Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon (2011)

Michael Bay is back with his third installment of the surprisingly successful [box office-wise] series. The first one made Megan Fox a star, the 2nd one showed she isn't a very nice person, the 3rd one drops her completely.

I have to say that I did like the first film, it was really good, especially since there were no expectations. The 2nd one was just awful and Bay's camera rotations made it almost unwatchable at times. This one however was quite a bit better. Shia LaBeouf's character is now trying to have a normal life after his adventures in the first two films. He has a model for a girlfriend [Rosie Huntington-Whiteley] who replaced Fox, and when the Decepticons attack he works his way back to work with the government to help out.

This film was much better than the last but still lacked a lot of editing. They do realize that scenes can be cut completely right? All of the interactions with LaBeouf's parents were unnecessary. They added a lot of unnecessary runtime to the film, and none of it was funny or relevant to the plot. That lack of editing keeps these films at an unnecessary 2 and a half hours.

Overall, a big improvement from the last, I'm glad I gave it a shot but 6/10 is about right.

Vote: 6/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1399103/

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Machete (2010)

So this isn't a horror film. I never though it was, and I'm not sure how it got misplaced in my horror/thriller directory. If anything it should have been watched back in action movie month this last June. If you have seen Grindhouse then you might remember the fake movie trailers before the feature. They were Machete and Hobo with a Shotgun [review here], both which have now been made into feature films. Robert Rodriguez made Planet Terror [1/2 of Grindhouse], and he is also responsible for this film.

You have to understand that this is an homage to a genre that doesn't need this many homages, but whatever. I do like the star of this film Danny Trejo, and I thought he brought some subtle humor to the role. I even liked Steven Seagal as the bad guy. As a matter of fact after the opening sequence I thought the movie was going to be really cool. Then came the rest of the cast, Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez, and Lindsay Lohan. Alba brings a seriousness to her role that doesn't fit, Rodriguez has a pretty typical performance... I just don't like her, and Lohan can't act.

I never expected I would be suggesting this one, and I'm not. If only the rest of the film could have been like the intro.... then it would have been worthy of the 101 Action Movies. Oh well.

Vote: 5/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0985694/

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Thor (2011)

I think 1/2 of the fun when watching a comic book movie is learning the background of the character. The process of going from a normal person to a superhero brings out the imagination in all of us. I think this is why films like Iron Man do so much better than their sequels. The beginning is the most intriguing part. Battling the bad guy takes a back seat to the rise to power, or learning how to use the tools, etc.

The part of this film that failed for me is that the background on Thor himself takes less than 10 minutes to explain. The viking gods or whatever is quick and confusing... or maybe just not that interesting... I'm not sure. Point being, the action and conflict starts so early that their is no intensity for a conclusion. Chris Hemsworth is handsome and actually quite good as Thor, he has some witty humorous parts after being sent down to early. Natalie Portman good, Anthony Hopkins good, Stellan Skarsgård good, there really wasn't anything wrong with the cast or acting here... it was the screenplay and probably directing.

Thor gets his hammer back at some point in the middle and I honestly didn't care at this point. Whatever... time to fight the bad guy... I hate to be so critical but this was just a forgettable comic action film, I'm sure there will be a sequel because Disney is still paying off their Marvel acquisition. Not worth your time.

Vote: 6/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800369/

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Hanna (2011)

I'm not sure why I was so excited about this film. Maybe because I had heard good things and the reviews haven't been bad either. I didn't look at the director or stars I guess, director Joe Wright  has been batting 2 out of 3 for me to date. I liked Pride & Prejudice and The Soloist, but I can pass on Atonement... which is his tie to our star Saoirse Ronan. Ronan doesn't have the best track record with me, The Lovely Bones wasn't the best and her role in The Way Back wasn't substantial enough for me to say I "like" her. I'm also about 50/50 on Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age and I'm Not There. weren't so good... but then you have Robin Hood and The Lord of the Rings.

So about the film. Eric Bana plays Erik, Hanna's [Saoirse Ronan] father who seems to be raising her in Siberia. They spend the day hunting with bow & arrow and the evenings memorizing the encyclopedia and practicing different languages. Hanna decides that she is "ready," whatever that means and pushes the button to let some government agency know they are ready. All of this training seems to be with a goal of killing Blanchett's character then getting away. Hanna seems to be some sort of super human, a teenage girl with the ability to kill dozens of trained professionals.

I found it to be silly, pointless, and dull. The motive of the lead characters is silly at best, and the twist of key to the film isn't very exciting and recycled. I don't know what I wanted from this film, but this wasn't it.

Vote: 5/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0993842/

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X-Men: First Class (2011)

This is now the 5th X-Men Live Action film, and I would argue one of the best. One might argue that the original X-Men film in 2000 helped launch the comic movie fad, but it has also been a series that I have been growing more disinterested in with every release. I gave X-Men an 8/10, X2 a 7/10, X-Men [3]: The Last Stand a generous 7/10, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine a disappointing 6/10. Maybe I liked this one so much because I expected so little, but it wasn't what I expected at all.

Of all the comic based films, this is the ONLY one that I can say I picked up an actually comic and read before it was made into a film. I watched the cartoon a little bit in Junior High, so the characters are familiar to me. Now I can confidently say that I knew everyone in the original X-Men film, but I knew little to nothing about how it all started. This film is kinda like the television show "Heroes", we start with people finding out they have special abilities at a time when no one has a clue this is possible. The abilities are creative and they all have slightly different "gifts."

The film starts in a Nazi concentration camp with Magneto as a teenage boy. His special talents catch the attention of Mr. Shaw [Kevin Bacon]. The becomes the root of his hate for humans creating what we have come to know as the "bad side" in the other films. We also get Dr. Xavier's story, from the point of him being a child with gifts and befriending Raven, to the point where they are college age. Xavier is played by James McAvoy [The Last King of Scotland & Atonement ] and Raven is played by Jennifer Lawrence [Winter's Bone].

Bacon is fantastic as a bad guy, kind of hard to even tell it is him because his German is so good you ask yourself if that really is him at first. I forgot how much I liked McAvoy in Last King of Scotland, and if you don't know Lawrence yet, I'm sure you will after next years hyped up The Hunger Games. I was very impressed by this film, thank you Matthew Vaughn [Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch.] for some excellent casting, directing, and writing.

This was the summer blockbuster you should have seen, and no you don't need any prior X-Men viewing to get this film. It stands on its own very well.

Vote: 9/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1270798/

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Hard Boiled: Lat sau san taam (1992)

At this point I'm not a stranger to Chow Yun-Fat films. The Killer is probably one of his more popular roles and I just found it to be ok. So maybe I didn't go into this one with the most open mind. It does have to be one of the strangest movie posters I've seen. The baby is why too big for the role of "newborn infant" being a parent it is funny to see movies stretch the age/size of babies cast in films. This one is another left over from Action month but also part of the imdb modern 250.

It also features Tony Leung Chiu Wai as an undercover cop, I personally am a bigger fan of him than Fat from roles in films like Infernal Affairs and Hero. This is a pretty typical John Woo Hong Kong action film. The plot is a little strange like the poster. A division of the Triad gang has a hideout in the basement of a hospital, when the police move in for a raid they take the hospital patients hostage.

I don't have much to say about this one, a little strange but also original and a couple good Hong Kong stars doing their thing.

Vote: 6/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104684/

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The Expendables (2010)

I have to say this is the front runner for the worst movie of the year for me. It was about the time that the opening credits were concluding that I realized this would be just awful. Written, directed, and starring Sylvester Stallone, and what does he know about writing scripts?

He called up all his buddies from action movies and basically gives them all cameo's while keeping the real action of a plot on Jason Statham and himself. Mickey Rourke comes across as a good actor in the wrong film, it was interesting to see a good actor alongside some really bad ones. Jet Li seemed to get the short end of the stick as Stallone made his character weak and incapable of fighting an decent bad guy. Stallone had to even come in and save his life at one point... which kind of pissed me off. Steve Austin was given too much freedom to be "himself" [read: his WWE persona].

This was an all around terrible film. From Statham controlling a machine gun on the front of a large plane, to bad one liners like "you'all better remember me at Christmas!" Amazingly there is a sequel scheduled for a 2012 release, and you will have to go to another site to read a review for it.

Vote: 1/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1320253/

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Outlander (2008)

Ironically I watched this on just after "The Vikings" and found it to be a sci-fi action film where a man from another planet finds himself on Earth at the time of the vikings.

James Caviezel plays the hero Kainen, an actor I recognized but couldn't put my finger on. You will remember him as Jesus from The Passion of the Christ. The heroin that he falls for is played by Sophia Myles, an actress I recognized as well but can't really place in any previous films.

Kainen explains to the people that he has brought an creature, "from his land," and helps instruct them on how to defeat it. Definitely not like any other movie I've seen, I really thought the acting was good for the most part and was surprised that I had to be suggested this film and had never heard of it. If you are looking for a good action/sci-fi film check this one out.

Vote: 7/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462465/

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Hobo With A Shotgun (2011)

I'm so so very tired of "homage" films labeled as indie or cult films. I really expected nothing out of this film. Honestly a little humor or good one liners would have been enough [kind of like Dead Snow or Army of Darkness]. The film was cheaply made, and it looks cheap.

Made along the lines of Grindhouse, and a homage to those types of film, but not exactly. If you saw Grindhouse you might remember there were two fake movie trailers, Machete and Hobo With A Shotgun... now neither are fake... So the idea for this film wasn't even that original.

Rutger Hauer was enjoyable to watch, he actually has a golden globe for a made for TV movie, and him running around with a shotgun was kinda cool. The supporting actors and script were just awful though. Gregory Smith as Slick was just terrible. The whole group of bad guys had such terrible lines that it was almost unwatchable. Last comment is the gore, I have a pretty high tolerance for gore from growing up watching lots of horror movies was even too much for me.

Not as good as people might be telling you, avoid it.

Vote: 2/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1640459/

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The Three Musketeers (1948)

Let's just say that I like Gene Kelly in musicals more than I like him in a wig pretending to be an expert swordsman. A selection to the 101 Action movie list, and definitely not my favorite version of the classic story. This film is overly cheesy and actually harder to follow than it should have been. I think they assume you have read the book because I was paying attention yet confused several times.

D'Artagnan goes to Paris to become a Musketeer, upon arrival he managed to get challenged to a duel by three separate musketeers on the same day. When Richelieu shows up with some cronies to take them in for illegally dueling, the four team up to take them out. A friendship is born and the team have to foil Richelieu's attempt to overthrow the king.

I don't want to waste my time taking about this one more, it just wasn't very good and I wouldn't suggest it to anyone.

Vote: 5/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040876/

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Come Drink With Me: Da zui xia (1966)

This is an interesting inclusion on the Action 101 book in that it proves that the book "101 Action Movies to See Before You Die" is NOT the 101 Best Action Movie films. This King Hu Hong Kong Kung Fu [that was a mouthful] is considered the pioneer of the entire genre. A pretty bold title, but is not considered King Hu's best or even one of the best Shaw Brothers films. So it made it in the book only for what it is, and not how good it really is.

With that said, I didn't dislike it, but it is a weak 6/10. I already can't remember much about the film 3 weeks after seeing it, leaving no lasting impression. The just average rating is because it wasn't bad... it wasn't really good but it wasn't bad. Bandits kidnap the governors son and the governor sends his daughter, Golden Swallow [no, not a James Bond character], to rescue him.

Not much else to say, the fight scenes were cutting edge, no one did wire fighting kung fu before this. But they aren't nearly as good as the films 10 years later by the same people.

Vote: 6/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059079/

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Sucker Punch (2011)

I have to say that this movie looked bad from the start, but since I loved Zack Snyder I had to give him a chance. I can't even say that I have much of an opinion either way of Abbie Cornish and Emily Browning. The two have been in a number of films that were just ok, but since their roles were pretty minor I couldn't base much of an opinion from them.

The film doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It plays out more like an attempt to do as much different CGI in as many different ways in one movie. The plot is confusing because we fail to understand what reality really is for these girls in an insane asylum. We start with the events that lead to "Baby Doll" being committed by her stepfather, then we are taken through a series of adventures as she attempts to steal the ideas necessary for making an escape. The adventures are like dreams that include the other girls from the asylum as they battle samurai, nazi's, and robots.

If you are looking for action for the sake of action while you shovel popcorn into your face look no further. If you are looking for a plot with good acting and action, keep looking.

Vote: 4/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978764/

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The Towering Inferno (1974)

It is not often that you encounter action films that break the 2 1/2 hour barrier. Most of the time you would expect such a film to be boring and drag on, but this film managed to maintain its intensity from the first flames out breaking to the closing scenes.

Starring an impressive duo of Steve McQueen and Paul Newman with minor roles from a number of famous actors such as William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, O.J. Simpson and Robert Vaughn. The plot is no secret and can't really be spoiled. The movie poster shows the fire, the title gives it away, and the opening of the film is a dedication to fire fighters. Therefore the beginning of the film helps solidify that this is worth watching. You know there will be a fire, so every scene makes you think "so, is this how it starts?" We get it all spelled out for us on the cut corners, faulty wiring, etc and then we get two hours of fire fighting action. Malunctioning elevators, helicopter rescues, people falling from high stories, this movie has it all. McQueen plays the police chief and Newman plays the chief engineer, characters that work together instead of against each other thanks to a mutual understanding that it was the building owner and his son who are at fault.

A time commitment, but a great action film. Instead of watching two just ok movies, split this one up and watch it over two nights. It also has a recent blu-ray release, so check it out.

Vote: 8/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072308/

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Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

This film is a good example of watching something because of the director and not the main actor. Edgar Wright who is responsible for films such as Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz made this "video game" movie starring Michael Cera, an actor I'm hesitant to give a chance. Thanks to movies like Youth in Revolt.

The film has a very very unique style. The humor is witty and requires you to pay attention to elements in the background. Cera was actually enjoyable to watch, which I doubt I've said before. The premise of the film is that he falls for the new girl in town, trouble is, she has evil ex-boyfriends that he must defeat to win her. The fights with the ex's usually mean that they are given "life energy bars" like in Street Fighter or Mortal Combat, and upon being destroyed "points" are earned as they turn into coins like Mario Brothers.

I won't deny that this is a tween centered movie and that some demographics wouldn't get or like this film, but I really did and would suggest it to that age range.

Vote: 8/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0446029/

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Drunken Master: Jui kuen (1978)

Not to be confused with the American "sequel" The Legend of Drunken Master. This original Jackie Chan Hong Kong film came out 16 years before the sequel. Let's start by saying that the American version I gave a 7/10 and this one not good at all. Yet again an Action 101 film that seems to need a certain percentage of originals and foreign language films.

I read the imdb synopsis and I don't think I watched the same film as the writer. The film is about an immature boy who disgraces his father by harassing young women and acting up in school. His dad constantly punishes him but he constantly cheats his way out of punishments, so he sends him off to learn martial arts from his brother. An interesting man who looks like a drifter and is always drunk, he spends a year teaching him the art of drunken boxing.

Chan is an immature 24 year old actor, and if you didn't know him now you would find the acting very bad. I didn't find it to be much of a comedy and prefer many other Chan movies over this one. It may look like a cool, older Chan film but I didn't think it was.

Vote: 4/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080179/

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48 Hrs. (1982)

Remember when Eddie Murphy was a good actor? Nope. Me neither. That is because I wasn't alive when this came out and just a toddler when the rest of his good movies came out [Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop, Coming to America]. If you can't stand Murphy you can thank this film for launching his career.

Murphy isn't the main character though, that is Nick Nolte. Nolte plays a cop, one that can handle having a partner, fails to call in back up, and chain smokes throughout the film. After an incident where his gun is stole by some escape convicts and several police officers are murdered he goes after the bad guys... by himself. When he finds out that the guy sprung from prison is after the money that a different convict helped steal he gets him out of jail for 48 hours to help him find the bad guys. Eddie Murphy plays the convict just 18 month away from release who has the loot stashed in his car. The two are an odd couple and are fun to watch. The scene in the cowboy bar is really pretty funny.

The film annoyed me because if they just would have asked the department to help them on several occasions this whole film would have been unnecessary. It was just ok, but really not bad for the Action 101 book.

Vote: 6/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083511/

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The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

Director George Nolfi and Matt Damon are paired up once again on a action film that bleeds over into fantasy. One of the more popular movies of the first half of the year with just lukewarm reviews. A nice break for me from the action 101 book.

The film starts with Matt Damon running for congress. After another embarrassing scandal right before an election he loses. While preparing his speech he runs into Elise in the men's restroom, played by Emily Blunt. When a man fails to divert him from meeting her a second time the existence of the bureau is revealed. Without giving away too much about the film, this supernatural society warn him that they cannot be together. The film is about them defying these rules. That is all I'm going to say.

The film lacks continuity on several occasions, nothing really grossly wrong, but enough to make people that focus on details and disagree with the general theme of the bureau dislike the film. It was ok for me, and where it had depth in the beginning, once you figure it out it is an action romance and pretty cookie cutter and straight forward. Good, but not great and I doubt I'll be suggesting this one to others.


Vote: 7/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1385826/

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The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

I just saw the remake back in January [here] with Denzel Washington and John Travolta. The original, which is in the action 101 book recently came out with a blu-ray release which I enjoyed on the big screen at home. Walter Matthau plays the same character as Washington, and Robert Shaw plays the same character as Travolta.

The remake is very very similar to the original. It is good to see that the remake didn't diverge from a winning formula, and honestly the original would have been just as good today. The obvious differences are the technology in the control room, cell phone usage, etc. And this was all handled in the remake in a way to not change the storyline.

Didn't read that review? Well then this is what the story is about. A group of men hijack a subway car demanding ransom for the passengers. They have a former conductor in their gang who controls the car for them, disconnecting a car and positioning themselves between two stations that jam up the whole network of cars. For an old action movie it was really good.

It is rare that and original and remake are BOTH worth checking out. It really depends on if you like Denzel and if you can even get your hands on this one.

Vote: 8/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072251/

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Slaughter (1972)

Just like Cannonball! which was hard to find, I actually had to purchase a "rental" on itunes to find this one. A new method for me to watch films, but easy and inexpensive so I liked how it worked.

The film stars Jim Brown, a fullback from the Cleveland Browns NFL team that made a crossover to film on his good looks. He got his start in Rio Conchos, a war/western film. Then he was in The Dirty Dozen a few years later. 5 years later he was the leading role in this blaxploitation action film.

The acting is horrible, and the action scenes are really really bad. Dodging cars like a football player until they drive themselves into a river accidentally, later we get a hand-to-hand combat on a rooftop where he pushes bad guys off the roof like a football player. The change in aspect ratio when the camera angle changes on action scenes and the obvious dummies thrown through glass, etc ruins films for me. Just a horribly acted film with bad action sequences, this really makes me question the selections in this 101 action film book.

Vote: 1/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069279/

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Cannonball! (1976)

I've found that when the library, netflix, and friends do not have old movies there is probably a reason. This film, which is kind of the middle film between Death Race 2000 and The Cannonball Run was incredibly difficult to find. Using the same director and star as Death Race 2000 it was a film that Paul Bartel was afraid would pigeonhole him as an action film director. It stars David Carradine who I find to be a really bad actor.

I was able to find it in segments on youtube that I was able to merge and watch on a portable device, whatever works right? Like I said though, there is a reason you can't find it... because no one wants it. It was really bad and was overshadowed by the Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, and Farrah Fawcett film a few years later.

The action really boiled down to a ridiculous car crash near the end, which feature a number of lemming-like drivers adding to a pileup on an interstate. Take this scene away and it gets left out of the 101 Action movie book.

Vote: 4/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074279/

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