Tag: Action

Wrath of the Titans review

Director:
Jonathan Liebesman
Cast:
Sam Worthington
Liam Neeson
Ralph Fiennes
Edgar Ramirez
Rosamund Pike
Rated: PG-13

How does Sam Worthington keep getting more bland with each movie?

“Wrath of the Titans” is the follow-up to the 2010 film “Clash of the Titans.” In this installment, we find our protagonist Perseus (Worthington), the demigod son of Zeus (Neeson) trying to live a normal life as a fisherman. However Zeus informs Perseus that the Gods are losing their power and need to re seal the titans, especially Zeus’ father Chronos to stop the end of the world.

Perseus declines and Zeus tries to do it with just the help of Posiden and his other son Ares, however Ares teams up with Hades (Fiennes) and defeats Posiden and capture Zeus. Because of this, the only hope left for the world is Perseus, and he must team up with the Queen of Greece Andromeda (Pike) and Posiden’s demigod son Agenor (Ramirez).

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21 Jump Street review

Director:
Phil Lord & Chris Miller
Cast:
Jonah Hill
Channing Tatum
Dave Franco
Rob Riggle
Ice Cube
Rated: R

Channing Tatum is surprisingly at his best when in comedies.

21 Jump Street is the updated re-imagining of the 80s cop show. The film follows two characters, Schmidt (Hill) and Jenko (Tatum). During their high school years the two didn’t exactly get along with Jenko being popular and Schmidt not being in the ‘incrowd’ however they meet up again during their time at a police academy and team up to overcome their obstacles, becoming friends in the process.

The story picks up with them just as they are getting into their jobs on the force, however the two mess things up quite a bit and are re assigned to an operation called 21 Jump Street, where young looking cops infiltrate high schools to crack down on crime. The two are sent to a high school to deal with a new drug however Schmidt gets a little caught up in trying to have a new high school experience.

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John Carter review

Director:
Andrew Stanton
Cast:
Taylor Kitsch
Lynn Collins
Samantha Morton
Willem Dafoe
Mark Strong
Rated: PG-13

The movie was originally going to be called “John Carter of Mars,” then in the movie they called him John Carter of Earth. Maybe they just couldn’t make up their damn minds.

John Carter is a sci fi adventure film following the title character, a Civil War vet who is now known by reputation as being a dangerous criminal. One day when making a get away from a group of basically cowboys and indians he stumbles across a cave with all sorts of designs on the walls.

He is then transported to Mars by an amulet and finds out that the planet is made up by three different factions who are all hostile towards each other. He soon meets the leader of one of the factions named Tars Tarkas (Dafoe) as well as the princess from another faction named Helium (Thoris). After he makes some alliances he sets out to take down Sab Than (West).

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Act of Valor

Director:
Mike McCoy & Scott Waugh
Cast:
Alex Veadov
Roselyn Sanchez
Nestor Serrano
Emilio Rivera
Rated: R

Should’ve just been called “Call of Duty: The Movie.”

“Act of Valor” is a new film about war, centering on a unit of Navy SEALS, played by actual military personnel. The film starts with them in training back in the states. However duty calls and the team must go across the world using all of their combined efforts and technologies to hunt down and stop a terror cell from striking inside the United States.

The plot of this film is amazingly weak, with it barely having a structured narrative. The film constantly flips back and forth to different locations (with an annoying map display every time it does) making for a very disjointed experience. I said it could’ve been a movie of Call of Duty and the reason is that that’s the way it plays out. There’s the mission and then a cut scene followed by another mission.

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Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance review

Director:
Mark Neveldine & Brian Taylor
Cast:
Nicolas Cage
Violante Placido
Idris Elba
Fergus Riordan
Rated: PG-13

Oh Nicolas, what are we going to do with you.

The latest Marvel film to come to screens is the follow up to 2007’s “Ghost Rider.” “Spirit of Vengeance” picks up a couple years later with the lead character Johnny Blaze (Cage) in a reclusive part of Europe trying to deal with the Ghost Rider curse that has been set upon him.

He finally gets an opportunity to rid the curse when a warrior priest named Moreau (Elba) informs him that a group of monks can exorcise him if he returns a favor of protecting a young boy from the devil. Blaze agrees and sets off to save the boy, along the way though he is hunted by some of the devils henchmen.

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Chronicle review

Director:
Josh Trank
Cast:
Dane DeHaan
Alex Russel
Michael B. Jordan
Ashley Hinsaw
Rated: PG-13

It’s very rare that I can see a movie which I will consider one of my favorite of the year as early as February but, “Chronicle” did it.

“Chronicle” tells the story of three teenage high school boys, Andrew (DeHaan), Matt (Russel) and Steve (Jordan). At first, Andrew is a bit of an outcast. Early in the film he decides to start filming everything around him. Eventually he goes to a party with Matt and Steve and the three come across a cavern with a mysterious rock which gives all three of them the power of telekinesis.

After this the three start hanging out more and become very good friends while learning to strengthen and better control their new found powers. During this time they pull some pranks and have some fun however they soon learn about how dangerous they can be as well and Andrew unfortunately begins going down a bad path.

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Man on a Ledge review

Director:
Asger Leth
Cast:
Sam Worthington
Elizabeth Banks
Anthony mackie
Jamie Bell
Genesis Rodriguez
Ed Harris
Rated: PG-13

“Man on a Ledge” follows the story of escaped convict Nick Cassidy (Worthington), who tells everyone he was wrongfully framed for stealing a diamond from rich CEO David Englander (Harris). Because of this, Nick devises a plan to prove his innocence.

He stands out on a ledge of a high building to attract all the attention he can making it seem like he’s going to leap off the edge, meanwhile, his brother Joey (Bell) and his brother’s girlfriend Angie (Rodriguez) break into Englander’s compound to find the diamond and prove Nick’s innocence.

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Haywire review

Director:
Steven Soderbergh
Cast:
Gina Carano
Channing Tatum
Michael Angarano
Michael Douglas
Antonio Banderas
Ewan McGregor
Rated: R

It was almost surprising not seeing Angelina Jolie in this.

“Haywire” is the latest film from director Steven Soderbergh, it follows the character Mallory (Carano), a spy for hire who is on the run after being betrayed by the company she works for, in particular, her boss Kenneth (McGregor). Because of this she is forced to leave a small diner abruptly with a young man by the name of Scott (Angarano). During their get away she begins to go into flashbacks about how her life got turned upside down.

The first hour of the film is devoted to telling the flashbacks where the second half goes into how she will try to set the record straight. During this time she continues to be hunted and has to be careful and watch her step.

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Contraband review

Director:
Baltasr Komakur
Cast:
Mark Wahlberg
Ben Foster
Kate Beckinsale
Giovanni Ribisi
Caleb Landry Jones
Rated: R

Maybe the main character in this story was cousins with Wahlberg’s character in “The Italian Job.”

The story of Contraband follows the character Chris Farraday (Wahlberg), a former smuggler who has now turned to making an honest living and having a family.

Unfortunately, his younger brother-in-law Andy (Jones) didn’t quite get the message and decides to try smuggling himself, this goes wrong though as Customs catches him in the act and he has to get rid of the drugs he was bringing across.

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In Time review

Director:
Andrew Niccol
Cast:
Justin Timberlake
Manda Seyfried
Cillian Murphy
Vincent Kartheiser
Rated: PG-13

“In Time” is definitely not a film that’s so good you have to show up on time at the theater to see.

The movie is a bout a young man named Will Salas (Timberlake) who lives in a world where everyone is suppose to live until they are just 25. However, they can stay alive longer by working for more time, however the only problem is that time is also the currency, and if you run out of time, shown a person’s arm, then you die. The problem in this world is that the rich have all the time and the poor have next to nothing.

Will is in the position of the latter. He finds the world to be cruel and harsh, especially more so after his mother dies. A short time after this event, he meets a man with 100 years of time and after saving him the man gives Will all of it. After this, Will decides to shake up the system by going up against the ‘Time Keepers’ especially a very dedicated one named Raymond (Murphy), and a wealthy corporate man Phillipe, (Kartheiser). In doing so he also kidnaps and eventually teams up with Phillipe’s daughter Sylvia (Seyfried).

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