Month: October 2012

Alex Cross

Based on a James Patterson novel series, Alex Cross (Tyler Perry) a detective/psychologist for the Detroit Police Dept finds himself and his team which consists of his long time friend Tommy Kane (Edward Burns) and police detective Monica Ashe (Rachel Nichols) trying to catch a ruthless, sadist serial killer who goes by the name of Picasso.
They play a deadly game of cat and mouse trying to stop what is to be believed as an assassination attempt on a European industrialist who resides in the suburbs of Detroit. Alex Cross must find a way to get inside Picasso’s head so he can get one step ahead of him because that is the only way Picasso is going to be stopped. The story unfolds from there…
The plot and story are choppy. There is no cohesiveness. Tyler Perry does not make a good transition from comedy to suspense thriller. The Character Alex Cross does not come across as ruthless as his character is in the James Patterson novels. This is what makes the movie just ok.
The movie is not as bad as the paid critics indicated although it’s definitely not as good as the previews made it look. Tyler Perry should stick to the “Madea” character. He is very good at that and not so good when there is a need to be ruthless and cunning.

Argo

Remember when Iranian Revolutionaries stormed the American Embassy in November 1979? “Argo” is about the situations that led up to, during and after this awful event.

During the rioting and chaos 6 Americans were able to escape and find refuge with the Canadian Ambassador. However it was discovered by the revolutionaries that some of the Embassy staff was unaccounted for. Worried that they may be found and executed, the US Government calls extractor Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) to get the refugees out.

Tony’s plan is to pose as a Hollywood producer who is scouting the location to film a movie and plans to use the refugees as his crew. The story unfolds from there…

“Argo” is based on a true story. The movie is executed brilliantly!! The attention to detail is astounding. It’s “Dark, Intense and Sometimes Comical”.

For those of you who do not like a lot of profanity in your movies, BEWARE, the “F” word is used constantly. Sometimes it’s funny, but most of the time not so much.

Taken 2

Liam Neeson reprises his role as Bryan Mills the retired CIA operative. Bryan takes a small assignment in Istanbul Turkey. He wraps up the assignment and is ready to return to the USA, but his daughter (Maggie Grace) and her mother Bryan’s ex-wife (Famke Janssen) show up to surprise him. Little does anyone know that the father of one of the kidnappers from the first installment is plotting revenge against Brian. The story unfolds from there…

I really enjoyed the first installment. It’s very difficult to carry over the intrigue and excitement that the 2009 hit “Taken” had. I have to say that while the paid critics were luke-warm about this second installment, they are only half right. The movie has plenty of intrigue and suspense, but the story is weak at best. It lacks the “torture and interrogation scenes that made “Taken” so good.

There isn’t as much action as the first installment, but Liam Neeson is awesome!! He still has the skills of “Jason Borne and MacGyver”.
There is some great cinematography of Istanbul Turkey. I say if you really liked the first installment “Taken” then you should see “Taken 2”.