Rosario Dawson

Men in Black II

Just a couple of weeks ago I posted a trailer for “Men in Black II” and said that I somehow missed it this movie altogether. And here I am, holding a copy of “Men in Black II” in my hands. Not that I was looking for it in particular, but I got it via a concerned reader of this blog. Thanks Alex.

The film is a sequel to the first part and is very similar in a lot of ways. It is a light entertainment with a few bits of sci-fi in it. Both Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are in it. With quite a few aliens and big guns.

This part however is not as good as the original movie. It tries to be, but it’s not. It is entertaining and funny sometimes. But it’s much weaker in every way – less action, simpler story, etc. I still enjoyed watching it and it also made want to watch the first film again.

Overall, 3 out of 5. Watch it if you have nothing else in your queue, but don’t spend any time looking for this movie. Don’t expect much either, and you’ll probably enjoy it.

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

I totally forgot to review a film that I wasn’t planning to watch at all, but did, and enjoyed quite a bit – “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” (by the way, is that the longest movie titles ever or what?).

I saw the trailer and thought that this film would exploit parents’ love for their children and good memories of epic fairy tales, such as Harry Potter & Co. But my wife wanted to see it too much and I couldn’t say no, and there was no better choice, so we went.

I was surprised as to how much I actually enjoyed it. There was a rather straight-forward story, but it was wrapped with lots of excellent visual effects, some humor, and an amazing cast. I think the movie was way under-promoted for all the good work that went into it. Maybe they ran out of money, who knows. That’s not important. The fact that it is solid, light, and provides good entertainment is important on the other hand.

4 out of 5. Enjoy it on a big screen, but if you missed it – rent or buy a DVD. You can watch it several times.

Eagle Eye

I watched “Eagle Eye” recently. I haven’t seen the trailer and the rough plot descriptions that I have seen around were way too vague, so I didn’t really know what to expect of it. Once I saw it, I realized that the plot is indeed difficult to describe without spoiling it for those who haven’t seen it. On the other hand, the covers are open pretty early in the film, so I wouldn’t felt robbed if someone told the truth.

If you don’t want to get any spoilers, stop reading here. Maybe fast-forward to the last paragraph or so. For the rest of you – the film is a bit too far fetched conspiracy of the computer going crazy. It has all the attributes of any other conspiracy film – innocent victims, dictator’s plot for the greater good, lots of secrecy, lots of car chases and shooting, and a few federal agents. The only difference here is that it’s not a human or an organization, but a supercomputer going nuts.

I think we’ve all seen films with computers going crazy. These films had their time and place, except maybe for last one, which can still make it through. I’m talking about the Terminator, of course. Everything else should die off as an IT legacy. Three year old kids these days know how to use a computer. You can find one in absolutely every non-government office which has electricity. Millions of people are connected to the Internet, have very sophisticated mobile phones, and have seen films about insane computers. It’s just not working any more.

And I think that’s about the only thing that was bad in this film – the story. Other than that, it was pretty good. There are quite a few well-known people. There are plenty of special effects. There is enough suspense and drama. And even something to listen to while everything moves, shoots, thinks, and explodes.

My overall rating is 4 stars.

Killshot

The other day I went to see “Killshot“. Enjoyed it quite a bit. It’s not the movie that you’d want to buy on DVD and see a few times, or be much interested in the “making of …”. But it makes for a good movie time in the cinema.

The film is an interesting mix of crime and drama. Crime movies are well known for the “easy kills”, where people die during the course of the film with audience not paying much attention to it. Every dead person is just an obstacle on the way – gone when dead. In “Killshot” it’s different. People, both good and bad, have lives, have their own ways to live them, solve their own problems. And they all of them get into this situations where they don’t necessarily want to be. And those situation change them, affect the way they live their lives…

It’s nice to see Mikky Rourke on the big screen again. Joseph Gordon-Levitt played really well too. The rest tried but dialogues were a bit setting them off.

Overall, a 7 out of 10.

Alexander

“Alexander” is one of the big time movies of the last year that I missed in the cinema. Olga was in her late pregnancy already when the movie came here and we thought that with all the battles it would be scary for the baby to live through almost three hours of it. So we skipped. Today I got my hands on a copy and watched it.

Directed by: Oliver Stone
Genres: Action, Adventure, Biography, Drama, War
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, David Bedella, Jessie Kamm, Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer, Fiona O’Shaughnessy, Connor Paolo, Patrick Carroll, Brian Blessed, Peter Williamson, Morgan Christopher Ferris, Robert Earley, Aleczander Gordon, Christopher Plummer, Gary Stretch
IMDB raintg: 5.5
My rating: 4 stars

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