Reviews

Police Story 2013 follows Jackie's character in a Die Hard scenario. A bunch of cage fighting criminals have taken hostages in a fortified building, one of them is JC's daughter and he must find a way to save them all by himself.

The premise itself is pretty interesting but the execution is sloppy. The movie takes forever to begin and spends way too much time on introducing unimportant characters instead of building on Jackie's relationship with his daughter. Then it relies on flashbacks which seems at first as an interesting plot device until you realize that they're there just for show and don't contribute to the plot itself. When finally we discover what the bad guys were after, it seems highly unlikely and ridiculous.

Low production values and lack of action turn this movie into more of a drama, but with Jackie being the only credible actor the result is cringeworthy. This movie, just like last year's CZ 2013 are a sad reminder that Jackie has aged, long gone are the days of crazy stunts and wild fights. Jackie's fights are short, over edited, CGI'd and even it's apparent that he uses stunt doubles. I know that he's not young anymore, but it's apparent that he's still in great shape and could've done a lot more if the crew knew what to do with him.

Overall, an interesting premise that is ruined by a lack of direction and relying too much on cheap tricks as flashbacks, CGI, Slo-Mo and fast cutting. Watch this only if you're a big fan of JC.

This raunchy sex comedy seems to have all the right ingredients: An interesting premise, Chuck was cursed to be the last guy a girl will sleep with before meeting her soul mate what leads to him becoming very popular with the ladies, but what happens when he meets the girl of his dreams and is scared of losing her? A solid leading cast, Dane Cook and Jessica Alba who looks hot as always. And an R rating that has a lot of female nudity and even Dane's cheek shots. What this movie lacks is direction, the talented cast is wasted with a half baked script that goes all over the place, relying on too many clichés while completely forgetting about character development or a coherent plot. The supporting cast is a one dimensional joke, Chuck's friend is a perv with a boob fetish, Cam's (Alba's character) brother is a stoner and that's about all you can say about them, seriously. What's so bad about this movie is that it could have been so much better with a polished script and a more competent director. In the end I'd say it's a waste of time and unless you're looking to see Jessica Alba in underwear, don't bother with this one. **** of of 10

The new Unisol film is a surprisingly fresh take on an old franchise. The tone of the movie is completely different from the previous entries that it's hard to compare to its predecessors.

Our hero, john (Scott Adkins), awakes to find intruders in his home who kill his wife and daughter. After spending several months in a coma John awakes with a memory loss, only remembering the man who murdered his family, Luc Devreux (Van Damme). The storyline then becomes less comprehensive as we tag along John as he tries to piece everything. The main problem is that nothing is answered, the back story remains hidden and the characters motivations are left unexplained. The movie also suffers from bad pacing, the first half being painstakingly slow with no action happening for the first half of the movie.

The good news are that the second half features some badass action sequences and the R rating is used fully, it's a gory movie as it should be. Even though the frequent use of slo-mo is tiring, it doesn't ruin the experience. Too bad all of it is packed in the final scenes of the movie.

The movie draws inspiration from different places, from video games to horror movies to Apocalypse Now (you won't miss it), the unique style sets this movie apart from the others but it doesn't help the thin plot or anemic characters.

Universal Soldier 4: Day of Reckoning is unique and fresh and I applaud the director for taking a different approach. Adkins does a great job and proves his more than a stuntman. JVCD and Lundgren's roles are smaller than you would expect, but it's a treat to see them on screen again. The lack of a comprehensive plot and or continuity to other films of the series is what hinders this movie from getting a higher rating.

Final score: 6 out of 10

Rio is an animated feature from the studio that brought us "Ice Age". The story follows Blu (Jesse Eisenberg), a rare Macaw bird that has lived in captivity all of his life. He travels with his owner, Linda to Rio De Janeiro and there he meets Jewel and the adventure ensues.

The story is simple and predictable in every turn, the dialogue was funny but the characters were as cardboard box as it gets. The main attraction is the animation, it is stunning. Rio looks amazing, very detailed and colorful and the Carnival scene and flight sequences are beautiful. There are a couple of musical numbers, and their not bad, but don't expect the next 'Lion King'.

The movie has a nice message and it's entertaining even for the parents, but it is unoriginal very predictable and plays it safe.

6 out of 10 for Rio De Generic.

Let me start by stating that I'm a huge fan of the books and have enjoyed the movie franchise that followed as a whole. But there are a couple of things that irked me while watching the new addition to the series.

First let me advise anyone who's going to see this movie to watch 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' first, since the story is a direct follow-up of the previous film. We are approaching the final hour in which Harry Potter, the boy who lived, is going to face He-Who- Must-Not-Be-Named in a battle to the death. Before he can face Voldemort, Harry must destroy the remaining Horcruxes, pieces of Voldemort's soul that make him immortal. The script itself follows the book quite closely, but it lacks structure. The feeling is as if the movie is just a mash-up of scenes with the same characters without any connection between them. And Kloves (the screenwriter) had to close all the loose ends he had created over the years which feels quite forced, introducing new characters that were supposed to appear in previous movies and so on.

Also, the direction seemed confused and clumsy, borrowing heavily from other movies (Metropolis, Bourne series, Lord of the Rings as an example). This movie had lost its magic. The wands in this movie could have be easily replaced with guns. The shaky cam adds nothing but confusion and the score is somber and un-heroic, it's not memorable as the timeless tune from the earlier movies.

There were a couple of good sides to the movie as well. It's nice to see how much the actors have matured and honed their acting skills. Rupert Grint is worth to mention as the best actor of the trio, simultaneously being funny, dim witted, brooding and heroic. The SFX are top notch, it's too bad that it has to deal with the bluish grayish cinematography that dulls every shot. The chemistry between the actors and characters is apparent on the screen and they're a couple of scenes that adds depth to their relationship.

Overall, the movie falls short with the botched script and the inconsistent direction, but it is saved by the actors, beautiful sets and locations and the SFX. If you're a fan, you won't miss it anyway, and if you're a casual viewer, I advise to watch the previous movie first and not expect too much. 6 out of 10

Do you love video games? Do you read comics? Listen to indie/alternative music and find Michael Cera tolerable, then you're going to love this! The plot revolves around Scott Pilgrim, a 22 year old bass player who falls in love with a girl with a dark past that comes a'knocking soon after she responds to his courtship. The past consists of 7 evil exes that would like nothing more than to destroy Scott and pound him into dust, Scott must fight all of them in order to survive and "get the girl".

This movie isn't for everybody, it caters to a certain audience ("Kick Ass" lover and "Zombieland" fanatics who drink Redbull or Gatorade). It has a unique style that captures a video game/comic book style perfectly. Visually speaking, this movie is top notch, with many fine details to go around and an electric soundtrack to go with.

Michael Cera steps out of his comfortable shell and gives a slightly different performance as the lovable Scott Pilgrim. He is funny, quirky, but not as neurotic and he looks believable as he pommels through Ramona's beefed up exes. The supporting cast is solid and there are a couple of cameos and Pop culture references for the hardcore fans out there.

Overall, it's a fun, action packed comedy with solid visuals, great soundtrack (done by Beck), and it's made for an audience that most likely will wait for the DVD since they haven't been outside from the days that World of Warcraft came out, and that's a shame!

I love the book. I knew the movie wouldn't be as great as a book, but how could I suspect it will be that awful!!! It's my favorite novel, I constantly reread it. The movie is terrible simple as that, they rewrote the whole story and lost the main idea in the process... My most favorite book put to film... Don't know what to say except the big disappointment that I felt during the whole movie. It always astonish me why to take great novel and make an awful movie with no story of it's own, with 35+ years old actors playing the 20 years old characters and why to invent the stories that simply weren't there? Silly old me thought that if you make a movie from a great novel you should preserve the most of it...but hey!!! the hell with Waugh... we know better. Don't waste your time, my friends...

As I entered the dark movie theater that was almost completely vacant, I started thinking what should I expect. I'll be honest, I'm not a Trekkie, yet I consider myself more knowledgeable about the Star Trek universe than the general public so I had expectations, and boy were they false! This movie is a technological masterpiece! The SFX just blew my mind with all the attention to detail and realism that they had. The sound effects were brilliant, every hit and punch would go through your ribcage and the score is fantastic.

The plot revolves around the early years of James Tiberius Kirk and his crew as they meet each other for the first time, I have to mention this but I'm sure the fans were having a blast every time a "new" character was introduced. The plot has several twists and turns but it's not too complex and the regular movie goer will understand it.

The acting is nothing to write home about, don't expect any Oscar nominations for it, but the actors carried their roles pretty well making them likable and real. Don't expect anything that will blow your mind from the acting department although it was solid.

Now I'd like to address the issue of the "cheesiness" I hear people complaining about, this movie is Star Trek and it's supposed to be cheesy just as Doctor Who needs to be quirky, it's part of the charm the series has.

Overall I'd recommend this movie to every Trekkie, sci-fi fan and even your average movie goer, watch it you won't regret it.

"You don't mess with the Zohan" is a comedy starring Adam Sandler who's portraying an ex-Israeli soldier who fakes his death and goes to NY to become a hair dresser. The idea itself is great and it allows plenty of room for stereotype jokes and some funny action scenes. The problem is that some of the jokes are only suitable for Israeli audience, and the action scenes are done terribly on purpose, making the viewer laugh at the bad FX. There's a feeling of miss in this movie, because it promises to be a light comedy filled with Sandlers' humor mixed with Israeli attitude, while in reality we get a gross movie filled with humiliating moments and not funny sex jokes. I can recommend this movie only to Adam Sandler fans, or to Israeli people who'd enjoy the many references and Israeli ambiance (Many Israeli artists have participated in the soundtrack including the "Dag Nahash"). Overall 6.5/10