Movie reviews: "Jack Reacher" and "Iron Man 3"

This week I have watched two movies.

First I watched at my friend's place, "Jack Reacher". Before watching, I knew that it starred Tom Cruise and I didn't have any expectations from it.

After a former US sniper-specialist James Barr gets framed for murdering of 6 innocent people in broad-daylight, his only chance is Jack Reacher, an ex-military policeman and investigator. Together with his defender Helen, he tries to find how and why did Barr get framed. What they discover will endanger their lives...

"The law has limits. He does not." This writes on the movie poster and describes the movie perfectly. The movie starts as a thriller and ends as a action movie with big gun-showdown. And throughout the movie, Tom Cruise is best in anything he does: he is a brilliant investigator with photographic memory, a confident ladies-man, a skilled martial-artist and of course the impeccable marksman.

If Tom Cruise's character was replaced with a team of three or four people that shared his skills, this would be very believable movie. But even so, "Jack Reacher" is not a bad movie. It has a nice and intriguing plot that keeps you guessing what will happen next, few comic scenes and nice action. If you don't have big expectations, you could have a nice time with this film, as I did.

And this weekend I went to the movies to watch the new "Iron Man 3". I am not very versed in "Iron Man" setting, but when I learned that this movie features Mandarin, his arch-enemy, it made me have big expectations.

The "Iron Man 3" is set after the last (and first) "The Avengers" movie. Tony Stark is without any real occupation, wasting time in his basement and suffering from anxiety attacks that are the consequence of events from "The Avengers". But now USA is threatened by a new villain, a terrorist known as Mandarin, who is somewhat connected with the group called AIM and biologist Maya Hanses, one of Stark's ex-conquests.

Well, without wading into spoilers, let's just say that Mandarin was a the same time a disappointment and hilarious surprise. My girlfriend, who had no expectations, found it (and the movie itself) great, while I was mildly dissatisfied.

The movie is fun, fun, fun with occasional action. Robert Downey Jr. really goes well with Iron Man role and is very funny in it. I also expected more focus on Iron Man suits, but the movie goes, let's say, back to the roots.

Of course, the movie is technologically ridiculous: there was something about "recalibrating the ISDN servers on van's roof". Also, the whole idea a mechanic can make and repair a suit is nonsensical, but you just have to accept it.

From some scenes at the end of the movie, it can be implied that this is the last movie in this sequence. But I just checked on Wikipedia and it says that we can expect at least one more movie with Downey Jr. as Iron Man (although it is not confirmed).

But all in all, "Iron Man 3" is a funny and exciting movie and I would recommend it to anybody who wants to enjoy an evening in nice action, humor and special effects.

Anime review: "Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu"

I have watched "Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu" last Sunday, but this was such a busy week for me that I didn't had to time to review it. Now it's finally Saturday and I have time to do it.

I've been planning to watch this movie since when it came out, early in 2010. But first there were no subs available for long time, and after that I never seemed to find time for this two and a half hour long movie. I liked the first "Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu" very much, but liked the sequel "Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu (2009)" had some flaws ("The Endless Eight"). Nevertheless, I had good opinion of the franchise. And more, reviews of this movie were always very good - this move is currently rated first on AniDB.

"Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu" (or "The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi") starts with what is a norm for the show - few days before Christmas Kyon is dragged into another Haruhi's crazy plan, without asking whether he agrees or not. But after he wakes one morning, he finds the world not as it was yesterday - there is no Haruhi or Koizumi, and Nagato and Asahina don't seem to know him. He must find what happened and how to reverse it - but before that, he must decide does he even want to leave this, world where he finally has a normal life...

The movie asks for some knowledge of previous series - the knowledge I unfortunately lacked, because I watched them some time ago. But there is not much of such situations, and they get explained in due course, so it didn't spoil much of my enjoyment. But if you have time, rewatch the first two series before watching the movie.

The movie starts a bit slow, but it gets very interesting later. It has a very convoluted plot and it helps if you are familiar with previous series (e.g. I forgot some of the supporting characters). I really didn't expect the culprit, and I liked the ending quite much. As usual, there is a large portion of comedy: lots of embarrassing situations for viewers, e.g. whenever Kyon embarrasses himself by confessing someone that he is from another world. But at the same time this is the most serious and most dramatic part for now.

As expected, the movie is very nice from visual side - not overly impressive, but with nice colors, characters and animation. Sounds are also good, even though it lacks the great music, such as was in the first season.

In case you are a fan of the series, you will really love "Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu" movie. I am, and I really couldn't find any flaw to it. And the fact of its highest rating tells that even other people liked this movie. So, this is definitely a movie to recommend to anybody.

Movie review: "Anna Karenina"

Yesterday I went to movies with my girlfriend to watch "Anna Karenina". It was originally her idea, but I didn't have anything against it.

Even though I was a passionate reader since I was ten, for some reason I (successfully) avoided most of high-school proscribed reading, including "Anna Karenina". I was vaguely familiar with the story, as much as I remembered from a book with short analysis of plot and characters for high-school books, but in general, I didn't know anything about the movie.

The story of "Anna Karenina" is a tragedy, revolving about three central characters in 19th century Russia. Karenin (played by Jude Law) is a high-positioned noble and politician, orthodox, strict but respected for his moral and ethical principles - but at the same time he is shown as cold and distanced, especially toward his family. Anna (Keira Knightley) is his wife, at the beginning of the movie displayed as happy with his marriage and especially their son, and loyal to her husband. She actually reprehends her cousin for being angry at her husband for cheating on her and manipulates her into forgiving him. But this changes after a chance encounter with young and dashing Count Vronsky - a pampered noble with eye for beauty, sweet tongue and flowery manners. An unexpected happens and these two unlikely people fall in love, and later to obsession, which damages their lives and especially Karenin family. There is also a secondary story, dealing with another young and shy noble Levin and his love toward Princess Kitty.

The story is good, but center of this movie is its characters, primary the central trio. As I expected from a renowned literary classic, characters are great and complex. The best notion for me is that no one is described as negative: all three are just people, with their personalities, caught in facts of life, love and passion. Though, I was surprised that at the end I was putting most blame on Anna - I don't know if this was intended by the movie-makers, or it was projected from my own beliefs and personality. I am even tempted to read the book to find out.

I liked the acting, even though I am not fan of Keira Knightley. But even more I liked the semi-breaking of the fifth wall: during the changes of scenes, characters are shown as traveling through theater sets; when important things are happening, supporting characters "freeze". I also liked the costumes and small details about Imperial Russia. The music was very good, even to me who usually don't notice such things.

All in all, I really enjoyed "Anna Karenina". If you don't like romances or dramas, avoid this movie. But for everybody else, the movie is never boring, has great and interesting characters and is very intense.

Movie review: "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2"

Yesterday I went with my girlfriend to cinema to watch the last part of "The Twilight Saga", "Breaking Dawn - Part 2". Few review I saw before prepared to for a very bad movie - so I was pretty surprised to actually enjoy the movie.

"Breaking Dawn - Part 2" takes immediately after the first part. After surviving the transition to a vampire and successful birthing of Renesmee, Bella is adapting to her new circumstances. Sometime later, Renesmee is discovered by another vampire, who reports it to the Volturi (some kind of vampire nobility) who decide to destroy her as a possible threat to their species. Cullens, of course, are not ready to accept this and they start the search for allies for the final battle...

If you hate "The Twilight Saga", this movie will not change your opinion, and you will go to watch it only to spoil it to those who like it. If you love it, they you won't care what anybody think about it. Sure, you can easily find a lot of objections, fails and obvious mistakes/blunders in this movie (and previous ones). Of course, a lot (bad) could be said about the series itself. But if you can accept few inconsistencies and sleazy parts, movie is quite fun to watch.

First, it is partly a freak show - but in good way, like superhero movies (especially like "X-Men"). There are lots of different vampires with different sets of skills. Second, this is a classical fight between David and Goliath, a fight against unfair government that unites seemingly incompatible characters. Thirdly, there is a very unexpected trick in this movie (and it would be a big spoiler to reveal it). Some will probably feel cheated, but I was delighted by it. And last, there are some good jokes here.

My biggest objection to the movie was the decapitations - you will know it when you see it. That looked completely stupid.

Anyway, I had quite fun watching "Breaking Dawn - Part 2" and think it is probably the best movie in the series. But as I was never a fan, I won't feel sorry that it is done.

Oh yes - yesterday I saw trailers for three similar teen movies, one actually based on book by Stephenie Meyer...

Movie review: "Man on a Ledge"

Few days ago I stumbled at my friend's home while they were watching "Man on the Ledge". Another friend watched in the movies some time ago and was full of praise for it. But to the rest of us, this movie was a big disappointment.

The premise is OK. An ex-cop escapes from jail, where he was put for stealing some big diamond. After weeks of hiding, he arrives to a hotel in New York, rents a room, and eats a fancy dinner, after which he steps out of the windows on a ledge, where he threatens to jump if police-negotiator Lydia Mercer doesn't attend to his wishes. But is a suicide his real intention?

As I said, a good idea, but the execution is poor. The problem is that this movie can't decide what it really is. Is it a crime investigation, or heist-movie, or action comedy? Elements are introduced to the plot just to be abandoned later. Also, the banter between the brother and his girlfriend, even though was intended to be funny, sound forced and irritating. And ending, it is first predictable, and second, using deus ex machina (with the receptionist real identity). Acting was also unimpressive, especially Ed Harris.

Even though "Man on a Ledge" is not a completely bad movie, it is not something I would recommend you to spend money or time on. But if you have nothing to do, it can serve...

Movie review: "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"

I have been quite busy for the last two weeks, so wasn't able to find a free afternoon to write this post, even though I watched "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" the weekend before last. I have seen the trailer for it when I went to movies to watch "Contagion" (I think), so I talked my girlfriend into watching it.

I knew few facts about the movie before watching it, and few of my friends watched the Swedish version of the movies and judged them good. Curiously, I have had a page-marker with praises for the Croatian translation of the "Millennium" trilogy by Stieg Larsson for couple of years now, but I didn't make the connection with the movie because they kept the original names in translation (the original name of the book is "Men who hate Women"). More so, the marker contained praises for the books, but they were written by one "famous" Croatian poet which I don't like (don't like his taste in books), so I stupidly dismissed the books. But now, after watching the movie, I think I will read them in future.

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is a thriller dealing with some old murders in Swedish aristocratic family. Plot is quite good. Movie lasts more than two and a half hours so they took their time and used it good - main action doesn't start immediately, but it takes some time to introduce characters. There are two main characters: Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander; their plots start separately and run in parallel, but are connected somewhere in the middle of the movie. Mikael is a middle-aged famous journalist in the magazine called "Millennium" who targets a rich industrialist and writes an article depicting him as a criminal - but after some of his claims are proved false, his whole article is the taken as nothing more than slander and he loses credibility. Since he wants to move from public eye for some time, he accepts an assignation by another rich old man, Henrig Vanger. He task up front is writing Henrik's biography, but in truth he is trying to solve the disappearance of his niece some forty years ago. Another complication is that someone from his family is probably to blame - even worse, Henrik's whole family lives on isolated island so Mikael is maybe living next door the possible murdered. On the other side of Sweden, Lisbeth, a 23 year old is trying to sort her life. She was a problematic child, always different from others - abused by her father and blessed/cursed with photographic memory. She is officially under care of decent social-worker who treats her well; without his knowledge she does some investigation work for highly-expensive detective company. But after her caretaker suffers a stroke, she is put under care of sadistic Bjurman...

As I said, plot is quite good and also done pretty well. Two independent plots are not very usual, but this worked very well because this was you never know what is coming up next. Another good point of the movie is that induces the audience to participate in the movie. Claim that the culprit is someone from Vanger family is given quite early in the movie, so you just have to try to guess who of them could be the one.

Characters are also interesting. Mikael is played by Daniel Craig, and he is very convincing in the role of intelligent journalist who is at first dismissive of this case, but later gets sucked in by its curiousness. Lisbeth is played by mostly unknown (at least to me) Rooney Mara, but she also does a great job with this demanding role.

Demanding, because without the character of Lisbeth, this movie would still be a very good thriller, but it would lose much of its impact. And this impact is acquired by unusual amount of brutality and violence, both physical and psychological. So, although "all the rape" is not strictly necessary for the plot, it is what separates this movie from others. So, be warned, this movie contains quite few shocking scenes, and they are done very visual and explicit. This is not your usual Hollywood movie, which probably didn't return much in money, but it paid off in respect.

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is one of the best movies I watched in last couple of years. It contains much violence, and its dark atmosphere will not be suitable for anyone; but if you like high-budget thrillers and don't have aversion to explicit scenes, this could be a movie for you.

Several movie reviews: "Forgetting Sarah Marshall", "Cowboys & Aliens", "Bad Teacher", "The Lovely Bones"

In past weeks I watched several movies that I didn't have the time or was lazy to review. With this post I am making a compromise with myself and I will write a paragraph for each movie.

"Forgetting Sarah Marshall" is a light romantic comedy starring Jason Segel (never heard of him), Mila Kunis and Kristen Bell. Peter (Segel), after being left by his long-time girlfriend Sarah (Bell) decides to go to Hawaii to forget her. Unfortunately, she is also there, with her boyfriend, to make things worse. What follows is a typical for this kind of movies: fights, some romance, meeting crazy locals, some dirty scenes... All in all, I was very satisfied with this movie: jokes were very good, no shameful moment and it features a very good in-movie song. A recommendation for those who like romantic comedies.

"Cowboys & Aliens" was expected to be a hit of this summer, but I would skip this movie. Maybe if you are younger than 10 this movie could work for you. It features Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford, although I don't count this as a plus. I can't say much about this movie because I wasn't really concentrating on it and I left before the end.

"Bad Teacher" is on the other hand a straightforward comedy, starring Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake and Jason Segel (ha, I didn't notice before). I don't usually like Diaz, but she was actually good in this movie. She plays a young woman who, after being dumped by her fiancée, is forced to work in high-school. She is not very likeable: she likes men only because of money, she curses, smokes pot, steals from students... What you expect is that she changes toward the end and becomes a nice person. Well, this is only partially true. I liked this movie and I think it is a good evening watch for those who can stomach a teen-comedy.

"The Lovely Bones" is a hit from few years ago. It is a story of young girl who gets killed by a perverted serial killer. Instead going to Heaven, she gets stuck somewhere between because she is not ready to leave yet. So she follow the life of her family (dad is Mark Wahlberg and mum Rachel Weisz), her sister, her almost-boyfriend and her killer (Stanley Tucci) for few more years. It is a slow, hard movie, something between thriller and fantasy. I didn't like it after watching it whole. Thriller parts were OK, but there are better such movies (like "Zodiac Killer" I watched few months ago). Fantasy parts were mostly confusing, overlong and ultimately unnecessary. I ending was something of anticlimax. Even though I didn't like the end, I would recommend it to everybody who can concentrate for two hours.

Movie review: "X-Men: First Class"

Well, this was a hell of a week for me. I was working from dawn till evening, so I wasn't really in the mood for writing after coming home. This movie I will be reviewing, "X-Men: First Class", I watched it two weeks ago... I like X-Men franchise, although I was never a fan. I just think that setting is great. I liked all four movies before this one; I don't consider them some great masterpieces, but they were fun to watch. My opinion of the latest movie is the same.

Although it was made latest, this is a prequel. Events in it happen half a century before the events in previous movies, in sixties (although there is a short introduction happening during World War II). It deals with history of Magneto and Professor-X, two very important characters for the whole franchise. In some ways, the two of them are the founders of whole X-Men thing. Some part of this history was shown in chronological sequels (the fence scene and concentration camp), but this movie develops and explains what happened afterwards. It describes the origins of prof. Xavier and how he met Eric Lensherr and then later separated with him. Around their relationship we see the world, first organized mutants, afterward of WWII, Cuban Missile Crisis and so on. The plot itself is not something convoluted or sophisticated; it is a simple hero-movie plot. But it is very deftly done, especially the fact it is combined with real history.

The same can be said of characters: they are not deep and real-like, but they are all fun to watch. There are no big stars; most of the cast is in their twenties, but they did their job quite well. I usually don't notice how people are dressed in movies, but I really liked their clothing here. I must say that James McAvoy, who plays prof. Xavier, even remotely doesn't remind me to Patrick Stewart (older version of professor). Also, there is a very funny scene with Rade Šerbeđija, my fellow countrymen.

In short, "X-Men: First Class" is by plot and characters a typical super-hero movie that doesn't require much concentration, but it gives you much pleasure. Every part of the movie was done well and there wasn't a boring minute in it. Just don't raise your expectations too high.

Movie review: "Prowl"

I watched prowl two weeks ago at my friend's house. He and few others are watching movies every day, so they are starting to run out of the films to watch. I don't know who picked "Prowl", but he did a very poor choice.

"Prowl" is a very bad survival-horror with one bright spark. Groups of teens (no stars) are traveling to some city where one of them is moving to. After they car brakes, they hitch-hike a truck and continue the journey in its trailer (what a great idea!).  The trucker then drives them to some abandoned pigs-slaughterhouse where they are attacked by group of something (these something look very ugly and stupid...) so they do the usual idiotic things (like getting separated and so on).

The bright spark I mentioned is the ending that actually succeeds in giving sense to this senseless movie. I must say I was very surprised (positively) by last few minutes of this film. But this still doesn't pay off the time and brain cells you will lose on previous 75 minutes. Feel free to skip this one.

Movie review: "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer"

It passed some 10 day since I watched this movie, so it's starting to get smudged in my memory. I planned to watch this movie for some time, although the reason is a bit unclear even to me. Few years ago I read a great book, "Jitterbug Perfume" by Tom Robbins. The book is fantasy-comedy-philosophy-etc mix that is very enjoyable and I would recommend it to all, especially those with great imagination. Anyway, I thought (or better to say, I hoped) that this movie has something to do with the book. It doesn't, but the movie is nevertheless worth a watch.

"Perfume: The Story of a Murderer" is a story about life of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (played by to me unknown Ben Whishaw). At the beginning of the movie we are shown the preparations for his execution, with ragged masses of 18th century Paris screaming for his blood. Then we are flashbacked trough his life. He was born in unenviable circumstances. He lived first in orphanage and then was sold as worker in tannery. His prominent feature is his extraordinary and superior sense of smell. On the other hand, he lacks any moral or emphatic constraint and posses only basic animal instincts of survival. And his only wish if to explore new scents, whether considered good or bad. We will follow his life in this exploration and later in his search for mythical ultimate perfume (which include murder, as you can guess from the title).

First, this is very "realistic" movie. By this I mean it shows the dirty and ugly part of human life. And this life was quite ugly in 18th century. Rats, dirt, not washing, working in practical slavery, and so on. Secondly, this is very violent movie. Grenouille is not picky with means of attaining elements for his perfumes. And it looks like he carries a bad luck for anybody who associates with him. Thirdly, this is a very strange movie. Contrary to all this violence, sex and dirtiness, it is very peaceful and pastoral movie. Grenouille doesn't talk much and most of the explanations during the movie are given by narrator (voice of John Hurt). Fourthly: it is very funny movie. Grim and bizarre humor, but funny nevertheless.

We also have few stars in the movie. I recognized Alan Rickman, and now on IMDB, I found that Dustin Hoffman also has important role, although I didn't notice him. The acting is, of course, great.

"Perfume" looks to me like one of those movies you either love or hate. And I somehow think that for most people it will be the hate choice. But for those who like bizarre, history and are patient, I think this is a great movie.

Movie review: "The Adjustment Bureau"

So much about my plan to catch up with writing while I am on vacation: I have five unfinished posts... But let's start with the movie review. "The Adjustment Bureau" is fairly new movie. I am not sure how I stumbled on it, but all I knew about it before watching was that it is some kind of mystery thriller.

David Norris (played by Matt Damon) is a young politician with big ambitions. After loosing the elections for Senate, he meets Elise (Emily Blunt) who inspires him to his best speech ever. Even after so short meeting he can't stop thinking about her, so when he bumps into her in bus after few months, he grabs the chance and gets her number. But when he gets off the bus and arrives to work, he finds everybody in the building frozen in time and some strange people doing some high-tech tests on them. He tries to run but they catch him; they introduce themselves as some kind of guardians of fate and order him to stop trying to meet Emily because that would be disaster for whole world. And worst of all, they confiscate the paper with her number, his only contact to her. But after a year, he again sees her in bus and now has to decide: whether to listen to those guardians or to temp the fate...

This is a serious movie which requires your full attention, but it rewards you for that. It is not unique concept (fate and its guardians), but neither is too common, and the movies explores the subject on high scale. Details of those guardians are slowly revealed during the movie (it all gets explained at the end) gives the movie a nice touch of science fiction/fantasy. There are no any big flaws in the plot and settings so you can freely concentrate on the movie. The movie also has the romance aspect, but it is mostly thriller. Characters and actors who play them are all good. Except Damon and Blunt as famous names, we also have Terrence Stamp.

Only flaw of the movie is that is has several long scenes where nothing happens, which are there to emphasize the mood, which could be a bit shorter. But this is not really a serious remark.

"The Adjustment Bureau" is serious and very good thriller for everybody; a bit of playing with SF/F gives it a nice touch. Definitely a recommendation.

Movie review: "Dylan Dog: Dead of Night"

I watched "Dylan Dog: Dead of Night" last week. The movie was so bad that I didn't finish it. Usually when the movie is bad I still watch it, but I was at friend's house and we started watching it quite late, so when I got sleepy I immediately left. They told me later that it didn't improve in second half.

It is a movie about a private detective Dylan Dog who also fights (or had fight) against monsters (vampires, zombies and werewolves). He is now in retirement (at least in case of supernatural cases), but after getting involved in case of finding a perpetrator of rich smuggler's murder, he will be forced to leave this retirement.

There are several things that bugged me about this movie. First, the beginning is the rip-off of "Constantine". I am talking about goofy sidekick who wants more responsibility (I actually though it was Shia LaBeouf, when I first saw him). Second thing was that the main character (played badly by Brandon Routh) looks like in his late twenties, but he keeps talking about his retirement and previous life as he had decades of experience fighting supernatural things.

And third thing was the most offending: monsters. Vampires, werewolves and zombies. Monsters from "Buffy" look as super-serious works of art comparing to these ones; they are on level of "Scooby-Doo".

I won't lose more of my time on this terrible movie, nor do I recommend you to lose yours on watching it.

Movie review: "Daybreakers"

This week I am on vacation, so I hope I will be able to finish all the late reviews. One of them is about "Daybreakers" a vampire action thriller I watched last week. On IMDB I found out it is about near future where vampires are dominant and human almost extinct, so they are working on some cure to fix all that.

This is true: movie takes place in near future, after some outbreak where vampires conquered the world and society. Now we have vampires living in nice houses on suburbia, going to work during night, going out to coffee-shops to drink coffee mixed with blood and so on. For the richer, there is even a possibility of modding you car to enable you driving during day. Humans are almost gone: there are few out in wilderness hiding, but most of the remnants are used for blood-farms. World-building is actually quite good and it all feels natural. There are few nice quirks separating the movie from rest of the bunch: fashion based on first half of 20th century (coats, hats and so on), colors and the fact that everybody smokes (since vampires don't have to be scared of cancer). At first sight, it looks like a nice place to live (if you are a vampire). But not everything is so well in world: extinction of humans also means a shortage of blood. And few days of blood-shortage transforms a well-mannered vampire gentleman to feral blood-crazy monster with wings.

Edward Dalton (played by Ethan Hawke) is a talented scientist working on finding a formula for substitute blood. He is also hoping he will one day be able to find cure of those have been turned to vampires against their will (like himself). After chance encounter with some escaping humans, he will hear about someone who was supposedly been able to reverse the process. This will not sit well with his boss who is satisfied by status quo and having a monopoly on blood-resources.

First part of the movie is good and sets a high standard. As I said, world-building is very good and it makes a believable world. Unfortunately, the plot is not so good. After initial introduction, this turns to some action thriller with predictable outcomes. Also, the characters and the actors that play them are not interesting, either. We have a collection of totally bland characters, with almost no characterization or explanation why are they doing whatever they are doing. From the way film started, I hoped for something in direction of "Matrix", but what I got was nowhere it.

Also, effects are not exactly fantastical. This is especially true at the end of the movie, where we are having false blood splashing in liters.

In the end, I can't say that "Daybreakers" is totally bad and that you shouldn't watch it. Just be sure no to have very high expectations, especially if you are a fan of vampire movies.

Movie review: "Limitless"

Yesterday my girlfriend and I watched "Limitless" on DVD. I noticed this movie and its good reviews on IMDB so we decided to try it. It was presented as action thriller with touch of SF. We actually watched a second movie after that, but I have napped occasionally during the movie, so I will not write a port about it. It was "Sunshine", a slow space SF where group of astronauts are traveling toward the sun to reignite it, with no communication with Earth. It has a very slow beginning, but it gets much more intense later. So I didn't fall asleep because it was boring...

As I said, "Limitless" is an action thriller. It revolves around Eddie (Bradley Cooper), a not very successful writer. After his girlfriend lefts him, he bangs into his ex-brother-in-law, who gives him some drug for which he doesn't explain the effects, called NZT. It turns out that NZT enables person to use 100% of his brain, enabling Eddie to become completely aware of his surrounding, to remember every detail of his life, with bonus of extremely strong will and self-confidence. After Vern (ex-brother-in-law) gets murdered, a big stash of NZT ends in Eddie's hands. With it, Eddie completely changes his life: he finishes his book, gets his girlfriend back, starts a comet career in Wall Street. But of course, it turns out that Eddie is not the only one who knows about NZT.

The movie is very good from beginning to end. Initial description of Eddie's life, first encounter with NZT, advantages and troubles it merits him. Later, when other players start showing up, things only get better. It doesn't become too complex story, but something that could happen to everybody (in these circumstances). Much focus is put to Eddie's experience of drug's effects.

There is only one thing that got on my nerves, but it's not a flaw of the movie. It is more a flaw in humanity itself because it is completely believable that anybody would do something like this. I am talking about the fact that after getting a limited stash of such wonderful drug (well, not counting the effects), something I think most people would be willing to take, Eddie, who now has superb intelligence and will, doesn't do much to solve his problem of this limited stash. I mean, if I was to get something like this in my hands, first thing I would do would be securing the supply of it...

Technical side of the movie is quite good. There are not much special effects, but movie looks quite good. Actors also did a good job. Except Cooper, Robert De Niro is the only star in the movie.

"Limitless" is a very good movie for everybody. It has a fair amount of action, suspense and fun. A nice watch for anybody!

Movie review: "Priest"

Yesterday I watched "Priest" over my friend's house. I haven't even heard about this movie before, so I didn't know what to expect.

It turned out that "Priest" is apocalyptic action western about vampires. After the movie it was revealed that it is based on Korean comic-book. Beginning of the movie, where they reveal the setting is quite good. It is an alternative future, where after centuries of war between humans and vampires, humans got the upper hands. All thanks to Priests, super-human-ninja clerical warriors. But now, last vampires are put into reservations and Priests are neglected, scorned by both Church that disbanded them and by society they don't fit in. Not that humanity is in some great shape. They are living in poverty in few last mega-cities, brain-washed by Church. Technology is similar to steam-punk: there are high-level computers and transparent displays, but on the other hand people still manually filling furnaces and using lamp-oils. The western part is presented by the Wastelands, where people live as first settlers and order is watched by serifs having old style guns. Instead the horses, they use motorcycles. Although this list sound stupid put on one place, it actually works very well in the movie.

Plot is starting when a young girl Lucy gets abducted by a pack of vampires, even though there shouldn't be any more of them in the while. Serif she was having a relationship finds her uncle, Priest, and two of them will go out to search for her, contrary to orders of Church. What they will find in the Wasteland is something nobody believed is possible.

Plot itself is not bad, but the realization of it is. Movie places too much in impossible actions scenes. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"-like impossible. Cutting bullets in half with throwing knives, flying/jumping and so on. Also, the last fight and resolution is totally naive and unbelievable. Too bad, because I really liked the first half of the movie.

Interesting how vampires are presented here. They are far from Ann Rice's Lestat or Twilight's Edward. Here they are something between wolves and aliens from the "Alien". They move on four foot, jump and run as wolves; they don't have eyes, have really big and slimy snouts and teeth and they excrete some sticky-looking glue they use to build their hives. And they are almost mindless. Something like zombies from "I am Legend".

There is also a 3D version of the movie, but I didn't watch it. Visuals are quite good. Paul Bettany plays Priest; rest of the cast is mainly unimportant.

One more thing: there is a large probability of sequel. The ending practically spells it, but I think it depends on the success the movie makes in cinema.

So, "Priest" is a not so good action movie with quite interesting setting. It is not something I would really recommend, but if you end watching it you will not be terribly disappointed. Even though I found the plot weak, I will probably watch the sequel if it ever comes out, but just for the setting.

Movie review: "Just Go with It"

Yesterday I watched "Just Go with It", a romantic comedy starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston. I usually don't really like Adam Sandler, but he has few good movies. I knew what to expect from this movie in general way: a light romantic comedy which doesn't require much thinking or focus. And this is exactly what this movie offers.

There is not much to say about the movie. Danny (Sandler) is a plastic surgeon, Katherine (Aniston) his assistant. He is playboy using false wedding ring to get women in bed, while she is single mother focused on her kids. Danny finds a younger girl Palmer that he really likes, but tangles himself in complex net of lies. Things will culminate on a trip to Hawaii where they are joined by Katherine's children, Danny's brother and Katherine's high-school nemesis (played by Nicole Kidman).

Jokes were actually pretty good. Even though there are kids in the movie, which for me usually signifies a bad movie, this is not really movie for kids. There is mild cursing and sexual associations (some of which are very funny). There is a bit forced faces and screaming but not too much to feel stupid for watching. Acting is good for comedy of this level.

All in all, "Just Go with It" is a nice comedy to watch and forget after two days. I think that everybody except demanding audience would be satisfied with this movie.

Movie review: "Thor"

This weekend I went and watched "Thor" in the movies. I didn't watch it in 3D; I didn't even know it was playing the cinema with this option, but I don't think I would have gone there even if I did know. I don't see the appeal of 3D technology when watching movies. Sure, I like when a book has visually appealing cover, when paper has good quality and font is nice, and in case I really like the series, I will add extra money for better edition, I usually go for the cheaper paperback edition. This is more of a topic for some book review, but I've been thinking lately about investing in e-reader. I prefer paper editions, but in long-terms I think that e-books are better choice.

Now, let's get back to the movie. I know before that "Thor" was based on Marvel comics, which was (of course) based on Norse mythology, but I did not know any specific. I never watched any cartoon adaptation nor did I read the comics. I also knew that the movie was discussed often in SF/Fantasy community and that expectations were big. I had no expectations before watching and I must say I was positively surprised.

"Thor" is in my opinion a nice introduction to this franchise. There is a lengthy portion at the beginning of the movie that explains history, characters and concepts of Asgard, place where Thor, Odin and rest lives and where half of the movie takes place. I wouldn't go deep into explanations and plot, because you got the movie for that. In short, Prince Thor is the son of King Odin, Loki is his brother and after they get in trouble with Frost-Giants, Thor ends up exiled to Earth.

Plot is nothing exceptional or convoluted, but it hasn't any obvious flaws. As I said, there is good intro to lead you into this universe and movie is neither slow nor rushed. I especially liked when the guys from S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived. I was quite surprised. I know that often super-heroes share the same universe, and here is the case with Thor and Iron Man (and some others).

Characters and acting are good for this type of the movie. Thor is played by Cris Hemsworth. I never heard about him before, but he very good in this role. Natalie Portman is playing Thor's love interest, but I think she was wasted in this role. Anthony Hopkins plays Odin and I must admit that I didn't recognize him. Rest of the cast is good, although I didn't like Thor's companions: too generic and predictable.

Best thing that can be said about the movie is that it is not pretentious. Usually in super-hero movies you like him; then he does something really stupid and has to redeem himself to audience. Here this is not the case. Sure, Thor does some stupid things, but they are all believable and normal. I was very surprised the way he reacted to his brother visit in S.H.I.E.L.D. tent. When I think about it, I like this movie much more that I liked "Iron Man 2".

For conlusion, "Thor" is quite good super-hero movie, with no big flaws and a nice evening watch. I don't know about the fans, but as a part of general audience, I like the movie and would recommended it to any who like this kind of movies.

Movie review: "Cloverfield"

Almost a week ago, I watched "Cloverfield". I didn't know much about movie, although I remembered that I made a fuss when it was first out. I also knew that it had something with either aliens or monsters, invading some big city, and that it was made from first-person perspective, with "amateur" camera.

It turned out I was mostly right. "Cloverfield" uses POV-mode made popular by "The Blair Witch Project", giving impression of being filmed by amateurs, while in the midst of action. And action is this movie consists of group of people running from their lives. Group of young people (twenties, by the look of it) gather around on goodbye-party for Rob, who is leaving for Japan. Hud, Rob's best friend gets a task of filming everything and making interviews with attendants. Except Rob's problems with his ex- or wanna-be girlfriend Beth, everything is going fine until something crashes in New York and starts a city-spanning panic. Rob, Hud and several other characters comes to edge of salvation, only to go back to save Beth in midst of alien invasion.

Most of the movie is great. It has a slow introduction, you are just starting to know the characters, party is starting to cool down, when action bangs wildly. Group of friends wondering, running, sudden attacks, a fateful decision... Unfortunately, it's hard to keep this level of intension for whole movie. Near to end, you get used to it, and what were once heroic decision and actions, now look like fool's moves. Also, things are getting a bit too unbelievable for at the end. In short, I didn't like last 20 minutes or so. I catch myself few times in wandering around in my head instead of really following the movie.

But as I said, most of the movie is really good. Movie easily succeeds in creating a atmosphere of mystery in the first part. Later, as we learn more about the threat, it looks very convincing. I must say that aliens are done very well. But after the part in military base, things went down for me.

Ending is ambitiously imagined and special, although it failed in making all the emotional impact in me. But I presume that lots of people will like. Actually, lots of people did like it, since this was one of hits in 2008.

"Cloverfield" is a good mystery/SF movie, although with potentially weaker ending. Nevertheless, it is a good evening watch, with much fun and action, for SF fans as much as for general audience.

Movie review: "Exam"

This Sunday I have watched "Exam". I've been planning to watch this movie for some time now, ever since I heard that it takes place in one room and that many people recommended it. I mean, it has to be a good movie to get props with all the action taking place... at one place. It turned out it is.

The movie starts with eight people coming to a room to take a final exam for a highly sought place in some mysterious company. We don't know anything about the people, the job or the company. After getting some very specific and very strange instructions, examinees are left to answer a single question in span of 80 minutes. The problems start when they discover that question is hidden and they first have to find it.

This movie is a puzzle, for audience as much as characters. You are challenged (not directly, but even so) to solve the mystery before them. Even if you fail, you will have fun guessing and second-guessing before being handed the final solution. We have a slight advantage, because at beginning of the movie we are shown some minor clues. Best way to describe this movie in few words would be "Saw, but without the blood". That is not to say that there is no violence in this movie, just not so graphical.

As I said, at the beginning to the movie you don't know anything about the job or the company. You are also let believe that the movie is happening in present. Later you find out that it actually describes a recent future, slightly dystopian. Even though you receive only few details, you get an impression of well imagined and developed background. Cast is practically unknown, but they did a very good job. As for characters, they are very interesting and diverse. You don't even get their names, instead using a "Reservoir Dogs" trick giving them color-names.

After watching the movie, you can find many objections to the story and solution, but nevertheless you don't feel cheated at the end, which is very important. During the watching you will probably be too focused to notice any flaws.

Although some will not like the realization (eight people, one room), "Exam" is a very good movie for those who like puzzles and movies that make the think and try to compete with the characters in reaching the solution.

Movie review: "Paul"

At Friday I stumbled on my friends watching "Paul", missing only first few minutes. I knew almost nothing about this movie, only remembering that there was some mentioning on Tor.com (this one), which I didn't read.

The movie is a light comedy, based on very simply plot: two nerds from England are traveling USA on a road-trip meet an alien. And that alien is not what they would expect: he is a cursing, smoking bastard, actually too human. Actually, all characters in the movie are "too much", over-caricaturized: two typical nerds, some hillbillies, goofy FBI agents, religious fanatics... But nevertheless, the combination is not overall or tiring, and I really enjoyed the movie.

Acting is what you would expect from comedy of this type. Paul is completely CGI, but looks almost real. There are also few cameos giving an extra-kick. I have also come to understand that Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are famous, although I can't say I heard about them before.

Considering all, "Paul" is not impressive or anything to remember specially, but it has a well-guessed combination of right elements, and it provides an easy entertainment, especially for SF fans who can appreciate a good joke on themselves.