The Expendables 2
Length: 1 hr. 42 min.
Genre: Action
Cast:
Sylvestor Stallone
Jason Statham
Dolph Lundgreen
Terry Crews
Randy Couture
Jean Claude Van-Damme
Arnold Schwarzenneger
Jet Li
And yes for 5 minutes Chuck Norris
Grade: B-
Would I Buy: No
Review:
So its pretty easy to say that the first Expendables was a HUGE letdown, to me at least. I mean what was set up perfectly to be a guys guy film had a horrible plot and even let down in action. Now what I can say here is that there is at least an improvement in both areas of that on the second installment.
The Expendable's 2 is about the same group of guys from the first with the absence of Jet Li after the first scene which really pissed me off, going to accomplish a simple task set up by Mr. Church (Willis). All the group had to do was make a simple run to an abandoned plane carrying a case that contained detailed information on where explosives are mined deep underground. The purpose of the mission was that the information was to be kept out of the wrong hands and was to be brought home safely. However after another group of men led by Jean Villian (Van Damme) kill one of the expendables men and take the case from them, the group of mercenaries have a person vendetta again Villian and all of his men who committed this horrible murder against one of theirs and stop Villian and his group before havoc wreaks!
Like I said in the intro, this film offered much improvements in the areas of action and plot. While the plot still is something that a 6th grader could have came up with, it is undeniably better than the first one's, and it allows a wider range of possible plot points. Also, by saying that the action is improved, this does not mean that the first one lacked any AT ALL, what I'm simply saying is that in this film there is less down time in between the heavy artillery shells and knife throws. The length of the film is used to lead into the next scene of action, and I must say the final act of this movie was a nice touch.
My biggest gripe about this movie is to be expected whenever Sly and Arnie boy are in a movie together and that is the script. I just feel like most of the characters in this movie force their lines instead of them feeling natural. Sly and Arnie are both known for their horrible one liners and in this film they are abundant. Even Statham has one or two! Since when does he sound like a choch? "I now pronounce you man and knife"? Wow. There was a few moments in the film where they threw obvious throwbacks on each others movies which I didn't find funny at all. The only time I laughed in this film (besides from how sick some of the action was) was a scene involving Chuck Norris and that's all I will say. Overall I would say go see it, but only for the action which is expected. I would give the first one a grade of a C and this one a B- so there is improvement!
Monday, August 20, 2012
Friday, August 17, 2012
The Dark Knight Rises movie review
The Dark Knight Rises- 2012
Length: 2 hr. 44 min.
Genre: Action/Superhero/Drama
Cast: I
Christian Bale
Tom Hardy
Joeseph Gordon-Levitt
Anne Hathaway
Michael Cain
Marion Cotillard
Morgan Freeman
Gary Oldman
Grade: B+
Would I buy: Yes
*This review will be lengthy
Review:
First of all, before I go any further I would like to apologize for the wait and how long it has taken this one to come out. I saw this film on the first week it was out, but certain events have delayed me being able to write down how I felt about it, but here it is!
The Dark Knight Rises takes place 8 years after the events of The Dark Knight, which as we all know was the fall of Harvey Dent, or two-face. Gotham is still recovering from what happened during that time and as we also all know the Dark Knight went into hiding after taking the fall for the fall of Harvey Dent which covered a truth Detective Gordon knew of. Now a new villain, Bane, arrives into Gotham to bring chaos to it and fulfill the destiny of Rhas-Al-Ghoul, the leader of the Dark Shadows that Bruce Wayne used to be apart of. A deeper plan unfolds in the process, and the fall of Bruce Wayne and Wayne enterprises ensues and with the presence of this huge physical specimen, the Dark Knight must rise once again to stop destruction from happening to a city he loves.
Positives:
As shown above this review will probably be my longest yet, because I've had a lot of time to think about how I felt and this is what I've come up with. Let's start off with the acting. The acting in this film on all accounts was superb. Tom Hardy, played a menacing Bane, and truly frightened you due to his plan and his size. A lot of people are comparing the Joker and Bane and saying that the Joker was the better villain, but the whole problem with that is they are two COMPLETELY different villains with two COMPLETELY different styles. The Joker was a verbal threat with a plan correct? He wasn't physically a challenge to Batman, but his intentions and precise plans were. He had to talk, he had to be crazy, to show just how much he meant what he was going to do. His whole purpose was to make Batman break his one rule, and kill someone, be an executioner. Bane did not have to talk to make his presence felt. Look at the man, would you want to fight someone like that? His plan actually worked! For half of the film plus some, he won! He caused complete destruction to Gotham city and completely changed it forever. He was not meant to go crazy, he knew exactly what he had to do, and he did it. That simple. Anne Hathaway did a great job as Selina Kyle, and she really made her presence felt when she walked on the screen. She had a great mix of emotion, and really made you question exactly who she was going to be next.
Another positive was that I felt the plot was very well thought out, and was completely unpredictable. I really didn't see what happened in the end coming until like three minutes before it happened, and then I got curious. However, I thought the way they tied everything in was amazing, and it really kept you compelled to keep watching.
Negatives:
Although I really enjoyed the film I felt that it was heavily flawed, and when a four year wait occurs I expect there to be less of them...call me stuck up, I just don't care at this point. One of the main things I did not like about the film was that the title is The Dark Knight RISES, and we see him rise for like 20 minutes in a 2 hour and 44 minute film. You mean to tell me, that in that amount of time you only felt that it was necessary to show Batman in action RISING three times?! Seriously, I think you saw him in his batsuit three times. I understand you wanted to have plenty of story, but why not break it off into two different parts if you felt that it would be that much of a problem? Cause in the long run I'll take Batman and Bane fights over watching a jury system tell people to walk ice for 15 minutes. C'mon man!
Also the scene's where Bruce Wayne decides to make the climb and falls unsuccessfully twice was crap to me to be honest. According to the doctor in the prison, people have DIED from that fall that he made twice...let me reiterate that they DIED. However, Bruce Wayne makes a 100 foot drop twice with a rope wrapped around his stomach and spine and comes out okay. I'm sorry sir, if you did survive that you are not paralyzed from the waist down. No more walking for you.
I also felt that it just took too much time to get where it wanted to be. I honestly got tired of watching him in the prison, I mean I understand the point of it, but again, break it off into two films then! I'm watching destruction occur and Bruce Wayne doing pushups and situps for like 15 minutes; it just didn't flow well at all.
I thought the film was very good, don't get me wrong, however I felt that it could have been way more epic. If you're about to wrap up the one of the greatest trilogies of our time, I want to be wowed when I leave. This film did not have that affect on me, no matter how much I wanted to. I just couldn't buy into all of the hype. It had it's good, it had it's bad, but overall I thought it was a good watch. I'll buy it to own the trilogy! Go see it if you haven't!
Length: 2 hr. 44 min.
Genre: Action/Superhero/Drama
Cast: I
Christian Bale
Tom Hardy
Joeseph Gordon-Levitt
Anne Hathaway
Michael Cain
Marion Cotillard
Morgan Freeman
Gary Oldman
Grade: B+
Would I buy: Yes
*This review will be lengthy
Review:
First of all, before I go any further I would like to apologize for the wait and how long it has taken this one to come out. I saw this film on the first week it was out, but certain events have delayed me being able to write down how I felt about it, but here it is!
The Dark Knight Rises takes place 8 years after the events of The Dark Knight, which as we all know was the fall of Harvey Dent, or two-face. Gotham is still recovering from what happened during that time and as we also all know the Dark Knight went into hiding after taking the fall for the fall of Harvey Dent which covered a truth Detective Gordon knew of. Now a new villain, Bane, arrives into Gotham to bring chaos to it and fulfill the destiny of Rhas-Al-Ghoul, the leader of the Dark Shadows that Bruce Wayne used to be apart of. A deeper plan unfolds in the process, and the fall of Bruce Wayne and Wayne enterprises ensues and with the presence of this huge physical specimen, the Dark Knight must rise once again to stop destruction from happening to a city he loves.
Positives:
As shown above this review will probably be my longest yet, because I've had a lot of time to think about how I felt and this is what I've come up with. Let's start off with the acting. The acting in this film on all accounts was superb. Tom Hardy, played a menacing Bane, and truly frightened you due to his plan and his size. A lot of people are comparing the Joker and Bane and saying that the Joker was the better villain, but the whole problem with that is they are two COMPLETELY different villains with two COMPLETELY different styles. The Joker was a verbal threat with a plan correct? He wasn't physically a challenge to Batman, but his intentions and precise plans were. He had to talk, he had to be crazy, to show just how much he meant what he was going to do. His whole purpose was to make Batman break his one rule, and kill someone, be an executioner. Bane did not have to talk to make his presence felt. Look at the man, would you want to fight someone like that? His plan actually worked! For half of the film plus some, he won! He caused complete destruction to Gotham city and completely changed it forever. He was not meant to go crazy, he knew exactly what he had to do, and he did it. That simple. Anne Hathaway did a great job as Selina Kyle, and she really made her presence felt when she walked on the screen. She had a great mix of emotion, and really made you question exactly who she was going to be next.
Another positive was that I felt the plot was very well thought out, and was completely unpredictable. I really didn't see what happened in the end coming until like three minutes before it happened, and then I got curious. However, I thought the way they tied everything in was amazing, and it really kept you compelled to keep watching.
Negatives:
Although I really enjoyed the film I felt that it was heavily flawed, and when a four year wait occurs I expect there to be less of them...call me stuck up, I just don't care at this point. One of the main things I did not like about the film was that the title is The Dark Knight RISES, and we see him rise for like 20 minutes in a 2 hour and 44 minute film. You mean to tell me, that in that amount of time you only felt that it was necessary to show Batman in action RISING three times?! Seriously, I think you saw him in his batsuit three times. I understand you wanted to have plenty of story, but why not break it off into two different parts if you felt that it would be that much of a problem? Cause in the long run I'll take Batman and Bane fights over watching a jury system tell people to walk ice for 15 minutes. C'mon man!
Also the scene's where Bruce Wayne decides to make the climb and falls unsuccessfully twice was crap to me to be honest. According to the doctor in the prison, people have DIED from that fall that he made twice...let me reiterate that they DIED. However, Bruce Wayne makes a 100 foot drop twice with a rope wrapped around his stomach and spine and comes out okay. I'm sorry sir, if you did survive that you are not paralyzed from the waist down. No more walking for you.
I also felt that it just took too much time to get where it wanted to be. I honestly got tired of watching him in the prison, I mean I understand the point of it, but again, break it off into two films then! I'm watching destruction occur and Bruce Wayne doing pushups and situps for like 15 minutes; it just didn't flow well at all.
I thought the film was very good, don't get me wrong, however I felt that it could have been way more epic. If you're about to wrap up the one of the greatest trilogies of our time, I want to be wowed when I leave. This film did not have that affect on me, no matter how much I wanted to. I just couldn't buy into all of the hype. It had it's good, it had it's bad, but overall I thought it was a good watch. I'll buy it to own the trilogy! Go see it if you haven't!
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