Reviews

'I Am Wrath' is very moving film - it is not hard to move on after first fifteen minutes. I managed to sit through it somehow. It's almost like John Travolta wanted to make a lousy parody of Nicolas Cage. 'John Wick' made revenge movies look cool again, and 'I Am Wrath' really tries to emulate similar coolness but it falls out like toothless alligator trying to eat buffalo. Travolta and Christopher Meloni has good chemistry between them, but the script is too shallow that the actors don't have enough material to work on. It uses every, absolutely every known cliché to human kind, that all the twists of the film can be guessed at the opening credits even if you have turned off your brain almost comatose like state. No surprises, no style. Totally unnecessary movie.

Oh yeah, John Travolta's hairpiece deserves it's own movie.

By now Denis Villeneuve has proved he's master of visually striking and atmospheric films. And 'Arrival' is visually stunning film, and it has a substance. The atmosphere screams upcoming doom and every scene is built up like some big disaster is going to happen soon. It raises many philosophical questions and also tries to answer them (how good are the answers depends everyone's own personal beliefs and philosophy) Many call 'Arrival' thinking man's sci-fi. Within two months I've seen it twice. 'Arrival' is kind of film that makes you think over it (if you like to analyze the meaning of art and life) and it holds up the second viewing. Although the plot twist is already known, but 'Arrival' is built up with edge of your seat suspense and atmosphere, that it doesn't ruin the experience of the second viewing. Describing the plot is quite pointless here as it will ruin the surprise and twist moments of the film, but all the plot elements are glued together masterfully, that the cracks are not visible. One can say that second viewing is even necessary.

Three main actors did terrific job so Amy Adams and Forest Whitaker both deserve an Oscar for their efforts.

By far the best science fiction film in recent years. Although the ending seems little sappy the film is one big whole and much greater then the sum of it's parts. I will definitely watch this film a third and a fourth and a fifth time, I am sure about that.

'The Last Stand' is not very sophisticated (as one can expect) or deep and moving film. It uses all the worn out action film clichés and with that Corvette run a little loan from 'Fast and Furious' franchise. Arnie is Arnie - old but top of his game. Johnny Knoxville is Johnny Knoxville - goofy sidekick. Peter Stormare is comically evil villain. 'The Last Stand' fails to add something new into action film genre. Everything we have already seen from the '80s, only this time with nice visual style by director Jee-woon Kim. I'm sure I'm not the only one who left little disappointed by this film. When 'The Last Stand' was first released I was excited to see my childhood hero Schwarzenegger blowing stuff up in big screen again, and all I felt was - meh. Last nigh I had nothing better to do and watched that film again - meh. It's not total waste of time, perfect to fill some hangover mornings or extremely boring Friday nights. Still 'The Last Stand' offers enough fun and entertainment for Schwarzenegger fans, but it will never top any of Arnie's greater works.

Paul Verhoeven is known as provocative filmmaker who likes to create daring visual images. He's mostly known by his Hollywood films with unsteady quality. 'Turkish Delight' was Verhoevens first hit in Netherlands and was voted as best Dutch film of the century. With the very first minutes Verhoeven manages to disturb the viewer and unsuspecting viewer can even start to think - what I just got myself into? Very bold depiction of sex and sexuality doesn't seem forced and even the small bursts of intense violence don't stand out from the rest of the film as some bright (or dark) spots.

'Turkish Delight' is heartwarming and heartbreaking love story between free spirited Olga (Monique van de Ven) and care free sculptor Eric (Rutger Hauer). Both main stars have such a chemistry between them that nothing seems to forced. Their relationship seems as natural as sunshine in Florida (or rain in London).

Very few directors are capable of making such warm films with provocative aplomb and Verhoeven is master at this game.

'Mr. Bean's Holiday' might not be as hilarious like the TV-series and it will never reach comedy classic status, but it's quite enjoyable lighthearted film. The gags (like in the first movie) are reused old ones from the series and their outcome is somewhat predictable, but compared to the first feature Bean film, in 'Holiday' they are much better integrated into a story and they actually movie the film along while the first film had some sort of story just for an excuse to show Mr. Beans eccentricities on big screen to American audiences. 'Holiday' had some unexplainable warmth that gives you the good feeling while watching this film even if the most Mr. Bean's shenanigans have been seen million times before. Hilarious addition was Willem Dafoe's in love with himself filmmaker. That gave the film nice satire element also showing higher than everybody else artist who is just another shallow materialist (while being artsy director, he still does commercials).

Almost ten years have passed after it's release, but 'Mr. Bean's Holiday' is easy to visit again after couple of years.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and zombies. Can it get any cooler? Yes it can. It can turn out to became the greatest performance of the action giant throughout his decades long career in thoughtful drama concentrated on human relationships and dealing with personal tragedies.

Lately I'm not a huge fan of zombie (infection) movie fan, because most of the recent work have had nothing new to add to the genre. Actually neither has 'Maggie', it tries, but fails to put something really fresh on to the table. But it does something the very first time - and that is bringing Arnie and zombies together. And Austrian Oak showed us that he can dig very deep to create an emotional character. And that what we see on the screen - not Arnold, but a character Wade Vogel played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. He and Abigail Breslin (who also turns in amazing performance) has a nice warm chemistry between them. That warmth really shines through the depressive tone of the film.

'Maggie' is a grim and gloomy looking character study. It movies slowly and it's rather static. It has limited dialogue and rather lets the quietness and emotions carry the story on. First time director Henry Hobson seems to have this special skill to use silence perfectly. 'Maggie' is not overly entertaining film, it's rather depressing, especially because it's dragging pace, gloomy tones and can be disappointment to some who hope to see Arnie blow away some zombies.

'Maggie' is a nice little experiment you should see only because of the little moment of surprise.

Coming from David Ayer (man responsible for some of the best cop thrills this century like 'Training Day' or 'End of Watch') and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, one could expect some nice action packed gritty thrill ride. Well, 'Sabotage' almost is. It is gritty and action scenes hold up well. And for me, the gruel violence wasn't very disturbing and didn't seem unnecessary or totally out of the place. David Ayer seems to be one of the very few directors who actually gets the hand held camera direction correct. Arnie's acting abilities has improved quite a bit after his stint as governor was over. It was probably his (post political) career best performance and it was really enjoyable to see Schwarzenegger explore his darker side. The rest of the macho cast did good as well - although not much attention didn't seem to go into character development, surprisingly not all the team members were one dimensional and paper thin. To my own astonishment I have to say that acting was the strongest part of this film. Only if the script could have been better. 'Sabotage' wasn't pure action film, it tries to play out as mystery and it kind of is. There is said to have a little suspension of disbelief while watching action films, and there lies the problem - 'Sabotage' takes itself too seriously, and there are not enough over the top action that one starts to follow the story too closely and sees the plot holes big enough to fly Millennium Falcon through them.

'Sabotage' had all the ingredients to be at least as good as 'End of Watch' or even be much greater on the scale. Another wasted opportunity. Like Schwarzenegger's character Breacher said - look at you, with your 48 percent body fat.

Although action film aficionados have waited decades to see Schwarzenegger/Stallone team-up, and when it finally arrived (at least 20 years past both of the action giants' prime) it was rather dull. The age of both stars is not the reason at all, why the film falls flat, rather the fault lies in generic and trivial script and unimaginative direction by Mikael Håfström. Both stars were nearly 70 when they shot the film, but their charisma and ability to raise some hell is 100% there. It is unfortunate that after all these years waiting to see these two pair up, and we get served half baked product. Besides seeing Sly and Arnold share screen together 'Escape Plan' has very few to offer - there are some B-movie worthy thrills, quite well disguised plot twists (considering the whole quality of the script), not enough memorable one-liners or witty exchanges between the two greats. The material definitely should have been better for these two charismatic action idols. And supporting cast, though not bad, is exactly what you expect when you see these actors in this kind of movies - Jim Caviezel as sinister, intelligent villain, Sam Niell as smart and sympathetic character, Vinnie Jones as raging sadistic lunatic, Amy Ryan as some woman, and finally 50 Cent as can't act.

Conclusively I can say that 'Escape Plan' hits the taste buds of '80s action fans like a vegetarian. Alright to watch it once so you can say you have seen it, but not very memorable.