Thor ( 2011 )

From the Stuido that Brought You IRON MAN

Thor , God of Thunder , has come to the big screen . Marvel Studio is on such a role , people are wondering if there a difference between Hugh Hefner and Stan Lee , and if the Playboy Mansion will double for the Marvel Mansion . Because I think Stan Lee has as much money , if not more , than Hugh Hefner .

Sorry back to the film .

Thor , played by Chris Hemsworth , the Australian Hunky from "Down Under" , straight from his Star Trek ( 2009 ) cameo and three years of the Aussie soap "Home and Away" . 


Odin , played by the great Anthony Hopkins , who was completely unfamilar with the comic books or Norwegian Legends , but came to do the part after reading the script's appeal, to the father and son relationship .


Loki , played by Tom Hiddleston came through working previously with director Kenneth Branagh , the character plays is the grumpy little brother , who wants to be king too . 


King of Asgard must choose his successor from the two princes , Thor or his brother Loki , which would one day ascend to the throne . ( Take a guess )

But the threat of the Frost Giants stand in the way .

Needless to say arrogance steps in , and Thor gets punished , he is send to Earth , stripped of his powers . Now I do not know if anyone less notice , but if getting send to Earth is begin punished , then someone is punishing all of us .

Needless to say he falls in love with Natalie Portman , who wouldn't , and finds redemption on Earth . He returns to Asgard the prodigal son .

The film works as an action film , with battle scenes with Thor and his crew , fighting Frost Giants and a PROTECTOR . The old mid-west town battle sequence for some reason reminded me of Superman II , Christopher Reeves and Terrance Stamp fighting it out in downtown Metropolis .

The one thing everyone agreed on was the 3D was the sh*t , for the first time since the 3D thing start in the last 2years , this was the film for it . Everything seemed real for the first time , the depth , the feel and the FLYING sequences were real . With the new 3D , Superheroes can FLY .

We have no access to IMAX here , but serious discussions were held about going to one, to see it in IMAX .

The Love in the film was 2D , there is no deep relationship , between the characters ; I did not feel the love , and I am starting to believe it is Natalie Portman . I have seen her in the Star Wars , No Strings Attached and now In Thor , and I am wondering is she can be passionate on the screen . Such a shame for such a sexy actress .

Watch out for the tongue in cheek Humour , and Stan Lee's cameo , "Did it work !!!"  

Awesome movie for the boys , and just to keep the ladies entertained watch out for the shirt-less scene with Thor . 

Stick it out till after the credits , for a stinger , on the upcoming Avengers Movie , and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury .

Then hold your breath for Captain America coming this summer .









    

Water for Elephants ( 2011 )

Water for Elephants ( 2011 )

Water for Elephants stars, Reese Witherspoon as Marlena Rosenbluth , the star attraction at the Circus and wife of the owner / ringmaster ; Robert Pattinson as Jacob Jankowski , the lonely poor orphan boy , intelligent and bright , wandering the open road of America ; Christoph Waltz as August Rosenbluth , as the Ringmaster ; but the star and hero of the film is "Tai" as "Rosie, the elephant" who saves the circus .

Set in the Great American Depression of the 1930s , where no one has any money , and worse than that , any booze . Prohibition just stinks , good hard working circus performers need a bit of the good stuff to carry them thru the day .

The story line is a little thin , but takes a long time getting to the end . The acting is good , and the period of the 1930s comes across well , but the hard sell is the chemistry between these people . The hubsand and wife seem to be in a loveless marriage , and in the end the film seems like a loveless movie .

But what is love ?

This is Francis Lawrence third time in the director's chair the first and second being Constantine (2005) with Keanu Reeves , and I Am Legend (2007) with Wil Smith · Water for Elephants (2011) also has the star power of Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson .

The question now is does Robert Pattinson have the box office draws of the Twilight Movies , or is it the popularity of the Twilight books ?

Coming back to Francis Lawrence , he has wandered away from a strong action based / special effects in his first two films , to a more character driven films in the story of the People of the Benzini Brother's Travelling Circus .

As many of my friends pointed out in the end , the real stars of the film were the animals , cause that is all they talked about , imagine you have a circus movie , without animals . It just does not work . Everyone you could tell wanted more animals , and more story to the animals . You wanted to know more about the horses , the lions , the dogs , the monkey and of course the ELEPHANT .

By the way all you PETA members , out there walk with your box of tissues , this one is a real tear jerker for you PETA guys and gals .

The movie is nice swing away from the Romantic-Comedy , but hardly fits the mold of a Love Story .

Watch for the old time New York Scenes , with the Empire State building and the Brooklyn Bridge in the background .

Also there is not stinger , after the movie , but if you do stay through the credits , you will notice the cast credits are done in the old time layouts :

"Marlena Rosenbluth..................................................................................Reese Witherspoon"

The list of Stuntmen goes on and on and on , but the stunts are so intergrated into the movie you do not see them , in train jumping and the stampede scenes .

The movie is a classic piece of movie making , and could be used to teach film students "HOW TO MAKE A FILM" , yet the story and the acting does not appeal to the mass audience . I am worried if it should make back it's $40 million budget .

Hanna ( 2011 )

Hanna , a 16 year old with 16 years in training , for just one mission , to kill Marissa Wiegler .

Trained by her father Erik Heller ; Marissa Wiegler must die .

Hanna and her father are in isolation near the Artic Circle in Finland . When she is ready , she will go on her mission .

We enter at the correct time , So the chase begins .

Details emerge , who is Hanna ? what is Hanna ? who is Hanna's mother ?

But the action sequences are perfectly European ; No Arnie or Stallone here ; the choerography of the fight sequences brought a sense of fear from this little girl . A Demon Killer .

Saoirse Ronan plays the character  to perfection , the blond , blue eyes set the character as a cool , confined master killer ; until she is faced with the real world of barbie dolls and bimbos . Clearly Saoirse Ronan is a name to be remebered with lots more Box Office draw to come .

Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett , seem stiff in their roles , written as CIA agents , personalities were not required .


The film's background of Finland , Morocco and Berlin , also the film a non-western feel , giving the matter a of James Bond fight the old Eastern Bloc of Communist goverment .

The only thing American about the film is the CIA headquaters and building .

The film works as a master piece of modern cinema . European . There is no action sequence , no show down at the OK corral , and most American audience will be waiting for the big HUAH at the end , the big gun fight . They will be disappointed . Yet if you are a believer in HANNA , going for her Mission ; no doubt her internal struggle between her training and her being a little girl ; HANNA wins in the end .

The film follows a thread , of all the "La Femme Nikita" films and tv series .





    

Sucker Punch ( 2011 )

Sucker Punch ( 2011 )

OMG is short hand used on the Internet by young people , it means Oh My God .

This film has a very simple story , some young ladies try to escape an institution , plain and simple . Yet to vamp up the stakes and to get young audience interested , the girls enter a fantasy world , zombie Nazis , Orcs and a Castle , Killer Robots all make an appearance in the course of the preparations to escape .

Zombie Nazis are a nod to the zombie and world war films . The Orcs in Castle sequence nods to the Lord of the Rings series , and the killer robots , feels like Will Smith's I,Robot film .




Yet each sequence plays out like a Playstation , Wii or XBox game . The film goes beyond typical action shoot them ups ; of the Rambo or Terminator films . The action special effects go so far past the limited of film , I was wondering if the kid in the row in front of me had brought his XBox controller , and was controlling the action on the screen .

The film surely hits a demographic ; teenage boys who like video games and girls . The five lead girls in the script who set out on the escape , scantly dressed in the fantasy dreams sequences with samurai swords and machine guns works , to the seventeen year old hormone raging teenager with his blood pumping . These perfect female fighting zombie-killing and orc-killing , can be the direct extraction from their own Wet Dreams .




The soundtrack however contains a 1970s Jefferson Airplane song and a 1980s Queen remix , which should re-introduce a new generation to some old classics .

The story is so short , fantasy sequences make up the majority of the film . Had we left out the fantasy sequence the run time of the film would have been forty five minutes , and I would have left the cinema with some respect to the writer and director . Natural I left disgusted , that I throw good money behind the price of a cinema ticket .

"Just because we can do something , does not automatically mean we should do something" - Jurassic Park

This quote came to me during the film , the prevailing use of special effects through the film industry and especially this movie , made me wonder ; How long did these girls spend in front of the green screen ? How long did they spend suspend from wires swing around in front of a green screen to get that shot ? Was it all worth it ?




I do not know what the director's or writer's vision was , but the film just feels like it was made by high school or university students with too much of a budget . Characters were never developed , personalities were non-existent , the star of the movie was the special effects . How far could they push the envelope of special effects action sequences , and get the audience to accept it ?

I would advise everyone to give the movie a miss , unless you are the demographic of a video games junkie . And if you are an action movie junkie , go see it in the IMAX format .

UNKNOWN ( 2011 )

Many have accused this film of being the sequel to Liam Neeson's 2009 TAKEN , the stories are of a simple everyday man , the locations are in Europe ( Paris in TAKEN , Berlin in UNKNOWN ) and the colour and feel of the two film are very similar . Yet this is not a sequel and as such we move on .

The storyline is Professor Martin Harris is going to Berlin for a convention . Having loss his briefcase , he goes in search of it , and gets into a car accident . When he awakes it is four days later , and he has been replaced .

The ongoing storyline , is how do I survive not being who I think and I am . He fines his way into the world of "UNKNOWN"s , illegal immigrants and people with no identity in the heart of Berlin . And beings to survive ; and find his way back to his own world .

To give more would be to spoil the movie , however it is notable that the HITCHCOCK attempt , feels like a total failure by the end of the film . Somewhere a long the line , we feel the story suspense dis-belief , and the story's was unacceptability was apparent as the audience left the cinema .

The ticket price was however well worth the price of the film , multiple car chases and action fight scene between , Liam Neeson and the villains , were well directed and brought a sense of danger and excitement .

For this to become the SPY / ACTION / THRILLER movie it had set out to be , the script could have been re-written , a few more times , not in the send of the action sequences , but in the sense of characters . In the international world of espionage , there were quite a few chess pieces missing from the the board , we saw the King and the pawns , a cleaner and a replacement , but the back-up infrasture was clearly not in place .


The love interests of his wife and the illegal immigrant , clash not only in purpose , but in looks , and my audience , in one scene , had problems telling them apart . As both characters served the same purpose , on different sides of the lines draw in the film .

STINGER : For those of you interest , notice during the credits , the helicopter shot takes you from the train station , across Berlin towards the Berlin TV Tower . It may be un-important to the plot of the film , but those of us who have vacationed in , and love Germany , it is a long shot of the city , you will not see in your travels .

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UnStoppable (2010)

UNSTOPPABLE : Tells the tale of a couple of Every Men , not Police , not Firemen , but Railway Men , Frank Barnes and Will Colson . Who decide the best thing is to get out the way of a runaway train . Only to watch it past by and then decide to chase it down and stop it .

The plot line though simple , runs along the normal cinematic track. Incompetent worker screws up , Disaster situation endures , Jeopardy eminent , Hero saves the day .

Denzel Washington plays Frank Barnes, a old standing Railway Man , intelligent in his knowledge of operations of the system. Humble in his approach to things , but expects everyone to do their job.

Chris Pine plays Will Colson, the young rookie, he has done the course work, qualified and family connected . The first day on the job , the "OLD MAN" Frank Barnes shows him up. The decision making process seem to be over written by environmental conditions, and the young man becomes quickly frustrated .

Well as the Crisis come and then escalates , this Odd Couple becomes the Team. Performing Heroic Act after Act . Until they save the day .

With Supporting Role from Rosario Dawson , as the tech person in the booth , the film provide the normal roller-coast ride of an action film , without the emotional attachment . Had everyone died in the film , I might have left the cinema more satisfied. The drama of the heroic acts; hardly seem dangerous , the heroes are never in jeopardy, and the woo-ing and ah-ing of the wife and children watching over live television, provides the emotions of Saturday Night Boxing .

The film gets a pass as an Action film , but is doomed to be relegated to late night cable television.

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• Offical Website : http://www.unstoppablemovie.com/
  
• Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unstoppable_(2010_film)
  

The Trailer