Movie Review (Fantasy / Action): The Avengers (2012)

The Avengers, the careful (and yes, very careful) culmination of years of planning, multiple blockbusters, hundreds of millions of dollars and loads of patience is finally here, and it does not disappoint. The best comic book adaptation since The Dark Knight in 2008 and arguably the best Marvel Studios movie ever, The Avengers is exciting, funny, visually stimulating and thoroughly entertaining, the very definition of a good summer blockbuster.

Unfortunately, it’s not a good movie blockbuster. It’s actually a great one.

Directed by Joss Whedon, this is the man behind "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "Firefly" and most recently, the critically praised The Cabin in the Woods, who was able to take the best elements from what can best be described as Avengers prequels from Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor and Captain America and developed a rip roaring production that fires up all cylinders from every corner.

Time and money was of the essence. While the films mentioned above were all hits and money makers, some doubted if Whedon could pull off a film that brought together a meshing of reality like Iron Man with supernatural worlds like Thor. 

Doubts were further cast because even the Hulk which was cast and then recast by, first, Eric Bana, and then later by Edward Norton was then re-casted in the Avengers by Mark Ruffalo, who was never a superhero in any film. Jeremy Rener and Scarlett Johansson were already convincing in the past as action figures, so could Ruffalo pull of being Bruce Banner?

As everyone knows by now, he did more than convincingly. Some say he was more of the center of attraction. Puny humans to ever doubt his talents!

He isn't a character that works well on his own, but, set against something bigger, like a team of sorts, the Hulk finally is in the right place. Not only does Mark Ruffalo turn in a great performance as Bruce Banner, but the Hulk shines in the epic climax, overshadowing the rest of the characters.

Amazingly, Whedon found that perfect balance. While Robert Downey Jr., who by far is the biggest actor in the group, definitely plays a central role, Tony Stark is only a cog in the wheel. Each character has a role to play and, impressively, his own arc, which makes him (or her) more interesting. 

The movie has just the right amount of character development, and the character-driven scenes work seamlessly with the creative action sequences that Whedon throws at the audience. Each action sequence is bigger than the last, and increasingly complex and engaging. And if this isn’t enough, the character of Nick Fury should blow your mind.

This is a great blockbuster that you shouldn’t miss to download.

Classic Movie Review (Drama): Gangs of New York (2002)

Gangsof New York is a 2002 historically accurate film (for once) set in the mid-19^th century at the Five Points district of New York City. It generally tells about the racial conflicts between the Irish and other European immigrants versus the poor Americans all living in this poverty and squalor ridden district, including the discrimination against Black African-Americans.

The film is directed by no other than Martin Scorsese. It stars an all-star gathering of Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz, Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson, and John C. Reily.  

Gangsof New York is considered one of the most ambitious films of the first decade. Even if compared to films produced after 2011, it still holds its ground in production design, cinematography, and story structure, being one of the most ambitious for such a historical production. 

The main structural element that sets this movie apart from others is context. Gangs of New York has a massive amount of context. It depicts and compresses all of American history of the 19th century in one film. It does so by setting up a number of powerful dramatic oppositions: American-born vs. immigrants, the powerful vs. the weak, rich vs. poor, Catholic vs. Protestant, tribes and sectionalism vs. government and the rule of law.

So what story is inserted by the writers in all this American history? A young man wanting to take revenge on the man who killed his father in a street brawl when he was still eight. No, this is not the stuff of historical romance like in Titanic or Pearl Harbor. It’s not the stuff of Shakespeare either.

It is a film that supposedly captures a period in American history wherein progressive and fascinating developments were happening so fast in a growing young nation, yet the history books still gloss over events such as these in Five Points in New York.

The revenge factor is actually what holds the story together while events, very historical, are happening around them. The arrival of the Irish immigrants fleeing from the harvest famines abroad, the entry of the US civil war, and the climax at the end using the New York race riots of 1863 are all accurately portrayed amidst the continuing street brawls and skirmishes among rival gangs.

Thematically, the film proves quite interesting as it shifts from one social stage to another, from the era of New York ruled by gangs and government corruption to an era of New York ruled by a nation of laws. There is much about Gangs of New York that is worthwhile, even awe-inspiring.

If you haven’t yet seen Gangs of New York, download it now for free.

Director Ridley Scott and "Prometheus" is Not Out To Scare You Again

In 1979, the film "Alien" defined the science fiction horror genre. For the first time moviegoers watched a horrific monster hatching from humans and killing the rest one at a time. For the first time, moviegoers were treated to a horror film in space, not in a creepy lonely house. 

The success of a previous science fiction film in 1977, Star Wars, epitomized "good versus evil" on a galactic scale. Audiences, though, were drawn to Alien because, rather than watching battles for the balance of galactic power, the crew of the Nostromo battled the Alien Xenomorph for the balance of survival. Alien was more realistic that people could relate to. 

Aliensoon spawned a franchise with three more sequels, the Predator vs. Aliens movies, and hatching more Xenomorphs.

Now, Director Ridley Scott returns to the genre with the prequel "Prometheus." Despite the similarities between the Alien films and Prometheus, Scott deviates from the original.

With Alien, Ridley Scott also launched the iconic character of Ellen Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver.

Ripley was the first female character to tackle a monster on the large screen. The role continued in the 80's and 90's. Alien and its sequels were so groundbreaking that, from then on, women in film no longer cowered before physically superior adversaries.

In Prometheus, the main character is a female again, Elizabeth Shaw, played by Noomi Rapace. In the film, she becomes a survivor, trooper, and warrior out of necessity. Typical Ripley changeover.

In the film, Elizabeth Shaw is an archeologist. During excavations, she finds evidence that humans have been genetically engineered by extraterrestrials. Her findings inspire a mission in search of humanity's creators. They land on the planet where the first Alien film took place.

However, in Prometheus, Ridley Scott does not follow the same pattern as in the previous Alien films. This film stands on its own since it questions the theory of evolution.

However, the film has not been greeted as enthusiastically as was expected, in spite of its great story and special effects.

If you want to watch Prometheus but missed it in theaters, you can download it free. 

Classic Movie Review: Full Metal Jacket (1987; Remastered 2007)

The late 70’s up to the late 80’s saw an influx of Vietnam War films: The Deer Hunter, Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Hamburger Hill, Platoon Leader, and whole company of others. While all of these are classic war films in their own right, FullMetal Jacket comes out somewhat different from the rest.

Coming out in 1987 and being remastered in 2007, the movie is about part of the lives of a group of Marines in a part of the Vietnam War in the late 60’s. Unlike other Vietnam era films shot on location, Full Metal Jacket was shot primarily on stages and outdoor sets in England. What makes the film stand out from the rest is that it starts out with the Marines in training at boot camp, showing the whole brutality of Marine training at its finest. The grunts then graduate and see the reality and horrors of Vietnam.

The film is directed by Stanley Kubrick, who makes every single character deliver into the maximum, no matter how big or small the role is.

Matthew Modine (Memphis Belle, 1990, and Dep. Comm. Peter Foley, The Dark Knight Rises) is Private Joker, a Marine torn between serving his country and wanting to write the truth. Adam Baldwin (John Casey, Chuck) is Animal Mother, a grunt who just wants to kill the enemy. Vincent D’Onofrio (Det. Robert Goren, Law & Order: Criminal Intent), gives a superb role as Gomer Pyle, a somewhat semi-retarded misfit. R. Lee Ermey (police captain, Se7en), probably gives the best role as Sgt. Hartman, the gunnery sergeant who badmouths the grunts from day one.

Some of the best scenes in the film are from Ermey. In the great tradition of drill instructors, he gives great brio and amazing creative obscenity that are now known classic scenes, and earned Ermey a place in the top 100 of all-time movie quotes. The encounter in the head between Pyle and Sgt. Hartman had audiences feeling sad when they had to bid goodbye to both characters.

Kubrick’s aim in the film is not to deliver a straight story like other Vietnam War films, but, to show individual characters and how they reacted to their surroundings. While Kubrick loves to use clichés in the war scenes, such as pinned down Marines, you tend to see the masterpiece of the film by its showing just how an aimless war can be as brutal as one with a real purpose.

Traitor (2008)

Traitor is classified as a spy/terrorist plot and thriller film released in 2008 and directed by Jeff Nachmanoff. The film stars Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, and Jeff Daniels.

Though the film did fairly well in the box office, it did not do well with film critics, something that this writer completely disagrees with.

Jeff Nachmanoff, to his credit, is the writer of The Day After Tomorrow and an upcoming Schwarzenegger action film for 2013, The Last Stand. However, as the critics wrongly mentioned (most film critics don’t even bother to research), Traitor is not Nachmanoff’s directorial debut. He directed The Big Gig and Hollywood Palms before Traitor. After this, he directed four episodes of Homeland.

So, when watching Don Cheadle as Samir Horn on Traitor, expect no less than a fast-paced story with matching action to boot. And the story is not that far-fetched, unlike most post 9/11 Hollywood flicks that smack of nonsensical anti-CIA and government conspiracies. While viewers are trying to figure out whether Sudanese-born Samir is a patriotic American or a devout Muslim with terrorist ties, others like Guy Pierce (FBI agent Roy Clayton), Neil McDonough (FBI agent Max Archer), Said Taghmaoui (Omar), and Jeff Daniels (CIA agent Carter) give really superb acting support to a film that neither sounds anti-Islam nor anti-American.

Another mistake most film critics did was to compare Traitor with The Kingdom and a couple of Jason Bourne films. What’s wrong with this analysis is that the former film is based on a true story about a terrorist bombing in Saudi Arabia, while Jason Bourne is a cold war action flick trilogy, period.

Critics never gave proper attention to the true focus of Traitor’s story, that the threat of terrorists around us is real, and that governments around the world cannot do enough to arrest this threat. The story is unassuming and tightly focused. It covers enough of both sides as well as every possible ideological objection without sounding anti anything.

For every action film enthusiast, Traitor is a must-see film. Download while the seeds are still hot. Perhaps in the end you can figure out Cheadle’s superb character.

The Bank Job (2008)

TheBank Job is a UK film released in 2008 and directed by Roger Donaldson. It stars Richard Lintern, David Suchet, Stephen Campbell Moore, and Saffron Burrows, with the main protagonist superbly portrayed by Jason Statham.

Roger Donaldson is an Australian-New Zealand director already known for his UK based films such as The Bounty (Anthony Hopkins, Mel Gibson) and Smash Palace (Bruno Lawrence). His share of Hollywood notables include The Recruit (Colin Farrell), Dante’s Peak (Pierce Brosnan), and Cocktail (Tom Cruise).

Thus, with this caliber of directorship, it’s no surprise that Bank Job would turn out to be a terrific run-for-your-money bank heist and political conspiracy movie with enough action to keep you at the edge of your desktop. The movie is actually a speculative account of a bank robbery at a Lloyd’s Bank branch on London’s Baker Street back in 1971. Amazingly, not a single bank robber was ever brought to justice, in spite of much overwhelming evidence.

The actual bank heist and the background behind it would seem like something out of a Sherlock Holmes mystery combined with America’s Watergate. However, unlike Watergate, the British government took all pains to squash everything to silence instead of going for justice.

Jason Statham and his men have been conned by an underworld-connected model (Saffron Burrows) – herself being conned by British secret service – to commit an underground tunneling bank heist. The objective is a safety-deposit box containing revealing pictures of a British princess having sex with a pair of black studs in the Caribbean. The pictures are being kept by a notorious black underworld figure for eventual blackmail purposes.

Unfortunately, the successful bank heist turns out more trouble than just the photos, money, and jewelry. Burrows and Statham discover that they also have in their possession an account book owned by a London vice criminal (David Suchet) containing records of bribes to police and politicians. Also in the mix are compromising pictures of civil servants and politicians owned by a known brothel owner.

Thus, the somewhat hapless crooks find themselves pursued – not by the police – but by MI5, British secret service, criminal gangsters, and other hired bogeys, including members of the Royal Family.  From here, the film races with the speed of a rush hour train, with the action sometimes lolling between exciting and bloody. Would you expect any less from a Jason Statham film?

 The Bank Job is a must-see film for enthusiasts of classic movies and action films.