Movie Review – Page 9 – Vinko’s Thoughts On…

June 27, 2008

Movie Review: Wanted (2008)

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My Rating:

This evening I saw the movie “Wanted” at UA Cinema, Time Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.

What an amazing movie!

If you do not watch any movie this year, you must see this one. Having said that, there are several coming up later this year on my Must See Movies list, that you should also watch out for: Dark Knight and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

This is an action packed movie filled with special effects and stunts. I strongly suggest you get to the theater on time and not miss a single second of this movie.

The plot of the movie is not complicated, but the writers Michael Brandt and Derek Haas must have done it intentionally so the audience will not be occupied with deciphering the plot, and miss the great special effects and stunts that integrates so well together. One can hardly tell when one starts and the other ends.

You must walk into the movie with an open mind and not question any of the events that happen in the movie. It is a movie that entertains and not a movie that depicts anything realistic. It is based on a comic book after all.

Of course, like any Angelina Jolie movies there is a token scene to show off her well toned nude body. The main character Wesley Gibson, played by James McAvoy is the only character in the movie with a full name, further adds to the comic book style of the movie.

If the plot was more complex and original I would have easily given it 5 penguins rating.

So just sit back and enjoy the 2 hours of entertainment that this movie brings.

Rating Legend:
	Not to be missed
	Wait for the DVD
	Buy from iTunes Store
	Rent it on iTunes
	Waste your time elsewhere

June 15, 2008

Movie Review: The Happening (2008)

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My Rating:

This evening I saw the movie “The Happening” at AMC Theater, Pacific Place, Hong Kong.

This is not happening! If I notice it was written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan I would not have place it on my Must See Movies list and definitely not have gone to see it.

The movie is trying to tell a story about us being too hard on nature and nature fighting back or in this case give us signs that it has enough.

There had been great movies directed by M. Night Shyamalan like The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, but there had recently been not so great movies like 2002’s Signs and 2004’s The Village. For the latter you can see my review of it in my blog.

For some reasons I had been picking low budget movies from iTunes movie rental also: Funny Games, Civic Duty.

It is not that low budget movies are always bad, but low budget movies with a silly topic/story makes a boring movie. This is the reason why I would not recommend this movie to anyone.

Hopefully with this movie it is time for Shyamalan to come up with another great movie like The Sixth Sense.

Rating Legend:
	Not to be missed
	Wait for the DVD
	Buy from iTunes Store
	Rent it on iTunes
	Waste your time elsewhere

June 14, 2008

Movie Review: Incredible Hulk, The (2008)

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My Rating:

This evening I saw the movie “The Incredible Hulk” at UA Cinema, Time Square, Hong Kong.

Another sequel to the Incredible Hulk TV series remake, the original remake was Hulk in 2003. This time they change the actor playing Bruce Banner (Edward Norton).

Not sure if it was due to my expectations; or lack of, going into the movie, this was a pretty good movie. As many of you know, the story of The Incredible Hulk has been told many times over and over. The hero, Banner fights all odds to overcome the misguided impressions that people have of him when he is the Hulk. When all he wanted to do is to return normal and live a regular life.

As always with any Marvel comic there is a villain, this time played by Tim Roth. Where he started as the hated villain in The Musketeer, Invincible, Pulp Fiction and many more.

In the end, they did something no other movies had done, that is to tie two different Marvel movies together to give the audience a hint of what to come.

It is a definite entertaining one to watch. Take the kids, but watch out, you may have to deal with their nightmares afterwards.

Rating Legend:
	Not to be missed
	Wait for the DVD
	Buy from iTunes Store
	Rent it on iTunes
	Waste your time elsewhere

June 7, 2008

Movie Review: The Chronicles of Narnia – Prince Caspian (2008)

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My Rating:

This evening I saw the movie “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” at AMC Theatre, Pacific Place, Hong Kong.

A good sequel because the screenwrite did not spend too much time reviewing the previous version of the movie, “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” 3 years ago. Unfortunately, this is also the reason why I feel this is not a good movie.

This is really a movie written and designed for children. With that in mind this is a good movie, as it has the mystical elements that children likes, characters that spur the imaginations and story-line that will capture the young audiences.

Having said that the story and movie is a bit lacking for adults. If you do not have young children in your household I will suggest you give it a miss.

Rating Legend:
	Not to be missed
	Wait for the DVD
	Buy from iTunes Store
	Rent it on iTunes
	Waste your time elsewhere

May 31, 2008

Movie Review: Penelope

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My Rating:

This evening I saw the movie “Penelope” at UA Cinema, Time Square, Hong Kong.

I was presently surprised by this movie. I went into the movie thinking it was just going to be another lesson-learned movie. It did have the black-swan element to the movie that one would come to expect. The several twists in the story were nice touches to give it the unexpected elements.

I don’t normally enjoy this sort of movies; I am more of the action adventure, thriller kind of a guy.

The acting was fair, but I think the story has much to convince me to give it a 3 penguins rating. If you were looking for a light hearted entertainment for a present afternoon, then do give it a try. Of course, as my rating states, if you can rent it even better.

Rating Legend:
	Not to be missed
	Wait for the DVD
	Buy from iTunes Store
	Rent it on iTunes
	Waste your time elsewhere

May 24, 2008

Movie Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

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My Rating:

This evening I saw the movie “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” at Broadway Cinema, Cyberport, Hong Kong.

In two words, Simply disapointing. May be is it because I had high expectation going into the movie or I just love the Indiana Jones series of movies: “Raiders of the Lost Ark“, “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade“.

It could also be because Harrison Ford is just too old for the character. They prepared us for more Indiana Jones movies to come by introducing the son of Indiana Jones, Mutt Williams (played by Shia LaBeouf).

There was rumors that this episode of the Indiana Jones series was delayed due to George Lucas not liking what the writers had came up with, so he re-wrote the entire movie. I think this is one of Lucas’ weakest creation, I wonder if the original version would have been better.

This version of the movie did not have enough, typical Indiana Jones action as one come to expect. The sword fight scene was very unbelievable and anticipated.

Rating Legend:
	Not to be missed
	Wait for the DVD
	Buy from iTunes Store
	Rent it if you can
	Waste your time elsewhere

May 1, 2008

Movie Review: Iron Man (2008)

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My Rating:

This evening I saw the movie “Iron Man” at UA Cinema, Time Square, Hong Kong.

Presently surprised!

I am not sure it was the relatively low expectation I had for the movie or because it was good.

I had thought, that since it is the first time this comic book character, Iron Man, is made into a motion picture hero, the play-writes and director will have to spend a long time setting up the back story of the character, while serving up enough actions and story to keep the audience from falling behind. So the movie was going to be slow and boring.

This is definitely not the case. They balanced the above so well that you get just enough back story to understand and relates to the lead character, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and still enough twist and turn in the story to make you wanting more.

When I left the movie theater, that was exactly how I felt… I can’t wait for the sequel.

It has been a long time since Robert Downey Jr. been in the leading role of any movie. The most prominent role that I recall is in “U.S. Marshals (1998)” where he played the Special Agent John Royce opposite the actors Tommy Lee Jones and Wesley Snipes. I guess with Iron Man, Downey Jr. is announcing his return with a bang, as he had been busy. Later this year he will appear in another movie, “The Incredible Hulk (2008)”, staring Edward Norton

Rating Legend:
	Not to be missed
	Wait for the DVD
	Buy from iTunes Store
	Rent it if you can
	Waste your time elsewhere

April 5, 2008

Movie Review: Step Up 2 the Streets

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My Rating:

This evening I saw the movie “Step Up 2 the Streets” at UA Cinema, Time Square, Hong Kong.

I was a bit disappointed to say the least. The dance moves were not that spectacular; at least to me. May be a true dancer will find them amazing.

The soundtrack was boring, I find each track to be the same as the others. Normally sequels are not as good as the original, but I was hoping this time it would be different. I had been surprised in the past: Die Hard, Indiana Jones and Bourne Identity.

There was a cameo appearance of the character “Tyler Gage” (Channing Tatum), but that was all there was to tie this movie with the original. May be they should have done more, may be they should have done it differently. In my opinion, whatever it is they had not done it right.

I suggest the directors, producers and writers to step up their game or step aside. I do not think they will try for Step Up 3. If anyone thinking about it, I suggest you come up with a new and more original story.

Rating Legend:
	Not to be missed
	Wait for the DVD
	Buy from iTunes Store
	Rent it if you can
	Waste your time elsewhere

February 22, 2008

Movie Review: Vantage Point

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My Rating:

This evening I saw the movie “Vantage Point” at Broadway Theater, Cyberport, Hong Kong.

It was a movie with a very different approach. The director attempted to show several different points of view by replaying 30 minutes of the story over and over; 8 times in all. Each time he reviews a bit more of the whole story, while stopping at appropriate spot each time to cause the audience to want to see more each time the scene stops.

Unfortunately, for audiences who did not appreciate this original approach found it annoying and were vocal about it in the theatre.The TV series “24” had an original way of telling a story as close to real life as possible. I admire this director, Pete Travis, for doing the same with a brilliant execution. Especially when he had not done too many movies in the past.

Rating Legend:
	Not to be missed
	Wait for the DVD
	Buy from iTunes Store
	Rent it if you can
	Waste your time elsewhere

February 15, 2008

Movie Review: Jumper

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My Rating:

This evening I saw the movie “Jumper” at Time Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.

This movie has the feel of the Bourne series. This is not surprising, since it is also directed by the same director, Doug Liman as the Bourne series: “The Bourne Identity“, “The Bourne Supremacy” and “The Bourne Ultimatum“.

You really need to walk into the movie with an open mind and just enjoy the movie as the director has present it. Most of all you should not be analyzing or questioning the possibility of what is portrayed. Fortunately, I did that, hence the 4 penguins, otherwise I might have given it a lower rating.

The acting was so so, I never liked the acting of Hayden Christensen and this movie is no exception.

Rating Legend:
	Not to be missed
	Wait for the DVD
	Buy from iTunes Store
	Rent it if you can
	Waste your time elsewhere