TV spot #2: Grudge Match (2013)
TV spot: Grudge Match (2013)
International trailer: Grudge Match (2013)
A pair of aging boxing rivals are coaxed out of retirement to fight one final bout -- 30 years after their last match. From: IMDb.com
Directed by: Peter Segal
Starring: Robert De Niro, Sylvester Stallone, Kim Basinger and others
Current release date: December 25, 2013
Escape Plan (2013) Directed by Mikael Håfström
Perhaps most people were expecting a different movie and therefore also were disappointed by it but personally, I really liked it!
It also was different from what I was expecting but then again, I didn't even really know what to expect from this movie in the first place. I mean, there is only so much you can do with a movie that's set inside of a prison anyway. And indeed, this movie feels quite formulaic as well, with its story and some of its characters and developments. It isn't the most surprising or original movie but it's a well made one, which was the main reason why I liked this movie.
The directing by Mikael Håfström is tight and he manages to turn this into an action movie, without really featuring all that much action in it. That's right, this is an action movie without any action in it, except for its finale, that also felt out of tone from the rest of the movie. But I guess it's in Sylvester Stallone's and Arnold Schwarzenegger's contract that they have to handle a gun at some point in the movie, preferably a very large one. It's not even a spoiler, you know it's going to happen at some point!
Guess you can even say this is a stupid movie, that isn't half as smart as it seems to think it is with its story but none of it matters too much because of the simple fact that the movie, despite everything, entertains.One of the things that makes it obvious that this movie is made to entertain, rather than to impress or surprise, are its characters. They are all some big stereotypes, especially its villains. And guess what, I really liked Jim Caviezel as the tough and evil warden. I don't think I have ever seen him play a villain before but he was really good and enjoyable as one.
Of course people are making a big deal out of this movie because it stars both Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger in it but does it really matter? It's not like it provides the movie with any fireworks or feels like it's the best thing ever. Just two guys, that are known for their action roles, starring in an action movie together. Neither of them impressed much with their roles but it's still good to see that, despite their age, they are still perfectly capable of carrying a big movie.
It isn't a great movie by any means but it's simply a perfectly watchable and enjoyable one!
7/10
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Movie clip #4: Escape Plan (2013)
When a structural-security authority finds himself set up and incarcerated in the world's most secret and secure prison, he has to use his skills to escape with help from the inside. From: IMDb.com
2 new TV spots: Escape Plan (2013)
When a structural-security authority finds himself set up and incarcerated in the world's most secret and secure prison, he has to use his skills to escape with help from the inside. From: IMDb.com
TV spot #3: Escape Plan (2013)
When a structural-security authority finds himself set up and incarcerated in the world's most secret and secure prison, he has to use his skills to escape with help from the inside. From: IMDb.com
Movie clip #3: Escape Plan (2013)
When a structural-security authority finds himself incarcerated in a prison he designed, he has to put his skills to escape and find out who framed him. From: IMDb.com
Movie clip #2: Escape Plan (2013)
When a structural-security authority finds himself incarcerated in a prison he designed, he has to put his skills to escape and find out who framed him. From: IMDb.com
Movie clip: Escape Plan (2013)
When a structural-security authority finds himself incarcerated in a prison he designed, he has to put his skills to escape and find out who framed him. From: IMDb.com
2 new TV spots: Escape Plan (2013)
When a structural-security authority finds himself incarcerated in a prison he designed, he has to put his skills to escape and find out who framed him. From: IMDb.com
Trailer: Grudge Match (2013)
A pair of aging boxing rivals are coaxed out of retirement to fight one final bout -- 50 years after their last match. From: IMDb.com
Directed by: Peter Segal
Starring: Robert De Niro, Sylvester Stallone, Kim Basinger and others
Current release date: December 25, 2013
Trailer: Escape Plan (2013)
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Directed by: Mikael Håfström
When a structural-security authority finds himself incarcerated in a prison he designed, he has to put his skills to escape and find out who framed him. From: IMDb.com
Directed by: Mikael Håfström
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Vincent D'Onofrio and others
Current release date: October 18, 2013
Bullet to the Head (2012) Directed by Walter Hill
An action movie can be as bad as it wants with its story and acting but
it's an absolutely unforgivable thing when it totally fails to
entertain me.
This movie did absolutely nothing for me. It wasn't engaging with either its story or characters, there wasn't really any spectacular action and they completely forgot to make the movie a fun one to watch. It takes itself far too serious, even while it clearly had the right sort of main plot line and characters in it, to turn this into an amusing action vehicle.
The movie is a pretty confusing one to watch, not because it features such a complicated or clever written script but because it all gets told in such an incredibly uninteresting and ineffective way. It's hard to keep paying attention while watching this, also because it never seems to reward you for it, with for instance one standout action moment, or a snappy piece of dialog, or any unexpected and surprising moments. Of course in essence all of these action flicks are more or less the same with either its setup and main plot line but at least most action flicks still work out better than this movie. This particular movie just never really seems to take off.
Can't really blame Sylvester Stallone for any of this. I mean, he does what he can and he's actually still very convincing as an action hero, even at the age of 66. The fault lies more with its directing and definitely with its writing as well. It's disappointing that an action movie expert such as Walter Hill fails to bring any sort of distinctive style to the movie, or provide it with any really spectacular or enjoyable, straightforward and good old fashioned, action moments.
Bad thing about the story is that it also seems to heavily rely on its 'buddy flick' aspects and dynamics, without creating a strong or believable enough bond between its two main characters. Really, it's probably true that the movie would had been a better one, if it wasn't focusing on these aspects and decided to be a more straightforward action flick, with just Sly alone, as an one man army against 'the world'.
But really, despite of all of the other criticism, the biggest problem with this movie remains that it just isn't ever being a fun one to watch! I would have been most likely OK with this movie if it just had a bad plot and mediocre action moments in it but the movie not being really fun or entertaining enough in anyway, is absolutely inexcusable!
Back to the drawing board Mr. Sly and Mr. Hill!
4/10
This movie did absolutely nothing for me. It wasn't engaging with either its story or characters, there wasn't really any spectacular action and they completely forgot to make the movie a fun one to watch. It takes itself far too serious, even while it clearly had the right sort of main plot line and characters in it, to turn this into an amusing action vehicle.
The movie is a pretty confusing one to watch, not because it features such a complicated or clever written script but because it all gets told in such an incredibly uninteresting and ineffective way. It's hard to keep paying attention while watching this, also because it never seems to reward you for it, with for instance one standout action moment, or a snappy piece of dialog, or any unexpected and surprising moments. Of course in essence all of these action flicks are more or less the same with either its setup and main plot line but at least most action flicks still work out better than this movie. This particular movie just never really seems to take off.
Can't really blame Sylvester Stallone for any of this. I mean, he does what he can and he's actually still very convincing as an action hero, even at the age of 66. The fault lies more with its directing and definitely with its writing as well. It's disappointing that an action movie expert such as Walter Hill fails to bring any sort of distinctive style to the movie, or provide it with any really spectacular or enjoyable, straightforward and good old fashioned, action moments.
Bad thing about the story is that it also seems to heavily rely on its 'buddy flick' aspects and dynamics, without creating a strong or believable enough bond between its two main characters. Really, it's probably true that the movie would had been a better one, if it wasn't focusing on these aspects and decided to be a more straightforward action flick, with just Sly alone, as an one man army against 'the world'.
But really, despite of all of the other criticism, the biggest problem with this movie remains that it just isn't ever being a fun one to watch! I would have been most likely OK with this movie if it just had a bad plot and mediocre action moments in it but the movie not being really fun or entertaining enough in anyway, is absolutely inexcusable!
Back to the drawing board Mr. Sly and Mr. Hill!
4/10
Watch trailer
Trailer #2: Bullet to the Head (2012)
After watching their respective partners die, a cop and a hitman form an alliance in order to bring down their common enemy. From: IMDb.com
Directed by: Walter Hill
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Momoa, Christian Slater and others
Current release date: February 1, 2013
International trailer: Bullet to the Head (2013)
After watching their respective partners die, a cop and a hitman form an alliance in order to bring down their common enemy. From: IMDb.com
Directed by: Walter Hill
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Momoa, Christian Slater and others
Current release date: February 1, 2013
The Expendables 2 (2012) Directed by Simon West
It definitely seemed a good move by Stallone to pass the torch on to Simon West and let him sit on the director's chair this time. Seemed that with the first "The Expendables" movie Stallone had a hard time balancing things out. The result was a pretty disappointing movie, in which not even the action come across as anything all that great or exciting. This definitely improved with this movie and while it's being far from a great one, it's being a pretty decent and entertaining genre flick!
Please don't ask me what this movie was all about, since I simply absolutely had no idea. But in all fairness, this often had been the case with big overblown action movies and it really doesn't make them any less spectacular or entertaining to watch. It's simply being a movie to have a good and fun time with and not to take too seriously.
And luckily the film-makers and actors took things not that serious either. It's the main reason why this movie works out much better and is simply being more fun than its predecessor. The movie and its jokes are more self aware this time around and they didn't just attempted to create a big action flick but also one that delivers on a more entertaining level.
So there is more fun, the action is better but those are not the only things this sequel improved on. Thing I also really liked about this movie was that it focused more on the team aspect. Everybody gets their moment to shine in this and basically every cast member gets to show off their action skills. Yes, even Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis get to do some serious action related stuff this time around. And it really is awesome seeing them fight literally alongside, along with Sylvester Stallone as well. It helps to make the final 30 minutes basically a fan boys dream and it also are the movie its final 30 minutes that are being the movie its best minutes, which sort of makes you wonder why the rest of the movie, as well as its predecessor, weren't being more like this as well.
And the movie brings in even more big action movie stars from the past this time. Jean-Claude Van Damme is being a pretty good villain, though he shows up in the movie pretty late and also gets to do far too little. Oh well, at least he was being good and enjoyable when he did appear on screen and is still in pretty good form as well, even though he is well in his 50's already. And I admit, it was also awesome to see Chuck Norris in this. Yes, his character is quite pointless and just an excuse to have Norris pop up in this movie but he perhaps was being the most fun character out of the entire movie and I actually do hope they bring him back and make him a part of the team for the next sequel. It's sort of funny how I know basically everything about this guy and his movies but this probably was being the first movie, in which he stars, that I had ever seen. Perhaps it should be time to pick up some of his earlier movies and have a blast with them as well.
Of course there are plenty of flaws in this movie, mostly story related but I'm simply happy about it that this movie at least learned from some of the mistakes it made with the previous movie and this one is simply being a good and enjoyable genre movie to watch. Still not as great and awesome as it by all rights should be but they are more on the right track with this one and lets all hope "The Expendables 3" is going to be the ultimate Expendables movie, that everybody is hoping and longing for, ever since the first movie got announced.
7/10
Watch trailer
Trailer: Bullet to the Head (2013)
After watching their respective partners die, a cop and a hitman form an alliance in order to bring down their common enemy. From: IMDb.com
Directed by: Walter Hill
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Momoa, Christian Slater and others
Current release date: February 1, 2013
The Expendables (2010) Directed by Sylvester Stallone
Seems that this movie was a case of being one that everybody wanted to like and love and therefore it's hard to admit for most people that this just isn't being a very good movie. By all rights it should had been a big, fun action flick, that could had worked as a throwback to the '80's, with lots of the big action movie stars from that era in it as well but it just doesn't works out as such.
So many problems with this movie, I don't know where to being. Guess it's best to start of with the most obvious thing; the story. No, this movie does not have a very good story in it. So what, you might say or think. After all, this is a action-flick, who needs story? Well, you always need at least something to base your action scenes around and you at least have to be taken by its characters or its main plot. There has to be a reason to root for the main characters and cheer when the main bad guy gets killed and the hero(es) saves the day! There is just however none of that present in this movie unfortunately.
There besides isn't really being a pleasant flow to the movie and its story. It seemed as if some action scenes were simply thrown in and don't serve a purpose at all. It actually in a weird way slows the movie down and makes it somewhat of a boring one at times. I personally couldn't wait for this movie to end, even though its only being 103 minutes short.
Perhaps it also was due to it that I just wasn't very impressed with the movie its action. It was shockingly poorly directed at times! I say shockingly, since the movie actually got directed by Sylvester Stallone, who had no problems with doing action scenes before. After all, this is the guy who also directed "Rambo", just 2 years prior to this movie, which was an action movie that I absolutely loved and was being everything that this movie should had been as well but just wasn't.
So is it at least fun to watch all of the big action movie stars from the past and present in this? Not really. It's at least not being somewhat to get terribly excited about, even though it on paper looks awesome. Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, Terry Crews, Mickey Rourke, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis all in one movie, how could it not work out as anything awesome? Well, mostly because most of them get absolutely nothing to do in this movie. It tries to present itself as a team movie but in fact the movie isn't at all about them working together. All of the egos in this movie are far too big for that and besides, the movie is mostly focusing purely on Stallone and Stratham, who by far have the most screen time in this and are the only ones doing some true action related stuff and have some character development.
Reason why I also wasn't being very entertained by this movie was because it just wasn't being a very fun one to watch. The supposedly comical dialog for the movie was awful and the movie was also lacking a good visual style to it. The movie is an incredibly dark one and I couldn't even always tell what was going on exactly. It might sound strange but a little bit more bright colors could had added so much to the movie its fun and entertainment factor. Perhaps they were more focused on trying to pass this as a legit action flick, while in fact it seemed to be a more suitable thing for this movie to not take itself as serious as it did.
A thing that worked also distracting for me was its Brian Tyler musical score. It was some incredibly formulaic stuff, that sounded like it got composed before the movie even finished shooting. It just didn't suited the movie and its action sequences in particular all that well.
It really isn't a good throwback to the '80's and also far too lacking as a genre movie in general. Lets hope the sequel does everything right, this one did wrong! If that's the case, then its going to be something absolutely awesome!
5/10
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Trailer #3: The Expendables 2 (2012)
Mr. Church reunites the Expendables for what should be an easy paycheck, but when one of their men is murdered on the job, their quest for revenge puts them deep in enemy territory and up against an unexpected threat. From: IMDb.com
Directed by: Simon West
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Liam Hemsworth, Randy Couture and others
Current release date: August 17, 2012
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