miss. The emotion and depth to the characters and story turns a film like this from being just eye-candy into a truly wonderful work of art. You’ll definitely see his influence in scenes where slow motion, creative fighting styles and lots of bullets are used.

The word Anime is really just an abbreviation of the English word animation and has its roots in Japanese Manga. Anime is traditionally hand drawn, but computer animation is becoming more and more common. Having majored in computer science as an undergrad, I know a tiny bit about the work and processing power it takes to make cartoons and animated films. The 3-D animation is this film is nothing short of amazing. Everything looks so realistic from the body movements, facial expressions, fully animated jaws, backgrounds, sceneries and landscapes. The visual aspects of this film are breathtaking.

I haven’t seen the original film, Appleseed, so I may be a little clueless to the story. I think this is a good thing when it comes to a review because I have no pre-conceived notions of what’s happening. Ex Machina takes place in a futuristic, post-apocalyptic world. At some point in the past there was a global, non-nuclear war which took out pretty much everything. Olympus is a Utopian-like city where peace and order stand with the help of its elite fighting force, the ESWAT. This isn’t the only city in the world though. There are still other countries and governments. There are also three types of people: humans, cyborgs, and bioroids. I’m going to assume you already know what humans and cyborgs are. Bioroids are clones, genetic copies, of real people made with the best technology available. They also lack some of the bad qualities that seem to contribute to the not-so-great aspects of humanity.

The three main characters are Deunan, a human, Briareos, human turned cyborg, and Tereus, a bioroid that is a copy of Briareos when he was human. I’m sure you’re already imagining the drama between the main trio. Deunan and Briareos were partners back in the day and continued to be after he was severely injured and turned into a cyborg. As far as I can tell, they exist in the original film. In Ex Machina we find ourselves in another classic, Confuscist battle of good versus evil; there are organized terrorist attacks trying to bring down the peace and order of Olympus.

In the midst of peace talks between all the countries and governments of the world, humans and cyborgs are being turned into mindless zombies. These remotely controlled drones are being made to massively attack anything of strategic value in the city. At first it is thought the cyborgs are just susceptible to rogue, controlling frequencies, but humans are being affected too. Are Deunan, Briareos, and Tereus susceptible to this mind control? Will they be able to take down a terrorist mastermind that makes Dr. Octopus look like a distempered man-child? Well, I couldn’t really tell you or I’d be ruining the movie for you.

I highly recommend this film. I think it will be dearly loved by existing Appleseed fans. It is a great addition to the already wonderful Anime genre and there’s enough story, action and drama to keep everyone else wanting to find out what happens next. Rent it or buy it, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Rating: ★★★★½

Upcoming Review - Appleseed: Ex Machina

Published
by
Chalupa
on March 3, 2008
in Action, Animation, Anime, Based on a comic and Sci-fi
. 1 Comment

I’ve recently been contacted about writing a review for a new Anime movie called Appleseed: Ex Machina. It’s a sequel to Appleseed which came out in 2003 and was released in the US in 2004. Here’s a trailer, a short synopsis and some high-quality pictures (Appleseed: Ex Machina - #25, Appleseed: Ex Machina - #17, Appleseed: Ex Machina - #2) if you’re interested. I should have a review up in the near future.

APPLESEED: EX MACHINA

In the year 2133, a war killed off half the population of Earth, plunging the world into chaos and despair. In OLYMPUS, a utopian city-state and the last true bastion of culture and civilization, the ESWAT police force holds the peace. The two star members of this Special Ops team are Deunan Knute and her cyborg partner Briareos. Their relationship is threatened when the government reveals a prototype combat clone, named Tereus, who is a clone of Briareos. However, a strange electronic virus begins turning citizens into violent zombies and the trio must team up to track down the terrorists behind this brutal attack before it tears the peaceful utopia apart.

This sequel to the 2003 smash hit, based on the best-selling manga by Masamune Shirow, uses mind-blowing, cutting edge CGI and was produced by action-king John Woo.

Appleseed Ex Machina arrives on DVD, HD-DVD, and Blu-Ray March 11th, 2008.

Nightwatch

Published
by
Chalupa
on February 25, 2008
in Abortion, Action, Based on a book, Based on a novel, Comedy, Epic, Fantasy, Horror, Narrated, Russia, Sci-fi, Thriller, Trilogy, Vampires and War
. 2 Comments

Nightwatch is a vampire movie I heard about a few years ago from a buddy of mine. I’ve been meaning to watch it for quite some time and wouldn’t you know, it’s available on-demand from Netflix. Set in Russia, there’s an ongoing, epic battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil. In this context they are the Forces of Light and Forces of Darkness and they are called Others. At one point during this epic, immortal battle, a truce was formed. Humans now had to choose their own side. They could no longer be forced into serving the Light or the Dark.

There was an ancient prophecy about a virgin that would pretty much bring about the apocalypse. There was also an Other that would join the battle and have to choose which side they would fight for. This choice would turn the tide for whichever side he/she chose.

This brings us to modern-day Russia where the Others walk amongst the humans pretending to be mortal. The Light are called Nightwatchers and the Dark are called Daywatchers. Both sides monitor each other to ensure the truce is held. That truce is eventually broken and all hell, literally, is about to break loose. The apocalypse is upon them and both sides are trying to find “the one” in order to bring them to their side.

Based on a book, this story is being put into a trilogy. In fact, the second film, Daywatch is mentioned in the end credits. Unlike some vampire-esque movies this one isn’t filled with gore or pointless sex and nudity to cover up the slow and weaker parts of the plot and script. I’m really interested in seeing the second installment now. They’ve got me hooked. I’d definitely recommend this to any fan of the vampire genre.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo

Published
by
Chalupa
on February 20, 2008
in Action, Adolescence, Drama, Foreign, Martial Arts and Samurai
. 0 Comments

This was kind of a weird movie. If you’re familiar with both Yojimbo and the Zatoichi story, then you can probably figure out what the movie is.

Yojimbo is a classic Samurai film written and directed by the great Akira Kurosawa. A story that has been used for other films like Last Man Standing and A Fistful of Dollars. It’s in the Criterion Collection and is a must-see for any fan of the Samurai genre.

Zatoichi is the classic character of a blind swordsman. There are many, many movies out there about this character. I saw Zatôichi from 2003 and really enjoyed it.

I wouldn’t rank this movie as a favorite by any means. I also wouldn’t urge you to rush out there and rent it. Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo is interesting because both stories are meshed, but that’s about it. I don’t know how interesting it would be if you weren’t already familiar with what this movie is based off of.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Balls of Fury

Published
by
Chalupa
on January 15, 2008
in Action, Comedy, Crime, Martial Arts, Ping Pong and Sport
. 1 Comment

I remember first seeing a preview for Balls of Fury before Transformers. At first glance I knew it didn’t look that great, but I wanted to give it a chance because of the one and only Christopher Walken being in it. Jeremy, one of my buddies that was there, tried to tell me this movie would suck and not be worth my time. I kinda didn’t listen to him at the time, but maybe I should have.

Well, co-worker Steve picked it up to play on the big-screen here at work last Friday. I can’t say I’m sorry I saw a good chunk of the film, but I’m not necessarily better for it either. The basic plot is Randy Daytona, played by Dan Fogler, was a child ping pong prodigy and is recruited later on in life to compete at a secret world competition in an effort to save some friends of his. Have we seen this plot before? How about Beerfest or even Enter the Dragon? I know these aren’t both literal translations in the sense of Yojimbo, Last Man Standing and A Fistful of Dollars, but I’m sure you can see some similarities. This has basically been done before.

Christopher Walken wasn’t a disappointment, but I think the rest of the movie was. There were some funny bits here and there but not enough to really redeem the movie. I can’t say I’ve seen Fogler in anything else. I checked his IMDB listings and saw Good Luck Chuck and School for Scoundrels - both movies that I heard kind of tanked. I don’t want to say Fogler is trying to emulate some of the great, fat comedians…but I kind of got that impression. Co-worker Steve said the movie would have been much better with Jack Black in the starring role. I agreed, but also knew that Black would never have accepted this role. It would have been totally below him. Yeah, his band played in Bio-Dome and he’s had some minor roles in movies like Demolition Man, The NeverEnding Story III, The Jackal and Waterworld. I’m sure a lot of you are even better familiar with his more recent jobs since his breakout role, totally my opinion, as Barry in High Fidelity. I’m kinda going off track here, but the point is that Jack Black has way more class than Balls of Fury. In fact, after writing this I was browsing Pajiba and saw that it won a Golden Pajiba, and I quote, “To say he’s a low-rent Jack Black would be a disservice to cockroach infested, crime-ridden Section 8 housing.”

I’m going to have to say I don’t suggest this one. It was pretty lame all around.