Red

Being a big fan of action comedies, I’ve been waiting for this one – “Red“.  Thanks to a whole bunch of trailers on YouTube, I knew pretty early that I’d love this film.  And indeed I did.

It’s exactly what it promised to be, and even a bit more – funny, action packed, with brilliant cast, and so on and so forth.  Even the story is not totally stupid, like in most action films.   And it gives you something to think about.  Even though that’s really not the point of the film.  The point is entertainment, and the movie tackles that in a great way.

Overall, a 5 out of 5.  I had a blast.

The Dark Knight

The other day I went to see “The Dark Knight“, also known as the latest story in the series about Batman.  I am not a big fan of superhero comics, with Batman being no exception.  But I’ve seen all the movies so far.

I have to say that this one was the worst.  It was too long and too boring.  It had great cast, but that didn’t help the film one bit.  There are a few special effects, but the overall boredom burries them in the long propagandic dialogues.  In fact, the movie is total crap except for one bit, which makes it worth watching – The Joker.

Heath Ledger did an excellent job with this character.  It was by all means the best villain I’ve ever seen in the movies. Heath Ledger even outdid Jack Nicholson, who played The Joker in “Batman” (1992).  Heath’s Joker was the scary kind.  That person was so evil and … broken, that you wouldn’t want him to exist on this planet at all.  But, at the same time, he was so realistic that you could easily meet somebody very similar (minus the make-up, of course) just around the corner.  Really, a masterpiece.

As it stands, it’s difficult to rate this film.  I’ll give it a 5 out of 10, with all 5 points being for The Joker alone.  If you aren’t into movie villains, avoid this film at all costs.

Wanted

The other day I went to the cinema to see “Wanted“.  I’ve been waiting for this film for some time now, since I liked the trailer and heard quite a few positive reviews from people who saw it earlier. It wasn’t a disappointment at all.  On the contrary.  I really liked it.  In fact, I’m planning to go and see it once again, while it is on the large screen, and then I want to get myself the DVD with all the extras and special features.

Excellent special effects, great soundtrack, and quite a few twists in the story – some of which are predictable and some are not – all these makes it into an excellent entertainment.  Of course, Angeline Jolie with gun fights and car chases is a major attraction as well.  Morgan Freeman is a nice addition.  But what I liked the most about the movie is its originality.  Not breathtaking kind, but the kind which really made me watch it in full attention.  Rarely do I come across something from Hollywood and have this feeling.

Overall, 9 out of 10.  Strongly recommended.

Gone Baby Gone

I just came back from the cinema, where I watched “Gone Baby Gone“, a movie about kidnapping, directed by Ben Affleck and starring his brother Casey Affleck, together with such well known names as Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris.

I was a bit worried that this film will be too dramatic with a lot of gory details of a kidnapping.  Kidnapping in this case is not just of any person, but of a kid, as in a little girl.  The film was indeed dramatic, but the kidnapping wasn’t the main part of the drama.  It was more about right and wrong, and how difficult sometimes it is to see the right choice, not to mention, to pick it.  A couple of times it was reaching so far that I had to ask myself which choice was the right one, and even then I had a few moments of hesitation.  Finally though I have to agree with the choices made and reasoned for by Casey Affleck’s character.

The directing of this film is interesting, it being Ben Affleck’s debut (he did some directing before, but two movies didn’t make it to the big screen, while the other one was a short movie).  I’d say he did pretty good.  He needs more practice and all, but it was better than many of those seasoned directors I’ve seen.  Two things were sticking out a tiny bit.  First, the lack of experience in drama.  There were a few places in the film which could have been done more dramatic.  Heavier.  Stronger.  If you know what I man.  Secondly, the film is based on a novel (read: book), and it is too obvious.  The book seems to be good, but it wasn’t processed enough to make a movie out of it.  This area needs a bit more work.  But as I said, overall it was pretty good.

As a whole, I enjoyed the film, and it gave me a few things to think about.  For that, I’ll give it a solid 7 out of 10.

Lucky Number Slevin

Before I had a long break in movie watching, one of my biggest complains about movies was regarding the stories. It seemed back then that there were three of four main story lines, which all films were aligned along.  That was very sad and boring.  Now that I got back to movie watching, I am glad to report that there are many films with original stories.  Twists, surprises, and more twists. I have troubles guessing how the movie will end every other time.  So, it’s either the movies got a little better, or I got so much worse.

I watched “Lucky Number Slevin“, which I expected to be yet another action, considering there were pictures of Bruce Willis with a gun all over the place.  I thought that it would also probably be funny, since Bruce Willis was pictured in a hat.  And that’s about as much as I expected from the film.

But I was wrong.  It was a really twisted story.  With lots of action.  Lots of really great photography.  And fast paced.  Bruce Willis was accompanied by Josh Hartnett, Lucy Liu, Morgan Freeman, and Ben Kingsley.  There are some really great background characters too.

This film provides good, albeit not family safe,  entertainment, with plenty of good humor and details to look for while watching it for the second, third, or fourth time.  A must see, and a recommend DVD buy.  8 out of 10.