Category: Action

Need for Speed 3D

Let me first state that “The Fast and Furious” franchise has nothing to fear from “Need for Speed”. There are similarities, but “The Fast and Furious” franchise is so much better and has much better actors.

The absolute best things about “Need for Speed” are the speeding/racing cars, the car chases and the crazy car stunts. When the cars are not moving, the movie is “Ho-Hum”. I will also give props to the cinematography and the camera angles. You will feel like you are actually in the cars with the drivers.

Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul) a Blue-Collar mechanic struggles to keep his family owned car shop a float. He decides to partner with a wealthy ex-NASCAR Driver named Dino (Dominic Cooper) to help save the family business. Tragedy strikes and Tobey is framed for a crime he did not commit. Tobey goes to prison while Dominic reaps rewards and moves his business out west. The story unfolds from there…

As I stated earlier…as long as the cars are moving everything is great. Stop the cars and you want to leave the theater.

Non-Stop

“Non-Stop” is pretty good!!

Liam Neeson plays Bill Marks a U.S. Air Marshall. Bill is on a Trans-Atlantic flight that leaves New York heading to London. Once the flight is at a comfortable cruising altitude someone taps into the secure communication network that only U.S. Air Marshalls are supposed to have access to.
The threat is “Someone dies every 20 minutes until $150 million dollars is received via wire transfer in a special bank account” Bill Marks is trying to figure out who this person is and why are they doing this. this person seems to know a lot about Bill Marks’ personal life. The clock is ticking. The story unfolds from there…
There is plenty of suspense, intrigue, twists and turns. You will think you have it figured out, but you would be wrong. As the plot thickens so does the body count…

“Non-Stop” does have its moments. It lulls at times, but definitely makes up for it toward the end. The other problem is the actual reason behind everything is far-fetched. Liam Neeson does everything so eloquently that you can over look the movies short comings.

“Non-Stop” is definitely better than “3 Days to Kill”. If you are a Liam Neeson fan then “Non-Stop” is worth a look.

3 Days to Kill

Kevin Costner looks “Hot!!” in “3 Days to Kill” and he has smooth assassin moves. The cinematography is interesting; you will get to see a lot of Paris, France. But that’s it.

In “3 Days to Kill” Ethan Runner (Kevin Costner) is a retired Secret Service agent who has been called out of retirement to pose as an International Spy. His skills are needed for one last job. The request causes Ethan a tremendous amount of anxiety because he is attempting to recapture his old life. Currently Ethan is estranged from his wife and he hasn’t seen his daughter in years. He has kept them at bay and they don’t know what he really does.

If this new assignment isn’t enough, Ethan is also terminally ill. The agency supplies Ethan with injections that help to minimize the pain and agony that often afflicts him. They (CIA) need him to kill one of the most notorious International criminals. The story unfolds from there…

The problem with “3 Days to Kill” is that the story is disjointed; it does not flow and you have no idea of how you arrived at point B from point A. It’s like a runaway train that has no final destination. The plot is interesting, but there is no real understanding behind it. There are at least three stories going on in the movie at one time, but you are not given enough background information to really understand the reasoning behind the events that occur.

Needless to say I am disappointed. I expected better. “3 Days to Kill” is best viewed on DVD, Blueray or Cable.

RoboCop (2014)

RoboCop (2014) is flat…

RoboCop (2014) is basically a reboot of the 1987 installment. This would be the 4th installment in this franchise. The premises of this installment somewhat matches the 1987 installment. It’s the year 2028 in crime riddled Detroit Michigan. The police there are battling crime and coming up empty. A new robot technology by an emerging company called Omnicorp wants to use Detroit as a test city for its new way to fight crime.

In Tehran Omnicorp uses drones to keep the people and city safe. The question has always been why doesn’t America use this technology? When Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) a Detroit Cop is severely injured in the line of duty, Omnicorp see this as a perfect opportunity to step in and take what’s left of Alex and build a part man part robot police officer to combat crime on the streets of Detroit.

Omnicorp hopes to show Congress and the White House that this is the way of the future to battle crime and keep America’s streets safe. Additionally Omnicorp sees dollar signs; they believe there is $600 billion dollars at stake. Of Course Congress is skeptical and there is plenty of debate. The story unfolds from there…
The problem with “RoboCop (2014)” it’s not fun. Gary Oldman and Joel Kinnaman are great! They make the movie watchable. There is action, intrigue and some cool sci-fi stunts, but the movie still comes up empty. There isn’t much excitement. It’s a bit dry. There are a few awkward moments, holes in the plot and story.

I saw the movie in iMAX. “RoboCop (2014)” is not worth the price of an iMAX ticket.

The Monuments Men

George Clooney has done better in the directing department. He should have let Quentin Tarantino or Martin Scorsese direct this. Needless to say I am very disappointed because I had been looking forward to this movie. It’s not even close to my expectations.

Based on a true story, “The Monuments Men” is an action drama/documentary about an unlikely group of men who were tasked by FDR to recover stolen artistic masterpieces from Germany. This movie starts out in Ghent, Belgium and moves on to 1943 France, 1944 France and 1945 Merker, Germany.

The formed unlikely World War II Platoon comes up against unparalleled odds as they find that the art is trapped behind enemy lines. As they are attempting to recover the art, the German army under orders to destroy everything as the Reich fell makes it a difficult task because the “Monuments Men” are more familiar with Michelangelo than they are with the M-1. The story unfolds from there…

The problem with “The Monuments Men” is that it can’t decide if it’s an Action Drama or a Documentary. It’s a good story but told in the most boring fashion. The movie is flat, it drags and the suspense is ho-hum… You might be reminded of an old movie called “The Dirty Dozen”. Think of “The Monuments Men” as a WWII version of A Band-of-Brothers. The Dirty Dozen definitely has way more going for it than “The Monuments Men”.

Ride Along

“Ride Along” was not on my original watch list, but after it took in so much money last weekend. I thought I would take a look.

Kevin Hart is the funniest man in America at the moment. Ice Cube is the perfect straight man for all of Kevin Hart’s silliness.

In Order to win over his girl friend’s brother, Ben (Kevin Hart) a High School Security Guard must prove he has what it takes by spending 24 hours on a “Ride Along” with James (Ice Cube) who happens to be a hot headed detective in the Atlanta Police department. They both get embroiled in James latest case pursuing a notorious felon. The story unfolds from there…

Kevin Hart is funny and silly. Ice Cube compliments Kevin nicely as a comic straight man to all of Kevin Hart’s antics. There are plenty of laughs, but the plot and story fall a bit short and are both very weak. “Ride Along” is a bit boring. It’s all too familiar as we have seen this before. Kevin Hart is an excellent comedian; but not such a great actor. He should stick to “Stand-Up Comedy”.

“Ride Along” will be great for some comedy relief once it comes out on DVD or Blu-Ray. You should wait for it then.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

It’s always fun to see a Tom Clancey character brought alive on the big screen. “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit” would be brilliant if the storyline weren’t so weak and the plot so “Been there before…”

To his friends and family, Jack Ryan (Chris Pine) is just another executive working to make a living. Little do they know Jack has been working for the CIA for years. He was originally brought in to handle Global data, but Jack soon uncovers a carefully planned scheme to crash the Global US Economy and create mass chaos.
When Jack flies to Russia to put a stop to the scheme, he soon finds himself caught between a Russian Leader, his clueless fiancée, and his secret handler. The story unfolds from there…

“Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit” is fast paced, non-stop action, a bit of intrigue and some nice cinematography. Unfortunately that’s where it ends. The story, the plot and the reasoning are all very weak. There are quite a few holes in the story at the beginning, so you are forced to draw your own conclusions.

The movie appears to end when things just seem to be heating up. If the movie had been made with a bit longer running time, the extra time would have served it well.

Lone Survivor

“LONE SURVIVOR”, is a tale of true Brotherhood, Sacrifice, Courage and Heroism. Based on a true story, four Navy SEALS go out on a covert mission to neutralize a high-level Taliban operative. The mission goes awry and the four SEALS find themselves ambushed and fighting for their lives.

The movie is very well executed, plenty of action, intense violence and very bloody. I found myself hiding my eyes sometimes…The realism of the situation is staggering. This is probably one of the bloodiest military movies I have ever seen!!

LONE SURVIVOR gives you a really good look at what our troops have been dealing with and are continuing to deal with today. No politics are implied in this movie, just the day to day operations that our military deals with. My heart goes out to the men and women who fight for our country and our freedom.

If you like military movies and can stand the bloodiness; LONE SURVIVOR is your movie.

Caution, LONE SURVIVOR is not suited for children under 17.

Hunger Games: Catching Fire The IMAX Experience

This second installment finds Katniss Everdeen back at home safely after winning the 74th Annual Hunger Games. Part of winning means the winners must promote the games, so Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) and Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) embark on a cross country district by district tour. They are also both trying to convince President Snow (Donald Sutherland) that they do love each other and it was the right thing to allow them to be co-winners of the 74th Hunger Games. It would seem though that President Snow is not convinced.

The 75th Annual Hunger Games is approaching. President Snow has decided that all past winners must compete again to mark the 75th Anniversary. The story unfolds from there…

There is a nice continuation from the first installment. “Hunger Games: Catching Fire” flows nicely, keeps you engaged and thoroughly entertained. The cinematography is breathtaking and the special effects are awesome. My only problem was the ending is a bit weird, but the door is open for installment number three.
If you are a fan of the Hunger Games Franchise then “Hunger Games: Catching Fire” is a must see.

Ender’s Game

An Elite group of talented and gifted children are selected to train for a potentially very catastrophic War.

Ender Wiggins, shy but a strategically brilliant young leader, is recruited to join the elite group.

Once at the Battle School, Ender quickly masters the increasingly difficult challenges and simulations that are presented to him.
Ender soon gains that attention of Graff who is one of the schools Commanders who ordains Ender as the military’s next great hope. Ender is soon promoted to Commander School where he is trained to lead and given his own team of soldiers to lead into the next epic battle. The story unfolds from there…
If you read the NY Times best-selling novel you won’t be disappointed. It’s definitely a must see in IMAX to get the full effect. The special effects, cinematography and camera angles are fabulous. There is a small lull in the film, but it arrives at the end respectfully. Although this is a first chapter, “Ender’s Game” will lead to a blockbuster franchise.