I suppose we should include MAN ON A LEDGE on a short list of film titles that succinctly state the plot of a movie, as in SNAKES ON A PLANE. Ah, but like that Jackson thriller, there’s a big, back story to support that title. Snakes don’t just hop aboard flights. And fellsa don’t just go out the window of a high-rise without a reason. These films would also be modern-day “B” films ( the second, lower-budgeted half of double feature bills in Hollywood’s Golden Age ). But to be more precise I would second Entertainment Weekly’s term ” January B movie “. Not quite up to the A-list Summer or Christmas-time blockbusters or prestige films. Now many of the cast have been in the recent spectacles and box office hits, so this also harkens back to the multi-star epics ( best known by the disaster flicks of the 70′s ). I mean look at those little head shots at the bottom of the poster! I don’t mean to knock this by using the “B” movie terms. Many of those filler films turned out to be little gems and propelled their actors and film makers. Will we be looking back with affection at MAN ON A LEDGE in a few years?

The movie opens with our hero Nick Cassidy ( Sam Worthington ) checking into a fancy Big Apple hotel. After some room service he opens up the window and steps out. But he’s not threatening a swan dive onto the concrete because of depression over a failed romance or personal problems ( the subject of many an hour dramatic police TV show-and a few sitcoms ). Now, I don’t want to give away anything that’s not in the trailers or commercials, but here’s a SPOILER ALERT just to be safe. Nick’s on the run and hopes to clear his name with his high-rise stunt. He also wants to be a distraction from the break-in happening in a nearby building. He’s asks for a specific police negotiator, Lynda Mercer ( Elizabeth Banks ), who he believes maybe sympathetic. As the clock ticks on, the jumper plot and the big heist converge as all of NYC seems to stand still and watch the proceedings ( lot of folks taking long lunches there ). Can the good guys triumph? SPOILER END!

Director Asger Leth makes great use of the New York City locations, especially the blocks around the hotel. All the stuff on the ledge looks real-almost as Vertigo inducing as the big skyscraper stunts in MISSION IMPOSSIBLE : GHOST PROTOCOL. Can’t detect any green screen here. Worthington has a great nervous desperation as he tries to juggle ten different things in his mind while trying not to lose his footing. He’s got a plan, but he has to improvise quickly. Banks goes from cynicism to a reluctant believer in Nick’s plight. She’s always a strong screen presence although in her first scene she doesn’t really look like a hangover sufferer ( she looks like she’s ready for a cover photo shoot ). Jamie Bell is terrific as the novice break-in man while Genesis Rodriguez is his burglary partner/ girlfriend/ eye-candy. The many shots of her in skin-tight jumpsuits and eventually just under garments seem gratuitous in the least ( she is quite a stunner, though ). C’mon film makers, you don’t need to spice things up so obviously. Anthony Mackie has little to do as Nick’s old buddy while Ed Harris does what he can as your typical evil business guy. If he had a mustache, he’d be twirling it as he lights his massive cigar ( it’s like a less subtle Chris Cooper in THE MUPPETS ). Kyra Sedgwick mingles with crowd ( they’re the old commenting Greek chorus ), watching the high-rise action as an ethnic local TV news reporter ( Suzie Morales? ) and Ed Burns has little to do other than grimace and grumble as the first cop called to the hotel room. Everything moves at a fairly brisk clip, as several plot holes are raced over. I was, unfortunately, tipped off a few times by the casting of familiar faces in small roles. I tried to be forgiving until the last few minutes as the film veering into cartoon-like lunacy. I had to stifle ” Aw, Puh-lease!” under my breath the last big action sequence. The script could’ve used a few more passes, but the cast is strong and the stunts are engaging. If you need to get out of Winter’s chill, then there are certainly worst ways to spend two hours in a warm multiplex. It’s a shame that it’s nothing that will really stick with you.

Overall Rating : Three Out of Five Stars

Everybody loves a good action film, right? But, what happens when a filmmaker more known for art house films takes a stab at a more mainstream Hollywood genre? Steven Soderbergh is, if nothing else, a highly curious, even enigmatic filmmaker. The same creative vision that came up with films such as SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE (1989) and SCHIZOPOLIS (1996) also created the OCEANS ELEVEN through THIRTEEN films. In between were some great films that fall somewhere between art house and mainstream, like THE LIMEY (1999), CHE: Parts 1 & 2 (2008) and the recently disturbing CONTAGION (2011).

Soderbergh’s newest undertaking is called HAYWIRE, an action-thriller written by Lem Dobbs, who also wrote THE LIMEY and DARK CITY. The film follows a young female former marine named Mallory, played by Gina Carano. While working in Barcelona for a private firm, a rescue mission goes terribly wrong and Mallory finds herself on the run from both her employers and the law as she attempts to uncover the truth of what happened and clears her name. Her immediate boss and ultimate threat is Kenneth, played by Ewan McGregor, who has an oddly youthful and off-putting charm about him in this film. The opening scene of HAYWIRE somewhat sets the mood for the film, as Mallory is sitting quietly in a café when her former teammate Aaron, played by Channing Tatum, shows up and they confront each other, revealing that HAYWIRE isn’t going to pull any punches, but it’s going to address the audience on it’s own terms.

HAYWIRE is not unlike so many other films of the genre, most notably the BOURNE trilogy, whereas a highly trained agent goes rogue after being framed and must fight his way back to freedom. The difference between that franchise and this film, however, is in its state of mind. The Bourne films were rugged, frantic and jarring, whereas HAYWIRE has a sort of poetic rhythm, a sort of jazzy cool cat ease to the way the film flows. The score, composed by David Holmes, is highly influenced by and contributes greatly to the spontaneously freeform feel of the film, which slows and mellows during the dramatic dialogue-driven scenes and then ramps itself up for the action sequences.

One of the best parts of HAYWIRE are the fights, not merely for the fights themselves, but for the intensely kinetic, superbly choreographed ballet of combat dynamics that these scenes present to an audience not normally accustomed to realistic technique. Whereas similar films have Jason Bourne fighting in a blurred, nearly incomprehensible frenzy, HAYWIRE puts the fight on display, front and center. The success of this is due in great part to Gina Carano, a professional fighter turned actress with a Muay Thai record of 12-1-1 and a mixed martial arts record of 7-1-0. Yeah, this is one attractive and highly dangerous person in real life, so imagine how she stands out on-screen.

HAYWIRE also benefits, perhaps controversially, from the cinematography, which is provided by Peter Andrews. For those of you less familiar with the filmmaker’s history and tendencies, Peter Andrews is actually Steven Soderbergh, who often serves as his own director of photography, a relatively uncommon thing amongst Hollywood films. Soderbergh has a subtle experimental eye for shooting his scenes, often going with alternative choices in angle and composition that sometimes challenge the viewer’s sense of what should be expected.

HAYWIRE actually surprised me with its unconventional flair, complete with a quality performance from Gina Carano and an original twist on the genre, something we last had with Joe Wright’s HANNA (2011). In addition to all of this, Steven Soderbergh uses his status to fill out the supporting cast with Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas, Bill Paxton and Michael Fassbender, with whom Gina Carana shares an intimately brutal scene.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

It’s been over twenty years since Al Pacino as Michael Corleone uttered, “Just when I thought I was out… they pull me back in! “in THE GODFATHER PART III, but this bit of plot motivation is still a major device in most action/crime thrillers for the lead character. In the new film CONTRABAND, the guy who thinks he’s out of the life is Chris Faraday played by an actor who had a few run-ins with the law during his teen years, Mark Wahlberg. Chris had a reputation as an expert smuggler many years ago (he brags about being able to bring in a pricey sports car), but now he’s legit with a home security business, a beautiful wife, Kate (Kate Beckinsale) and two adorable young sons down in New Orleans. Uh-oh, it seems that Kate’s nere’do well kid brother Andy (Caleb Landry Jones) has decided to enter the smuggling game.

Unfortunately, he’s not as good as his brother-in-law. He’s part of the crew on a ship that’s boarded by custom authorities (they even lower down drug-sniffing dogs from a helicopter) and Andy tosses his backpack filled with cocaine over the railing into the sea. The violent, lowlife drug dealer Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi) who hired him is not so understanding once Andy and his partner are on dry land. He rams their car with his truck. Andy survives the attack and tells Chris what happened. Chris tries to cut a deal with Briggs, who insists that he be reimbursed for his lost revenue (700 grand!) otherwise the debt falls to Chris and his family.

Chris has no choice, but to go for one last big score. He contacts another runner who’s gone legit, his old pal Sebastian (Ben Foster) who suggests making a drug run to Panama. But like the Corleones, Chris wants nothing to do with that “dirty business” and hatches a plan to bring in several loads of counterfeit cash. Thanks to Sebastian’s connections Chris becomes a crew member on a cargo ship headed south (several pals are already planted on board to help along with Andy). Once they reach Panama, Andy and a couple of guys will dash over in a van, collect the funny money, and be back in an hour when the ship’s ready to leave the dock. In and out! No problems, right?! If you think that’s the case then you don’t know your movie crime capers! And of course, that mad dog Briggs and his thugs are bearing down on Sebastian and the Faraday family back in the states. Talk about getting pulled back in (and pulled in several directions)!

The world of smuggling makes an interesting new venue for the crime thriller. It’s a nice change from the bank vault or museum break-in. Unfortunately the film makes too many side trips and cuts back and forth from the Big Easy to the big ship, so the forward momentum can’t gain any speed. It’s fun to see Chris stay one step ahead of the ship’s captain (JK Simmons in full surly, grumpy J. Jonah Jamieson-mode), but quickly we’re back watching Briggs hovering near a kids soccer game. In Panama Chris and his pal are recruited by a wild-eyed crime kingpin (an under-used Diego Luna) in an armored car hit (how long before the ship leaves?). The actors do their best with this disjointed thriller.

Wahlberg commands the screen as a good man forced to do bad things (but no drug running!) who tries to survive using his skills and street smarts. You can almost hear the gears in his head grinding as he has to come up with a new escape idea. Beckinsale’s always a lovely screen presence, but she spends way too much time here being bounced around like a rag doll by the different lowlifes. Speaking of lowlifes,  Ribisi seems to be doing a riff on the growly, grizzled  creep he just played in RUM DIARY. I hope in his next role he gets to clear his throat and clean up a bit. Foster’s Sebastian may be the most complex of the bunch. He’s given up booze and crime, but seems to miss the old thrills. Ben Foster really show us this guy’s inner conflict. It’s another interesting performance by an actor who’s compiling an impressive resume. It’s just a shame they aren’t all involving ain a better thought thriller. The film’s final action climax (there’s at least two or three) is right from THE PERILS OF PAULINE. As a cinema crime caper CONTRABAND doesn’t quite deliver (or smuggle) all the goods

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Studying and researching movies over the years I’ve come across an expression, ” A monster movie is only as good as its monster”. Well, I’d add that the fear level you have while watching said flick really depends on how fearsome the monster is. Well the beasties in THE DARKEST HOUR rank right up there with the walking carpet of the Grade- Z classic THE CREEPING TERROR. And I do mean rank. They’re floating balls of yellow light. Yup. Hence the darkness in the title ( they’re easier to see at night ). These energy balls may be pretty, but they’re deadly. Get too close and they’ll shoot out a neon-like lasso, pull you close, and smash your atoms ( disintegrate you into a clod of powder ). They’re relentless all right, just not that visually interesting ( they’re certainly no competition for the Predator, and H.R. Gieger’s Alien ). And 3D doesn’t make them any more frightening than a really aggressive swarm of lightning bugs.

The film at least has an interesting background for all the mayhem : Moscow. Things start out with two hotshot internet dudes ( Emile Hirsch and Max Minghella ) flying in to meet the investors in their great ” social network/hook-up while globetrotting ” website. But, man, their Russian connection dude has totally ripped them off. At least they meet up with two vacationing babes ( American Olivia Thirlby and Brit Rachael Taylor ) at a swinging nite spot. Then the power shuts down and the sky lights up in waves of yellow and orange. Then the yellow glowing orbs ( thousands of them! ) float to the ground and turn everybody to chalky dust. Except our heroes and their new gal pals. Oh, and that dude that stole the website!. After leaving the safety of the bar’s storage room ( ran out of food ) they try to hide during the day and scurry around the deserted streets at night in search of supplies, other survivors, and information.

And that pretty much sums it up. Lots of hiding, arguing, and running about. Very much like SKYLINE and CLOVERFIELD. It’s attractive young actors scurrying about ( and having to wear lightbulbs as necklaces to warn them of the aliens ). I’ve enjoyed the work of Hirsch, Minghella, and Thirlby, but here they’re fighting a script that renders the male characters mostly obnoxious and the women shrill. The Moscow settings are interesting as are the local actors ( could’ve used the subtitles for some of their lines in English ) and at least it was shot in 3D. The main problem ( besides the space glow balls ) is that we’ve seen so much of it done better ( the deserted city in I AM LEGEND for example ). Perhaps this is why it was released on Christmas Day ( it’s not Oscar-bait like the other flicks opening that day ). If you’re looking for a good Russian travelogue the opening scenes of MISSION IMPOSSIBLE : GHOST PROTOCOL are a much better time at the cinema. Okay you three stars, hope you movie on from this tiresome, uninspired effort and treat us to much better works.

Overall Rating : One Out of Five Stars

Mystery fans rejoice, the world’s greatest detective returns in SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS, to be referred to as AGOS from here out. Guy Ritchie returns to direct the sequel to his 2009 reimagining of the eccentric, yet brilliant master sleuth. Robert Downey, Jr. (RDJ) returns as Holmes, along with Jude Law as Doctor James Watson. This film also offers the arrival of Swedish actress Noomi Rapace (from the original THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO) in a major Hollywood film, as the gypsy Madame Simza Heron.

Holmes is up to his normal shenanigans, but this time he’s obsessed with what he calls the greatest case of his career, or even of all time, in his words. The problem, however, is that Holmes is working alone. Watson is about to get married, but Holmes isn’t about to let that stand in his way, managing to unintentionally involve Doc Watson in his deadly pursuit of a genius evil mastermind by way of biting off more than he may be able to chew. Also assisting Holmes this time around, but in a smaller role and with comedic flair, is Stephen Fry (V FOR VENDETTA) as Holmes’ brother Mycroft.

AGOS sees the emergence of Professor Moriarty, played rivetingly by Jared Harris, an incredibly smart and dangerous foe to rival the wits of Holmes himself. The two engage in a battle of the minds, a sort of game to determine who is superior, but a game that has the lives of many, even world peace at stake. Moriarty’s plans are merely a business venture to him, but to Holmes this is a test of his own ability, proving to be his most challenging and deadly investigation.

For fans of the first SHERLOCK HOLMES (2009), expect more of the same from RDJ, cunning and clever, witty and ill-mannered, obnoxious and reckless. With Ritchie once again behind the helm, AGOS also maintains the use of the slow-motion, or “bullet time” effects photography that allows incredible detail during epic action sequences. As before, this technique works wonderfully for the hand to hand fights, illustrating how Holmes preconceives his every move before the fight even begins. However, as spectacular as one massive scene involving Holmes, Watson and Heron fleeing an arsenal of massive guns may be, the technique is used to a point of being stretched too thin. The result is a dampening of the initially induced awe.

Aside from the slight overuse of the slow-motion tactics, AGOS involves some truly exhilarating action sequences. Hans Zimmer’s score is nothing short of a damn good time, energetic and highly appropriate, but the pacing of the film as a whole is not quite as finely tuned as in Ritchie’s 2009 film. There’s plenty of fun to be had with this second adventure, but the 129-minute sequel feels significantly longer than the 128-minute SHERLOCK HOLMES that rebooted the franchise.

Guy Ritchie continues to prove his knack from combining comedy and action, a talent Brett Ratner could only dream to accomplish on this level. Holmes and Moriarty are something like a superhero and his arch-nemesis super villain, whose quarrel with determine the fate of the world. AGOS is as much a battle of intellects as it is a physical battle, as the two characters try and gain the tactical edge throughout the film, much like the symbolic chess match they undertake in the final act of the film.

I found myself thoroughly entertained by SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS, despite the slower pacing. Unfortunately, the only real complaint I have about the film is the ending, which feels a bit too much like a Hail Mary, last resort effort to wrap up the final battle while setting up a twist to follow. The ending is absurd as it plays out, requiring more than it’s fair share of demand on the viewer’s suspension of disbelief, even for a popcorn movie such as this. Regardless of the faltering finale, SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS is well worth seeing for the fun factor on a Friday night.

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

In many ways, Takeshi Kitano is perhaps as close to a one man machine as you will find in the filmmaking business. As is generally the case with most of his films, Kitano wrote, edited directed and starred in his latest film to hit the United States called OUTRAGE (2010). Once again, Kitano delves into a story centered on the Yakuza life. As is often, but not always the case, OUTRAGE contains more than a fair share of violence bordering on gratuitous, but relevant given Kitano’s ideology of showing the Yakuza in the extreme light and ironic nature that he often does with his storytelling.

Kitano, credited under the fitting pseudonym of “Beat” Takeshi, plays Otomo, an experienced Yakuza enforcer with an implied history as a boxer. The boss of the head family, known as Mr. Chairman, orders his lieutenant to crack down on the drug trafficking being perpetrated by a lesser branch of the Yakuza gone rogue. The complications quickly arise when Mr. Chairman reveals himself as a ruthless, backstabbing boss that has strayed from the old ways and code of the Yakuza. As they say, the “shit flows downhill” and Otomo ends up being at the bottom where he discovers his years of loyalty have meant nothing.

For the first third to half of OUTRAGE, the plot feels somewhat slow and messy, twisted and fragmented, but be patient and follow along as best you can, as it all comes together in the end. In some respects, this is a typical revenge story, but told in a very atypical fashion. Kitano’s chopping editing and fragmenting of the story serves to accentuate the manufactured chaos being designed by Mr. Chairman, paying off with a multi-faceted string of plot twists in the end.

“Beat” Takeshi is always a joy to watch play a badass. His common tendency is to wash emotion and expression fro his character’s face, resulting in an oddly serene but serious persona that could, in an instant, snap and do some serious damage to the person confronting him. As a filmmaker, Kitano is extraordinarily adept at visualizing his stories through the camera. Composition of frame is one of the key elements that continually draw me to Kitano’s films, meticulously constructing frames of beauty out of the simplest setting, like the art of Zen gardening with shrubs and stones.

One of the most fascinating examples of Kitano’s eye for the camera in OUTRAGE is a shot taken from a high angle over a long stretch of two-lane road. This stretch of road follows the coastline and travels into the distance, disappearing into the top edge of the frame, playing on the horizon perspective, while the angle itself offers a tremendous visual dynamic to an otherwise drab setting. This shot follows one of the most brutal, albeit creative, Yakuza kill scenes, and lingers for a moment.

OUTRAGE is not amongst the best of Kitano’s undertakings, but is certainly worth seeing. One may think his continued source of inspiration in the Yakuza would get dry and overused, but surprisingly, it does not. One element that adds to my enjoyment of OUTRAGE is the uncharacteristically electronic score from Keiichi Suzuki, giving the film a fresh edge. In the end, OUTRAGE is a superficially complex tale of criminal bosses in a power struggle with each other, riddled with deception and hair-trigger violence, but levels out to reveal itself as an ironic twist of fate with a melancholy ending.

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

OUTRAGE opens today in St. Louis at Landmark’s Tivoli Theatre.

I remember first being introduced to Greek mythology in grade school, later delving more into the subject in junior high. I remember being fascinated by the stories, drawn into the lore of the gods and heroes and the fantastic creatures. I still remember bits and pieces of what I discovered in those formative years of endless imagination. However, I will not remember IMMORTALS as being a film worthy of that same lasting admiration.

IMMORTALS tells a story, albeit questionably accurate to its source material, of a peasant named Theseus (Henry Cavill) secretly trained in the fighting arts by a mysterious old man, played by veteran actor John Hurt. When the ruthless King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) invades with his army of evil tyrants, Theseus finds himself thrown under the bus by Zeus (Luke Evans) to lead his people to victory against overwhelmingly impossible odds. With the help of a soldier named Stavros (Stephen Dorff) and the virgin oracle Phaedra (Freida Pinto), Theseus must find a way to defeat Hyperion before he uses a powerful magic weapon to unleash the terrible Titans upon humanity. This is the story, but it lacks any significant depth, character development or the wonderful detail of the mythology I recall from my youth.

Tarsem Singh, without a doubt, is one of the most exciting new filmmakers when it comes to wildly imaginative visual cinema. The problem is that it takes more than merely an eye for amazing imagery. Audiences were first introduced to Singh in 2000 with THE CELL, a film that had audiences visually awestruck but also feeling disappointed in the story and the acting. Six years later, Singh would give us THE FALL and earn back a lot of respect. Unfortunately, IMMORTALS is his third and arguably worst film.

IMMORTALS is a visually stunning film, but not an entirely successful effort. Singh spends far too much time wallowing in his CGI landscapes, implementing several slowly sweeping panoramic vistas from breathtaking heights and distances. This all occurs during a disappointingly dull first two acts, when Singh could have spent his time more efficiently weaving a more engaging and interesting story, before unleashing 95 percent of the action in the third act. The action itself is acceptable, but lacks a certain punch. The best action is in the tighter shots, whereas the broader shots of epic battle get lost in the excessive use of slowed down bullet-time cinematography that is beginning to lose its appeal through Singh’s and Zack Snyder’s unhealthy overuse. The two most impressive bits of action are at the end; when the Gods finally face off with the Titans with awesome, if not somewhat cheesy, comic book style; then when Theseus goes toe-to-toe with King Hyperion, with a higher level of realism and fluidity.

The performances in IMMORTALS are not bad, so much as subject to a mediocre script. Henry Cavill, whom we’ll soon recognize as the new Superman, appeared to be in a constant state of painful constipation that is meant to convey anger and rage. Mickey Rourke will be happy to have the paycheck, because King Hyperion marks what will hopefully be a short-lived hiccup in his recent triumphant comeback. Freida Pinto is absolutely gorgeous, but lacks the mysterious allure I would expect from an oracle, replaced with the draw of a centerfold model. Stephen Dorff is quite simply put, Stephen Dorff.

Finally, and I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for this, IMMORTALS is a 3D film. Despite my general dislike of its very existence, 3D is here to stay for now. The question is always, is it well done? With IMMORTALS, the answer is an echoing hell no! I recall suffering through the CLASH OF THE TITANS remake, which was post-converted to 3D and looked terrible. IMMORTALS is actually shot for 3D, but looks as if it were post-converted. The film appears ever-so-slightly darker than it should, washed out and lacking the amount of depth of field expected from a film intended to be 3D. Rarely does the 3D make its presence unavoidably known, which ideally is what we want, but it also often falls into oblivion and would be easily forgotten, if not for the annoying 3D glasses in constant need of adjustment.

Overall, IMMORTALS is two-thirds snorefest followed by one-third mediocre action flick, riddled throughout with CGI that screams “look at how cool I am!” This isn’t a complete waste of your time and money, but its awfully close, especially if you intend to delve into the mythological core of the material as I had hoped. If forced to choose, I would revisit the CLASH OF THE TITANS remake before a second run at IMMORTALS, and that’s a tough pill to swallow.

Overall Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

MACHINE GUN PREACHER is an unusual entry into the biographical film genre. Like other works this one involves ongoing news events, but it’s unusual nature reflects the title subject. Sam Childers is as a preacher ( or pastor ) of a small church who, unlike other men of faith that embrace pacifism, takes up arms ( like machine guns as in the title ) in order to protect the innocent from evil. These ideological conflicts should leave many film goers with much to discuss after the lights go up at the multiplex.

After a horrific pre-credits sequence set in a remote Sudanese village, the film heads to Pennsylvania to introduce us to Childers ( Gerard Butler) as he is released from jail. It appears that incarceration has not changed his ways. After some reunion sex while parked off the side of the road, he and his wife Lynn ( Michelle Monaghan) return to the trailer park where they’re greeted by their young daughter and his mother-in-law ( Kathy Bates ). Sam and Lynn get into a fiery argument. After joining a local church, she quit her job at a local strip club.Minutes later, Sam kicks open the trailer door and returns to his favorite tavern. There he meets up with his party pal Donnie ( Michael Shannon ) and soon Sam picks up where he left off. The two are boozing, shooting up, and ripping off a local drug dealer. When one of their wild nights almost ends in a fatality, Sam finally decides to change his ways. He joins his wife’s church, starts a construction business, moves the family into a new house, and eventually ends up building his own church. Before branching out on his own, Sam hears a missionary tell of his work in Uganda. Inspired, Sam travels there to use his building skills. During some down time he chooses to visit the Sudan instead a party hot spot. Accompanied by a local soldier, Sam’s horrified by the conditions there. Children march from their village into the town to sleep at night to avoid being kidnapped ( the boys are trained for combat ) by rebel forces. Later Sam walks through a burned out village and sees a boy killed by a land mine. Now Sam has a mission: to build an orphanage school in Sudan. He divides his time over there with his life in the states. He tries to raise funds and keep his family and church going ( he’s become the pastor of his new church ).Childers soon becomes a man of two worlds. In Pennsylvania he fights apathy ( and often hostility ) in getting the money for his overseas church and in Africa he literally battles (packing an arsenal ) alongside a small group of soldiers to protect the children.

In many ways the film itself is of two worlds. We’re shown how a man on the path to Hell can make a detour and become a caring husband and father. And we also see him taking up a noble cause and fighting fire with fire. It’s a spiritual awakening drama and a Rambo-like shoot-em-up. It seems to have a tough time meshing ( particularly in a scene in which Childers preaches that, ” God wants wolves, not sheep!”). It also veers into the controversy which THE HELP has encountered, namely poor, black folks that need to be rescued by a noble white man. Putting the ethical issues aside, the film becomes repetitive. The battle scenes are a loud fury of gunfire, running, and explosions ( lots of rocket-launchers ). It’s at least 25 minutes too long. The actors do their best to make the material work. Butler has taken a much needed brake from “rom-com” hell, but is not completely convincing as this “Pennsylvania hillbilly”. He still seems to be struggling with his accent work. Monaghan and Baker have little to do besides look on with concern at the pre-pastor Sam and smile encouragingly at him later. The real stand out is Shannon’s Donnie who tries to change his ways with Sam, but can’t quite find his way out of the booze and drug fog. I look forward to his next roles. MACHINE GUN PREACHER should be commended for a shining a light on this troubled part of the globe, but it takes a fairly simple approach to the conflict.

Overall rating : Three Out of Five Stars

All right! Who’s up for a good ole’ fashioned disaster movie with a bunch of big time movie stars? I mean one where you can’t swing a cat ( or tainted pig ) without hitting an Oscar winner? Well Steven Soderbergh’s CONTAGION is just the flick for you! True there’s plenty of trophy holders, but this is not your Irwin Allen-style jeopardy movie. No need for fancy special effects with detailed miniatures ( or CGI like 2012 ). This isn’t about a flood, fire,or quake. It’s a disease that’s cutting a swath through the cast. And being a Soderbergh film, the tone is more quiet that the ” cast of thousands ” epics of years past ( kind of like TRAFFIC ) . This may be more of a thinking man’s disaster movie. Instead of climbing and leaping to safety, the people here are having to make moral choices and protect their loved ones while an air of doom surrounds them. The “feel good movie of the year” it ain’t!

The bad times begin with Beth Emhoff’s ( Gwyneth Paltrow ) unfortunate Hong Kong business trip. She returns to the states a sweaty coughing mess. Back at the Minnesota home she shares with her hubby Mitch ( Matt Damon ) and young son, her condition worsens. After she collapses and convulses on the kitchen floor Mitch rushes her to the hospital. Meanwhile reports filter in from Hong Kong. There’s an Internet video of someone convulsing, then dying on a public bus. Soon the Center for Disease Control ( the CDC) in Atlanta springs into action. Dr. Ellis Cheever ( Laurence Fishbourne ) sends Dr. Erin Mears ( Kate Winslet ) to Minnesota. Meanwhile the World Health Organization dispatches Dr. Leonora Orantes ( Marion Cotillard ) to Hong Kong to find patient zero. Scientists at the CDC ( Jennifer Ehle and Demetri Martin ) try to create a vaccine to battle this highly contagious new virus. A popular  blogger Alan Krumwiede ( Jude Law ) takes to his Internet soapbox to warn of government cover-ups and publicize a miracle herbal drug. As the bodies pile up, the citizenry becomes desperate and marshal law is enacted. Will this deadly disease hasten the end of days?

Soderbergh references the paranoia surrounding H1N1 of a few years back in telling this new tale ( he also mentions the great Spanish Flu Epidemic of 1918 ). With the fear of contact we’re also reminded of the early days of AIDS. While some scenes of desperation are harrowing, Soderbergh keeps things moving at a fairly low-key pace. Seems the sun’s never shining in the USA during this crisis. Some of the familiar actors who pop in can be a bit distracting ( There’s Elliot Gould! Look it’s Veronica Mars’s dad! ), though it doesn’t take you out of the fairly grim proceedings ( a few laughs are squeezed in ). The old horror movie trope of the camera lingering on objects works to great effect here. Instead of an axe or cleaver we see objects covered in virus germs ( That bowl of peanuts! The doorknob! ). All the subplots are kept moving and a few characters are revealed to have ulterior motives. Big kudos for the final flashback to the first day of the plague. It’s an interesting and , yes, entertaining exploration of the doomsday scenario. Oops, I’m out of hand sanitiser!

Overall Rating : Four Out of Five Stars

This movie re-enforces the old adage “what goes around comes around.” Or more specifically that it’s always easier to tell the truth than try to keep track of a lie. With John Madden’s (SHAKESPEAARE IN LOVE) new drama/thriller based on an Israeli film from 2007, three people must deal with a ghost form the past that returns to haunt them more than thirty years later. The question becomes whether they can continue  their story and keep the past buried.

The film begins in 1997 at the release party for a book that Sarah Gold has written about the capture of the notorious Nazi Dr. Dieter Vogel (a Dr. Mengale-type) by her mother Rachel Singer (Helen Mirren), father Stephan Gold (Tom Wilkinson), and David Peretz (Ciaran Hinds), all former Mossad agents. A recent tragedy causes the former married couple, Rachel and Stephan, to reflect on the true events that inspired the new book. We then return to East Berlin, 1966, where young Rachel ( Jessica Chastain ) meets with fellow agents Stephan (Marton Csokas) and David (Sam Worthington). Their mission is to capture Vogel, now posing as a gynecologist named Bernhardt, smuggle him into West Berlin, and ship him to Israel where he will stand trial for his war crimes. All three suffered great losses during World War II, and while training become enmeshed in a romantic triangle. After much preparation the day of the capture arrives. And, as they say, “Even the best laid plans…” Can they now retired agents keep their pledge to each other?

For the mid-section of the film set in 1966, THE DEBT is a tense, taut edge0of your-seat thriller that reminded me of another recent film about the Mossad, MUNICH. Chastain (who’s having quite a year with great roles in THE HELP an TREE OF LIFE) shows her chops as an action hero to great effect particularly in the scenes set in Bernhardt’s examining room. Worthington has an effecting, smoldering intensity as the emotionally wounded David. I was impressed by relative screen newcomer Csokas’s cynical, world-weary portrayal of Stephan. The scenes of them dashing through the Berlin streets and hiding at a train station are very suspenseful. My problem with the film is in the return to Israel 1997. Wilkinson and Mirren are in top form as usual, but the sequences of her returning to her spying days are fairly unbelievable (she was much more convincing in the much lighter recent action flick RED). The final scenes at a medical facilities seem laughably ludicrous compared to the earlier 1966 mission set pieces. I would enjoyed the film more if it just concerned that thirty year old tale of dedicated Nazi hunters. Two thirds of THE DEBT is a terrific, first class thriller. It’s a shame the other third isn’t as compelling.

Overall Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

The other day I was thinking the concept of a movie prequel was a fairly new notion. I suppose it was George Lucas who really promoted that idea with his first trilogy in 1999 with STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE. But as I thought about it, movie prequels have been around for a while. Back in the 30′s and 40′s they were made to delve into the backgrounds of historical figures as in YOUNG TOM EDISON and YOUNG MR. LINCOLN. In the early 70′s we had BUTCH AND SUNDANCE : THE EARLY YEARS. The 80′s saw YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES, and INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM ( which technically is a prequel to RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK as it is set a couple of years earlier ). The post Star Wars first trilogy prequels have been used as a way to restart or reboot an aging franchise. In that way CASINO ROYAL was a Bond restart. Sometimes this re-inveigorates the series with fresh blood as J.J. Abrams did with STAR TREK  in 2009. This has been done again with Matthew Vaughn’s X- MEN: FIRST CLASS.   A film series that limped through two lackluster sequels and a spin-off (  X- MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE ) now seems fresh and exciting once again.

The first X- Men movie was set in 2000, so to see how the group was first formed we’ve got to go back to the swingin’ 60′s.  That is after a brief stop in the 1940′s and World War II. The memory of young Erik Lehnsherr being separated from his parents at a Nazi concentration camp in occupied Poland is replayed. This time his gifts are observed by a Nazi scientist. Back in upstate New York young Charles Xavier comes upon his mother making a midnight snack. He sees through the ruse and meets a kindred spirit: the shape shifting Raven ( later Mystique ). Back at the camp the Nazi scientist ( Sebastian Shaw played by Kevin Bacon ) murders Erik’s mother to pressure the young boy into using his talents. The boy’s fury unleashes his mutant magnetism much to Shaw’s delight. Now we leap to the 60′s -1962 to be exact. Charles Xavier ( James McAvoy ) and his adopted sister Raven ( Jennifer Lawrence ) are two star students at Oxford while Erik ( Michael Fassbender ) explores Switzerland and Argentina in his quest for revenge on Shaw. In Las Vegas, CIA agent Moira MacTaggert observes a high ranking US general entering the Hellfire Club ( along with several barely clad female escorts ). Thinking on her feet, Moiria sheds her dress and enters the club as one of the escorts. Inside, the general is taken to a private booth by Emma Frost ( January Jones ). Through a secret entrance they are sent to a private room where Shaw and his two aides Riptide and Azazel greet them. Shaw is paying the general to use his influence to get a missile base in Turkey. Later Moira enlists Charles and Raven in an assault on Shaw’s yacht. There they meet Erik, who is thwarted in his attempt to kill Shaw. Reluctantly Erik agrees to join them in their quest to stop Shaw and his crew. Since Shaw, Frost, Riptide, and Azazel all have mutant abilities, Charles uses a device called Cerebro created by the CIA’sresident genius Hank McCoy ( Nicholas Hoult )  to seek other gifted individuals. Can this young team stop Shaw in his quest for a nuclear nightmare?

Director Vaughn is no stranger to this material ( after helming the comic book-based  KICK-ASS ) and keeps the plot moving at a great clip. The film could use a few minutes trimmed from it’s 2 and a 1/4 hour running time, but it  never seems to slow for too long-unlike some other Summer actioners ( I’m looking at you, Capt. Jack! ). The film makers do a fairly good job of re-creating the look of the 60′s in the sets, fashions, and autos. I have to nit-pick over some of the hairstyles. A Russian general would never have hair over his back collar. Speaking of 60′s fashion, January Jones is no stranger to them as part of TV’s Mad Men. Her Emma Frost is almost Betty Draper with super powers. Scary thought! McAvoy exudes intelligence and even has a bit of fun with the later stodgy Professor X. Love his groovy mutant pick-up line! Michael Fassbender brings a sinister, sexy energy to his future super villain,Magneto. Jennifer Lawrence shows that her WINTER’S BONE performance was the start of a great screen career with her conflicted Raven. My favorite of the original X-Men was the Beast and Hoult really nails his portrait of the clumsy braniac who desperately wants to fit in. I was a bit conflicted over Kevin Bacon. I wasn’t sure if he was right for this ruthless, evil mutant, but he uses his charm to great advantage when wheeling and dealing. I’ll give you a heads up-there’s no post end credits bonus scene on this superhero flick. Oh, and I’ve got to give special kudos to the producers for not giving in to greed and releasing this in 3D. Excelsior! Now I don’t want to spoil any surprises, so I’ll just tell you to hold off on a rest room or snack run when the Cerebro sequence begins. After THOR and this movie, it’s turning out to be a great superhero Summer. I’d say Marvel is two for two, but this film is not produced by Marvel Studios as was THOR, the Iron Man movies, and the upcoming CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER. This a great popcorn picture with a bit of a social message snuck in between the fantastic stunts and effects.

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Here’s the new red-band trailer with Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari and Nick Swardson in Columbia Pictures’ 30 MINUTES OR LESS. (via IGN Movies ) Look for it in theaters August 12, 2011.

Synopsis:

In the action-comedy 30 MINUTES OR LESS, Nick (Jesse Eisenberg) is a small town pizza delivery guy whose mundane life collides with the big plans of two wanna-be criminal masterminds (Danny McBride and Nick Swardson). The duo kidnaps Nick and forces him to rob a bank. With only a few hours to pull off the impossible task, Nick enlists the help of his ex-best friend, Chet (Aziz Ansari). As the clock ticks, the two must deal with the police, hired assassins, flamethrowers, and their own tumultuous relationship.

Directed by Ruben Fleischer (ZOMBIELAND), the screenplay is by Michael Diliberti with the story by Michael Diliberti & Matthew Sullivan. 30 MINUTES OR LESS stars Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari, Nick Swardson, Michael Peña, with Fred Ward.

Visit the film’s official site HERE and “Like” it on Facebook HERE

Check out the photos of Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari and Nick Swardson in Columbia Pictures’ “30 Minutes or Less.” Look for it in theaters August 12, 2011.

Synopsis:

In the action-comedy 30 MINUTES OR LESS, Nick (Jesse Eisenberg) is a small town pizza delivery guy whose mundane life collides with the big plans of two wanna-be criminal masterminds (Danny McBride and Nick Swardson). The duo kidnaps Nick and forces him to rob a bank. With only a few hours to pull off the impossible task, Nick enlists the help of his ex-best friend, Chet (Aziz Ansari). As the clock ticks, the two must deal with the police, hired assassins, flamethrowers, and their own tumultuous relationship.

Directed by Ruben Fleischer (ZOMBIELAND), the screenplay is by Michael Diliberti with the story by Michael Diliberti & Matthew Sullivan. 30 MINUTES OR LESS stars Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari, Nick Swardson, Michael Peña, with Fred Ward.

Even Good Has a Dark Side in this new trailer for PRIEST in 3D - In Theaters May 13th.

Synopsis:

PRIEST, a post-apocalyptic action thriller, is set in an alternate world — one ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampires. The story revolves around a legendary Warrior Priest (Paul Bettany) from the last Vampire War who now lives in obscurity among the other downtrodden human inhabitants in walled-in dystopian cities ruled by the Church. When his niece (Lily Collins) is abducted by a murderous pack of vampires, Priest breaks his sacred vows to venture out on an obsessive quest to find her before they turn her into one of them. He is joined on his crusade by his niece’s boyfriend (Cam Gigandet), a trigger-fingered young wasteland sheriff, and a former Warrior Priestess (Maggie Q) who possesses otherworldly fighting skills.

From Screen Gems, PRIEST will hit theaters in 3D on May 13, 2011. Visit the film’s official website here, on Twitter (@PriestMovie) and on Facebook.

Those darn pesky secret organizations. They always seem to be on the hunt for people or creatures that just want to be left alone. From E.T. and D.A.R.Y.L. to last month’s alien comedy PAUL, they’re constantly barking into communication devices while just steps behind their quarry. This time they’re after what looks to be a normal teenage girl. But in this case looks are very deceiving. The heroine in Joe Wright’s follow-up to his ATONEMENT, HANNA ( played by Saoirse Ronan )  is so much more than normal.

We first meet her as she tracks a moose through the frozen forests of Finland. After an arrow fails to finish off the beast, she follows the wounded animal. Suddenly Hanna’s attacked by a large man. They fight in the snow. After he departs, Hanna pulls out a gun to finish off the moose. She then skins and guts it, and drags the meat back to an isolated cabin deep in the woods. There she’s greeted by the man who attacked her earlier in the day. It is her father Erik ( Eric Bana ). He tests her on her knowledge of countries and cities and has her repeat a false past history for herself. She’s awakened later for an impromptu self defence lesson. He’s training her for what? Later Erik tells her that she is ready to leave when she wants. After he leaves the cabin, Hanna pulls out a case, opens it, and turns a switch which makes a light begin to blink. She looks down at the homing devices and says, ” Find me.” Immediately at an underground surveillance  facility a technician sees the light appear on a screen. He makes the call to a supervisor, Marissa ( Cate Blanchett ) who gives the order for a retrieval. Erik returns, sees the blinking light, and, after telling her that they will reunite, leaves. Later an armed squadron surrounds the cabin. After many of them are killed by the solitary girl, she is taken to the secret underground headquarters. But Hanna cannot be held very long. Soon she escapes through the desert, befriends a vacationing British family, and tries to make her way to Berlin while Marissa and her underlings are in hot pursuit. Will Hanna see her father again?

HANNA has all of the required action stunts of many film chases thrillers, but it has a much more complex back story than most. The many scenes of quiet character study make the bursts of violence very powerful. Wright has a talented cast for this complex, spy chase caper. Ronan’s HANNA is almost a blank slate. All her life has been in training for this, so she’s fascinated when she discovers electric light, plumbing, television, and a typical teenage girl. Bana’s teacher/ father cannot hide his affection for her even as he trains her to become the ultimate assassin. Of course a film like this requires a strong villain and Blanchett’s Marissa is a great villainess. This pursuit has upset her well-ordered life and at one point she takes out her frustrations while going through her intense nightly dental hygiene routine. The only thing that slows down the pace is the scenes with Hanna trying to relate to the normal family on holiday although Olivia Williams is very good as the ex-bohemian mother. Some great location work  around the globe and expert photography  help make  HANNA a superior action film for moviegoers that want something more than car stunts and nonstop explosions.

Overall Rating: Four Out of Five Stars

Apple.com has debuted the first trailer for WARRIOR, which stars Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton and Nick Nolte and is helmed by director Gavin O’Connor (MIRACLE). You can view it here http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/warrior/ or watch it below.

Synopsis:

Two brothers face the fight of a lifetime “and the wreckage of their broken family” within the brutal, high-stakes world of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighting in Lionsgate’s action/drama, WARRIOR.

An ex-Marine haunted by a tragic past, Tommy Conlon (Tom Hardy) returns to hishometown of Pittsburgh and enlists his father, a recovered alcoholic and his former coach, to train him for an MMA tournament awarding the biggest purse in the history of the sport. As Tommy blazes a violent path towards the title prize, his brother, Brendan, (Joel Edgerton) a former MMA fighter unable to make ends meet as a public school teacher, returns to the amateur ring to provide for his family after being suspended from his day job. Even though years have passed, recriminations and betrayals keep Brendan bitterly estranged from both Tommy and his father.

But when Brendan’s unlikely rise as an underdog sets him on a collision course with Tommy, the two brothers must finally confront the forces that tore them apart, all the while waging the most intense, winner-takes-all battle of their lives.

WARRIOR will be hitting theaters on September 9, 2011. Be sure to “Like” WARRIOR on Facebook HERE for more upcoming exclusive content and visit the film’s official site HERE. Follow Lionsgate on Twitter HERE.

Scientists are constantly exploring the wonders of the human brain, particularly the subconscious. One of the discoveries is that in times of extreme trauma the brain can shut down responses to it’s surroundings and can either erase the experience or retreat into an alternate reality. This is one of the main themes of Zack Snyder’s new film SUCKER PUNCH. Unlike his previous movies, this is not a remake ( DAWN OF THE DEAD ) nor an adaptation of a graphic novel ( 300, WATCHMEN ) although much of the imagery here is inspired by other films, TV shows, animation, and comic books. In PUNCH, Synder’s main heroine enters another reality in her mind. And then another reality within that one( similar to the dream levels in INCEPTION ). Once again Snyder uses state of the art effects to create these different worlds.

The film begins after two theatrical curtains lift to reveal a simple bedroom backdrop. Atop the bed, crying, is a young blond woman of 17 or 18 named Baby Doll ( Emily Browning ). A doctor leaves her mother’s bedroom, shaking his head at Baby Doll’s step father. Baby Doll runs to console her kid sister as the sheet is pulled over their mother’s face. Later the step father seethes with anger as he reads the mother’s will. Everything will go to the daughters. Grabbing his bottle of booze, he storms into Baby Doll’s room. Rebuffing his advances, Baby Doll scratches his face, forces him out of her room, and locks the door. Gazing through the keyhole, she sees him lurching toward the locked closet where her kid sister hides. Baby Doll climbs out her bedroom window and scampers across the ledge to the window of the study. Inside she locates the pistol in a desk drawer. Racing down the hallway, she confronts her step father as he kicks in the closet door. She shakily points the gun at him and fires. The bullet whizzes past him and fatally strikes her sister. At the grave site, the stepfather signs the papers committing Baby Doll to a mental institution. After sedating her, they take her into the asylum where the director Blue Jones ( Oscar Isaac ) assures the step father that she will be lobotomized by the visiting doctor who will arrive in five days. Baby Doll is introduced to Dr. Gorski ( Carla Gugino )  who uses the auditorium stage for her therapy sessions. She encourages the inmates to act out their histories. Here Baby Doll’s mind transforms the stage into a nightclub/brothel. The other inmates, Rocket ( Jena Malone ), her sister Sweet Pea ( Abbie Cornish ), Blondie ( Vanessa Hudgins ), and Amber ( Jamie Chung ) are entertainers, Gorski is their choreographer/director/madame and Blue Jones is the club owner/pimp. Jones wants Baby Doll trained and ready for the arrival of the High Roller ( the lobotomist ) in five days. When Gorski instructs her to dance to some music, Baby Doll goes into a trance. Her mind enters a fantasy where she meets the mysterious Wise Man ( Scott Glenn ) . Before using a samurai sword to defeat three hulking shogun warriors, he explains that in order to gain her freedom she will need five things: a map, the key, fire, a knife, and something she will have to discover. She then awakes back on the dance floor. Everyone is astonished at her skills. Later in the dressing room, Baby Doll lays out her plan and tries to unite them as a team. Sweet Pea hesitates, but soon  reluctantly agrees to help. Working together can these ladies gather the items and bust out of the nightclub/bordello before the High Roller arrives? Or should I say- can they escape the hospital before lobotomy day?

The first scenes that set up Baby Doll’s entrance to the mental institution are played out almost as an old silent movie. Snyder uses a dark, greyed down color palette similar to 300. The hospital and the dance hall are both dreary places ( until the gals are entertaining ). The fantasy battle fields are gritty and grimy also. Each time an item is acquired the ladies go into another mission after getting orders from the Wise Man. After Baby Doll’s Asian themed first outing, they are all plunged into a steam punk version of World War I. Later they storm a medieval castle were Orc-like creatures serve a huge fire-breathing dragon and her offspring. Finally they must board a high speed train and stop a pack of faceless androids from detonating a bomb within a futuristic metropolis. These scenarios should be thrilling, but they become terribly repetitive after the first couple. It’s the ladies making impossible leaps while hacking, slashing, and gunning down endless hordes. In the backstage scenes between the mayhem, the woman are saddled with lots of ridiculous, forced dialogue as they alternately argue with and encourage each other.  The characters other than Baby Doll and Sweet Pea are almost interchangeable. Cornish does her best to be the cynical hard case, but her fights with Browning have very little spark. Gugino is saddled with a clunky Polish accent and has little to do besides tapping her cane. Isaac makes Jones a completely hiss-able , irredeemable thug who’s written like a mustache-twirling villain. You may have read that Jon Hamm is in the film. Be warned, Don Draper fans, that his role is almost a cameo. I’ve admired much of Snyder’s work in the past, but the slow motion suddenly becoming fast speed, the wire work, CGI creatures, and swirling, zooming camerawork quickly became tiresome. As the old saying goes, “full of sound and fury signifying nothing”. Still, I’m looking forward to Snyder’s take on the last son of Krypton. We’ll see if he can create characters that are as interesting as his visual imagination. The ending aspires to be a tribute to “girl power”. That deserves to be lauded and explored in something more substantial than this noisy, overdone video game of a movie.

Overall Rating: Three Out of Five Stars

From Summit Entertainment comes this first trailer for THE THREE MUSKETEERS by RESIDENT EVIL director Paul W.S. Anderson.

I’m not opposed to Alexandre Dumas’ swashbuckling tale seeing a face-lift every couple of years, however this seems totally unnecessary. But if you’re gonna do that, you seriously better have an all-star cast…not Orlando Bloom and Milla Jovovich. While I’m a fan of the Michael York, Oliver Reed, Raquel Welch 1973 version by director Richard Lester, my favorite Musketeer movie is MAN IN THE IRON MASK. Now THAT is how you do it…John Malkovich, Jeremy Irons, Leo DiCaprio, Gabriel Byrne and Gérard Depardieu. HUGE, BIG STARS. That movie is awesome…and don’t even get me started on the score by Nick Glennie-Smith.

Synopsis:

The hot-headed young D’Artagnan (Logan Lerman) joins forces with three rogue Musketeers (Matthew MacFadyen, Luke Evans and Ray Stevenson) in this reboot of Alexandre Dumas’ story. They must stop the evil Richlieu (Christoph Waltz) and face off with Buckingham (Orlando Bloom) and the treacherous Milady (Milla Jovovich). The action adventure is given a state of the art update in 3-D.

THE THREE MUSKETEERS will be in theaters October 14, 2011…but I’m guessing it will be more of a rental.

Visit the film’s official site HERE and “Like” it on Facebook HERE.

Source: Apple iTunes

A surly loner jumps behind the wheel of his souped-up hot road, one hand clutching a sawed-off shotgun, the other gripping the wheel, and charges down a lonely desert highway, looking for revenge. This premise has been utilized in many action flicks over the years from Robert Mitchum in THUNDER ROAD to Mel Gibson in the Mad Max trilogy. The steely eyed driver this time is Nicolas Cage-he’s avenging the departed and racing against the clock to save a life. Oh, also the proceedings are shot in eye-popping in your face 3D. Hopefully those glasses will protect us from the gravel.

Prior to the opening title we’re thrust into a fiery landscape down a highway supported by collapsing bridges while an unseen narrator lectures us on prisons ( while liberally dropping  f-bombs ). Suddenly we’re back on Earth as three lowlifes in a pick-up are run down by Milton ( Cage ). He’s able to force some information on a location from one of them before torching their flipped vehicle. After the main title, Milton’s at a roadside diner asking one of the waitresses about this spot the trucker  revealed. It’s all the way down south in Florida, a shuttered prison. He observes another waitress, Piper ( PINEAPPLE EXPRESS’s Amber Heard ) helping out a poor family and quitting after being groped by the sleazy diner owner. On the way home her car overheats.  Milton emerges from the side of the road and fixes it. She gives him a lift into town and drops him off before entering her modest home and finding her fiance with another woman. Piper decks the other woman and vents her anger at her fiance. He knocks her out and is about to disfigure her when Milton returns, flattens the thug, and puts Piper in the car. When she awakes, they are arriving at a sleazy Western honky-tonk bar and motel. Meanwhile a man in a dark suit calling himself the Accountant ( CRASH’s William Fichtner ) arrives at Piper’s home asking about Milton ( just as he had done earlier at the diner ). Flashing an FBI agent’s ID, he enlists two state troopers to help him track down Milton. Back at the bar Piper observes the arrival of Jonah King ( TWILIGHT’s Billy Burke ) and several of his heavily armed associates. A TV news report states that King, the leader of a religious cult, is wanted in the murder of a young couple and the kidnapping of their baby. After surviving and fleeing the ambush Milton finally tells Piper of his mission. While he was in prison his daughter became involved with King’s sect. After rejecting his advances, she escaped, and married a young man who fathered her baby girl. King and his men caught up to them, murdered the couple, and took the child. The cult means to sacrifice the child during a ceremony on the next full moon in order to open a gateway to Hell. Milton has just days to stop the sacrifice and rescue his grand daughter. Can he and Piper make it there in time? Or will they be stopped by the cult members? Or the local law-enforcement agents? Or the Accountant?

DRIVE ANGRY 3D plows ahead will all the subtlety of a charging bull. The makers use the 3D process to point guns into the camera and have all manner of debris hurling toward the viewer during the countless explosions. Thankfully they slow down the action sequences to enhance the in-your-face effects. In the hotel ambush sequence each thug menaces Milton with a different weapon ( ax, machete,etc. ) as he enjoys a cigar, a bottle of whiskey, and a friendly naked barmaid. And all in slo-mo. The main actors are not served well by a script that seems to be marking time in between the action set pieces. Cage grimaces and growls and occasionally throws out a funny one-liner. Heard is a feisty, frisky sidekick who handles herself well in the many fights and escapes. Burke seethes and broods as the arrogant, evil cult leader. David Morse shows up as an old pal, Webster, who supplies them with new wheels and tells Piper of Milton’s history. A bright spot in the brutal action is Fichtner’s Accountant. He’s fast with a verbal put-down and a killing blow. It’s a bit confusing because at times he tries to stop Milton while at other crucial moments he’s helping with the rescue mission. Cars crash and explode, the body count climbs, and the f-bomb is dropped countless times ( not too mention the very gratuitous nudity ). It just seems to get a bit tedious when the main two characters are not that interesting. Too bad one of the three D’s couldn’t have been some depth for the protagonists. The movie does promise action and it delivers.

Overall Rating: Three out of Five Stars

A popular theme of the mystery thriller film genre is the big conspiracy against one man. Sometimes the protagonist has amnesia and battles shadowy forces to find out his identity. Many times those forces are out to convince the authorities that the hero has lost his sanity. The makers of UNKNOWN twist those themes in order to add some variety to this type of action film. What if you woke up and all your loved ones did not recognize you?

As UNKNOWN begins Dr. Martin Harris ( Liam Neeson ) and his wife Elizabeth ( January Jones ) are flying into the Berlin airport. Martin is a prominent American botanist and is scheduled to present an address at an international agricultural summit. After landing, they load their bags into a taxi and head to the hotel. As Elizabeth checks in, Martin realizes that his briefcase was not in the cab. Without telling her, he hops in another taxi driven by Gina ( Diane Kruger ) and races back to the airport. Along the way they are involved in a horrific traffic accident and the taxi plunges off a bridge into an icy river. After pulling Martin out of the sinking car, Gina leaves him to the paramedics. A few days later, Martin wakes up in a hospital. He’s told that Elizabeth has not been in to see him. Against his doctor’s wishes, Martin races back to the hotel and spots her at a reception. With hotel security surrounding him, Martin confronts her. But she does not know him and is joined by her husband Dr. Martin Harris ( Aidan Quinn ) ! Martin #1 has no ID on him ( it was in that darn briefcase ) and is escorted out by security. Has he lost his mind? Maybe if he can find the cab driver and retrieve that case he’ll be able to prove his identity and get his life back. But those shadowy forces are not going to make it that easy for him.

UNKNOWN has a lot of things going for it that elevates it from the usual man on the run thriller. First off is the cast headed by the always interesting Liam Neeson. Here he’s somewhere in-between the tough guy from TAKEN and the cerebral scholar from KINSEY. He really has to use his brain and brawn fending off those conspirators all the while frustrated and sorrowful at the turn his life has taken. He’s got to return things back to normal. January Jones plays another variation of the icy blond that was a staple of Hitchcock film and injects a bit of her Betty Draper Mad Men TV persona. Aidan Quinn plays the second Martin with equal parts bewilderment and cold-bloodiness. Frank Langella sweeps in during the last act as a colleague that may be the real Martin’s salvation. Or is he? Diane Kruger brings great energy to her role as the somewhat, shady, feisty fraulein Gina, who wants nothing to do with Martin at first. The best support is given by veteran German film star Bruno Ganz as private detective Ernst Jurgen who’s an ex-officer of an elite East German secret police force. You might recognize Ganz from his performance as Hitler in DOWNFALL-footage of him ranting has been re-subtitled and purloined by many You Tube posters. He gives the world-weary old detective a quiet dignity and commands the screen in every scene he appears. Another thing going for this film is the Berlin locations. This is a locale we don’t get to see much in current films unlike LA or Toronto. Director Jaume Collet-Serra keeps things movingly along. There’s a couple of well executed car chases through crowded Berlin streets and some brutal hand-to-hand combat sequences. He wrings a lot of suspense from a drugged-up Martin trying to reach for a pair of scissors in one sequence. I wish the script would’ve offered up a few more surprises. I was able to figure out the big plan about a third of the way through. However the film’s strong cast, locations, and pacing set it above the typical crash-crash-explosion actioners that fill up the multiplex. Not anything groundbreaking , but a diverting couple of hours at the movies.

Overall Rating : Three and a Half Out of Five Stars