Tag: 2008

Categories
Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – 2000s Movies – # – 10,000 BC (2008) Movie Review

Director: Roland Emmerich

Writer: Roland Emmerich, Harald Kloser (Screenplay)

Starring: Camilla Belle, Steven Strait, Marco Khan, Cliff Curtis, Joel Virgel, Affif Ben Badra

Plot: In the prehistoric past, D’Leh is a mammoth hunter who bonds with the beautiful Evolet. When warriors on horseback capture Evolet and the tribesmen, D’Leh must embark on an odyssey to save his true love.


Tagline – It takes a hero to change the world.

Runtime: 1 Hour 49 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: 10,000 BC starts as we meet the mammoth hunting tribe where Tic’Tic (Curtis) leads the hunts, while an outcast from the tribe D’Leh (Strait) looks to make an impact with fellow outsider Evolet (Belle), as D’leh takes his place as the man that took down a mammoth.

When another tribe of warriors invades the land, Evolet is taken and Tic’Tic, D’Leh, Baku and others lead the quest to rescue her and turn their tribe back into the warriors they know they are.

Thoughts on 10, 000 BC

Thoughts – 10,000 BC is an action adventure movie that will show one man looking to lead his tribe in a quest to save their own, only for them to discover he has the ability to bring others together against a common enemy. This is the typical rise up against a bigger threat, where each chapter will see a new lesson to make our hero a stronger leader. The fact this is set in the prehistoric era, gives us glimpse into the creature of this world, with them not being as big of a factor in everything going on, which would have made this a lot more entertaining to watch. This is an entertaining enough action adventure, but it does seem to lack a full connection to make it reach the promised potential.

Final Thoughts – 10,000 BC is an easy to watch action adventure.

Categories
Movie Review

Wanted (2008) Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – 2000s Movies – W – Wanted – Movie Review

Wanted

Director: Timur Bekmambetov (Night Watch, Day Watch)

Writer: Michael Brandt, Derek Haas, Chris Morgan (Screenplay)

Writer: Mark Millar, J.G. Jones (Comic Book)

Cast

Plot: A frustrated office worker discovers that he is the son of a professional assassin and that he shares his father’s superhuman killing abilities.

Runtime: 1 Hour 50 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Wanted starts when officer worker Wesley (McAvoy) believes his life is going nowhere, he finds himself targeted by an assassin Cross (Kretschmann). He is saved by Fox (Jolie) who introduces him to a secret fraternity of assassins run by Sloan (Freeman).

As Wesley starts his training, he learns physics aren’t what they seem, and he must train to defy them. Once he is trained, he will start working with the assassins before getting a chance to kill the man who killed his father.

Verdict on Wanted

Wanted is an action thriller that is based on a comic book movie. It will give us a typical origin story, as we follow Wesley as he enters into this world. the typical montage training and preparing all work well.

The story does keep everything personal for Wesley, which will intensify his motivation to improve. Even if there is a twist in the story, leading us in a different direction than we would have expected.

The action is slick, with the use of the slow-motion bullet speed for the bending shots, the unique appeal of this movie. The final shot out is intense bringing a relentless feel to what has changed.

The performances are great with McAvoy taking the nerdy figure and turning him into a badass. Angelina Jolie is the badass assassin that is as deadly as she is gorgeous and Morgan Freeman as the mentor leading is calmness through and through.

Where to Watch:  Wanted is available on Netflix and Sky now.

Final Thoughts – Wanted is an all-out action romp, never backing down or caring about collateral damage.

Categories
Movie Review

Hancock (2008) Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Sci-Fi – H – Hancock (2008)

Director: Peter Berg

Writer: Vy Vincent Ngo, Vince Gilligan (Screenplay)

Starring: Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman, Jae Head, Eddie Marsan, David Mattey

Plot: Hancock is a superhero whose ill-considered behavior regularly causes damage in the millions. He changes when the person he saves helps him improve his public image.

Runtime: 1 Hour 32 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Hancock starts as we see how LA has its own reckless superhero Hancock (Smith). Who causes more damage to the city trying to save people, rather than just saving the city.

When Hancock saves Ray (Bateman), Ray decides he wants to repay Hancock by improving his image using his PR skills. Turning the reckless hero into the one the city wants to help them. Only the truth about why he is the way he is will be revealed.

Thoughts on Hancock

Hancock is an action fantasy that will take the superhero idea in a different more realistic environment. Showing us a different idea of how one would live in everyday life, seen as an outside in the world. Where they can’t do much to help without people questioning them, never being seen as giving enough to help. The deeper side of the story could have got into a lot more. But you feel it would if we did get it now because of the increased number of superhero movies we receive.

Will Smith is great in this leading role, he will give us a rougher around the edge character. Which we don’t normally see in the big blockbuster he stars in. the action is great to watch with the destruction looking realistic. If you do want to see a superhero movie without a connection to any other film, stepping away from the comic book styles we have seen before.

Final Thoughts – Hancock is a very different superhero movie, one that is well worth the time.

Categories
Movie Review

Transsiberian (2008) Movie Review

Director: Brad Anderson

Writer: Brad Anderson, Will Conroy (Screenplay)

Starring: Woody Harrelson, Emily Mortimer, Ben Kingsley, Kate Mara, Eduardo Noriega, Thomas Kretschmann

Plot: A Transsiberian train journey from China to Moscow becomes a thrilling chase of deception and murder when an American couple encounters a mysterious pair of fellow travellers.

Runtime: 1 Hour 51 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Transsiberian starts when Roy (Harrelson) and Jessie (Mortimer) are travelling back from China to Moscow along the Trans-Siberian trainline, where the couple meet Abby (Mara) and Carlos (Noriega) who are much more travelled than the other couple.

As the two couples travel, Jessie finds herself getting caught up in the middle of criminal activities where Grinko (Kingsley) starts hunting them down for answers.

Thoughts on Transsiberian

Thoughts – Transsiberian is a story that will show an innocent couple finding themselves caught up in the middle of a criminal activities, where they will need to fight back against deadlier enemies, who are willing to do anything to cover up their trails. This does feel like a film split into two, as we get the calmer approach of travelling with strangers, which gets an instant change in tone when the second half of the film starts, one that will bring the intensity to the film. This does seem to make us only follow the two extremes of the film, not leaving us with the enjoyment with how everything unfolds. We do have a strong cast who all perform in the film with Emily Mortimer standing out from the rest, with her characters journey through the film.

Final Thoughts – Transsiberian is a gritty thriller split between two sides of the story.

Categories
Movie Review

The Lodge (2008) Movie Review

Director: Brad Helmink, John Rauschelbach

Writer: Deb Havener (Screenplay)

Starring: Kevin McClatchy, Elizabeth Kell, Owen Szabo, Mandi Kreisher, Liz Jones, Deanna Cramer

Plot: A young couple’s weekend getaway at a secluded mountain ranch becomes an unfathomable nightmare when they discover the truth about the caretaker.

Runtime: 1 Hour 23 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Lodge starts when Michael (Szabo) and Julia (Kell) look to have a romantic getaway in a remote lodge, where they meet the overly friendly caretaker Henry (McClatchy) who does make them feel uncomfortable.

When the couple learn about Henry’s true reason for lurking around the lodge, they must figure out how to escape from the man who has his own plans for them.

Thoughts on The Lodge

Thoughts – The Lodge is a horror thriller that will see a couple needing to work together to escape from a man that has their own plans for them in the remote lodge they had hoped to spend a weekend away. This is a story that will start off slowly, despite showing the darker side of what might be happening early on, but doesn’t let the film have enough time to breath in the escape side of things, with everything happening so fast, it seems like nothing is let loose. The location does help the film, as the beautiful location would draw people in, but what happens feels like it might have been reported by now. The performances are fine, nobody is bad, but nobody involved is tested to do more than above and beyond, making this feel like a comfortable late-night horror.

Final Thoughts – The Lodge is the standard late-night horror.

Categories
Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Favourites – C – The Chaser (2008) Movie Review

The Chaser – Gritty, Dark & Disturbing

 

Director: Hong-jin Na

Writer: Won-Chan Hong, Shinho Lee, Hong-jin Na (Screenplay)

Starring: Kim Yoon-seok, Hung-woo Ha, Yeong-hie Seo, Yoo-Jeong Kim, In-gi Jeong

Plot: A disgraced ex-policeman who runs a small ring of prostitutes finds himself in a race against time when one of his women goes missing.


Tagline – The hunter and the hunted, the ultimate chase begins

Runtime: 2 Hour 5 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Chaser starts as we meet former detective turned pimp Joong-ho Eom (Yoon-seok) who arranges the girls, but will get hands on with anyone who abuses his girls, putting their safety first, his style has seen him falling behind and when some of his girls have gone missing, he starts to investigate the truth.

When Joong-ho catches the killer Young-min Jee (Ha), he faces a new race against time to save the missing girl Mi-jin Kim (Seo) that Young-min isn’t will to give up the information about, despite having the police constantly on the attack looking for the truth.

Thoughts on The Chaser

Characters & Performances – Joong-ho Eom is a small time pimp, with his girls getting treated differently to others in the industry, he is a former detective as will use his connection when needed and he will take on and punish anyone who hurts the girls he has working for him. When his girls start going missing, he goes into detective mode to track them down, where he catches the person behind it, but is left trying to figure out where the latest victim is, to reunite her child with them. He will not stop until he finds her and he is willing to hurt anyone that holds back the truth. Kim Yoon-seok does show us just how far someone will go when they are pushed to the limits. Young-min Jee is the killer, he calls up prostitutes where he uses the time to kill them, he has been caught but isn’t given away the information about where he has committed these crimes, keeping everything secret, so his latest victim will die, a sick a twisted man that is always ready to make people pay. Jung-woo Ha gives us a very cold character that will not stop and is always planning something in his head. Mi-jin Kim is the prostitute that is taken by Young-min Jee, locked up and beaten, she spends most of the film tied up waiting or thinking how to escape. The supporting cast in the film are all wonderful, showing us just how dark and desperate this world created has become.

Story – The story here follows a former detective turned pimp that must track down a killer who is killing his girls and find the latest victim before it is too late. This story shows us how someone searching for the truth will go to extreme lengths to make sure he finds it, going into a dark place to take on a killer that isn’t willing to give up any information, knowing he is in a race against time to save a life. The story is gritty, filled with twists about who is involved and by the end will leave you exhausted.

Themes – The Chaser brings us into a cat-n-mouse like world, with a killer looking to stay ahead of the man trying to catch him and save his victim. We get plenty of running action sequences, through the tight streets, trying to capture potential suspects, before we learn the truth, with the tension being ramped up by the race against time to save the missing girl. We don’t hold back on the violence which will be shown in every blow. The setting of the big city, works, with the housing area being very tight streets, leaves everything in a race against time, with many different options.

Final Thoughts –The Chaser is a dark disturbing crime thriller that doesn’t hold back on anything.



Categories
Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Horror – L – Lakeview Terrace (2008) Movie Review

Director: Neil LaBute

Writer: David Loughery, Howard Korder (Screenplay) David Loughery (Story)

Starring: Samuel L Jackson, Patrick Wilson, Kerry Washington, Ron Glass, Justin Chambers, Jay Hernandez, Regine Nehy

Plot: Based on a true story, a troubled and racist African-American L.A.P.D. Officer will stop at nothing to force out a friendly interracial couple who just moved in next door to him.


Tagline – What could be safer than living next to a cop?

Runtime: 1 Hour 50 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Slow Burning Thriller

Story: Lakeview Terrace starts when couple Chris (Wilson) and Lisa (Washington) move into their new home, one of their neighbours is widowed cop Abel Turner (Jackson) isn’t keen on having a mixed-race couple next door to him, starting by teasing Chris.

When Abel continues to clash with Chris, the games start to become more targeted, with damage to property and with Abel using his power of being on the side of the law, it makes it very difficult to deal with the neighbour from hell.

Thoughts on Lakeview Terrace

Characters – Abel is a widowed father and police officer, he has very strict rules for his children to follow, which is pushing them away from him, when he see the mixed-race couple move in next door, he doesn’t like them in anyway and always finds a way to get back at time, if they do something that he doesn’t like. His action and position of power make him feel like he could get away with anything. Chris the husband in the couple, being white he attracts the attention of Abel who takes an instant dislike towards him, his temper doesn’t help as when he clashes with Abel, he doesn’t handle it in the best way and his constant seeking approval from his wife father only adds pressure to him. Lisa is the wife that spends a lot more of the time in the home, she wants to be a good neighbour and be open for the children next door, only for her desire to start her own family being stronger desire to future. Harold is the father of Lisa that has always looked down on Chris, and wanted more for his daughter.

Performances – Samuel L Jackson is very unsettling through this film, we see just how demanding he wants to be through the film. Patrick Wilson is always strong in his roles in film, this is no different, while Kerry Washington holds her own in the mix, even if her character does seem to just be woman at home.

Story – The story here does follow a couple that finds themselves living next door to the neighbour from hell, who wants to torment them because he doesn’t believe in mixed race couples. This does focus on the slow build of a neighbourly rivalry before it starts getting completely out of hand. It does show how people in a position of authority can abuse their power to make other people’s a living hell, which is what we see with everything that happens in this film, the couple are left feeling powerless when it comes to dealing with the neighbour. The pacing is slightly weaker because it does seem to show us how one minute they get on the next they hate each other, which just doesn’t add up to everything going on.

Crime – The crime side of the film follows the actions of the law enforcement officer that does seem to just do what he wants believing the law with support him.

Settings – The film keeps the settings in the neighbourhood, where we see just how the two must learn to get on even though they live next to each other and don’t like each other.


Scene of the Movie – Incoming fire.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Lisa does just seem to be female character or wife, while she makes a point about her job, but never seems to go to work.

Final Thoughts – This is a simple thriller that does push the limits on how you would or could treat your neighbour.

Overall: Simple thriller.

Categories
Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Horror – J – Donkey Punch (2008) Movie Review

This is under J because of star Jaime Winstone.

Director: Olly Blackburn

Writer: Olly Blackburn (Screenplay)

Starring: Jaime Winstone, Sian Breckin, Nichola Burley, Robert Boulter, Tom Burke, Julian Morris, Jay Taylor

Plot: Things go drastically wrong for a group of British holidaymakers in Spain.


Tagline – This party is going overboard

Runtime: 1 Hour 39 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Tension Filled Horror

Story: Donkey Punch starts as we meet our three women, Lisa (Breckin), Kim (Winstone) and Tammi (Burley) who is trying to get over an ex, having a girlie holiday in Spain, the three women meet four young men Sean (Boulter), Bluey (Burke), Josh (Morris) and Marcus (Taylor) who have their own yacht for the weekend, which sees the seven out to the open ocean for a party.

When the drunks have flown too much, mixed with the drugs, a sex session starts, with one of the guys trying something known as a donkey punch, which ends up killing one of the girls. The guys want to cover this up, while the girls are willing to fight back to stay alive.

Thoughts on Donkey Punch

Characters – Tammi is the girl that is trying to have a break from her life back home, she has just got out of a bad relationship, looking to have some fun with her friends, the one who is reluctant to go on the yacht and the one that doesn’t get as involved with the drinking and drugs, the voice of reason once things go wrong. Kim and Lisa are the two who want to go on the yacht and have a party, they are up for anything and everything, which leads to what goes wrong, though it isn’t their fault, they don’t show the support you would expect to see from friends helping their friend. The guys are all up for a party, they don’t care what happens that much willing to let the drinks and drugs mix without worrying about the consequences, until something goes wrong, when they will do anything to cover up what one of them did.

Performances – This film doesn’t have the truly strongest cast, we have the party performances, while the male actors are trying to act tough, while the women are showing us how they want to fight back or do the right thing.

Story – The story follows three women that join four men on a yacht for a party, when after the drugs and drinks get out of control, one of the women gets killed and the tensions to cover up the death, shows how far people will go to save their own reputations. This is a story that focuses more on seeing how people will react to a situation, whether it is an accident or not on whether to do the right thing or sort out their own mess they have created. The characters are painted to be generic, with the men being all macho, while the women are written to not show a single sign of caution, that are willing to force their heartbroken friend into a position where they couldn’t say no. it does fall into the survival of the fittest when it comes to trying to stay ahead of the threat around them.

Crime/Horror – The crime side of the film starts with an accident, which soon turns into how each character sees that action, which leads to murderous consequences in a horror filled race to stay ahead of each other.

Settings – The film is set on one yacht in the middle of the ocean, it shows that the characters can’t run away or call for help and that money doesn’t give people the smartest brains.


Scene of the Movie – Life raft.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The plain characters.

Final Thoughts – This is a film that shows the human condition once things go wrong in a situation and how they will always react in the worst possible way.

Overall: Horror that is waiting for people to do things wrong.

Categories
Movie Review

Jean-Claude Van Damme Weekend – The Shepherd (2008) Movie Review

Director: Isaac Florentine

Writer: Joe Gayton, Cade Courtley (Screenplay)

Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Stephen Lord, Natalie J Robb, Gary McDonald, Daniel Perrone, Scott Adkins, Andree Bernard

Plot: A former New Orleans cop battles drug cartels and ex-Army Special Forces who are smuggling drugs from Mexico into U.S. through a Texas border town.


Tagline – Welcome To Mexico

Runtime: 1 Hour 35 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Van Damme 101

Story: The Shepherd starts when a former New Orleans cop Jack Robideaux (Van Damme) gets a new job as a border control officer under Captain Ramona Garcia (Robb), he gets told to keep his head down, which lasts a couple of hours, given a new partner in Billy Pawnell (McDonald), Jack does get a big bust early on in his career.

With Jack around it only ends up crossing criminal smuggler Benjamin Meyer (Lord) who wants to make this battle personal, trying to put his own business back in, can Jack figure out who to trust within the force.

Thoughts on The Shepherd

Characters – Jack Robideaux has left New Orleans to starts a new job on border control, he wants to keep his head down, but struggles with this, he starts tackling the problems in New Mexico, which sees himself getting targeted, even though he has his own reasons for being part of the patrol. Benjamin Meyer is the man smuggling across the border, an ex-military man who knows how to recruit the strong people around him, he is confident he can either buy or kill his way out of any situation. Captain Ramona Garcia runs the border patrol team, she welcomes are warns Jack about the area, she doesn’t want any attention on her team, which sees her challenging Jack from his first few days. Billy Pawnell is the agent that becomes Jack’s partner, trying to keep his head down after he gets in trouble early on, considered one of the best on the force, a perfect guide for a new member of the team.

Performances – Jean-Claude Van Damme is just an action star that does everything right for an action film, with his fighting skills taking him to centre stage. Sadly, the rest of the cast just don’t get enough time to make a big impact on the story, its not that they are bad, they just don’t have much to do.

Story – The story here follows a newly appointed border patrol officer that gets into a battle with ruthless smugglers that have been controlling the borders for years. When it comes to the action in a Van Damme movie, we know the story isn’t going to be that deep, while we know there is going to be something behind the motivation for the career change, which there is. The good versus the bad is everything we have seen before, we know there will be twists along the way which works out well for the film.

Action/Crime – The action comes when we let Van Damme loose to fight, where he will face a younger enemy played by Scott Adkins for the big fight scene, anything to stop the criminal actions being handed out by the cartel gang.

Settings – The film is set in New Mexico right on the border, which does see how the criminal world would be operating.


Scene of the Movie – Van Damme versus Adkins.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – It is easy to see the twists coming.

Final Thoughts – This is a by the book action film that does everything it needed to without challenging the audience in anyway.

Overall: By the book action.