Movies

Lethal Weapon

I just watched “Lethal Weapon” on TV. I’ve seen plenty of times before, even had it on video. It’s been a while since I saw it last time though. This film is one of those actions which never get old. You can see that special effects and budget are not up to today’s levels, but it does still provide a lot of entertainment.

What I like about this film is that it is very thourough with details. All characters are well developed and individual. There are plenty of these tiny bits which are not important, but which add a lot to the quality of the movie. Like the bad cooking of Roger’s wife and singing cops in the station. All of these makes a movie so much more beleivable.

Since I haven’t voted for it at IMDB yet, I’ll go and give a 7 out of 10. Sequals rule too, but more on this later…

The Rundown

Today I walked into the DVD rental looking for just one film to watch before bed. Martin (aka the owner and an excellent movie guy) asked me what I wanted to see. I said: “Give me some action. Something fast. I haven’t slept for some time now and I don’t want to fall asleep while watching a movie”. He stood up walked to the first shelve with films picked up one from right in the middle of it and said: “Have you seen this one?”. “The Rundown” and the picture of the guy who played in the Scorpion King were on one side. A couple of screenshots with guys holding guns on the other side. Doesn’t say much. And the title was stupid. And this guy can’t act(*). But I said “What the heck, I’ll take it”.

And that’s how I went on into surprise. I was unprepared. Actually I was in the most unprepared condition for an excellent action movie that I could ever be. “The Rundown” is a pure action movie. Nothing more, nothing less. But it is so good at being action that I cannot truly remember when I saw something like this last time. The movie is indeed really fast. The story is simple and pretty much predictable. But the production is perfect.

More than that. I was impressed by the martial arts scene. Last time that happened back with the first Matrix movie. This is something you have to see. It is not about the choreography or the style. It is in totally different perspective. Great job! The best part about it is the those who did the scene, knew that it was impressive. So they gave a small brake in action to appreciate it. I mean they didn’t stop the movie. There were still plenty of shooting going on around. But that was something you could miss. Pretty regular. And just after a second I thought that this movie was worth it, they put me back into real action again. Wow!

The competition between The Rock (I wonder what you would pick as a nickname if your name was Dwayne Douglas Johnson) and Seann William Scott sound good already. Add some Ewen Bremner with some English humour in the jungles. Add sexy looking Rosario Dawson as a rebel with a gun. And add Christopher Walken playing a bad guy in style. And what you’ve got here is a kicking combination which even Arnold Schwarzenegger couldn’t ignore even if only for just a second.

Any way, summing up: a great movie with great action and impressive fight scene, with lots of gun shooting, chasing, and few laughs, providing an excellent entertainment. In my book that deserves a 5 out of 5, 10 out of 10, or a 100 out of a 100. Pick your units.

(*) Recently, I’ve been enlightened by Goblin. Here is roughly what he said in Russian: “Some people think that Arnold Schwarzenegger is a bad actor. This is a misconception. Arnold is a great actor. But, the only role he play is himself. And he does it great”. I used to think that he is a bad actor, but now I do agree that I was wrong. :) The Rock becomes a pretty good actor too this way. But he too can only play himself. His filmography proves it in a way.

The Hurricane

Watched “The Hurricane” on DVD. I’ve seen it before, but I totally forgot about it. It is an excellent movie where Denzel Washington plays a wrongly convicted boxing champion who is innocent and wants to get out of jail. It takes him 22 years, but succeeds. The film is based on a true story. And a great story that is.

Good acting, attention to details and excellent music push this film as high as 9 out of 10 in my ratings. It is a good one to watch when thinking on the issues of racism and law of justice.

Levity

Watched “Levity” on DVD. It is film which is way way way way too slow and boring. It has an idea, but it is too simple and unfullfilling for the movie of this length.

There are a lot of stars, including Billy Bob Thornton, Morgan Freeman, and Kirsten Dunst (also known as Spiderman’s girlfriend). The movie didn’t require any sort of serious performance from anyone, so the celebrities were kind of wasted.

This film needs a hell of a lot more action or philosophy. Either one a mixture of two could have made it into a something really serios. As it is, I will give it a 5 out of 10. Boring.

Sniper

“Sniper” was on TV. I must have seen it a thousand times by now, but I watched it again. There is something about this film that makes me watch it once in a while. Maybe I just enjoy everything about snipers. Maybe because there are not so many films about snipers. Maybe because of something else.

Anyway, the film is good, although it is about 11 years old by now. There is action. There is coolness. And there are, of course, snipers. There are no naked women, but who needs them when you’ve got marines in the jungle?

I’ll rate this film as 7 out of 10. A whole lot of points go the flying bullet which looked pretty impressive back in the last centure. So impressive, that even Matrix-makers noticed it. ;)