Action – Page 31 – Matthew Liedke on Film

The Lone Ranger review

Director:
Gore Verbinski
Cast:
Johnny Depp
Armie Hammer
William Fichtner
Tom Wilkinson
Ruth Wilson
Helena Bonham Carter
Rated: PG-13

I could have earned the title of the Lone Watch Checker seeing this movie.

‘The Lone Ranger,” based on the character from the TV show that started in 1946, follows the character John Reid (Hammer). Reid is a prosecutor traveling to the wild west and eventually meets up with his older brother who is a Texas Ranger. Reid’s brother, Dan, is after a criminal named Butch (Fichtner). John joins a posse with Dan and go to get the criminal, however they are ambushed and all killed.

However, John ends up coming back from the dead and becomes a spirit walker. He meets with an Indian named Tonto (Depp), and the two of them have a common enemy in Butch. They decide to team up and bring the villain to justice. To do so, John puts on a mask and becomes the Lone Ranger.

Continue reading “The Lone Ranger review”

The Heat review

Director:
Paul Feig
Cast:
Sandra Bullock
Melissa McCarthy
Marlon Wayans
Michael Rapaport
Rated: R

The first female buddy cop movie! It would be really ground breaking if it wasn’t like every other buddy cop film out there.

“The Heat” stars Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy. Bullock plays an FBI agent named Ashburn, who does everything completely by the books. Her latest case brings her to the streets of Boston where she meets Mullins (McCarthy), a cop who is the complete opposite of Ashburn, being a total loose cannon.

The case that the two have to work on involves having to stop some type of crime lord from doing some type of shipment. However, for these two, working together seems nearly impossible.

Continue reading “The Heat review”

White House Down review

Let’s get the most obvious thing out right away. This film cannot be reviewed without mentioning “Olympus Has Fallen,” which also had a story where the White House gets taken over by terrorists. I will come out right now and say that “Olympus Has Fallen” is the better movie, it balances having fun and being entertaining while still being somewhat believable. That being said, “White House Down” isn’t bad.

The film follows a low- ranking security agent named Cale, played by Channing Tatum, who is trying to get into the Secret Service to protect the President. The president in the film, James Sawyer, played by Jamie Foxx, is trying to get legislation passed through that could bring peace to the Middle East.

Continue reading “White House Down review”

Man of Steel review

Director:
Zack Snyder
Cast:
Henry Cavill
Amy Adams
Michael Shannon
Russell Crowe
Kevin Costner
Laurence Fishburne
Rated: PG-13

Yes! Superman does more than throw an island into space! Hooray!

“Man of Steel” is another venture into a superhero universe for Director Zack Snyder who directed 2009’s “Watchmen.” The film is, at its heart, a superhero origin movie. However, Snyder manages to elevate it to a higher level than some of the other origin stories that have been done over the past few years. Instead of learning about the character through a standard a, b and c plot-line, Snyder instead uses multiple flashbacks to not only show the development of who Superman becomes but how he had to deal with his powers too.

The movie reaches the point where Clark Kent/Kal-El (Cavill) discovers who he really is, meeting a conscience hologram of his father Jor-El (Crowe) who explains why the alien is on Earth in the first place and what he should do for the planet and humanity. Jor-El’s enemy, Zod (Shannon) finds his way to Earth too, and seeks to wipe out humanity and restore the Krypton race. To stop Zod, Superman has to work together with Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane (Adams) who is one of the first to discover his origins.

Continue reading “Man of Steel review”

After Earth review

Director:
M. Night Shyamalan
Cast:
Jaden Smith
Will Smith
Sophie Okonedo
Zoe Kravitz
Rated: PG-13

Well, let’s be happy Jaden is only acting and not rapping.

“After Earth” begins with a large backstory of what happened to the human race. Years into the future, because of environmental problems, humans are forced to abandon the planet. While relocating to another planet, the surviving humans come in contact with aliens and the forces have a conflict. The brave general Cypher (W. Smith) leads them to victory by fighting off monstrous creatures by ghosting, which completely suppresses one’s fear.

Cypher’s son, Kitai (J. Smith) not only tries to live up to his father’s name and become a ranger himself, he still has bad memories of his sister being killed and not being able to help. Cypher and Kitai eventually go on a mission together on a ship but unfortunately it crash lands on a planet and the rest of the crew is killed. Because Cypher’s leg is injured, Kitai has to travel to another piece of the ship that broke apart during the crash to recover a beacon that can save them, however the planet they have landed on is Earth and it has become very dangerous for humans.

Continue reading “After Earth review”

Now You See Me review

Director:
Louis Leterrier
Cast:
Jesse Eisenberg
Mark Ruffalo
Woody Harrelson
Isla Fisher
Dave Franco
Morgan Freeman
Michael Caine
Melanie Laurent
Rated: PG-13

I wish someone would have used a magic trick to make this a better movie.

“Now You See Me” sets up a few different story arcs that intertwine throughout the film’s run. The first arc that the audience is introduced to is the story of the Four Horsemen. These four, including a street magician named Daniel Atlas (Eisenberg), a mentalist named Merritt McKinnney (Harrelson), an escape artist named Henley Reeves (Fisher) and a young magician named Jack Wilder (Franco).

The four meet after being summoned to the same apartment building and a year later they are putting on a big show in Las Vegas. During their performance they end up robbing a bank and there enters the next story arc, an FBI agent named Dylan (Ruffalo) and an Interpol agent named Alma (Laurent), who are on the Four Horsemen’s trail. Another arc comes into play as a man who is an expert at debunking magicians, Thaddeus (Freeman), decides to help out the FBI for his own gains.

Continue reading “Now You See Me review”

Fast and Furious 6 review

Director:
Justin Lin
Cast:
Vin Diesel
Dwayne Johnson
Paul Walker
Michelle Rodriguez
Tyrese Gibson
Rated: PG-13

With the stuff some of the characters survive in this flick you would think they were super humans.

“Fast and Furious 6” is the latest installment of the now over decade long franchise. In this film, a dangerous, highly trained criminal named Shaw, played by Luke Evans, is after a weapon system worth billions. DSS agent Hobbs (Johnson) is after Shaw and requests the help of Dominic Toretto (Diesel) and his crew, not only because the crew is one of the best but also because Hobbs has information that Toretto’s old girlfriend Letty (Rodriguez) could still be alive.

With that, the crew from the past films are re-united and face down their toughest threat ever. This time the villains bring along tanks and other heavy weapons that the crew has to take down.

Continue reading “Fast and Furious 6 review”

It boldly goes where other Star Trek films have gone before.

“Star Trek Into Darkness” is the sequel to the 2009 movie that served as a sort of reboot to the franchise going back to the original characters. The film, which takes place in a sort of separate reality than the original series, follows Captain James T. Kirk (Pine), who is now in command of the Enterprise. His reckless actions though cause him to get into some trouble with the higher ups in Star Fleet.

Kirk’s issues with the upper command is pushed aside though as a new threat arises to challenge Star Fleet. Because of this, Kirk, along with his crew consisting of Spock (Quinto), Uhura (Saldana), Leonard McCoy (Urban), Scotty (Pegg) and Sulu (Cho). Have to go after the individual raising the threat. However the villain behind this threat, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, turns out to be one of the most fierce adversaries that the Enterprise has to face.

Continue reading “Star Trek: Into Darkness review”

Iron Man 3 review

Director:
Shane Black
Cast:
Robert Downey Jr.
Gwyneth Paltrow
Don Cheadle
Guy Pearce
Rebecca Hall
Jon Favreau
Ben Kingsley
Rated: PG-13

The 2013 summer movie season starts with a lot of booms, most of them coming from Tony Stark’s house getting blown to bits.

The third installment of the “Iron Man” franchise picks up not long after the mega super hero team up film “The Avengers.” After the events in New York, billionaire, Iron Man inventor Tony Stark (Downey Jr.) is trying to move on and live his life normally. However, because of the events that occurred with the alien attacks, Stark has been feeling nervous and has had anxiety attacks. To deal with this, Stark has been building multiple versions of his high tech suits.

While this is going on, a new threat begins to rise with an international terrorist who calls himself The Mandarin (Kingsley) starts taking responsibility for a number of mysterious bombings. At the same time, a man who has his own science corporation, Aldrich Killian (Pearce), has his own mysterious dealings going on and could possibly be connected to The Mandarin. Because of the threat that is brewing, Stark has to fight against The Mandarin, yet he finds himself short of much of his technology.

Continue reading “Iron Man 3 review”

Olympus Has Fallen review

Director:
Antoine Fuqua
Cast:
Gerard Butler
Aaron Eckhart
Dylan McDermott
Morgan Freeman
Rated: R

This movie is like a patriotic overload.

“Olympus Has Fallen” follows the story of a United States Secret Service named Mike Banning (Butler), who, after a terrible accident is demoted to a guard at the treasury department. Meanwhile, an attack is set in motion by a group of terrorists who capture the president, played by Eckhart, and take over the building creating a hostage situation.

Because the president and much of the cabinet is taken hostage, the speaker of the house, played by Morgan Freeman becomes acting president and the only one who manages to get inside to fight back is Banning.

Continue reading “Olympus Has Fallen review”