The Italian Job

After being betrayed and left for dead in Italy, Charlie Croker and his team plan an elaborate gold heist against their former ally. 

Director: F. Gary Gray

Writers: Troy Kennedy-Martin, Donna Powers (screenplay)

Stars: Donald Sutherland, Mark Wahlberg, Edward Norton

Storyline

Led by John Bridger (Donald Sutherland) and Charlie Croker (Mark Wahlberg) a team is assembled for one last heist to steal $35 million in gold bars from a heavily guarded safe in Venice, Italy. After successfully pulling off the heist, a team member, Steve (Edward Norton), driven by greed and jealousy, arranges to take the gold for himself and eliminate the remaining members of the group. Thinking the team dead, he returns to L.A. with the gold. Charlie and the survivors of this betrayal follow Steve L.A. to exact revenge against the traitor. Charlie enlists the help of John Bridger's daughter, Stella (Charlize Theron) - a professional safe cracker, to get revenge. With Stella and the hacking skills of Lyle (Seth Green), the explosives skills of "Left Ear" (Yasiin Bey), and the driving skills of "Handsome" Rob (Jason Statham) this new team plans and executes a daring heist that weaves through the freeways and subways of L.A.

 

The Italian Job Movie Reviews

 

I enjoyed the movie very much. Everything in The Italian Job is simple. An explosive guy, a safe-cracker, a computer genius, a wheel-man and a man with a spectacular plan of stealing 35 million without using a gun. This film is entertaining although it has no central idea. It is a non-stop movie with lots of actions. All the stunt work is gorgeous. From the speedboat chase in Venice at the beginning to the chase on the busy roads in Los Angeles involving three mini coopers and even a helicopter. The best boast chase I have ever seen. I like the mini coopers. The expert thieves used mini coopers for the getaway cars. The chase between the mini coopers and the motor-bikes is amazing. They chased underground. I can say there was not a moment I was bored. Mark Wahlberg (Charlie Croker), Charlize Theron (Stella Bridger), Donald Sutherland (John Bridger), Jason Statham (Handsome Rob), Seth Green (Lyle), Mos Def (Left Ear) and Edwin Norton (Steve) really did a good job. I like the actors in this film. I have seen a lot of heist movie but The Italian Job& is one of my favourites. A great Hollywood action movie without a drop of blood. After all, I do love this kind of movie.

 

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

The IMF is shut down when it's implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin, causing Ethan Hunt and his new team to go rogue to clear their organization's name. 

Director: Brad Bird

Writers: Bruce Geller (television series "Mission: Impossible"), Josh Appelbaum

Stars: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg

Storyline

In the fourth installment of the Mission Impossible series, Ethan Hunt and a new team race against time to track down Hendricks, a dangerous terrorist who has gained access to Russian nuclear launch codes and is planning a strike on the United States. An attempt by the team to stop him at the Kremlin ends in a disaster, with an explosion causing severe damage to the Kremlin and the IMF being implicated in the bombing, forcing the President to invoke Ghost Protocol, under which the IMF is disavowed, and will be offered no help or backup in any form. Undaunted, Ethan and his team chase Hendricks to Dubai, and from there to Mumbai, but several spectacular action sequences later, they might still be too late to stop a disaster.

 

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol Movie Reviews

 

Clearly JJ Abram's mission impossible, should he choose to accept it, is to lead a talented team to resurrect a declining franchise and re-ignite it with renewed vigour and a very high dosage of fun and entertainment.

I'm glad to say, mission highly accomplished.

Brad Bird's first time direction of real actors (must have been a shock when they talked back at him) exhibits the same zestful energy and fun that we got from his animated films such as The Incredibles. Though not with the subtlety of his Iron Giant but this is Mission Impossible, so we cant expect that kind of subtlety here.

Story is outrageously OTT and thats how it should be for a franchise that violently throws plausibility out of the window with much deliberation. Not much else to say about the story apart from the fact that it can easily be translated into a Bond movie. We're in that kind of villainous territory here and it is fun.

The action sequences are inventive, relentless, fun and tense. Some scenes are filmed in IMAX format and when seen on an IMAX screen, are breathtaking and immersing.

As well as Brad Bird's energised and retro direction, the cast really sparkles too. Cruise rocks as an action stunt hero. In fact more so now than he ever did. His traditional self stunt work in this series continues to impress particular in his skyscraper scenes. There is also more playfulness and assuredness in a role he has now worn into nicely. Simon Pegg gets a delightfully big promotion to join Hunt's team making us laugh throughout the movie. And Paula Patton adds an elegant sexiness to the MI team missions. Another new addition to the team, Jeremy Renner also gels smoothly into the squad.

This film has drastically rejuvenated the franchise that I now highly anticipate further adventures of Ethan Hunt and his new vibrant team, equally or even more so than the next James Bond movie.

 

Transformers

An ancient struggle between two Cybertronian races, the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons, comes to Earth, with a clue to the ultimate power held by a teenager. 

Director: Michael Bay

Writers: Roberto Orci (screenplay), Alex Kurtzman (screenplay)

Stars: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel

Storyline

A long time ago, far away on the planet of Cybertron, a war is being waged between the noble Autobots (led by the wise Optimus Prime) and the devious Decepticons (commanded by the dreaded Megatron) for control over the Allspark, a mystical talisman that would grant unlimited power to whoever possesses it. The Autobots managed to smuggle the Allspark off the planet, but Megatron blasts off in search of it. He eventually tracks it to the planet of Earth (circa 1850), but his reckless desire for power sends him right into the Arctic Ocean, and the sheer cold forces him into a paralyzed state. His body is later found by Captain Archibald Witwicky, but before going into a comatose state Megatron uses the last of his energy to engrave into the Captain's glasses a map showing the location of the Allspark, and to send a transmission to Cybertron. Megatron is then carried away aboard the Captain's ship. A century later, Captain Witwicky's grandson Sam Witwicky (nicknamed Spike by his friends) ...

 

Transformers Movie Reviews

 

After a series of disappointments this summer (Spidey 3, Pirates 3, FF2) I was not massively optimistic about this one, especially given the involvement of Michael Bay, despite the decent advance press I'd seen. Well, how wrong was I? This movie absolutely nails it, Bay does a terrific job, Shia LaBeouf is superb, the script is (deliberately) hilarious and the robots…ahh, the robots! They're uniformly magnificent, setting a new high-water mark for CGI, and adding everything that they should to this thrill-ride. Speaking as a Transformers G1 toy geek (I can freely quote the mottos from the little stats card that was on the boxes – and Megatron was my favourite) I am totally at ease with the design and vehicle changes that have been made – movies are not toys and it isn't the 80s. Everyone should go see this film to make sure that they do the decent thing and start prepping the sequel immediately!

 

The Count of Monte Cristo

A young man, falsely imprisoned by his jealous "friend," escapes and uses a hidden treasure to exact his revenge. 

Director: Kevin Reynolds

Writers: Alexandre Dumas père (novel), Jay Wolpert (screenplay)

Stars: Jim Caviezel, Guy Pearce, Richard Harris

 

Storyline

'The Count of Monte Cristo' is a remake of the Alexander Dumas tale by the same name. Dantes, a sailor who is falsely accused of treason by his best friend Fernand, who wants Dantes' girlfriend Mercedes for himself. Dantes is imprisoned on the island prison of Chateau d'If for 13 years, where he plots revenge against those who betrayed him. With the help of another prisoner, he escapes the island and proceeds to transform himself into the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo as part of his plan to exact revenge.

 

The Count of Monte Cristo Movie Reviews

"The Count of Monte Cristo" by Dumas is one of my favorite books, it keeps you on your toes the whole time, guessing what will happen next. The movie doesn't accomplish this as well. While the book is subtle with the Count's revenge, the movie screams for all to hear. "The Count of Monte Cristo, formerly Edmund Dantes is going to get revenge on his friends!!!" They left out 3 main characters, and DRASTICALLY changed the ending, they had to, the end involves those 3 characters they left out. But I did like the movie and if you enjoy it too I encourage you to read the book!

Live Free or Die Hard

John McClane and a young hacker join forces to take down master cyber-terrorist Thomas Gabriel in Washington D.C. 

Director: Len Wiseman

Writers: Mark Bomback (screenplay), Mark Bomback (story)

Stars: Bruce Willis, Justin Long, Timothy Olyphant

Storyline

When someone hacks into the computers at the FBI's Cyber Crime Division; the Director decides to round up all the hackers who could have done this. When he's told that because it's the 4th of July most of their agents are not around so they might have trouble getting people to get the hackers. So he instructs them to get local PD'S to take care of it. And one of the cops they ask is John McClane who is tasked with bringing a hacker named Farrell to the FBI. But as soon as he gets there someone starts shooting at them. McClane manages to get them out but they're still being pursued. And it's just when McClane arrives in Washington that the whole system breaks down and chaos ensues.

 

Live Free or Die Hard Movie Reviews

 

"Live Free or Die Hard" is quite a refreshing piece of entertainment this summer in the wake of so many effects-driven computer simulated action/fantasy films. With its silly title, smart-alleck lead character (Bruce Willis as Bruce Willis doing John McClane), and loads of old fashioned stunts involving cars, SUV's, elevator shafts, big rigs, helicopters, fighter jets, and collapsing highway bridges, this flick is a great piece of shattered-glass entertainment--a throwback to the late 1980's and early 1990's when movies like the original "Die Hard" changed the face of movie action.

There is some frustration to be had when you start to realize how much they toned down to achieve the friendly PG-13 rating. There's far less profanity flying, and while the body count is astronomically high (the collateral damage in this film in terms of human life and damaged property is tres magnifique), there's little blood and guts to be found. Still, die hard "Die Hard" action fans should rest assured knowing there will be plenty of funny one-liners, hot chicks (a wonderful Maggie Q as the bad-ass female villain and the scorchingly feisty and cute Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Lucy McClane), super smart bad guys (a very good Timothy Olyphant), and jaw-dropping death-defying stunts.

Director Len Wiseman orchestrates the complicated stunts very well like a masterful puppeteer, which is a shock considering how god-awful his "Underworld" films were. The hand-to-hand human match-ups still bear some of his annoying hallmarks, but he's learned how to blow things up really well and has learned a thing or two about scope and editing in big action set-pieces. The excellent pacing and preposterousness of the stunts (especially the climax involving the fighter jet and the big rig) certainly put a smile on my face.

There's a whole lot of computer hacking related mumbo-jumbo involved in the story, and there's a lot of downtime for male bonding and "explanation" of the finer plot points that slows the film down some but is actually nice to see in a world now ruled by Michael Bay-style non-stop action. Plenty dumb, plenty thrilling, and plenty of fun, "Live Free or Die Hard" is a pleasant surprise considering how unnecessary this sequel seemed from conception.

 

RED

When his peaceful life is threatened by a high-tech assassin, former black-ops agent Frank Moses reassembles his old team in a last ditch effort to survive and uncover his assailants. 

Director: Robert Schwentke

Writers: Jon Hoeber (screenplay), Erich Hoeber (screenplay)

Stars: Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman

Storyline

Frank (Bruce Willis) is retired, bored and lonely living off his government pension in a nondescript suburb in an equally nondescript house. The only joy in Frank's life are his calls to the government pension processing center when he gets to talk to his case worker Sarah (Mary-Louis Parker). Sarah is as bored and lonely as Frank and marks her conversations with the unknown Frank and her spy novels as the only things fun in her life. When something in Frank's past forces Frank back into his old line of work and puts an unwitting Sarah in the middle of the intrigue, Frank and Sarah begin a journey into Frank's past and the people he used to work with. Like Frank they are all RED ... Retired Extremely Dangerous. 

 

RED Movie Reviews

 

You're wrinkly, have health issues and your age is higher than the calibre of your gun. So what's a senior to do? Why get a bigger gun of course. That is certainly one of many philosophies in the action comedy RED (That would be Retired Extremely Dangerous for those still living in fear of Communism. Hey, it is the right age bracket) which collects a who's who of Oscar-grade talent and has them blow stuff up real good. This is but the fourth men-on-a-mission film so far this year after The Expendables, The A-Team and The Losers, heck even Inception could fall into that group. The good news is with the exception of the latter it is the best of the bunch and by far the most fun you're bound to have this fall season.

Now onto the CIA. I don't know what they're dipping their dirty little fingers into Stateside but in addition to being at the center of some ticked off senior's attention in RED, they have been the villains in aforementioned The Losers and The A-Team as well as Salt and Knight & Day. Talk about your need for homeland security, they had better keep one of those high-tech satellites over Hollywood. At the receiving end of the Central Intelligence Agency's scope are a band of former operatives including the "kid" of the group, Frank Moses (Bruce Willis), the ailing Joe Matheson (Morgan Freeman), the brain-fried eccentric, Marvin Boggs (John Malcovich) and the sultry heartbreaker, Victoria (Helen Mirren). Brian Cox also shows up as a Ruskie who may or may not have been previously shot by one of the former. Though not having seen action in a good decade, they have been deemed "RED" by an unknown force, which means curtains for this rag-tag bunch of geriatrics.

The cast truly is great in RED, and I don't simply mean the actors in general; they simply all give full-on great, funny performances. The subtle (but hilarious) underlying lament of these characters is they all reminisce over their past lives as hardened assassins and pine just to kill one more little ol' person. More at the forefront of course is the bang-on wry humour and delicious action sequences. This is old fashion stunt work at play here (fittingly perhaps) and I'll take it over a green screen any day. These bursts of adrenaline are dumb to be sure, but not totally ludicrous; think of a cross between Die Hard and Enemy of the State. What they are not is anything short of exciting and kinetic, and are interspersed with laughs in such a way as to not drift to one focus too long. RED also gleefully embraces its comic book origins, using playful transitions as the globe-trotting commences. Yet again, director Robert Schwentke never revels in one gimmick for too long and the film goes down smooth and easy as a result.

The younger cast is more than worth mentioning as well, with the highest accolades going to Mary-Louis Parker from TV's Weeds. There is a joke in RED which I am not sure was intentioned, when after being injected with a knockout-drug, Parker's Sarah exclaims "I'm so high". She steals most scenes when given the chance but her character (a love interest of Frank who unintentionally gets caught up in the fracas) is utilized far more towards the beginning of the film. Karl Urban is also solid as a CIA operative tasked in finding the RED's but becomes suspicious at his orders which grow increasingly corrupt. I always wonder in the movie world how they would explain attack helicopters shredding an airport to the general public. The government must have some amazing PR agents on staff. Richard Dreyfus (in his second cameo of the year after Piranha) is also well used as an oily arms dealer who comes across the team's path.

Summit Entertainment is pulling out all the marketing stops for this film, and I am happy to report the results seem to be worth the glamour. While venturing through my theatres ticket checkpoint they stamped my stub "confidential" instead of ripping it, and a squad of agents clad in sunglasses and suits patrolled the lobby. The showing seemed to be a generous mix of old and new patrons and that really comes as no surprise. Even though the majority of the cast has long breached 60, these are actors generations of all ages still admire. Even if they are not the draws they once were (some of them never were) this is a great example of people showing up to see actors, performers, and not special effects. RED may be imperfect, it may not even be particularly fresh, but it exudes something movies lack far too often: fun

RED 2

Retired C.I.A. agent Frank Moses reunites his unlikely team of elite operatives for a global quest to track down a missing portable nuclear device. 

Director: Dean Parisot

Writers: Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber

Stars: Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich

Storyline

Retired CIA agent Frank Moses is in love with Sarah Ross and enjoying their normal life. Out of the blue, Marvin Boggs meets Frank in the supermarket and tells that Wikileaks has released the information that they had participated and know the whereabouts of the Nightshade, a portable nuclear weapon that was smuggled in pieces and hidden in Russia. Now the top agents in the world are under contract to seek them out to discover where Nightshade is. The trio travels to Paris and teams-up with the Russian Katja to track down the former Russian Agent 'The Frog' to get more information about the operation. They learn that the brilliant inventor Dr. Edward Bailey might know where the weapon is. They discover that Bailey has been interned in an asylum in London by the MI-6 for thirty-two years and the British Victoria joins the team. They rescue Bailey and find that the nuclear device is hidden in the Kremlin. Soon the dangerous South Korean Han joins the group expecting to retrieve the ...

 

RED 2 Movie Reviews

 

Retired C.I.A. agent Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) and his retired but extremely dangerous operatives are back to face danger again. There's a nuclear threat to be snuffed out but things really could go either way...

It's pretty much more of the same really, which apparently hasn't been enough for some critics who wanted a different movie. It's not as if this is lazy, yes it's still Frank and his aged assassins fighting old age as well as an outside threat, but there's a flip-flop in plotting and the additions of Anthony Hopkins, Byung-hun Lee and Catherine Zeta-Jones are most welcome. It's also so nice to see the adorable Mary-Louise Parker get a substantial part this go around, while Helen Mirren (still sexy and gorgeous in her late 60s) is delightfully sociopathic!

Red 2 is full to the brim with acting talent who are in on the fun joke of it all. Action is never in short supply and the pace is never allowed to sag by director Dean Parisot. The characters remain strong thanks to the screenplay (Jon and Erich Hoeber) and the airy humour is consistent and keeps the violence grounded. Basically, this is a hugely enjoyable ball of action based froth. 7/10