A street-wise teen from Baltimore who has been raised by a single mother travels to New York City to spend the Christmas holiday with his estranged relatives, where he embarks on a surprising and inspirational journey. From: IMDb.com
A street-wise teen from Baltimore who has been raised by a single mother travels to New York City to spend the Christmas holiday with his estranged relatives, where he embarks on a surprising and inspirational journey. From: IMDb.com
Directed by: Kasi Lemmons
Starring: Forest Whitaker, Angela Bassett, Jennifer Hudson and others
A street-wise teen from Baltimore, raised by a single mother, travels to New York City to spend the Christmas holiday with his estranged relatives and embarks on a surprising and inspirational journey. From: IMDb.com
Directed by: Kasi Lemmons
Starring: Forest Whitaker, Angela Bassett, Jennifer Hudson and others
Perhaps I'm not really the right person to rate this movie. Even though I have seen all Fast & Furious movies, made prior to this one, I barely remember anything about them and I'm totally not into the series. Never have been and probably never will be.
And no, this movie, that is generally regarded as the best out of the series, isn't going to change that. Sure, it's some big, overblown, action fun but not really of very high quality, in my opinion.
15 minutes in and I have already seen two big action set-pieces but I still have absolutely no idea what its story is supposed to be all about and who all of these different characters that are in it, are exactly. The whole movie is basically being like that for me. A lot of stuff is happening but I never really know how or why it's all happening and why all of these different characters had to show up in it. Lets face it, there was really no good reason to bring back basically every main character out of all of the previous Fast & Furious installments. If only the title had some more truth in it and the movie indeed did feature only 5 main characters , it would have most likely been a more pleasant and easier to follow movie. Not that the movie is overly complicated but it just gets confusing and annoying after a while to see so many characters do so many different things, especially when you really don't care very much for any of them.
Still I consider this movie to be one of the better ones out of the long running franchise. Not that that's saying very much though, since I never really liked any of the other previous installments, expect for the 2009 movie "Fast & Furious". Thing that this movie obviously still has going for it is its pace and action. Even though I wasn't all that fond of the movie its action, it at least helps to keep the movie going and an interesting one to watch. I never cared for the story, dialog or any of the characters, so I was always looking forward to the next action set-piece that would come. And this movie luckily has plenty of action moments in it, though like I said before, I still had plenty of problems with that as well.
The problem with the action for me was that it's all terribly over-the-top. The laws of physics don't apply to the Fast & Furious movies I suppose. The same could of course be said for a majority of action flicks but in this particular case it kept on bothering me. The way stuff flies through the air and blows up just doesn't make any logical sense and the stuff that some of the characters survive in this movie is absolutely preposterous.
Still a thing I liked about the movie its action was that it wasn't just focusing on racing with the cars but also tons of other car related stuff and other more conventional action.
Another positive thing about this movie is Dwayne Johnson's presence. He makes up for the charisma and screen presence that Vin Diesel is lacking in this movie. Diesel just looked bored, uninterested and just plain tired throughout the entire movie and to be frank, his acting was terribly lacking as well and I'm actually a person who has always defended his acting in the past.
Still as a dumb action-flick, or perhaps I should rather say popcorn-flick, it works out as a fun and entertaining enough movie. Just not really my cup of tea I suppose.
(Review originally written at 21 September 2008) The best way to describe this movie in my opinion is to say it's not that interesting. I honestly don't understand why some movies ever get made. Seriously now, how can you as a studio ever green-light such a project after you've read the very generic script, filled with all the clichés and the usual suspects. It offers no surprises at all and it's a totally predictable movie from start till finish. It's a self indulged project, that is about living the American dream by joining a prestigious naval academy. But why our main character exactly wants to be in it so badly just never really becomes clear to me. Becomes he promised his mother before her death? Now seriously, that seems like a totally crazy thing to promise to your mother now doesn't it? A lot of things just don't become clear to me in this movie. For instance also why exactly the two main characters, played by James Franco and Tyrese Gibson hate each other so badly from the start on. It seems to have no grounds. And why is he liked Lt. Burton so much? What makes his character so special? To me he just seems like one of the boys and gals of the naval academy and he has no particular special skills or ideals. Also his boxing skills aren't that impressive. For in essence "Annapolis" strangely enough is also a boxing movie. Not that the boxing serves a significant enough purpose for the movie though really, since the movie focuses on so many (too many) more elements around it. Also the way the boxing sequences are shot is just completely terrible. It shows it as a sport in which you have to punch as hard as you can without stopping. Seriously, no tactics are involved and I actually wonder if the movie had a boxing coach or professional present during the making of the movie, since it seems to me that the cast and crew had no idea what there were doing when it came down to its boxing sequences. It's a movie that gives boxing a sort of a bad name. It presents the sport as one in which two crazed individuals aggressively, constantly take a swing at another. But the movie concentrates on much more elements. It's a dramatic, romantic, sports movie. It's however also very predictable in every way, which ensures the the drama, the romance as well as the sport just doesn't work out in this movie. All of the characters are so incredibly standard and overdone. All of the characters you would expect in a movie about a tough naval academy are present here. But also the script just doesn't ever offer any surprises. And yes, of course the movie also manages to throw in a love-story, which just wasn't necessary and it doesn't exactly make this movie any better or more likable to watch. In the end I just don't really know what this movie is about. Is it about the main character trying to fix the relationship between him and his father? Or is it perhaps about achieving something in life by devoting yourself to the service of your country? Is it about fighting for your chance in life? Is it about finding and getting with the love of your life? I'm really not sure what the movie tried to achieve and it tries to throw in a bit of everything, however with as a result that basically nothing really works out for the movie as it should had. James Franco is a good actor but he just ain't quite ready yet the play the main character in any movie. He is always at his best playing a secondary character, that stays more on the background but has as well also has just a couple of big scene's for himself. The movie is filled with some other well known actors but none of their characters really work out, which is obviously not mainly just due to their acting performances but mostly more to it's formulaic script and probably also directing. It's a funny thing that the unknown Vicellous Reon Shannon, who yet plays a very formulaic role (the fat guy with twinkies under his bed), is the only actor who lets his character work out and lets him become one you can actually sympathize for. No sir, I don't like it. The movie just isn't interesting to watch. It's clichéd and just overall doesn't seem to have a point. 4/10 Watch trailer
This movie mostly disappointed because of its story. The movie is muddling on too much and for too long. The story would often simply feel as a lame excuse to let Autobots and Decepticons battle and make lots of stuff blow up and cause mayhem everywhere they go. Often events occur without an obvious connection to the other. It was like the story came secondary and the movie was all about it's images. In that regard this movie does not disappoint. I mean, the movie is technically well made and good looking.
Typically for a Bay movie, there are lots of characters put into the movie. Some characters really don't seem to serve a purpose at all in the long run, despite their heavy introduction and actors portraying them. I don't think I ever complained about this before in a Michael Bay movie but he now have seemed to have reached a point by me that it becomes annoying, mainly because it's so completely unnecessary and probably also one of the reason's why the movie is about 2 and a halve hour long, though it easily could had been simply a more bearable 2 hours.
I'm no Michael Bay hater. Quite on the contrary! But this just isn't his best movie. His most ambitious perhaps, yes. Which perhaps made the movie all the more disappointing to me.
Seemed to me they couldn't really made up their minds whether they wanted to make a serious straight-forward action flick, or a more fun and comical like one. The result is an unbalanced mix of these two opposite generic elements.
The action is also somewhat disappointing. Yeah sure, it's always cool to see lots of things blowing up in a Bay movie but as for the fights between the Autobots and Decepticons, which is what the movie in essence is all about often; Most of the time you can't really tell what's going on, also because it's going so fast and all you basically see are just 2 big pieces of metal running, flying, firing and jumping at each other. It's also confusing because you often really can't tell who is fighting who at the time.
They obviously tried to put in an emotional tie between the human main characters and the Autobots, who are basically being presented as the protectors of humanity. But the whole relationship between human's and droid's doesn't work out very convincingly and effective. The movie feels like there is an human part in the movie and a robotic part. It just never really feels as one whole, as if both were happening in a total different universe. Often the Transformers also weren't given enough room in the movie. Also Megatron (and a couple of the other Autobots and the evil Decepticons) makes his appearance way too late, which does not allow him any time to really shine and impress as the real big main villain of the movie.
Shia LaBeouf was perhaps the thing that surprised the most about this movie. I already expected and predicated great things from him after seeing him for the first time in the underrated movie "Constantine" but I didn't yet expected him to already completely carry an high budget summer-flick such as "Transformers" on his own.
Technically there is of course little wrong with the movie. Leave it up to Bay to blow up things in am impressive big, yet convincing way. The Transformers are also all greatly designed, though they perhaps a look a bit too much alike in their robotic forms, as I all previously had mentioned. No doubt the movie shall score a couple of technical Oscar nomination's.
I'll most likely watch "Transformers 2" but I hope they put some more effort in the story and the flow of it next time. That way it can be the perfect summer-blockbuster of 2009, if it's still being released by then that is.
This is one of those typical movies that is predictable in many ways and everything that occurs doesn't come as a real surprise. You know how this movie is going to end (especially when you have already seen the original of course) before you even start watching the movie. All of this however doesn't really matter and it's no complaint, for "Flight of the Phoenix" is well made, fun entertainment.
Of course the movie doesn't come close to the original from 1965 with James Stewart, Richard Attenborough, Hardy Krüger and George Kennedy. But then again, this movie doesn't try to surpass the original. Instead it simply uses the ingredients and concept of the original to make a fun and entertaining movie with, by modern 2004 standards. It's a movie made without much ambition or potential, it's just made for the simple reason to give us the viewers, a fun 113 minutes.
The movie is pretty well made and it has a good action movie style all over it. The special effects are great and so is the sound. There are some spectacular and well made sequences in the movie, of which the plane crash itself is of course one of the highlights. It's like a long, never ending action sequence in which a lot is happening and everything looks quite impressive and spectacular. It's a well constructed action sequence that on its own is reason enough who this movie is a watchable one. The editing is a bit lacking at times and some of the techniques used are just plain weird. Luckily the musical score by the underrated action-score composer Marco Beltrami is quite good one, on the other hand.
There are some well known names in the movie and they all do their job well. Nothing really spectacular going on acting-wise but the actors are good enough to give the shallow, underdeveloped characters still a humane face and a more overall realistic feeling. Giovanni Ribisi was perhaps the only actor that really truly surprised me. This is a sort of role we haven't really seen him in and he did an amazing job and he really deserves credit for his performance.
Will people still remember this movie in 10 years from now? Probably not. Will people still enjoy watching this movie in 10 years? Most definitely!
Still I consider this movie to be one of the better ones out of the long running franchise. Not that that's saying very much though, since I never really liked any of the other previous installments, expect for the 2009 movie "Fast & Furious". Thing that this movie obviously still has going for it is its pace and action. Even though I wasn't all that fond of the movie its action, it at least helps to keep the movie going and an interesting one to watch. I never cared for the story, dialog or any of the characters, so I was always looking forward to the next action set-piece that would come. And this movie luckily has plenty of action moments in it, though like I said before, I still had plenty of problems with that as well.
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