onsdag 30 maj 2012

John Carter

When John Carter came out, i was definetely suprised. The trailer made me wonder if it would live up to what seemed to be a massive cgi craft. Based on the character from A Princess Of Mars, this is sort of a updated version of the stories written in the year 1912. A sci fi adventure on Mars have been done before, but is it possible John Carter a fresh new start for Disney productions, or should they have sticked with animation?

American Civil War Confederate Army captain John Carter ( Taylor Kitsch ), is arrested by Colonel Powell ( Bryan Cranston ). Powell wants Carter to help them fight the Apache, but Carter escapes, as he finds his way into the desert. For a long time, Carter have been looking for a cave, wich is supposed to have gold. As he hides in the desert, he finds a cave with strange markings. Suddenly a Thern attacks Carter, he survives as the Thern dies. In the Thern´s hand, he finds a medallion. As he takes it, he suddenly transports himself into the world of Bardoom ( Mars ).  He is captured by green martians Therak and the king Tars Tarkas. John Carter have special powers, that he did not know of, until he travelled to Bardoom. With these powers, the green martians realise he could help them win the battle, againts the enemy army of Sab Than. But time is running out, Sab Than have big plans, and he will do anything to marry The Princess Of Helium, Dejah Toris ( Lynn Collins ).

If you don´t like Star Wars or Conan The Barbarian, this movie will make you have nightmares for a very long time. This is everything sci fi geeks could wish for, fantastic effects, amazing scenery with lots of cool battle scenes. John Carter is actually a pleasent suprise, where the script does not matter, it´s more about the characters than the story itself. Everything is not great, but as a sci fi movie, it works well. It´s a shame it didnt do as well at the box office, because a sequel would have been fun ( really?, yes i admit ). Just take John Carter for what this is, in fact i think most family members might enjoy this. There is something for everyone here, unless you are a fan of Kate Hudson´s latest movies...if you are, my suggestion is you might need therapy.

Rating: DDD

tisdag 29 maj 2012

Ghost Rider - Spirit Of Vengeance

Yes indeed...it´s time for another pissed off Nicholas Cage, turing into fire on a bike. For those of you who enjoyed the first Ghost Rider motion picture in 2007, this is exactly what you would expect, or is it? Comic books made into movies have a lot to live up to, they need to please fans of the comic books as well as please movie audiences expectations . There are some really bad ones, but then again some adaptions turned out to be really good. This time around, does Ghost Rider give us one hell of a ride, or is this a dead end?

Johnny Blaze ( Nicholas Cage ) is now hiding in Eastern Europe, trying to hide from mankind. A priest named Moreau ( Idris Elba ), contacts Johnny, asking for his help. A mother Nadya ( Violante Placido ) and her son Danny, are wanted by mercenaries leader Ray Carrigan ( Johnny Withworth ). Blaze is not interested in helping humans at first, but Moreau manages to change Blaze´s mind. While Johnny protect Nadya and her son, he finds out that everything is not what it seemed to be.

It would be great to say this is a worthy sequel, in reality, this is not the case. A lot of things have happened since the 2007 movie came out. Budget is less, the cgi effects are not as well made as i would have hoped for. The acting is about at the same level of Days Of Our Lives, wich pretty much says it all. Thankfully it´s not all bad. Some scenes are actually quite funny, they are meant to be serious but instead become amusing. It´s a shame Nicholas Cage doesn´t try harder to do something better with his character Johnny Blaze. In the first movie he actually gave us something of a personality, here...he just tries to look like a mean leather biker. I would not be suprised if there is a 3rd movie coming out within a few years, by then there is alot to be done to make Ghost Rider worthy a cinema experience. At this moment we are just left with something unfinished, almost like directors Neveldine/Taylor just wanted to finish the movie to get paid.

Rating: DD

onsdag 23 maj 2012

Game Change

Even if i don´t live in America, i am interested in political events surrounding USA. There have been many presidential campaigns with everything from disaster to big suprises. Back in 2008, when Barack Obama became a sensation, there was one more face who found a way to meet the audience, in her own way. Sarah Palin was the new face in politics, who became a secret weapon for senator John McCain. Game Change is a HBO movie, to give us a look what happened on John McCain´s campaign. Is this a political knockout, or is there a risk we will fall asleep?

During the campaign of senator John McCain ( Ed Harris ), the team realise they need a secret weapon, to help McCain win the president campaign. They find Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska, a hockey mom, who knows how to connect with people, and make a positive impression. Everything is looking great, people seem to like this new woman, who is fighting to become vice president. But there is a big problem. McCain´s campaign senior strategist Steve Schmidt ( Woody Harrelson ), find out that Sarah Palin knows nothing about foreign politics. When Palin begins to give interviews,  all hell breaks loose.

Political drama movies may sound very dull, but Game Change is actually really good. Much thanks to the cast, especially Julianne Moore, who does a fantastic performance. To see her vulnerable position fall apart, shows that no matter who you are, we can all fall down. You just have to find a way to get up again. Ed Harris is so effective as John McCain, you simply sit there enchanted by his actor technique. Director Jay Harris builds tensions along the campaign, so clever in so effective details, it´s hard to stop watching. I can´t say i have seen such a powerful political movie lately as this one deliver. Game Change have a lot to say, just make sure you listen.

Rating: DDDD

tisdag 22 maj 2012

Trespass

It´s amazing how many movie Nicholas Cage makes in a year. This year he have 3 films coming out, and one more wich already hit the screen in february. After all the gossip around Cage´s tax problems, and that he had to sell several houses, media made a big storm about this. Not that i personally care, but for mr Cage it must have been annoying. Either way, he seems to get enough work to survive. With Trespass we see classic director Joel Schumacher back on track, and with Nicholas Cage and Nicole Kidman, you can´t help to think this looks good on paper indeed. Question is, will Trespass make me applaude infront of the big screen, or is Schumacher lost since his masterpiece Falling Down?

Kyle Miller ( Nicholas Cage ) is a successfull buisnessman, living with his wife Sarah ( Nicole Kidman ) and his teenage daughter Avery ( Liana Liberato ). Avery want´s to go to a party, but is not allowed by her parents. In secret, she escapes their mansion home, and meet her friend Kendra ( Emily Meade ). As they head off to the party, Kyle and Sarah have visitors at home. Police officers say they are informing neighbours about burglars. Just when Kyle opens, a group of criminals storm their mansion, and take them as hostage. The gang leades Elias ( Ben Mendelsohn tell Kyle and Sarah, that he and his gang members have been spying on them for a while. They know there is money in this house, as well as diamonds. Avery leaves the party, and head back home. Not knowing what has happened she is also taken hostage. Now, the family has to do everything they can to survive.

If you did not know Tresspass bombed at the box office, now you know, In fact, it did so bad that it was one of 2011 biggest box office flops. And that must hurt for Joel Schumacher, with such big movie stars. Now, personally i don´t think this is awful. The problem is we have seen this so many times before, it´s hard to care. If there was some kind of orginilaity in the storyline, it might have been more interesting. Now we get basically the same kind of story, wich has been made over and over again. Trespass is a perfect example of where Hollywood is today, original stories are hard to find, and the easiest way to handle the situation, is to do something that we have seen before. It´s a shame, i really love Joel Schumacher´s fantastic movie Falling Down from 1993, it´s one of those movies you can´t compare many others with, it´s original and very well made. Now, he seems to care less. Maybe he just have not found something good to work on at the moment, let´s hope so. Nicholas Cage and Nicole Kidman still can deliver some decent scenes, but far away from their top quality. Trespass might fit well as a tea pleaser, on a rainy night at your grandparents house, but apart from that, this is nothing you will remember.

Rating: DD

This Means War

The title sounds like this is the revenge of RuPaul´s Drag Queens, ready to strike back. But in reality this is a action comedy, signed and delivered by the director McG of  both Charlie´s Angels movies. To see Reese Witherspoon in a action comedy sounds like a good idea, since she usually sticks with comedy only. Does This Means War deliver a good time, or is this a desperate attempt to just make box office profit?

FDR Foster ( Chris Pine ) and his best friend Tuck Henson ( Tom Hardy ), both work as CIA agents. On a mission in Hong Kong, german criminal Heinrich ( Til Schweiger ) manage to escape, but his brother Jonas is killed. Heinrich swears to revenge his brothers death. CIA boss Collins ( Angela Bassett ) see the danger Foster and Tuck has caused, to protect them she assign them both to desk duty. Tuck wants to find someone to love, his ex-wife Katie ( Abigail Spencer ) does not want to go out with him again, even if he wants to make a fresh start. His son Joe ( John Paul Ruttman ) is his motivation, to keep going on. One day Tuck watches a tv commercial about net dating. He starts his own profile, just to see if he can find someone special. He gets in contact with Lauren Scott ( Reese Witherspoon ), a product testing executive, who also wants to find someone special. They meet one day and everything works out great. Problem is, Foster also met Lauren and falls in love with her. Who will she choose?

It´s easy to see director McG knows this genre, he knows we need some heavy action, and less romance. But here, we get this mix put together, a bit too loose. Charlie´s Angels movies gave us a fun combination of girls kicking ass, as well as dressing sexy, wich is always nice. This Means War is a more serious try to combine romance with action, wich could have worked well with a good script. There is no good script here, instead Reese Witherspoon saves the day with her comic timing, but she can´t save this motion picture on her own. There are a few moments where i enjoy myself, like Lauren´s best friend Trish ( played by Chelsea Handler ), when she starts telling Lauren how you get men, and what to do. The CIA story is not that interesting, wich is too bad. With a better written script this could have been something. This Means War will not break any new grounds, or deliver anything special. But, if nothing else is on TV, you can watch this and at least get some fun moments, but don´t expect much more.

Rating: DD

fredag 11 maj 2012

Babycall

Norway is a beautiful country. And the people are so friendly, you sometimes wonder, is it something they eat or just the way they are? Either way, i like Norway. When it comes to movies, Norway have released some good titles, but not many of them get attention. But maybe this is about to change, now when our swedish actor Noomi Rapace stars in her new thriller Babycall. Will Babycall put Norway on the map again, or is it too late thanks to Alexander Ryback?

Anna ( Noomi Rapace ) is a single mom, who lives with her son Anders. She is very protective, after leaving her violent ex-husband. As she tries to do everything for her son, some things become too much for her too handle. Social services visits her, worried about how she treat her son. Anna becomes more nervous and find herself lost at moments, not knowing what she has done in a few hours. She buys a babycall, just to have more control over her son. But as she puts the babycall on the first night, she hears another persons voice, and it´s not her son speaking.

Ever since the Millenium trilogy came out, Noomi Rapace became a superstar. And she deserves all the attention, she is an actor with a lot of knowledge. Babycall is a psychological deep thriller, with a very effective story. The atmosphere is built up when we see what is really going on, and director Pål Sletaune handle this material very confident. There are a few scenes wich feels a bit too long, but all pieces put together, Babycall gives you a pleasent time in the cinema. Wallander actor Krister Henriksson should take a look at this one, and maybe he will realise what acting is all about.

Rating: DDD

fredag 4 maj 2012

Battleship

Michael Bay....if you say that name in America, i can imagine there are different reactions. His pumped up action movies are so patriotic and filled with cheesy lines, it´s hard not to laugh sometimes. But not everything he does is bad, he actually made some descent ones, like the 90´s classic The Rock. Peter Berg, who directed the odd but funny Very Bad Things, seems ready to try and do his own Michael Bay version. Battleship looks like a steroid overdosed Top Gun with less gay hair cuts. Could this be the perfect date movie, or should the U.S. army have shot down this project deep down the sea?

Hawaii in the year 2005, Nasa dicover a new planet, wich is similar to ours. They decide to send a signal into space, to see if they can make contact with another life form.  Meanwhile we meet Alex Hopper ( Taylor Kitsch ), a man who lives to party and meet girls. When a night out goes wrong, and he ends up in trouble with law, his older brother Stone Hopper ( Alexander Skarsgård ), is tired of his brother´s behaviour, not thinking about his future. Stone force his brother to join the United States Army. 7 years later, Alex is now a lieutenant and a Tactical Action Officer aboard the destroyer USS Paul Jones, while his older brother Stone is the commander of USS Sampson. At the communications array from Nasa, they have a signal from outer space. Several spaceships seems to be heading towards earth, landing on different locations. While USS Paul Jones and USS Sampon drift along, they encounter the alien spaceship within their area. Not knowing what they want, or why they have come, they are not prepared of what is about to happen.

Battleship is a stupid movie. Does that mean it´s bad? Actually, no. For a sci fi action movie, we are served with plenty of muscle action and adrenaline effects, that you will not fall asleep. And if you just want entertainment action, Battleship will deliver the perfect balance. The biggest problem is the actors, Rhianna is not very good, Alexander Skarsgård tries to keep his character believable, but doesn´t succeed. We have Liam Neeson here, and he may be one of the few actors who still deliver some kind of credibility. Since director Peter Berg has dome some action before ( The Kingdom ), he knows how to use fast editing with effective ways of making pure action. There is no intelligent script here, there are flaws, but hey, does everything have to be perfect everytime? Just take Battleship for what this is, pure entertainment violence. Just fill a bucket with ice, and throw in some beers, this is definetely a saturday blockbuster for all you guys out there.

Rating: DDD