Kick-Ass 2 (2013)
Kick-Ass 2 (2013)
After being surprised at how much Kick-Ass (2010) actually kicked ass, I was excited to see this sequel.
This time around Kick-Ass (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) has teamed up with a group fellow wannabe superheroes that he inspired to dress up and fight crime. Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) is out for revenge on Kick-Ass and has gathered a group of so-called super villains to destroy him and everyone he knows.
The movie was written and directed by Jeff Wadlow and the rest of the noteworthy cast includes Chloe Grace Moretz, Morris Chestnut, Jim Carrey, Clark Duke, John Leguizamo, Lindy Booth, Claudia Lee, Donald Faison, and Garrett M. Brown.
I did not like this movie as much as the first one. At times, it was pretty tacky. Ass was kicked and laughs were had, there was a lot of quality action, but it just was not as good as it could have been. It was less believable and more predictable.
With the addition of Jim Carrey, I thought that for sure Kick-Ass 2 would be funnier than Kick-Ass. I was wrong. There were a few more laughs, but not because of Carrey. His role was not big enough to make a difference. Most of the other new characters in the film were not developed enough.
Moretz stole the show in the first movie and she was still probably the best part of this one, but she did not get the opportunity to kick as much ass as she did in the first film.
The film concentrated a little bit too much on the drama that the characters were having at school and at home instead of concentrating on them fighting crime. This made the film a little slower at times and less enjoyable.
Even though I didn’t like a few aspects of the movie, it was still entertaining enough to have fun watching. Almost all sequels are not as good as their predecessors, but maybe I just went into this film with expectations that were too high. The story went a slightly different direction than I anticipated, but I still laughed and had a good time.
I rate this movie a 6.5 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Rent.
42 (2013)
42 (2013)
Unfortunately I missed this film in the theatre. It was one that I wanted to see, but I just did not get to it.
42 is based on the incredible true story of how Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) broke the color barrier in major league baseball in 1947 with the help of the Brooklyn Dodgers Executive Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford).
The film was written and directed by Brian Helgeland and the rest of the noteworthy cast includes Nicole Beharie, Christopher Meloni, Ryan Merriman, Lucas Black, Andre Holland, Alan Tudyk, Hamish Linklater, John C. McGinley, Toby Huss, Brett Cullen, and Jesse Luken.
The film feels like a genuine depiction of America’s favorite pastime in the 1940s. Having not lived during that time, I cannot say it is exactly like it was, but the set certainly brings you back to an earlier time. The cars, clothes, uniforms, houses, and cleanliness of the cities make it look like the 1940s, but it’s the performances by the actors and how they are filmed that make it actually feel like the 1940s.
The scenes during baseball games were so detailed that I could practically taste the Cracker Jacks. It felt like you were in the stands with the rest of the audience watching history being made.
I was familiar with who Jackie Robinson was and what he did before watching this movie, but I did not know much of his story. 42 tells his story so well on screen that if I didn’t know any better, it could have actually been the real Jackie Robinson in the film.
You are really able to feel for Boseman’s Robinson character and the racial hatred that he was subjected to and stood up against. He persevered, overcame, and ultimately changed baseball forever. He was the tip of the spear that cut out racism not only in professional baseball, but in all professional sports.
42 could quite possibly be Harrison Ford’s best performance as an actor. He was brilliant, but Boseman was equally dazzling as Robinson. If you ask me, I think that Boseman could easily win an Academy Award for Best Actor and Ford could win one for Best Supporting Actor. It would be a crime if neither actor is at least nominated. They both deserve recognition for their awesomeness.
My only issue with the film was that it was so good throughout that the ending seemed almost anticlimactic. Instead of building up to a finale, it felt like it just ended a little too abruptly. The ending was not bad by any means, it was just a little unexpected.
You do not have to be a fan of baseball to enjoy this movie. However, baseball fans will probably respect it even more.
I rate this movie a 9 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Buy.
Movie Picture of the Day 8/15/13
Ethan Hawke is starting to wonder what he has gotten himself into with Denzel Washington in the gritty thriller Training Day (2001).
Bullet to the Head (2012)
Bullet to the Head (2012)
This is another movie that I skipped seeing in the theatre because I was uncertain that the aging main character could make the movie worth watching.
The senior action movie stars keep making movies and I think that audiences are beginning to question whether or not these old guys are just too old for the parts that they are playing. In this case, Sylvester Stallone is the main character.
Earlier this year Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger were in similar situations respectively; Willis in A Good Day to Die Hard (2013) and Schwarzenegger in The Last Stand (2013) .
I respect my elders, and these guys rule! However, if they keep making action films, I will probably keep waiting until those movies are released on DVD before I watch them. (Bruce Willis is the younger of the mentioned bunch, but can still be questionable.) There are always exceptions, but right off the bat, their old age is not working in their favor.
Stallone has had the right idea by bringing all of the old geezers together for his Expendables movies, but in this day and age, if there is one old headliner then it better be in the right movie.
All 3 movies mentioned lost a lot of money:
The Last Stand (2013) lost 18 million dollars.
A Good Day to Die Hard (2013) lost 25 million dollars.
Bullet to the Head (2012) lost 46 million dollars.
Bullet to the Head is about a ruthless hit man (Sylvester Stallone) who goes on a rampage tracking down the men responsible for the murder of his partner in crime. He is a one-man wrecking ball out for revenge. Along the way, he teams up with a cop who happens to be tracking the same people.
The film was directed by Walter Hill and the rest of the noteworthy cast includes Sung Kang, Jason Momoa, Christian Slater, Jon Seda, Sarah Shahi, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Holt McCallany, and Brian Van Holt.
Like the title suggests, Bullet to the Head brutally gets to the point early on and the graphic violence continues throughout.
The film is fast-paced and loaded with tons of great and for the most part, believable action.
The movie very much deserves the R-rating as there is a lot of language, nudity, and very realistic blood and guts. There are in fact, many people that end up taking a bullet to the head and or the rest of their body.
As with most action movies, not all of the characters get fully developed, but the action and witty dialogue make up for what is missing.
The film accomplished what it set out to do and that was to be explosive.
Even at his age, Stallone carries himself well in perhaps his most gruesome role yet. He is a stone cold, no nonsense, sarcastically funny killer. It’s almost like he flipped a switch and became somebody else. The rest of the cast is likable, but Stallone takes over and makes it a one-man show.
Compared to The Last Stand and A Good Day to Die Hard, in my opinion, Bullet to the Head is the better film. Ironically it lost a lot more money than the other movies and it was probably the most underrated of the bunch. Stallone also gave a better performance than Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
If you enjoy rooting for the bad guy, then this film is for you.
I rate this movie an 8 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent or run? Buy.
Movie Picture of the Day 8/14/13
One of my all-time favorite actors Nicolas Cage in his best role and my favorite singer Jared Leto from my favorite band 30 Seconds to Mars play brothers in arms in the film, Lord of War (2005). Lots of my favorites were a part of this movie. It’s no wonder this is another one of my favorite films.
Happy Birthday to Alfred Hitchcock
Happy Birthday to Alfred Hitchcock! The master of suspense would have turned 114 years old today.
He is easily considered one of the best film directors to ever live. Arguably Hitchcock impacted the movie industry more than any other director. His methods forever changed movies.
His 4 most famous films are Psycho (1960), Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958) and North By Northwest (1959).
The Last Stand (2013)
The Last Stand (2013)
Arnold Schwarzenegger is back, again. He must have gone a little heavy on the spray tan and make-up because his face looks like a tanned piece of aged leather, but he’s back. I held off seeing this movie in the theatre because I was not sure if Ahnuld could pull this one off.
The Last Stand is about a drug lord that escapes from protective custody and heads for the Mexican border. The only thing standing in his way of freedom is small town Sheriff Ray Owen (Schwarzenegger) and his band of misfit deputies.
The film is directed by Kim Jee-Woon and the rest of the noteworthy cast includes Forest Whitaker, Johnny Knoxville, Luis Guzman, Peter Stormare, Eduardo Noriega, Jaimie Alexander, Zach Gilford, and Harry Dean Stanton, and Genesis Rodriguez.
The film does not have a lot of character development, but there is a bit of stupid comedy and tons of action. The special effects are actually quite good and they help to make the film enjoyable. There are endless car chases, bullets are flying, people and things are exploding, blood is spattering, and fans of 90s action movies are applauding.
Schwarzenegger, Knoxville, Guzman, and Stormare all make this action movie more of a comedy not to take too seriously.
Whitaker seems to be the only person in the film taking his part seriously and it fits his character like a glove.
Overall, the film was better than I expected it to be. It’s a bit predictable at times, but for the type of movie that it is, that is to be expected. It certainly seemed like they had fun making it. Even though Schwarzenegger looked a little goofy, he pulled his character off quite well and it was fun to see him acting again.
I rate this movie a 7 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Rent.
If you liked The Last Stand, then you will probably enjoy:
Trailer for Her (2013)
Her (2013)
Her is a love story about a lonely antisocial writer (Joaquin Phoenix) who falls for an artificial intelligence operating system.
The film is written and directed by Spike Jonze and the rest of the noteworthy cast includes Scarlett Johansson, Amy Adams, Olivia Wilde, Rooney Mara, and Chris Pratt.
Phoenix is sporting a creeper mustache and seems like he will be as weird as ever. Even though he looks like a weirdo in this movie, I’m sure he will do an awesome job. Part of me jokingly could see Phoenix be his character in real life about 20 years from now. I’m not making fun of him though, he is a great actor. It just looks like he might play his part too well.
They somehow managed to get 4 of the most famous young actresses currently working today in the same film. You don’t see that very often these days.
This film looks like it could be pretty funny in a disturbingly quirky kind of way.
The movie is set to release on 11/20/13.
Trailer for The Monuments Men (2013)
The Monuments Men (2013)
The Monuments Men is based on a true story about a team of art historians and museum curators that are brought together during World War II to save priceless works of art before Hitler has them destroyed.
The film is directed by George Clooney and the noteworthy cast includes George Clooney, Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Bob Balaban, and Jean Dujardin.
The all-star cast would be enough to make me want to see the film, but this is an intriguing story that I know nothing about.
I would bet money that it gets nominated for an Academy Award for something, and it will likely deserve it.
The film is set to release on 12/18/13.
brockingmovies 