Welcome to the Punch (2013)

6.5/10

A thrilling film with a decent twist. The film tried to use slow-mo action sequences to set itself from other action films, which was effective. However, this film still kept many cliche gun fights and car chases that somehow ends in the hero surviving the madness.

Bit slow at times but superb performance from James Mcavoy and Mark Strong makes it worthwhile.

WORLD'S END (2013)

8.5/10 [Highly Recommended]

What do you get when action, hysterical laughter, quirky to the max, drinking, ass-kicking and boo boo come together? World's End. Let the weird begin

Plot: Five friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from 20 years earlier unwittingly become humankind's only hope for survival.

The director/maker of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz is back. This time with World's End. Edger Wright and Simon Pegg, thank you. You two did it right again.


 Cons: the beginning was a bit slow, it was a good 20 minutes into the film before the pace finally picked up. I would have loved more hints at the weirdness earlier in the film, just little oddities of speech.

Pros:

1. I loved the CGI, even though some of the final scenes appeared kind of fake but overall 7.5/10
2. casting is great (esp addition of Martin Freeman and Rosamund Pike) 9/10
3. I really appreciated the witty dialogue as it sometimes required some head work to get the punchlines.
4. It didn't depend on slapstick comedy, or even grotesque rate R references to create the humor.  10/10
5. Many great one-liners that I will be carrying into my daily use,  Boo Boo

Dredd (2012)

7/10

Plot: In a violent, futuristic city where the police have the authority to act as judge, jury and executioner, a cop teams with a trainee to take down a gang that deals the reality-altering drug, SLO-MO. 

Based on the comic books, Dredd is a guy flick with a ton of violence, shooting, bloody gruesome gore, car chase and armoured hero ass kicking. The only thing missing is a romanic story to tie it all up.

Judge Dredd, played by Karl Urban, dominated the screen with a mean and serious growl the entire film. Urban brought more character to Dredd and is much more believable than Stallone in the first Dredd film in 1995. Urban, although I really wanted to see his face, kept the helmet on as Dredd the entire film keeping close to the comic books. The only part of Urban we saw is the lower half of his face, as his eyes were covered by the helmet. Even with most of his face covered, Urban was able to convey many deep emotions during some heart to heart moments with his fellow cast member Olivia Thirlby, who portrayed Judge Anderson. Thirlby, is fantastic, she reminds me of Camilla Belle in Push.

The graphics and visual effects in Dredd at times looked very animated but this worksin favour for the drug induced scenes and the comic book nature of this film. The slow-mo mixed with highly saturated imageries made the film feel like it stepped straight out of the pages of a comic.


If you hate gore and blood, this film is everything you'll hate. The slow colourful scenes of blood splatters and skin tearing scenes can make your skin crawl. Even though this film isn't as nasty as SAW or slasher films, Dredd still embraces similar aspects...just without the horror.

All in all, don't over think it and just enjoy this action flick!

Push (2009)

7/10

Push is a very exciting sci-fi, action, thriller that is definitely worth the watch. It is exciting and gripping, a mixture of Jumper and X-men.

I was quite surprised by how much I liked this film especially after seeing the low rating it received. The film is exciting, action packed and contains certain amount of mystery that makes it quite entertaining.

The cast consisting of Dijimon Hounsou, Dakota Fanning, Chris Evans and Camilla Belle are fantastic combination, with a appearance by Joel Gretsch (from V and The 4400).

The setting being in Hong Kong gives this film an interesting appeal. The flashbacks and dream like sequences are well integrated with the sci-fi aspect of the storyline. The cinematography and editing technique is choppy and has certain qualities similar to that of Chungking Express.

Push does have some down sides as its storyline lacks in depth, and there are some loop holes that goes unexplained. Overall, a very entertaining and action filled movie that kept me interested.

If you enjoyed Jumper, X-Men, or Mutant X(TV show) then I would recommend this movie.

Pawn (2013)

5.5/10

Great cast but too much coincidence made Pawn weak


For a low budget film, Pawn is succeeded in captivating and grabbing attention with the plot in the first 2 acts. The amazing ensemble (Stephen Lang,Michael Chiklis, Forest Whitaker, Marton Csokas, Ray Liotta) also helped strengthen the captivation of Pawn.

Sadly, despite these aspects, Pawn fell short at being completely epic. The film moved a bit too quickly, not allowing you much time to connect with the characters and completely grasping the complicated use of flash-backs, present time and flash-forwards. Pawn felt like it was going uphill in the first 1/3 as everything was coming together, but just before the climax was reached, it felt they ran short on budget and the story began moving fast paced. Dialogue was boarder-line cliche and somewhat entertaining.

--Spoiler below--
One of the biggest disappointment was the use of the character lying in the hospital bed. He played a major role in the entire cafe robbery set up as being 'the mole', but spent most of the film lying half unconscious in the kitchen. His character ends the film describing what went down in the cafe, but was half bleeding to death for a good 50% of the film. This might have been intensional, but being such an important character in the final reveal, I felt no attachment and couldn't relate to him at all.

-----

Jack Reacher (2013)

6.5/10

Ok, so I have said before that I didn't like Tom Cruise action films but this one was quite enjoyable. Putting aside how true this film stayed to the book, I felt it was a decent.

Reasons why I enjoyed this fim: 1) stars one of my favourite actresses Rosamund Pike 2) the witty dialogue 3) the very slight undertone of humor. Rosamund did a wonderful job, she's the demzel in distress, not too difficult role but I like her portrayal. The dialogue in the film is worth a closer inspection, it is witty and at times quite funny. There was one incidence where Jack (Tom Cruise) was examining the weapon he was lent and his reaction to it left me laughing. This slight use of humor made the film stand out a bit, and reminded me a bit of Lethal Weapon.

Now as for elements that I didn't like. As usual Jack Reacher has the very typical cliche of hero who's ever so lucky, damzel in distress and different teers of bad guys.
Jack Reacher (played by Tom Cruise) is a military veteran who gets involved in a sniper investigation, and now must fight all odds to save the day. He is able to fend of bad guys left and right, and eventually [oh look this includes a spoiler] save the damzel in distress, Helen [portrayed by Rosamund Pike] after fighting off the group of bad guys.  If you're angry that spoiled it for you, I don't apologize because this is a fairly obvious part of this film.

Jack Reacher has all the elements of the typical action film with the different levels of bad guys. As you can see there is always one big boss, who in most cases is the weakest but has a lot of power/money. Next after the big boss is the right hand man, he is usually the strongest fighter, toughest to beat and will be the last fight sequence in the film. In most cases the bad guy would hold up a weapon to the the hero and talk for a while, but thankfully this was kept out of this film. This film also included the lowest form of bad guys, the goons and idiots who would try to kill the hero but each failing miserably. What this film does do quite nicely, is the fact that it makes fun of the goons and idiots with this one scene in the bathroom...for those who have seen the film will know what I mean, it is VERY humorous.

 So if you're into James Bond, Die Hard or Lethal Weapon...and have actually read everything I just wrote....then you have just made me really happy, and deserve my blessing to go enjoy this film.

The Call (2013)

6.5/10

Great acting, thrilling but overdone with the final act.

Plot: When a veteran 911 operator takes a life-altering call from a teenage girl who has just been abducted, she realizes that she must confront a killer from her past in order to save the girl's life.

The Call was definitely thrilling and keeps you intrigued. However, the story becomes quite violent and twisted towards the end, which works well to support the maniac that is the killer.

The first 2 acts of the film was better, as it shows a very real portrayal the desperation 911 operator experiences. Their hard work everyday on the end of the phone lines does not get recognized enough. As the film progresses the story takes a crazy turn, the 911 operator Jordan (played by Halle Berry) makes a couple bizarre-superhero-braze decisions that results in the conclusion of the film (I won't say more as it will give the ending away). I felt the story was a bit too crazy at the end, but I understand that it was a necessary in order to make the film more suspenseful and striking. Also, the ending is very twisted...and leaves you wanting a bit more.


Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine, Zombieland) and Halle Berry (X-Men) makes a great team. But Breslin absolutely stole the show, as she was amazing in capturing the terror and panic of her character. Bravo.

Oblivion (2013)

6.5/10

Good graphics but poor plot

Plot: A veteran assigned to extract Earth's remaining resources begins to question what he knows about his mission and himself.

I was captivated by the plot but this didn't last long as the film rolled to its conclusion. I have a serious love/hate relationship with this Oblivion, and I'll summarize it:

Love: I'll start off on a positive note, the graphics of Oblivion is well done. I, having scene and worked in VFX, know how difficult it is to do a simple scene let alone an entire film. From my past experience (though brief) felt the landscape of the CGI is a good one.

Hate: The story wasn't that captivating and left many unanswered questions life what happened to the other "clones" on earth. Also the big reveal at the climax didn't really lead to a bit twist that left me in awe, rather it was a lull.

Love: The colour filter is classy and the filming style reminds me of Minority Report and IRobot. The fact that I was more distracted by the visual appeal than the story line tells you a thing or two of this film.

Hate: LONG and dragging. IMDB users giving it a 7.2 rating boggles the mind, this film wasn't that great!

My Top 10 - Jackie Chan

I realized I haven't rated a single Jackie Chan film despite having seen almost every single one of them. Since there are so many of them, I'm going to attempt to list some of my favourite Jackie Chan films (in no particular order).

1) Operation Condor
-Friggin gut splitting hilarious, with the classic Jackie Chan fighting scenes, and great supporting actress fighting for Jackie's attention that makes this film one of the best!























2) The Twin Dragon
-double the fun

 




3) Armor of God

-prop used to fight is a hot burning log

4) First Strike
-prop used to fight includes latter, broom


5) Who Am I

6) Project A

7) Mr Nice Guy
8) Rush Hour

9) Rumble in the Brox

10) Dragons Forever

Worth Mentioning:

11) Drunken Master

The Tunnel (2001)

6.5/10

Plot: Based on a true story a group of East Berliners escaping to the West. Harry Melchior was a champion East German swimmer at odds with the system under which he has already been imprisoned

Fairly decent made for TV movie that revolves around the effects of the building of the Berlin wall. What this film does the well is that it takes many true incidents that occurred and dramatized it to fit the story. For example, the famous photo of the NVA soldier Conrad Schumann defecting to West Berlin, and Peter Fechter's defecting but slightly changed with the character Heiner.

Lead actor is mediocre, and almost felt he had the same facial expression in the entire film.

Lake Placid (1999)

6.5/10

What do you get when you throw interesting/wacky characters, chopper, gun fire, action, endless sarcasm, and one big croc? One fun Saturday movie night.

Here are the pros of this film: it almost feels like a wildlife documentary, lingered with a slight tone of horror, classy yet gross use of gore, and hilarious dialogue. I felt myself chuckling at the many sarcastic remarks and bantering of Shieff Hank and Mrs. Delores Bickerman. This film differs it self from many other creature features in the sense that the writers put focus on the characters of this film instead of just the 'horrifying monster'. OH and Betty White probably is the gem....

Starring Bill Pullman, Oliver Platt, Brendan Gleeson, Betty White


Cons of Lake Placid: Bridget Fonda's character kelly was a bit of a nag, I found her more peeving at times. If you were looking for horror, this film doesn't really make you jump (I dont do horror well, so this is a pro for me hehe) but it does make you not want to go swimming in a lake for a while. Some action taken in this film doesn't really have much common sense, but then again that's what makes it fun


Overall, it was fun ride. Not overly epic, but has some funny as well as gross moments.

Lost Room (2006)

8/10 [highly recommended]

Despite some flaws, still mindblowingly awesome.

A detective investigates a mysterious motel room, which acts as a portal to alternate universe after he lost something precious in the room.

The Lost Room had me completely engrossed from the first episode, I was pulled in and couldn't turn away until it ended.

Premise of The Lost Room is astounding. Without giving too much away, Lost Room is about a motel room and the many contents that it came with. The room and each item has a different/very unique abilities that is attached to it. The mini-series is built around these items and the people who covet after them. I was completely absorbed by the different qualities given to the items and the way all the items comes together.

Despite the fascinating premise, there were certain flaws that made it hard for me to give this series a perfect 10. The mini-series had way too many characters and sub-plots that didn't get developed enough. The character relationship was lacking in material and emotion. The main character, Joe Miller, felt kind of one-dimensional and we aren't really told why he was so special in comparison to the rest of people whom were once involved with the mysterious hotel room.

Joe Miller's relationship with the different characters, eg with the girl interest Jennifer Bloom, was thin and rushed. Besides being a cop and single father, we aren't given much background about Joe  and yet almost everyone he meets seemed very inclined to help him.

Also the gun, the way he points it at people at such close distance can be so easily swatted away, yet no one seem to be capable of disarming him....(i know, this is just me being picky but nevertheless bothersome).

Overall, I did enjoy this mini series and highly recommend it. The main focus of the film (the special abilities of the motel room/items premise) does overshadow the flaws (the undeveloped characters/relationships).  Very entertaining and will keep you at the end of your seat!

Rogue (2007)

5/10

Its bark scarier than its bite

plot: An American journalist on assignment in the Australian outback encounters a man-eating crocodile.

It is a very mundane creature feature, not much in storyline or in graphics. BUT it does have some amazing and stunning landscape sceneries of Australia.

The acting is not bad, with the at-the-time-not-discovered Sam Worthington and Michael Vartan.

 Rogue, although thin in terms of storyline/material, it is still an entertaining creature feature. I would recommend this to those who enjoyed Anaconda I and II. If you want something that mixes horror/creates/comedy, then I would recommend: Tremors, Eight Legged Freaks and Lake Placid.

The Last Castle (2001)

3/10

The premise sounded good but the dialogue, storyline and scenarios are stupidly ridiculous and overly exaggerated

All the characters are very one sided and simple minded. The dialogue is shallow and cliched. "The Castle prison" doesn't even feel like a real prison. All these bad-ass dangerous prisoners, who get food/beverages/free time/family visits, all act like babies whining about mistreatment and minimal issues making this film feel like a high school drama.


The prisoners and prison is built up at the introduction of the film to be dangerous and strict, however the film does not deliver this atmosphere at all. Also to add to the stupidity of the film is the "forbidden salutes" rule of the prison.

Bad film, it had potential but failed to create much emotion or thought. The action in this film is bare minimum, so I won't even recommend it as a brainless action flick.

Miracle at St. Anna (2008)

5.5/10

A good plot line but poor poor execution.

Plot: Set in 1944 Italy, the story of four black American soldiers who get trapped in a Tuscan village during WWII.

The film started off exciting but the attention grabber didn't last long. The dialogue and acting felt overly exaggerated. There was a lack in character development and connection between them. Many characters were introduced but none of them remain memorable.

The film felt long and dragged out. The movie felt like a bunch of scenes that was roughly thrown together in the editing room. Somewhere in the production, the direction of the film was forgotten, but the realization and decision to scramble a few meaningful scenes in proved insufficient.

Long story short, skip this film and go watch something like Saving Private Ryan and Saints and Soldiers

John Carter of Mars (2012)

7/10 [highly Recommended]

underrated gem filled with rich characters and an incredible new world.

Transplanted to Mars, a Civil War vet discovers a lush planet inhabited by 12-foot tall barbarians. Finding himself a prisoner of these creatures, he escapes, only to encounter a princess who is in desperate need of a savior.

 What's not to love? Action, fight scenes, alien creatures, civilization on mars, and Taylor Kitsch in the lead.

The story telling style of John Carter is very unique as it explores the world of both earth and mars. It is not a simple story to follow if you aren't paying attention. There are many characters, endless new vocabulary to get used to, and a lot of 'clans' that are at war with one another.

Taylor Kitsch is perfect as long haired hero, John Carter and Lynn Collins as the princess of Mars. James Purefoy's character is also worth noting as it brought much comedic element to the film.

Though the graphics was not as extravagant as Avatar is was very believable and real. I feel that I enjoyed John Carter more than Avatar, not because of the graphics but rather the story and character development. John Carter explored more character depth and has much more complicated plot.

I highly recommend this film and pay close attention, as it is a thrill ride from minute one.

Man from Nowhere (2010)

7/10 [recommended to selected audience]

Gangs, drugs, smuggling, lone hero, fight scenes and blood blood blood...nothing new

Man From Nowhere is a Korean film about a quiet pawnshop keeper with a violent past takes on a drug- and organ trafficking ring in hope of saving the child who is his only friend.

Right off the bat we are introduced to a bunch of characters, and if you weren't paying attention, you would have a hard time keeping up. The plot, though not complicated, does not wait for you and moves fairly quickly.

A typical storyline full of action packed fight scenes of a lone heroic man, with a complicated past, attempting to save a girl's life. Although this film has many overdone cliche themes (lone super human saving a girl from cruel/ruthless drug dealers and one super bad guy who is of equal strength that the hero must fight), it is definitely not a boring movie to watch.

But of course, being a Korean film, Man From Nowhere did include some tear shedding drama accompanied by orchestra background music. This touch of 'heart warming' element does help balance out the action of the protagonist.

In short, if you like gory fight scenes with tone of explicit scenes full of bloodshed, then definitely watch this film. Nothing new but great friday night kick back film to watch!

With some careful re-analyzation of this film, I decided to bump it from the original rating to a 7. This film felt very similar to Leon, The Professional...just with more blood filled scenes. Though this film has some cliche themes, I have to admit the cinematography and use of sound is above par.

The Core (2003)

5.5/10

Not the best apocalypse movie but not the worst either

Plot: The Earth's core has stopped spinning. Disasters are appearing all over the world: Birds acting crazy, powerful thunderstorms, 32 people die within seconds of each other when their pacemakers quit working. Dr. Josh Keyes and his crew of five (total members: 6) go down to the center of the Earth to set off a nuclear device to make the Earth's core start spinning again or Mankind will perish.

The Core isn't the best film about world disasters but it is fairly entertaining nevertheless. On one hand this film is full of action, explosions and a decent plot line. On the other hand, this same film is flawed, is predictable, riddled with cliches and doesn't have the best acting. When you balance the pros and cons, you are left with a brainless 135 minutes of overdramatic but entertaining film.

This film had potential to be so much better but failed to be much more then another forgettable action flick. The Core reminded me so much of the 1998  film Armageddon, where a group of drillers were sent to save the world, but sadly did not come to par with it. This movie lacked in the deep rooted character development, believable situation and better CGI.

The acting felt overdramatic and unreal, even with the amazing cast. The actors aren't completely at fault as the dialogue and interactions in between the characters are very underdeveloped. It felt as if someone in the editing room decided to cut out all the meaningful emotions and character depth leaving an empty fiery shell of people running around. Stanley Tucci and Bruce Greenwood kept the emotions going in the film with fairly good performances. I am a fan of both Aaron Eckhart and Hilary Swank but this film didn't do them much favour. DJ Qualls' character was my least favourite as it was way too dramatic, fake and forced.

I won't even go into the logic of how certain situations played out.

This film is for those who want to watch an exciting film without having to use their emotions/brain. Forgettable film

To End All Wars (2001)

6/10

A look at war through forgiveness

To End All Wars is a true story about four Allied POW's who endure harsh treatment from their Japanese captors during World War II while being forced to build a railroad through the Burmese jungle

This film explores how POW find their freedom through faith, belief and calm. Forgiving their captors and not exacting revenge.

To End All Wars is a very unique war films. Through the duration of the movie one does not feel anger or hatred but rather a feeling of pity towards the guards. Even watching the cruelty of the captors on the prisoners, the forgiveness of the prisoners overshadow any feelings of hate.   

The film didn't introduce the main character Ernest 'Ernie' Gordon as well as I had hoped. It was confusing in the first 20 minutes as to who the story centred around. The focus seems to jump from character to character and not really showing the relationship between people. I also had a hard time not seeing Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer, which became distracting.

Some parts of the movie felt overdramatic and overdone (eg the ending where Campbell was beating up the guard). The exaggeration of events was unnecessary and did not help to emphasize the powerful message that underlines the film. It felt

Aside from some overdone scenes, this film is very well done, giving you a very different look at war.

Saints and Soldiers (2003)

8/10 [highly recommended]

Simple story with a lot of heart

Saints and Soldiers is a war drama that is based loosely around events taking place shortly after the Malmedy massacre during the Battle of the Bulge where several US soldiers and a downed British airman need to reach Allied lines to pass on some vital intelligence.

This film is very character driven and extremely underrated! It doesn't focus only on action packed gore filled scenes, but rather the personal battles each one of the soldiers goes through. Exploring themes of morale, faith, fear, friendship and purpose. Each character experiences some sort of change and personal battle as they fought to survive.

A very powerful film that carries a lot of content. Sit down. Give this film a chance.