Tag: Arnold Schwarzenegger

The Expendables

“The Expendables” – movie that I have been waiting for for so long didn’t disappoint me at all.  In fact, it was quite the opposite.  I enjoyed each and every bit of it.  It was everything I wanted it to be – a moderately paced, funny action movie with very simple story and lots of fighting, shooting, chasing, exploding, etc.

It was very well positioned in its genre.  In such a way even that makes it easy to excuse any shortcomings, be they holes in the story or acting or special effects. I’m not saying there were any, if there were any.  I’m just saying that even if you notice something that you don’t like, you’ll probably forget about it within a second.  There’s plenty to enjoy.

Of course I’ll rate this movie as 5 out of 5.  That’s both for nostalgic reasons and for a historical moment of all three superstars – Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger – appearing in the same scene together.  And there was so much more …

True Lies

True Lies

Watched “True Lies” again yesterday.  Now this one is a special movie for me.  I first saw back in 1994 or 1995, during my first ever trip out of the country, when I went to the Flint, Michigan, USA under a student exchange program.  This was “the first” of many things – the first film I’ve seen in English, the first action film I’ve seen on the big screen, etc.  It brings back a lot of memories, and it itself is being one huge memory.  Even so many years after I saw it, I still remember it almost to a word.

Obviously, I am very biased in this case.  But I spoke to a few of my friends about this film, and practically every one of them remembers the film quite well and has only good things to say about it.  Even now, decades later, it still looks pretty awesome.  I guess the fact that it has lots of real stunts as opposed to CGI helps it to survive the time.  Also, this film being a mix of action and comedy, even with action bits slightly outdated, the comedy is still there, doing just fine.

Overall, an excellent entertainment.  5 stars.

Around the World in 80 Days

I was waiting to see “Around the World in 80 Days” for some time now. I thought it had a potential to be one of very good movies. It turned out I was right. It is an excellent movie for both kids and adults. There is an interesting and well-known story behind it, which has everything – adventures, action, love, friendship, humor, and whatever else you want. But not only the story is great. The realization of that story in this film is great. It is almost perfect (except for a bit longish ending, but who counts?). And it is way better then I expected.

There are so many stars in this movie that you will not beleive it when you see them coming. Jackie Chan (“Rush Hour”,”Shanghai Noon”), playing Passepartout brings in lots of action. All his regular fighting tricks taken to yet another extreme. Arnold Schwarzenegger (“Terminator”,”The Running Man”) reminds everyone what a “great” actor he is. Rob Schneider (“The Animal”,”The Hot Chick”) is there too with some cheap humour. Luke Wilson (“Charlie’s Angels”, “Old School”) and Owen Wilson (“Behind Enemy Lines”, “Shanghai Noon”), who are actually brothers, appear in a small episode as Wright brothers. Even John Cleese of Monty Python’s fame shows up. These are just a few…

Computer graphics and decorations design deserve a special mention. They bring back the magic of Disney animations from back when those guys did something fascinating. Mutation waves between movie and animation are mostly used to glue days together and they look really nice, causing a “Wow!” from the somewhat younger audience in the cinema.

Overall, I would easily give this movie a 8.5 (closer to 9) out of 10. DVD with this film should be a nice addition to a home collection and nice family time passing.