Knight & Day

Let me just start by saying Tom Cruise is the man! He's only thing keeping you interested to the end. Which sucks, because its hard to fully enjoy any movie where one person has to carry the show on their shoulders.

The plot makes little to no sense, but you roll with it for the first bit anyways. Roy Miller aka Matt Knight (Tom Cruise) is a CIA secret agent who was assigned to guard a brilliant young scientist with another agent. But the other agent planned to steal the technology and sell it to the bad guys. All this actually happens off screen, but Knight fills us in. He uses June havens (Cameron Diaz) as a mule at the airport to bring the "zephyr" (the technology) through customs, but she has no idea she's being used. The CIA then puts June on a plane with Knight where they plan to kill him and retrieve the "zephyr". In an amazing opening sequence Knight kills everyone on board (all bad guys), crash lands the plane, drugs June, and then disappears.

In another off screen set up he drops her at home and leaves her several notes for instructions. There are very few plot twists you don't already see coming, and dialogue that was meant to be funny but wasn't. What you end with is a very predictable but fun story that definitely runs too long, and with the wrong actress along side Cruise.

If you're going into this as pumped as I was after seeing the trailers. I'd lower your expectations some. Cruise delivers everything you'd expect from him in a role we almost always see him in. Diaz on the other hand was terrible for the first half or more of the film. It's not until the third act that she actually seems to show up ready to act. Another disappointment was Peter Sarsgaard, who normally I would  praise his acting, but in this scenario he seemed to have just phoned in his performance as well.

The other big down fall for Knight and Day is the Score. It doesn't at all follow the plot very well, and in no way resembles anything you heard in the trailer. The adrenaline pumped up tempo music we hear through out the trailer during action sequences in nowhere to be found. The action sequences themselves were actually pretty awesome, but the story felt like it was dragged on 20 minutes too long.

For a generic and predictable plot Tom Cruise gives you a few things to enjoy. But its not nearly enough to ignore the other weak performances or plot holes. I'm sure Cruise fanatics, if there's any left will love this no matter what me or anyone else tells them. The general audience on the other hand is not likely to pass word of mouth on nearly as much as the studio would hope for.

I'm giving Knight and Day an overall 6/10

A Team (2010)

The A Team is based on the popular 80's TV series of the same. But for those of you who haven't seen the show. The premise is about four American military rangers screwed over by their own government, and then forced into exile after they help one another escape from various maximum security prisons around the world. They then seek revenge, naturally, on the bastards specifically responsible for ruining their reputations.

Liam Neeson leads the group, Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith a seasoned war vet who always has a plan. Bradley Cooper is the smooth talking ladies man lieutenant Templeton “Face” Peck, yes that's really his name. Sharlto Copley is the hilarious Looney tunes Captain H.M. Murdock, a pilot that can fly anything... even a tank. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson takes on the role of B.A. Baracus from Mr T best known for the role, and his catch phrase "I pity the fool". The acting from the main cast was on par with the story. The dialogue was almost always cheesy, but it worked nicely coming this group of actors.

The first 15 minutes are used to quickly establish somewhat of an origin for the team, and how they came to know one another and work together. Once we get that out of the way let the cheese and senseless action begin. After being set up by their own government upon completion of a covert operation they were ordered to do. They are sent to different maximum security prisons throughout the world. Not to worry the the same guys that put them in their will oddly enough be helping them to break out.

The plot revolves around a scandal within the CIA involving US currency printing plates, and the General believed to have ordered the mission to retrieve them from Saddam Hussein. After escaping from prison they set out to find the corrupt CIA operative that screwed them over, but they're also being chased by the Department of Defense as Federal Fugitives.

The story sounds simple and even generic when described, but with out spoiling anything for anyone The A Team is always two steps ahead of everyone else. The clever plan executed in the climax, and the action leading up to it were actually very impressive.

The action scenes, and there were plenty, were fun. The scene where they attempt to fly a tank after dropping from the plane they were in that blew up was great. But not nearly the best sequence of the film. The Spider-Man franchise could learn a thing or two from them about a falling action scene, you'll know what I mean when you see it.

Even with all the cheesy dialogue and plot holes The A Team was a really fun popcorn flick.

I'm giving it an overall 6.5/10

Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time

If you haven’t played the video game and or you’re not familiar with the story, much like I wasn’t, Prince of Persia is about Dastan a street kid( Jake Gylenhaal)  in the Persian Empire in the sixth century. After showing that he’s got some balls in the Market place, the king who just happens to be hanging out there decides to adopt him as his son. Dastan grows up as part of the royal family with no royal blood and no eye for the throne.

The plot somewhat borrows from current world issues like the war in Iraq. Fifteen years after being adopted by the king Dastan and his brothers lead the Persian army in an attack on the sacred city of Alamut, under the assumption that the city's people are selling weapons to their enemies, as they’re told by Nizam (Ben kingsley) the King's brother and adviser, who also happens to wear eye liner for some reason.

During the attack Dastan kills one of Princess Tamina's (Gemma Arterton) guards who was in the possession of the mythical Dagger of Time. The dagger gives its owner the ability to go back in time for one minute, so that the user can try to correct any mistake or redo any moment.

While the Persians are celebrating their success, Dastan is fooled into offering a gift to his father which happened to be poisoned, and kills him. Dastan is seen as the perpetrator of his father's murder, so He escapes the castle with Princess Tamina, and goes on the run. While running from his own brothers with her he realizes the power of the dagger, and surprise falls in love with Tamina who is also the guardian of the dagger.

Prince of Persia was a fun story and an entertaining flick to watch, but not any more mind blowing then any other Jerry Bruckheimer film packed with explosions, CGI, ridiculous fight scenes, and an abundance of male actors wearing eye liner.

What didn’t really work for me was the lack of actual Middle Eastern actors aside from the extras, and the fact that everyone spoke with an English accent as opposed to Persian, go figure. I’m not suggesting they should have spoken Farsi or had subtitles because it would have obviously made the film less accessible to the general audience, but the English accent was definitely out of place and un-needed.

The acting for the most part was good. Not Gylenhaal’s best performance to date, but far from his worst. As far as video game adaption’s go Prince of Persia stands much higher than most. I don’t doubt that Disney would love for this to develop into a franchise much Like Pirates of The Caribbean, but I doubt that will actually happen.

One last thing, the run time came in under two hours, but still felt a little too long. They could have lost at least fifteen minutes without hurting the story, which tended to be repetitive and drag on at times.

I’m giving Prince of Persia an overall 5.5/10

Shrek Forever After

It’s always hard to say goodbye. Especially when you’re saying goodbye to one of your favourite films franchises.

The first Shrek was good, the second was great and the third was very “meh”, with this fourth and supposedly final chapter they’ve out done their most recent predecessor, but fall short of the greatness from the second. That’s not to say that Shrek Forever After was a failure, but you’re still sad to see the characters go.

Things have changed a lot since we last saw Shrek, he now has three kids, he’s married, and pretty well hates his routine life as a “family man”. While at the fairy tale version of Chuck-E-Cheeses, Shrek has a nervous breakdown, than erupts on the guests of his kids’ birthday party. After he storms out and then takes off he meets Rumpelstiltskin, who dupes him into signing a dubious contract, then sends him to an alternate reality where he hasn't rescued Fiona, or met any of his friends, and Rumpelstiltskin is king of Far Far away.

The only way for Shrek to return everything to normal, is to have one true love kiss with Fiona. The only problem with this is, Fiona doesn’t love him anymore, because she has no idea who he is, and he wasn’t there to rescue her from the tower. Shrek enlists the help of Donkey (Eddie Murphy) who has no idea who Shrek is and is reluctant to help. Puss and Boots has put on an enormous amount of weight and lives with Fiona and the “Ogre Resistance” she now leads.

The most fun in Shrek 4 is being re-introduced to the core characters all over again. In the alternate reality none of them have met one another yet, and their paths are entirely different. The only person who knows how things should actually be is Shrek.

There are a few new characters brought in, aside from the obviously new bad guy Rumpelstiltskin, but very little is done in introducing them.

The jokes and subtle adult humor that made the first three appeal to all ages, and made up most of the plot, are almost entirely gone aside from one Vagina and one racist joke.

The animation, even the 3D was done extremely well. The 3D is so good that at times it takes you completely out of the story, and becomes somewhat distracting, but even still it overall adds to the quality and enjoyment of the film as a whole.

My one complaint if I can even call it that would be the story ending so quickly. This is not at all due to the pacing, but just the length of the movie being so short. I guess we can blame the short attention spans of today’s youth for that.

I’m giving Shrek Forever After an overall 7/10

Robin Hood (2010)

If you’re not entirely familiar with Robin Hood’s origin, He is a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor," assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men."

This new “re-imagining” of the character by Director Ridley Scott, is not the Robin Hood you might be expecting. He doesn’t wear green tights and a dorky hat, and he’s not friends with Morgan Freeman either.  He’s actually grounded somewhat in England’s history, like most King Arthur tales.

The story is more of a prequel to the Robin Hood folklore you’d expect. Set in early 13^th century England, it’s really a big jumble of History mixed in with Robin Hood folklore, and Scott’s interpretation of the character.

Russell Crowe plays Robin Longstride a working class commoner, and archer riding home with King Richard the Lionheart from the third crusade, but Robin is accused of disloyalty and escapes only after Richards Death. Richard is killed at The Château de Chalus-Chabrol a castle in France (famous in history for Richards death from a crossbow wound while besieging the castle). Robin along with three other men head back to England on their own, but not before interfering with the attempted theft of the Crown by Two faced villain Sir Norman Godfrey (Mark Strong), who is working with the French and the English.

Robin poses as Sir Robert Loxley the man entrusted with Richard’s crown, and while he is dying promises him he’ll return his sword to his father in Nottingham. This is where he meets the real Rob Loxley’s widow, Lady Marion of Loxley (Cate Blanchett).

Robert Loxley (Robin) is chosen to inform the Royal family of the Kings death and witnesses the crowning of King John, Richards brother.  Robin is witness to the injustice of the church and King John’s taxes being enforced on the people, in order to build his army.

Sir Godfrey uses this Royal position to stir things up and in turn cause a Civil War in England. This is when the Northern barons demand King John sign a charter of rights (Magna Carta), which he agrees to after realizing Godfrey is playing both sides of the fence.

The formation of the Magna Carta also serves as an interesting plot point. The Magna Carta if you’re not familiar is the charter put in place to keep the king in check within the law, it guaranteed civil liberty for freemen by limiting the power of the king.

It’s not until after the climax that Robin is revealed not to be Sir Loxley, and declared an outlaw by king John who also now refuses to sign the charter. Robin then moves to Sherwood Forest and forms the “Merry Men”, at which time he is referred to as Robin of the Hood, or Robin Hood.

Ridley Scott is great at putting together stunning action sequences, and finding a way to include them in the story, but with Robin Hood you get amazing action with real history mixed in. It works to some degree, but it also takes you out of the story, and makes it feel somewhat convoluted. Also there isn’t nearly as much action as your lead to believe from the trailers.

If you’re not familiar with England’s history, or you prefer a different interpretation of Robin Hood set in more jolly old merry fun, this may not be for you.

This new take on Robin Hood is more along the lines of Gladiator meets Kingdom of Heaven, or Maximus goes medieval mostly due to Crowe’s intense over acting.

I’m giving Robin Hood an overall 8/10