Confusing Alien love
head towards the end to reveal a dark secret.
I could not help but feel sorry, angry, frustrated – and yet, completely satisfied – at the progress of psychiatrist Jonathan Banks (Jude Law) throughout the movie. Law brings out the best and worst of Banks so compellingly that it’s easy to root for him.
Alongside Law is rooney Mara, who played emily, Banks’ depressed client. soderbergh’s twists would not have been as convincing and shocking if it were not for these actors’ performances.
however, Channing Tatum’s role could have been explored beyond just being emily’s husband. Catherine Zeta-Jones’ initially forgettable performance as emily’s former psychiatrist felt misplaced and awkward at first. Thankfully, by the end, everything adds up, side effects included. tor Jordan Turner, who makes an unthinking mistake one night that leads to a young girl’s abduction and eventual murder. The traumatised Jordan leaves the “front line” and becomes an instructor.
six months pass, and she puts on the operator’s headset again when abducted teenager Casey (Abigail Breslin) makes a 911 call from the trunk of her kidnapper’s car.
Convincing performances by the two actresses and tight shots of their distressed characters – Jordan, hesitant to connect with another victim, and Casey, fighting to overcome her terror – imbue this part of the film with a convincing sense of the life-ordeath stakes involved.
Then the film comes to a crossroads and makes an ill-advised choice: The jumped-up, sensationalised route. Jordan does what no 911 operator should, getting directly involved in the search for Casey. The movie just gets more and more preposterous until a rather daft swerve at the end, its second half completely defeating the good efforts that preceded it.
Warm Bodies
sOMeONe get me a chair, I need to sit down for a bit. My heart is beating way too fast just thinking about Warm Bodies.
It is the stupidest movie I’ve ever watched in my life. (FYI, I’m not a movie snob, so my movie standards are not that high.)
Ten minutes into the movie, I knew that I had made the wrong decision saying yes to watching it. Thirty minutes into it, I was angry at myself for not having the guts to stand up and just leave the hall while screaming, “This is a stupid movie and y’all are crazy to sit here and laugh at the stupid jokes. Obviously none of you know what being funny means and you people are so sad ... I don’t even want to live on this planet anymore.”
I’m angry that someone thought that it would be a great idea to make the movie, angry that it even saw the light of day and angry that I was made to watch it.
G.I. Joe: Retaliation
HuH? G.I. Joe? This is a G.I. Joe movie? If not for the title and the presence of Snake Eyes, Cobra Commander and Storm Shadow, this could have been just another loud, noisy, action-packed movie. Heck, they even took out the trademark “YO JOE!” battlecry and replaced it with “HOOH HAH!” instead.
unfortunately, the movie is more “ho- hum” than “hooh hah” (with a dose of unintentional “ha ha ha” as well). Yes, the action is great, and the producers have given up trying to emulate the Transformers movies’ CGI-heavy action, opting instead for action that is more believable (no more “accelerator suit” nonsense) and down to earth (or up in the mountains, in the case of that stunning ninja fight on the face of a cliff).
But once the action dies down, the movie is about as stiff as one of the action figures it is based
on.
The movie is actually pretty decent, as long as no one is trying to say something. The one-liners are fine, but the attempts at character development just fall flat, especially the part where Lady Jaye explains her backstory, while changing her clothes (sorry Jaye, but we were too distracted by your bust to bother about anything else).
Still, as far as mindless, explosive action movies go, this is actually a decent watch. And it’s especially worth it just to see The Rock and John McClane together at last. HOOH HAH!