My Review: Lone Survivor (8/10)

"So if you're feeling froggy, then you better jump, because this frogman's been there, done that and is going back for more."

Lone Survivor caught me completely by surprise considering I wasn't expecting much from director, Peter Berg, whose films I tend to dislike quite a bit. "From the director of Battleship and Hancock" isn't exactly great marketing campaign for a film. This personal and passionate project of Berg's ended up being by far his best work to date. Saying that this was the best war movie of the year is also an understatement considering I really can't recall another one, but I can tell you that despite having its flaws some of the action scenes do recall moments from Saving Private Ryan (and that is very high praise for a war film considering I'm not really the biggest fan of this genre). I tend to get tired with overlong firefight action scenes, but it wasn't the case with Lone Survivor. These scenes felt real and gruesome while building a lot of tension. Not once during the two hours did I feel like the film was dragging. The pacing of this film was solid. Berg actually did his homework here and having spent a month based with an actual SEAL team payed off because the screenplay felt believable. Ultimately the film is about brotherhood and fighting for survival, and that is accomplished very well by Berg who decided to make a narrow minded and focused movie instead of a large scale war film.

Lone Survivor is based on a true story that took place in Afghanistan in 2005 involving a SEAL team's mission to kill a Taliban leader named Ahmad Shah. Berg adapted the screenplay from Marcus Luttrell's book of the same name. Lutrell (played by Mark Wahlberg) was one of the four SEAL members involved in the mission "Operation Red Wings" taking place in the Afghan region. The others were Michael Murphy (Taylor Kitsch), Danny Dietz (Emile Hirsch), and Matt Axelson (Ben Foster). Their mission becomes compromised when a group of goat herders run into their hideout in the Hindu Kush region and the four have to make a quick ethical decision. They can either kill them or they can let them go knowing that they will warn the villagers of their presence. Despite knowing the risks involved they decide to let the herders go and quickly try to reach a better location to communicate back to their base before the Taliban catches up with them. It's not long until they are surrounded by enemy forces and are forced to fight for survival despite being heavily outnumbered. 

Despite knowing where the film is heading (considering the title gives away the story), it still maintains the audience's interest and build tension really well. The performances from Wahlberg, Foster, Kitsch, and Hirsch are all pretty solid and they each bring some unique trait to their characters. We sympathize with these characters and understand the quick moral decisions they have to make considering their lives are on the line. In a way Berg is trying to pay some sort of tribute to these soldiers who put their lives on the line every day and makes us appreciate the risky work they do even more. Perhaps many people found this film a bit heavy handed in that it does try to deliver a patriotic and courageous message about macho soldiers, but I didn't have an issue with that because at the same time Berg is also portraying the ugliness of the battlefield. Perhaps the easiest moment to pinpoint this film as military propaganda is the opening SEAL's training montage, but I thought it worked to help set the characters better and in a way sort of pay homage to these soldiers.

My Review: Savages (8/10)

¨It started here in paradise, Laguna Beach, where they say God parked himself on the seventh day, but they towed him on the eighth.¨

When the movie began I thought I was actually watching a trailer for another Hostel movie or something like that, but once I realized that it was actually the opening of Oliver Stone`s new film I knew I was going to be in for something different. I knew the film would be much darker than his latest efforts going back to his Natural Born Killers days and I was excited about it. Then I heard Blake Lively`s voice over narration and it kind of killed the momentum. Despite the fact that there was no need for the narration and some other minor issues, I really enjoyed this film for the most part. I don’t think I was so hooked with a thriller like this one all year. I was literally at the edge of my seat once the boring setup was over with. The two biggest issues I had with this film had to do with the beginning and the ending, but for most of Savages I was really entertained and hooked. There are some great performances here as well, although they had to do more with the secondary characters than the main ones. Savages could have been one of my favorite films of the year if it weren’t for those issues I had. The film is really violent and difficult to watch at times, but if you like these kinds of thrillers then you will enjoy this movie. Oliver Stone made a name for himself way back in 1979 when he won an Oscar for the adaptation of Midnight Express, and followed such success by directing films like Platoon, Nixon, Wall Street, Born on the Fourth of July, JFK, and Any Given Sunday. He`s done very diverse projects, but Savages is perhaps one of his most violent and darkest films to date, at least from this century. It will stick with you long after the movie is over.

Ophelia (Blake Lively), -who actually calls herself O after realizing she was named after the suicidal character from Hamlet- lives an ideal life in Laguna Beach along with her two lovers, Chon (Taylor Kitsch) a former Navy SEAL, and Ben (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) a bright marihuana producer and entrepreneur. Ben and Chon have been best friends since High School and have no problem sharing their love with O. The two friends are very different from each other; Ben is peaceful while Chon who has been affected by war in Iraq is more of a violent person. The two have had success with their marihuana business since the weed that they produce is one of the best in the world. They run things as peacefully as possible, but when a Mexican drug cartel wants to become partners with them, things begin to get out of hand. The cartel is run by la Reina Elena (Salma Hayek), and Lado (Benicio del Toro) is in charge of doing the dirty work. When Elena tries to force the two men to associate with her through Alex (Demian Bichir) and they refuse, she sends O to be kidnapped. Ben and Chon will do whatever it takes to get the love of their lives back, while fighting off this dangerous cartel. A dirty FBI agent named Dennis (John Travolta) assists the Californian duo by providing some key information of the cartel. This is where things begin to get ugly and the violence escalates.

Taylor Kitsch has had a very busy year with John Carter coming out earlier this year and then Battleship. I don’t think he`s a very good actor, but this is perhaps his better work. I really didn’t know who Aaron Taylor-Johnson was until I heard he was the guy from Kick-Ass. He is unrecognizable in this film, and of the three leading actors, he´s by far the best. I thought he gave a strong performance here, although in my opinion the best performances come from the secondary actors. Salma Hayek and John Travolta were great and remind us once again why they have been such successful actors over the years. My favorite performance came from Benicio del Toro who I thought was brilliant and one of the best villains of the year. The story is really gripping and intense; if it weren`t for the narration or the pretty loose ending than this would´ve been a perfect movie. It`s still worth your time and you won`t regret Savages if you enjoy suspenseful thrillers and don`t mind a little bit of violence. It`s not a perfect movie, but I recommend it for the suspense and tension that Stone creates in this noir pulpy film.

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My Review: John Carter (6/10)

¨Did I not tell you he could jump!¨

John Carter was one of the biggest box office disappointments of the last decade, and it`s too bad because it actually isn`t that terrible. I actually enjoyed most of it thanks to the spectacular visuals and the interesting science fiction story. I had the same reaction with John Carter as I did with Avatar, I didn’t find them to be great movies, but I didn’t hate them either. This film was directed by the creator of Finding Nemo and Wall-E, two hugely successful films, so I guess they can forgive Andrew Stanton for the loss. Stanton proves he can manage the artistic side of his films, but I think what John Carter lacked was a little more comedy to loosen the tension. Sometimes it`s good in these type of fictional films to lighten up the mood by not taking itself too seriously. That was the biggest error I found in John Carter, it took itself way too seriously when the premise actually is a little ridiculous. I did have a lot of fun however with the action scenes and the spectacular visuals. John Carter is actually based on the stories written by Edgar Rice Burroughs over a century ago, ¨A Princess of Mars¨. These stories had a great impact and influenced other writers` imaginations for such works as Superman, Flash Gordon, and Avatar. John Carter should have been better distributed as most people had never heard of it before and probably thought it was just a copy of all these past science fiction films. It wasn`t a great film, but it deserved a lot more recognition than what it received.

The story takes place during the late 1860`s while America was facing a Civil War. Captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) had withdrawn from the war and was searching for gold in a hidden cave. When an Officer named Powell (Bryan Cranston) comes searching for him to join his cavalry, Carter flees once again only to be caught in the middle between Powell`s men and some Apache Indians. Carter ends up hiding in a cave and discovers the gold he had been looking for, but out of nowhere a mysterious man shows up with some sort of device that transports him to another planet. Carter finds himself in Mars (or as the natives call it Barsoom) with no idea as to where he is, but he discovers that he can jump extremely high and long distances. A group of natives known as the Jeddaks led by Tars Tarkas (Willem Defoe) find John Carter and take him prisoner. Mars is in the middle of a civil war as the people from Zodanga are trying to conquer the entire planet. The only resistance is put up by the people of Helium, but the leader of Zodanga, Sab Thon (Dominic West), has recently been given a powerful weapon that can easily destroy the city. The weapon came from Matai (Mark Strong), who seems to be from the same species as the person Carter found in the cave. Sab promises not to destroy Helium if Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins) agrees to marry her, but Matai has other intentions with the planet. Dejah runs into Carter and realizes he can be their only hope for salvation.

The action scenes in this film are pretty interesting, but the movie suffers from not having some sort of comedic relief. At times the movie seems to move too slowly and it begins to drag, but the great visuals make up for it. Taylor Kitsch gives a believable performance, but we can’t help but feel something is missing in this new world (perhaps a better supporting character). I still think John Carter is much better than what the trailer makes you believe it is. Edgar Rice Burroughs was a great writer and he had some interesting ideas, the problem is that this movie isn’t a novelty as his stories were over a century ago. The sad thing is we now have seen and grown to love films that actually were inspired by John Carter. Burroughs also created the Tarzan stories and in a way John Carter resembles him in some aspects of the story. John Carter is worth a watch for what the story has meant and for the great visuals that Stanton has created, but there is not much more to it.

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My Review: Battleship (5/10)

¨Warning red, weapons tight, I want everything loaded.¨

Battleship has proven that it will be very difficult to compete with the high quality standard that The Avengers left for this year`s Summer movies. Battleship really disappoints although honestly I wasn’t expecting much from the film. There are some good actors in this movie, but the script is just so cheesy that even Liam Neeson looks bad in this. The story has its numbing entertaining moments thanks to all the special effects, but it is just another Transformers 3 all over again (as the trailer proudly announces). Battleship is directed by Peter Berg, the man who brought us The Rundown and Hancock, and who is responsible for the successful TV series Friday Night Lights. He has made some interesting projects in the past, but this film really doesn’t work despite all the great visuals and explosions going on. The greatest problem the film has is the script which was written by Erich and Jon Hoeber who haven’t had success in the past with neither Whiteout nor Red. This move also marks the debut of Rihanna as an actress and she does what she can with the little she was given. Overall this is a forgettable movie and I would rather play the game then watch the film again. Saying that Battleship is based on the Hasbro game is like saying Saving Private Ryan was based on RISK.

Stone (Alexander Skarsgard) and Alex Hopper (Taylor Kitsch) might be brothers, but they are very different. Stone is a Commander in the NAVY, while Alex hasn`t found his calling in life and is sleeping in his brother`s couch. After Alex finds himself in trouble once again Stone decides to enlist him in the NAVY in order for him to mature. Alex becomes a Lieutenant, but is always causing trouble despite his potential, and Admiral Shane (Liam Neeson) has already announced that after the Naval war games exercise he will discharge him from the NAVY. Alex also happens to be dating the Admiral`s daughter, Sam (Brooklyn Decker), but can`t find the way to tell him that he is planning on marrying her. Some of the other officers in Stone`s ship are Weps Raikes (Rihanna), The Beast Lynch (John Tui), and Jimmy (Jesse Plemons). During the international war games exercise where fleets from all over the world have come to Hawaii they find themselves threatened by an alien armada invasion. In the line of fire, these men will do what they can to save the world from extinction after the aliens have proven they are here to wipe them out.

The main character in this film is played by Taylor Kitsch, who still hasn’t found his break out performance after the huge John Carter box office failure. He is still mostly known for his role in Friday Night Lights. Alexander Skarsgard is also known for his role in the TV series Trueblood, so there truly isn’t a movie star in this film considering Liam Neeson has a very small role in this. These relatively unknown television actors (unless you’re a fan of either TV series) do what they can with the poor material they were given to work with. They aren`t to blame as to why the movie doesn’t really work. The film takes a while to pick up and there are several unnecessary scenes, like the one where the American NAVY crew is playing soccer against the Japanese; it was just awful. The entire movie felt like a NAVY propaganda telling everyone that if you want to have fun then you should enlist in the NAVY. There isn’t much more to this movie than that so don’t expect too much. This could rank alongside other films with good visuals but no story like Transformers 3 and Battle Los Angeles.

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