Underworld Awakening
Year: 2012
Genre: Action/Fantasy/Horror
Runtime: 88mins
Rating: R
IMDB Score: 6.5/10 (36,600+ Votes)
Director(s): Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein
Writer(s): Les Wiseman (screenplay,story and characters),John Hlavin (screenplay and story),J. Michael Stracztnski (screenplay),Allison Burnett (screenplay),Kevin Grevioux (characters) and Danny McBride (characters)
Plot/Synopsis:
When human forces discover the existence of the Vampire and Lycan clans, a war to eradicate both species commences. The vampire warrior Selene leads the battle against humankind.
Forethought(s):
If this is like the first two in the series than I’m going to like this flick. Didn’t see the 3rd but that was a prequel so I don’t think a WHOLE lot will be linked from that one to this.
Fun Fact/Trivia:
This movie was released on the same date as Underworld: Evolution six years earlier.
Stars of the movie: Kate Beckinsale,Michael Ealy and India Eisley
The Breakdown:
If you’ve not seen the other movies in the series fear not for they give a brief but helpful flashback sequence in the beginning of the movie to help catch you up. There’s no reason to not see this one even if you haven’t seen the others.
I would unload my human gun onto her 
I have to say the plot is a misleading. When I read the plot I think it’s going to be about vamps lead by Selene (played by Kate Beckinsale who I want to do naughty things with) to fight the humans for their survival but instead it’s really about the lead character waking up 12 years after she was caught by humans and finds she has a daughter who is being chased by the Lycans for some reason. I would have loved from this movie to have been about a vampire/human war. That would have been excellent but sadly we get something much different.
In past movies in this franchise the Lycans were bad ass looking;in this movie most of them just look like ass. Most of the wolves in this were done with CG and half the time they looked like they were made of clay. They were very disappointing to look at. They did have one Lycan that looked like he was wearing a full body suit and it was the best looking. I know if they did what they did for the first two films and made the body suits from scratch and put in each hair one at a time it would loaded the budget up a lot more than it was and that’s why they went the CG route. Wish it wasn’t so.
There was a good mix of action in this movie. Some sequences were short while others were long. There were four or five sequences and in a movie that comes in just under 1hr 30mins,I feel that’s the right amount. The one thing I had issue with during the action was just how easily Selene beats the Lycans. Not once do you think “oh shit she’s going to die!” and there are parts where we really should have been feeling that.
For those that have seen this movie what did you think of the daughter? I mean do you think she is a hybrid or a new species all together? She is 50% vamp and 50% hybrid so wouldn’t that be something new and not just a hybrid?
The Verdict:
The movie is clearly not without it’s faults but they aren’t so huge that it’s going to affect good the movie is over all. I’ve stated the negatives and positives above but the one thing I left out was just how well Kate Beckinsale wares leather! Three thumbs up!
I give this film 3.5 veins out of 5.
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Killer Elite
Year: 2011
Genre: Action/Crime/Thriller
Runtime: 116mins
Rating: R
IMDB Score: 6.5/10 (26,000+ Votes)
Director(s): Gray McKendry
Writer(s): Matt Sherring (screenplay) and Ranulph Fiennes (book)
Plot/Synopsis:
When his mentor is taken captive, a retired member of Britain’s Elite Special Air Service is forced into action. His mission: kill three assassins dispatched by their cunning leader.
Forethought(s):
This is a Jason Statham action movie so I’m fairly sure I’ll like it. If that means nothing it also has Clive Owen and Robert De Niro in it so the acting should be just fine.
Fun Fact/Trivia:
De Niro is the only American born actor in the flick.
The Breakdown:
First explosion is about 3min 45sec in and very shortly after that the bullets start to fly for a brief time. Then we get to see one of the killers off on his own living life outside of the “life” for a bit then bad news arrives and the killer is drawn back into the world of assassinations.
The movie isn’t bad but it’s a bit long at almost two hours. It would have been nice to have gotten more action scenes than we did or have some of them be a bit longer than they were because to me it just felt uneven as far as story and action goes. If the story wasn’t so thin I guess it would be OK but the story was thin. It wasn’t layered like I thought it was going to be. It was pretty much a straight shot with no twist or turns like one would think. It’s not that I don’t buy what happened in the movie I just feel that since it’s based off of true events that it would be a bit more exciting is all. Not once did I ever feel like Jason Stathams character Danny or Robert De Niros character Hunter were ever in any real danger and for that it loses some points.
Another thing that was a bummer was that all the characters were almost characterless. If one happened to die you didn’t care because they lacked personality. Again I know this is based on real events but the movie is still fictional and should use creative license to make the characters likeable or unlikeable at least.
It wasn’t all bad and even with my issues I still enjoyed the movie. One thing that stands head and shoulders above almost every other action movie are the sound effects. The fights scenes felt real because of all the care and detail that went into making sure that fist on flesh sounded right and not exaggerated like 99% of films do. The same can be said for gun fire. No two types of guns sounded the same and weren’t hollow.
The fight scenes were shot in a way that it makes it look hectic but still very watchable unlike the Borune series of movies. Don’t go expecting any over the top fights. All the fights are hand to hand with some weaponry that can be found in and around the locale that they are fighting in.
One funny thing is that Yvonne Strahovski is a supporting actress in this and she is a native Australian who most U.S folks know from the show Chuck and in the show she has an American accent,well, in this movie she forgoes the American accent for her normal one but slips into the American one just once or twice and I just found that funny.
The Verdict:
Not the best action movie out there but it’s still a really good one with mostly good actors and one really great one. If you find it cheap I say pick it up otherwise just look for it on HBO or one of the other pay channels.
I give this movie 4 flying bullets out of 5.
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Green Lantern:Emerald Knights
Year: 2011
Genre: Action/Adventure/Animation/Sci-Fi
Runtime: 84mins
Rating: PG-13
IMDB Score: 7.2/10 (40 Votes)
Director(s): Chris Berkeley,Lauren Montgomery & Jay Oliva
Writer(s): Eddie Berganza,Alan Burnett,Todd Casey,Dave Gibbons,Michael Green,Marc Guggenheim,Geoff Johns & Peter Tomasi
Plot/Synopsis:
As the home planet of the Green Lantern Corps faces a battle with an ancient enemy, Hal Jordan prepares new recruit Arisia for the coming conflict by relating stories of the first Green Lantern and several of Hal’s comrades.
Forethought(s):
A Green Lantern take on Batman:Gotham Knight ? Yes please.
Fun Fact/Trivia:
Green Lantern the comics are based off of E.E Smiths book series Lensman.
The Breakdown:
Well, the only things this had in common with Batman:Gotham Knight was the fact that it told different stories (hell all the stories were being told via flashbacks by Jordan. Gotham Knight was a bunch of stories being told by mostly street level folk in the here and now) plus all the different writers telling different stories.
The animation was very smooth and all the same through out the movie so I do not know if they picked different artist,like Gotham Knight did, to do the animation or just one. I would have to guess just one. And you know what? It really worked unlike Gotham Knight where every story had a different artist.This way you felt like you were watching one movie as opposed to six different shorts.
I’ve said it with the last few animation flicks I’ve watched and I will continue to say it, I hate talking about the acting in the movie. Acting is more than just voices;it’s about body language and how you say things. In an animated movie you don’t get the body language and it does take a bit away from the experience. There is none thing worse than watching any type of media that has bad voice work in it and I’m glad to say there was none in this movie at all. There were some characters that you’d like to sound different but for the most part they all work. Now I’m sure bunch of you Brown Coats will bitch at me but over all I did not like Fillion as Hal. He was able to pull off the smug and dryness that Hal is known for but a lot of time I was asking myself if Caleb from BtVS was Hal. Yes people I know he played Caleb but the way he talked from time to time reminded me to much of Caleb. Then you have Elisabeth Moss who most of you may know from Mad Men (I don’t since I’ve never seen the show) and she is spot on for the character she plays. I mean it’s creepy how much I can see her character Arisia sounding like that. Good on the casting director. Finally we have veteran voice actor Steve Blum who has over 400 credits to his name. If you’ve watch any cartoons or played the more popular video games from the last 20+ years then I’m sure you know who this man is. Just look at his imdb page http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0089710/ Isn’t that crazy? I have seen/heard a lot of his stuff and I still have a hard time picking him out. He does a lot of different types of voices. A real talent.
The stories are engaging to the point that even non-comic book fans would like this movie. Fear my fellow comic dork/geeks/nerds there is plenty in there for those that know more about GLs than the normal person. In fact they even put in some red rage for us. The one is question was not yet raging but it was fun to see that character interact with others while without the red ring. On the other hand they were missing some key and cult GLs like: all the humans (my fav Gardner) other than Hal and G’nort. We did get a story about Mogo and lets be honest no GL history telling would be complete without Mogo. So they made it watchable for non GL fan and more watchable for the GL fans.
The Verdict:
Over all a good movie that is worth your time. It’s not worth a buy so just rent it or wait for it to hit Netflix.
I give this movie 3 power batteries out of 5.
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A-Team
Year: 2010
Genre: Action/Adventure/Thriller
Runtime: 133mins
Rating: PG-13
IMDB Score: 7.0/10 (50,000+ Votes)
Director(s): Joe Carnahan
Writer(s): Joe Carnahan,Brian Bloom,Skip Woods, Frank Lupo (TV show) & Stephen J. Cannell (TV show)
Plot/Synopsis: A group of Iraq War veterans looks to clear their name with the U.S. military, who suspect the four men of committing a crime for which they were framed.
Forethought(s): Well the show this movie is based off of was campy in a good way but something tells me that the writers are trying to make this a serious action flick with some humor in it and not campy at all. The trailer for the flick looked good but we all know that those lie a lot oh and if they don’t do the opening to the show sometime during the movie I am going to be unhappy.
Fun Fact/Trivia: Two of the three living leading cast members of the of the show make a cameo,Face (Dirk Benedict) and Murdock (Dwight Schultz) while B.A (Mr.T) did not because he said if I’m not playing the role there is no need. Hannibal (George Peppard) died in ’94 due to pneumonia.
The Breakdown:
I have to say I was impressed. I didn’t think I would be but I was. I’m not a fan of remakes but this one was pretty faithful. As with all remakes there were things that weren’t right about it and things that were done better.
I bet you want to know what was good about the film don’t you? Well mostly all the action in the movie. This movie clocks in at around 2hrs 15mins and being based off of an action series it better have action right? Well it does, so much so that in the first 40mins there is more action than most action movies that clock in at 1hr 30mins. Shit the film waste no time what so ever getting in to. With in 10mins they have a car chase and BA busting heads, Hannibal is car jacking and Face is getting beat up. After that about 5mins or so there is a freaking helicopter chase scene. You just don’t see that outside of war movies much and this was a gooden. Murdock is the pilot of the 
copter and he does some zanny stuff and we find out why BA doesn’t like flying. That was something I never knew since the show ended while I was just starting to watch Saturday morning cartoons and I never caught the reason in reruns. After that the story starts to unfold as just how they became soldiers for hires. If you want to find out more about the other action sequences in the film you’re going to have to watch it for yourself. The other good thing about the movie was Murdock, they really ampped up his crazy factor and it feels right. The guy who played Murdock was the lead in the movie District 9. With roles that involve someone being nuts the actors tends to be unbelievable and over does his or her acting but he played it smooth and was very convincing. Liam Neeson who plays Hannibal did a decent job but he just didn’t have that air about him George Peppard did and that was a huge let down because he just felt like he was going through the motions on this one half the time while the other half he stood out in a good way. Almost forgot to mention that Jessica Biel is in this movie and she does a good job (no she doesn’t have any action scenes in the movie) but I wish she showed some skin. She may have been the best actor in the film because when she got pissed you felt it through the screen and that was a lot.
Some of the bad was how they played Face out in this one. He was very little like you remember him to be from the show. He is angry and hate filled. I did like not the characterization of him at all. Then you have BA who is played by MMA fighter Rampage Jackson. I don’t know if it was his acting, the way they wrote him or a combo of both but he was by far the least like his character from the show and that sucked ass. He was way to nice and not pitying the fools at all. He was pretty much pitying himself. The biggest thing that bugged me was the lack of the van. It’s in there but for such a short time.
The story isn’t deep or challenging to understand so don’t worry about not knowing what’s going on at any time.
The nods in the movie are respectful and nice to see.
The Verdict:
I can not stress this enough this movie is ACTION. It has bombs, bullets and fights every 10-20mins. If you’re looking for a flick that will get your blood pumping this is it. I can’t say it’s worth a buy based on the movie itself but it is worth a rent.
I give this movie 4 plan making montages out of 5.
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Knight and Day
Year: 2010
Genre: Action/Adventure/Comedy
Runtime: 109mins
Rating: PG-13
IMDB Score: 6.4/10 (34,400+ Votes)
Director(s): Jame Mangold
Writer(s): Patrick O’Neill
Plot/Synopsis: June Havens finds her everyday life tangled with that of a secret agent who has realized he isn’t supposed to survive his latest mission
Forethought(s): Well the trailer looked good but I’m not a huge Tom Cruise fan nor do I really like Cameron Diaz. I think both of those actors are actually pretty over rated. The trailer did look like it was packed full of action so I’m hoping it is.
Fun Fact/Trivia: Cruise and Diaz both did majority of their own stunts.
The Breakdown:
The breakdown is going to be short this time since this is not a movie you watch with your mind on. This is a movie you watch if you want to stop thinking. There’s a good amount of action in the form of fist fights, gun fights and car chases.
The movie starts off good and you are given a feeling that this flick is going to be a serious action flick but it was more of a silly one. The action is good but the dialogue takes you out of the moment. I also think it has something to due with who was giving us the dialogue. Tom Cruise is a good actor don’t get me wrong but he just can’t seem to pull of this type of role. Think Jason Statham action with the whimsical yet snarky dialogue delivery of sitcom actor.
OK so we got Tom Cruise doing his action thing and that was good, then, you have Cameron Diaz who plays the damsel in distress who actually did a good job. She should have been the one delivering the whimsical lines;I think she could have gotten away with it. So you all know I’m not a fan of hers but she was in this light red bikini and made me want to have a few premature moments with her.
The Verdict:
If you want a movie where you can just sit back and turn your brain off this is the one for you,however, there are a few scenes where your brain will kick in and say “Oh come on this is beyond absurd” then it will be like “Whatever.” All in all this is a good action movie.
I give this movie 3 fun fist fights out of 5.
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