“Now You See Me” is a sophisticated game of “Cat & Mouse” with a group of extremely good magicians, the police and the FBI.
Four top notch magicians perform never before seen tricks. Their tricks are so elaborate they involve theft of money and safes. This draws the attention of not only a former magician who seeks out magicians to expose their tricks, but the police and the FBI get involved. the story unfolds from there…
Things are definitely not what they seem and this is the “Magic” of “Now You See Me”. Move over Houdini because you have nothing on these four fresh magicians.
The movie is good and you will be entertained. The magic is very cool!! The intrigue, twists and turns will keep you on your toes. Don’t blink or you might miss something important. This is a “Must Pay Close Attention” type of movie.
The plot and reasoning is baffling at best and that’s what keeps “Now You See Me” from being a 4-5 star movie.
The paid critics say it’s “So-So”. I disagree, I think “Now You See Me” is worth a look.
Category: Suspense Thriller
Olympus Has Fallen
At the writing of this review I am undecided as to whether I like “Olympus Has Fallen” or not. There are a few good elements about the movie, but there are also an equal number of bad elements about the movie and that’s what makes it difficult. The Cast is HUGH and are all excellent actors.
On a nice July day the unthinkable happens, an extreme terrorist and his army invade the air space around the White House. The army is well armed and knows all of our secret weapons and how they operate. President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart) and most of his key staff are taken hostage in the White House bunker.
Fortunately for President Asher, one of his former security officers Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) happens to arrive and is able to get inside the White House undetected before everything is shut down.
Banning needs to locate the President’s young son and rescue the President before the extremists unleash their intended plan on the US. The story unfolds from there…
Think “Die Hard” at the White House. This is what “Olympus Has Fallen” will remind you of. Security Officer Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) is John McCain (Bruce Willis).
The difference is “Die Hard” was more interesting while “Olympus Has Fallen” has a bigger cast. The plot is mildly interesting. There is some cool artillery that is used. The movie is very bloody and in your face violent. A bright spot is that Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett and Gerard Butler are excellent.
But, with all of that being said, this has been done before. Only the venue is different. It’s really sad that you have a ton of great actors/actresses and the movie is borderline mediocre. I found my self checking my watch on a couple of different occasions during the movie. If I do that, it’s not a good sign.
Dead Man Down
“Dead Man Down” is not exactly what you might think. The previews will lead you to think this is about a violent assault on a woman and her trying to get revenge. It’s much more then that…
Neils Arden Oplev, the director of the original “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” makes his US debut with “Dead Man Down”.
There are two stories that go on in “Dead Man Down”. They both center on revenge and family. The desire for revenge is extremely strong for two people, Victor (Colin Farrell) and Beatrice (Noomi Rapace) who don’t know each other, but after meeting and sizing each other up, they sort of join forces, each with he or her own agenda. The story unfolds from there…
“Dead Man Down” is very violent. There is a lot of suspense and intrigue. The story moves right along and nothing drags. The plots unfold nicely. I was impressed. I found the movie to be better than I expected. The paid critics were Luke-warm, but if you can stand the violence, “Dead Man Down” is worth a look.
Snitch
“Snitch” is based loosely on a true story about a father who tries to save his college-bound son from long-term incarceration in prison for accepting a delivery at his home on behalf of a friend. The delivery turns out to be heroine. The minimum sentence is 10 years. The story unfolds from there…
“Snitch” is not bad! The problem is, at times the movie drags and it takes too long to get to the point, but overall it’s decent. The movie contains strong violence as you would expect from any drug-related scenarios that involve a drug cartel, DEA, District Attorney, local police and any other federal law enforcement agencies.
For you Dwayne Johnson fans, this is not your typical Dwayne Johnson movie. There is hardly any action. In fact you will see a softer more compassionate Dwayne Johnson.
“Snitch” was not on my original “Watch List”, but I decided to give it a look.
Side Effects
“Side Effects” is a tight Suspense Thriller that touches on the anxieties of depression and deals with the moral aspects of medical ethics.
Emily (Rooney Mara) and Martin’s (Channing Tatum) successful world collapses amidst a new experimental drug that is prescribed by Emily’s psychiatrist (Jude Law). The drug is intended to treat Anxiety, but of course has many side effects one in particular is sleep walking. The story unfolds from there…
“Side Effects” is a series of twists, turns, surprises, drama and deafening suspense. This is Director Steve Soderbergh at his finest. You will attempt to figure out what is going on in the movie and think you have it all figured out right up to the end, but you’d be wrong.
The sneakiness, surprises, suspense, twists and turns are what make “Side Effects” worth seeing. “Side Effects” isn’t great, but it is very good and has an excellent cast!!
If you love Drama and Suspense, “Side Effects” is your movie.
Broken City
“What a tangled web we weave when we are trying to Deceive!!” “Broken City” puts an interesting twist on a “Political Thriller”.
Mark Wahlberg plays ex-cop Billy Taggert who knows there is plenty of injustice in the city. After being double-crossed by the one and only Mayor (Russell Crowe) who happens to be the most popular guy in town; Billy has his hands full trying to prove the injustice, get revenge and redemption.
Billy’s endless pursuit almost gets him killed, but that isn’t going to stop him. The story unfolds from there…
There are several agendas that play out in this movie and that is what makes it interesting. Although there is plenty of suspense and intrigue, the movie could have had a more detailed ending. There were a couple of holes left unfilled. Things are not always as they seem.
The paid critics were “Luke-warm” about “Broken City”, but I felt it was pretty good. If you like Political Suspense Thrillers, this is your movie.
Zero Dark Thirty
Finally!! “Zero Dark Thirty” opened in wide-release. I have known about this movie for over 7 months. It opened in limited release (NY & LA) in December 2012.
The movie needs no introduction. It’s about the events that led up to Osama Bin Laden’s ultimate demise. The movie is intense, chilling, brutal and mind boggling. There is no sugar-coating here. The actions and events are as real as it gets. The movie shows excellent timelines and is very well executed. Jessica Chastain is superb!! Two hours and thirty seven minutes go by quickly.
My only complaint is I wish the ending had been a few minutes longer.
Bravo to Director Kathryn Bigelow for giving us the real deal. The movie was worth the wait, hype and all of the Oscar nominations it received. If it does not win any Oscars I will be angry.
If you have a weak stomach, do not go see “Zero Dark Thirty”.
If you like Action, Suspense and Thrills this is YOUR movie.
Skyfall
Sean Connery will always be James Bond to me. He set the standard for all other Bond impersonators who came after him. Although in this latest installment of the Bond Franchise, Daniel Craig runs a very close second to Sean Connery. The James Bond you see in “Skyfall” is “Shaken not Stirred”. He has such a cool facade you wonder if anything gets to him.
In this installment of the Bond Franchise, James Bond and M (Judi Dench) find themselves the targets of a sadistic killer who will stop at nothing to get to “M”. Additionally James Bond’s current assignment goes terribly wrong and all of the real identities of the undercover agents for Her Majesty’s Service have been compromised. Bond must stop the person from leaking all of the identities before the agents are harmed and keep “M” safe. The story unfolds from there…
Lots of action and violence, the movie at times is intense, dark and sensual. Although there are some slow parts, the movie will easily hold your attention. New faces appear for “Money Penny” and “Q”.
“Skyfall” is probably Daniel Craig’s best work as 007. Definitely worth the ticket if you are a James Bond fan.
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.
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”.
MovieWarrior 