Tag: suspense

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Movie Review: The Brave One (2007)

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My Rating: 4Stars

This evening I saw the movie “The Brave One (2007)” at UA Cinema, Time Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.

What can I say, but yet another great performance by Jodie Foster. I had always like Foster’s movies. For some reason she always plays a strong independent female character in her movies.

In this movie, when it first began, Foster’s character was made up to not look like the way Foster normally looked. Giving the character a chance to show the audiences how her appearances and character changed as the movie progressed.

Foster’s character made me think twice about walking into a dark alley. In normal times dark alleys of any city are usually places one should avoid; especially alone. Here it proved that there’s still no reason to go into a dark alley with more than one of you. The best option was still to find another way to your destination.

Simply it was a movie about getting even and revenge, and the consequences of these actions and how such actions will change one.

Although, the plot was quite straight forward and did not have any of the twists and turns I normally liked in a movie. I still gave it a 4 Penguin rating for Foster’s performance.

Rating Legend:
5Stars Not to be missed
4Stars Wait for the DVD
3Stars Buy from iTunes Store
2Stars Rent it if you can
1Stars Waste your time elsewhere
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Movie Review: The Bourne Ultimatum

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My Rating: 4Stars

This evening I saw the movie “The Bourne Ultimatum” at UA Cinema, Time Square, Causeway Bay.

This is now the sixth movie in the row that I was very happy to give my 4 Penguins or above rating. Hopefully sign of even better movies to come. Although, the Summer blockbusters are almost ending.

I was a bit skeptical entering the movie, whether this 3rd edition of the franchise can live up to the typical Bourne action and plot twists. I was presently surprised.

One thing I will advise, like all the James Bond movies, you “DO NOT WANT TO BE LATE” for the one. The action begins 2 minutes into the movie and did not stop.

At times there was the typical “flash back” which prevented me from giving this movie the “5 Penguins” rating. Although, I do understand the needs to do so, to offer a sense of closure to the Bourne trilogy. Aside from that it has the car chases and action sequences to keep the audiences at the edge of their seats.

Matt Damon, was obviously older in this movie to the point of overweight, which made some of the actions a bit unbelievable.

They did try to develop a hidden back story between the character Jason Bourne and Nicky Parsons (played by Julia Stiles), but did not carry it to fruition. Is this an attempt to give themselves an option to have a 4th version of the franchise? No one will know until that happens.

If you like action, spy, espionage movie, this is definitely not one to miss.

Rating Legend:
5Stars Not to be missed
4Stars Wait for the DVD
3Stars Buy from iTunes Store
2Stars Rent it if you can
1Stars Waste your time elsewhere
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Movie Review: Zodiac

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My Rating: 3Stars

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

After watching the trailer for this movie I was anticipating a movie of intriguing plot with a difference, but fifteen minutes into the movie I realized my assumption was incorrect. The plot does have the twist and turns of a murder mystery, unfortunately this was only evident on the surface.

Much has to do with Jake Gyllenhaal’s acting and his character “Robert Graysmith”. Graysmith is very similar to the obsessive nature of the character, “Anthony Swofford” that Gyllenhaal played in the 2005 movie, Jarhead.

I am now batting 3 for 3 in bad movies. Is it time for me to review my criterions before choosing the next movie to watch?

Rating Legend:
5Stars Not to be missed
4Stars Wait for the DVD
3Stars Buy from iTunes Store
2Stars Rent it if you can
1Stars Waste your time elsewhere
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Movie Review: Fracture

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My Rating: 4Stars

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

Another movie staring Anthony Hopkins. He plays a character similar to his “Dr. Hannibal Lecter” character from the Hannibal series. An intelligent, devious and meticulous character.

The similarity of this movie with the Hannibal series is not a coincident. As the screenplay is again written by Thomas Harris, the author of “Hannibal Rising“, “Red Dragon“, “Hannibal” and “The Silence of the Lambs“.

The surprise for my in this movie; aside from the plot, is the performance of “Ryan Gosling“. He fits the character, “Willy Beachum”, perfectly. Who is a young up and coming prosecutor for the city of Los Angeles.

I cannot say any more about the movie or I will ruin it for you. If you like a crime mystery you will definitely like this movie.

Rating Legend:
5Stars Not to be missed
4Stars Wait for the DVD
3Stars Buy from iTunes Store
2Stars Rent it if you can
1Stars Waste your time elsewhere
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Movie Review: Shooter

Poster
My Rating: 3Stars

This evening I saw the movie “Shooter” at JP Theater, Causeway Bay.

It has the style of “The Bourne Identity” franchise staring Matt Damon.

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Even the poster used in Hong Kong theaters had the Bourne Identity feel.

The Bourne Identity resemblance was not the reason I gave it 3 penguins. The acting was amateurish, the story was weak. There were many areas that were not believable.

Danny Glover of Lethal Weapon fame had some sort of lisp every time he spoke. Aside from him many of the actors’ dialogs were hard to understand. Making me want to seek the Chinese subtitles for clarification. Unfortunately, I cannot read Chinese well enough, so I missed most of the dialogs in the movie, causing me to guess what was going on based on the action.

If it was not for the mediocre entertainment value I would have given it 2 penguins.

Rating Legend:
5Stars Not to be missed
4Stars Wait for the DVD
3Stars Buy from iTunes Store
2Stars Rent it if you can
1Stars Waste your time elsewhere