Avengers: Age of Ultron (7/10): And the Build-up continues...

"I know you're good people. I know you mean well. But you just didn't think it through. There is only one path to peace... your extinction."

Age of Ultron doesn't live up to the first Avengers mostly because the novelty of seeing all these superheroes together has warn off, but it is still a very entertaining film with some positive elements to take out of it. First of all, the villain voiced by James Spader is an improvement over most others we've seen in the Marvel Universe. He is actually a menace to the heroes, and although Ultron isn't as charismatic as Loki, he still represents a much more dangerous threat for them so we feel there is much more at stake. The addition of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch also enhances the franchise. Olsen is an actress I've admired ever since her screen debut in Martha Marcy May Marlene, so it was exciting to see her play this role alongside other fantastic actors. Aaron Taylor-Johnson's Quicksilver wasn't used as well as he was in X-Men, but it was still fun to see him on screen. Quicksilver was the highlight for me in the latest X-Men franchise, but here he is simply another new character. It was much more fun to see his quick movements in slow motion instead of at such a rapid pace. The returning characters also enhance the sequel and make it entertaining. Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man is by far my favorite character in the franchise and Mark Ruffalo's Hulk always delivers some of the best comedic moments. Age of Ultron delivers plenty of fun scenes, but it also tries to take itself a bit more seriously, and that didn't work as well for me considering I found Captain America The Winter Soldier to be a slightly better and interesting serious thriller. In summary, it doesn't match the comedy of its predecessor and it doesn't stand out as a more serious film either. The run-time does begin to feel a bit heavy, but I still have to admit that I had a fun time with the movie. There is a lot going on and with the addition of the new characters some of the scenes feel rushed and the plot gets a bit convoluted.

The main problem  with these Marvel movies is that they're getting more and more difficult to view as individual films. They seem to be always building up to something and I expected all the build-up in the previous films was going to lead to something important in this second Avengers movie, but what we get instead is more of a build-up to the next phase of the Marvel universe. Ultron presented a great threat to the heroes, but everything was rushed and it seems it was resolved all too easily by the end. It's still hard to resist a film with so many likable characters and charismatic leads, but I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed with Age of Ultron when the introduction of the main villain seemed promising. Spader's voice work stood out for me in this film as one of the best performances. I was also happy to see Jeremy Renner get much more screen time with his character, Hawkeye, as well as Scarlett Johansson with Black Widow. This is probably as close to an individual film about them we'll get. Captain America and Thor however, are underused and I really didn't care too much about them here.

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/

My Review: Snowpiercer (8/10)

¨Know your place. Accept your place. Be a shoe.¨

I was pleasantly surprised at how well Korean director, Joon-ho Bong, made the transition to this his first English language film because the style and tone of the film still felt entirely Korean despite starring some well known Hollywood actors. I enjoyed this film so much that I ended up watching it twice and that is something I rarely do. Based on the French graphic novel, Le Transperceneige written by Jean-Marc Rochette, Snowpiercer is an ambitious dystopian sci-fi film that despite having a very absurd premise works really well thanks to Bong's direction. It has some great performances with memorable characters, several exciting action scenes mixed with bizarre comedic moments, and a thought provoking metaphor on classicism. It is a bleak film but Bong handled the material so well that it kept me engaged and interested. Unfortunately the film does suffer from a rather unconvincing final act, but for most of its running time I was so entertained that I wasn't too disappointed.

Snowpiercer takes place in 2031 after a failed global-warming experiment has frozen all of Earth and wiped out all life. The only survivors are the passengers of a super train travelling across the globe with a perpetual-motion engine. Designed by Wilford, an engineer who knew the experiment would fail, the train has been running for 17 straight years and a social class system has developed as the passengers of the rear end live in extremely poor conditions. Here we are introduced to a young man named Curtis (Chris Evans) who is trying to come up with a plan to get past all the security guards in order to reach the front section where Wilford is presumed to be. He isn't alone on this quest as most of the passengers are upset for the abuse they've suffered and the extreme poor conditions in which they are forced to live in. A wise old man named Gilliam (John Hurt) who helped Wilford design the engine, has been helping Curtis rally the men together. Curtis's good friend, Edgar (Jamie Bell), is also awaiting the moment to begin their revolution as things begin to get worse once the guards take a few kids away from them. Tanya (Octavia Spencer) and Andrew (Ewen Bremner) are among the victims whose children have been taken away from them so they are also eager to attack. The first step of the plan involves freeing Namgoong (Song Kang-ho), a prisoner who has a special gift for unlocking the doors to each section, but the task won't be easy as the guards will do what it takes to make sure they stay at the rear section of the train.

Bong has directed several successful Korean films like The Host and Memories of a Murder, and in his first English language film his style remains untouched. Despite having some scenes that borderline in the ridiculous he somehow manages to balance those moments really well. For example there is this huge action scene that he has set up between the rebels and the guards who are awaiting them with axes. The bloody and violent confrontation begins, only to be interrupted as the train is approaching a bridge which serves as a landmark for the New Year. The fighting stops for a few seconds as everyone begins the countdown and admires the view of the outside world from inside the train, then the violence and mayhem continue. There are several moments like this where Bong perfectly balances these gorgeously crafted choreographed scenes with moments of quirky comedy and twisted sense of humor. The best example of this type of humor comes from the two characters played by Tilda Swinton (who is unrecognizable in this film) and Alison Pill who are terrific and steal the few scenes they are in. I really loved that classroom scene that felt completely out of place with the dark tail section of the train. I think it was those goofy moments that I enjoyed the most in this film. It was a great sensory experience to get to follow these characters through each section of the train and I have to give Bong credit for his visionary style because as our heroes progress to the front of the train things begin to get more and more bizarre and you never know what to expect. The film is short of being a masterpiece because the final 30 minutes are disappointing, but as a social satire Snowpiercer worked better than other recent sci-fi films like Elysium. It is a very weird and strange film, but it is really good and I enjoyed it even more on my second viewing.

My Review: Captain America: The Winter Soldier (8/10)

"Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists. The ones that do call him the Winter Soldier. He's a ghost, you'll never find him."

The film opens with an action sequence in a freighter that made me worry I was going to be let down as I was with the first Captain America. Out of all the Marvel films the first Captain America film was my least favorite. This sequel opened with some shaky camera work and quick editing cuts, but once the story began to get going I was pleasantly surprised. This is very different from the rest of the Marvel films that relied heavily on CGI and light storytelling, The Winter Soldier is a bit more serious and tells an interesting story. At times you forget you are watching a superhero movie and it turns into an interesting espionage thriller. Even Captain America became much more interesting in this film and I'm sure fans will appreciate this sequel directed by Joe and Anthony Russo (You, Me and Dupree) much more than they did the first. Not only is this the best Captain America film, it also is the best film of Phase 2 (post The Avengers) for Marvel. The story is really entertaining and gripping, the film also looks really good considering it has much more live action scenes than CGI. After the disappointing opening sequence, the rest of the action scenes completely worked and they managed to keep me invested in what was going on. Sure the twists were a bit predictable, but the story was really well developed and the framework for the next sequel has been set. The new characters in this film also added a lot more to this franchise and I really enjoyed the pacing of this movie. This sequel delivered thanks to a gripping and suspenseful story and well developed characters.

Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely teamed up again for the adaptation of this sequel which takes place some time after the events of The Avengers. Captain America (Chris Evans) is now in Washington DC as he continues struggling to adjust to the present while working for SHIELD under the guidance of Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson). It's a different world now and Captain America realizes that there are enemies disguised as friends even inside SHIELD headquarters. With very few people he can trust, Captain America teams up with Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) to try to expose the conspiracy and traitors in the department before the world is attacked yet again. As they begin to dig deeper, a professional assassin known as the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) is sent to stop them. Knowing that they can't expose the conspiracy on their own, Captain America finds an ally in Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), a veteran who knows where Steve is coming from. He becomes the Falcon and together they begin to expose the corruption in SHIELD.

Chris Evans is comfortable yet again playing one of the most beloved comic book superheroes. Captain America might be the simplest of the heroes from the Marvel films, but he doesn't negotiate his values and is true to his word. Someone with his morals is hard to come across with in the present and that is why he finds it so difficult to establish meaningful relationships. Scarlett Johansson is great once again as the Black Widow and it's always great to see her fighting off the bad guys. As for the new characters I really enjoyed Anthony Mackie's performance as the Falcon. He really has great chemistry with Chris Evans and both their characters have similar values. Mackie also delivers some of the funniest lines in the movie in an otherwise pretty serious thriller. Sebastian Stan is also impressive as the Winter Soldier. His character is very interesting although I think he did try a little to hard at times to look cool. His posture and attitude reminded me of a rock star, but I still enjoyed his character very much and though he was a great addition to this film. Like the other Marvel films, you should stay for the credits as there are two short but interesting scenes. This was a huge upgrade for Captain America and it is my favorite film of 2014 so far. The climax is formulaic and we know what we are going to get, but the journey getting there is what made this film such a wonderful experience for me. This film actually had some interesting character development and it wasn't just an excuse to run from one incoherent and noisy action scene to the next like some other recent superhero films.

My Review: The Iceman (4/10)

"Loving husband. Devoted father. Ruthless killer."

The main issue that I had with The Iceman is that the film never fulfills what it promises in its tagline. The Iceman never seemed like a loving husband or a devoted father. I never felt the chemistry between Michael Shannon and Winona Ryder. Shannon's character was completely detached from his wife, which would make sense considering he was a ruthless killer, but this film promised something different. Someone living a double life with no one ever suspecting him, kind of like what Kevin Costner delivered in Mr. Brooks. That was the film I was hoping to see, but somehow I felt unattached to these characters and this story. I never cared for these people and I felt there was something missing in the way the story was being told. It is a shame because the premise seemed really good and the cast is really talented, but Israeli director, Ariel Vromen, never managed to deliver a thrilling story. As a killer, The Iceman, delivered what I expected. He had no problem killing whoever his target was unless it implied killing women or children. He didn't feel any sort of remorse and all he cared about was not letting his family discover who he really was. It is that family part which I thought wasn't approached well and could have made a difference in a genre like this that is so well known. I didn't feel the balance that this man was supposed to have between his family life and his work, which is what attracted me to this film in the first place. Without that The Iceman felt like an ordinary assassin story. 

The film is based on the true story of Richard Kuklinski (Michael Shannon), a cold blooded contract killer working for the mafia during the 70's. There have been books written about him (The Iceman by Anthony Bruno) and documentaries (The Iceman Tapes directed by Jim Thebaut) which served as a starting point for the screenplay. In my opinion if you want more facts or if its an autobiography you are looking for then check those out because this screenplay only scratches the surface. Richard began working for the mafia as a porn film lab tech. He met the love of his life, Deborah (Winona Ryder), who worked at a local restaurant and an year later they got married. They had two daughters, and no one in his family or circle of friends suspected about his double life. Richard lied about his work with the mafia claiming he worked for Disney dubbing their cartoons, and later when he became a contract killer and started making more money he claimed to be an investor. He was hired by mafia boss, Roy Demeo (Ray Liotta), but when things get complicated he becomes an independent contractor teaming up with the psychotic Mr. Freezy (Chris Evans) making several enemies along the way. James Franco, David Schwimmer, and Stephen Dorff all play smaller secondary roles.

Michael Shannon is a great actor and he has made several mediocre movies worth seeing, but he can't do much here to save this poorly written script that barely explores the psyche of this cold blooded killer because it fails to create tension between his loving family life and his disconnected ability to kill anyone without hesitation. His character is simply one dimensional. At least Shannon has quite some screen time because the rest of the characters in this film are completely cardboard cut out ones. Ray Liotta plays the stereotypical mob boss and there is no backstory to his character. James Franco and Stephen Dorff barely have any screen time and their roles seem like cameos. David Schwimmer plays a rather laughable character, I don't think he was the right person for the role. Chris Evans is a well known actor, but he goes over the top here in his portrayal of the psychotic Mr. Freezy. It is a shame that the screenwriters never managed to create tension between his family life and his profession. They could have used some help from the writers of Dexter which if given the choice I'd rather watch an old episode of this TV show than re watching this movie. The film lacked that balance between the family drama and the mob criminal world. As a character study film it fails as well because the film never explores the psyche of this cold blooded murderer. 

My Review: The Avengers (9/10)

¨Maybe your army will come, maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you! Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damn sure we'll avenge it!¨

Along with many others, The Avengers was one of my most anticipated films of 2012, and I can honestly say that it didn’t disappoint me one bit. It was even better than what I had anticipated and every single person in the theater seemed to have had the time of their lives. There were plenty of laugh out loud moments where everyone just cheered and the movie never ceased to entertain. The Avengers is one of the best superhero movies ever made, and I would say only The Dark Knight surpasses it, although comparing these two movies isn’t fair because this film is much lighter and self aware of its premise. The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon (who also wrote the screenplay) is masterfully put together, meshing the incredible special effects and action scenes with the beloved characters and perfect cast. Everyone is really great in this film and it entertains from the very beginning. This is what a popcorn summer movie should be. I was worried so much hype for this film could`ve ruined the film for me, but I was wrong. All the hype only built the momentum for this great action comedy superhero flick. Ever since the first Iron Man came out these films (Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America, and The Incredible Hulk) have been a sort of teaser trailer for this big movie. Those films helped build the characters and build the momentum for what we truly wanted to see: The Avengers. I assume this is how kids actually felt during the early 50`s when they were expecting for the next Marvel comic book issue to come out. This film definitely captured that essence and magic thanks to such a magnificent team of cast and crew.

The movie opens with Loki (Tom Hiddleston) attacking the SHIELD agency directed by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) in order to retrieve the cube which would enable him to open a portal to another universe and send an army to destroy earth. Loki is successful and manages to steal the cube and force Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Dr. Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) to join him by taking away their free will. In order to stop Loki, Nick Fury decides it`s time to assemble the team of superheroes which he has kept a close eye on for several years. He sends Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) to get Dr. Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) to call on Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.). Fury decides it`s time to get Captain America (Chris Evans) back into the action, and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) comes all the way from Asgard to try to stop his villainous brother from destroying Earth. These superheroes are assembled together, but aren`t ready to work as a team. They have some issues at first and have to learn to work together if they want to stop the evil Loki.

 The premise is pretty simple, but what really makes the film work is the interaction between all these great characters. This film could have relied so heavily on the special effects that it would`ve lost the magic of the great characters created by Stan Lee, but fortunately it decides to focus more on them. The tension they face working together is what really makes the movie work. There are plenty of funny moments as we have these superheroes fighting and mouthing each other. Robert Downey Jr. has showed us he can play the part to perfection, but every actor in this film really had great scenes. One of my greatest fears was that so many actors would not have enough screen time, but somehow everyone manages to be in this film for quite a while. Even minor characters such as Black Widow and Hawkeye get great exposure. Another thing I feared before The Avengers was that I thought Loki was one of the weakest villains of all the Marvel movies, but he is really great and dark in this film. He proved to be a great rival. But without a doubt, the best thing and most surprising for me was Mark Ruffalo`s performance as The Hulk, he really owned the movie and he had the best and funniest scenes in the entire film. Pairing him with Downey Jr. was really the best thing the producers could have done. Hulk is perhaps the best character in this film and the one I was least expecting to enjoy. Everyone in the theater was truly satisfied with the film and especially with the Incredible Hulk. He was amazing and so was the movie for that matter.  

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com

My Review: Captain America: The First Avenger (6/10)

¨General Patton has said that wars are fought with weapons but are won by men. Our goal is to create the greatest army in history, but every army begins with one man. He will be the first in a new breed of super-soldier.¨

Summer is synonym of superhero action movies. It seems as if every week we get bombarded with new superhero films, whether it be from the Marvel universe or the DC comics (I know, I`ve said this before). This summer started off with Thor, then it followed with the X-Men Origins franchise, next came The Green Lantern, and now finally we approach the end of the season with Captain America. I don’t have a problem with this at all since they usually end up being pretty good and some of my most anticipated movies for 2012 are actually superhero films (The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises). The question is how long can the producers keep on making these films entertaining and fresh for audiences. Captain America seemed to suffer from some of this overexposure these comic heroes have been having on the big screen. It`s still a good movie, but it didn’t feel all that fresh and we`ve grown used to seeing these heroes do great stuff and fight some terrible villains. The visuals are great as usual, the characters are interesting (comic book characters usually are very well developed since they`ve been in circulation for years), the stories are well developed, and the performances are great (especially from the supporting cast). So the question still remains: why wasn’t I that excited about Captain America? I found it an average and forgettable film despite all these great factors contributing to the movie. I guess I`ve already answered this: it just didn`t feel fresh enough, and it didn`t bring anything new to the genre. I did however still have a good time with the movie although I don’t think I will be seeing it again, and it won`t even come close in comparison to some of the other great superhero films like The Dark Knight or Iron Man.

The story takes place during the Second World War in 1942. The United States is in the middle of recruiting new, young and strong men to fight with the military overseas. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is one of those guys who is desperate to serve his country. He has a great heart, but unfortunately his small size doesn’t help. He keeps on getting rejected, but he is persistent and doesn’t let anyone bully him around. His best friend, Bucky (Sebastian Stan), has been called to serve with the 107 infantry and Steve wishes he could go along. Dr. Erskine (Stanley Tucci) overhears a conversation the two of them are having and decides to give Steve a chance- due to his great passion- to serve the country on a special mission. Colonel Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) are in charge of this secret mission which consists of finding the perfect soldier and injecting him with a special serum that Dr. Erskine has created that will enable him to have greater powers. Steve is the chosen one and the project is successful, but somehow a Nazi spy has managed to sneak in on the experiment and destroys the entire facility. This spy works for Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving) who is in charge of the Hydra division, which is sponsored by Hitler and is designed to build special weapons for the War. But Schmidt has something more in mind considering he wants to rule the world and uses science to build these special weapons. Steve Rogers, who becomes known as Captain America after undergoing the experiment, will now have to stop Schmidt before it`s too late.

One of the problems I had with this film was that Chris Evans played a very serious Captain America. He is a much better actor when he is allowed to be loose and funny. I know his character didn’t allow for that, but I guess the producers should have decided for another actor in that role considering Evans is a more charismatic and playboy kind of fellow. Hugo Weaving is usually great in his roles as villains, but in this case Red Skull wasn’t a very fearful one considering all he did was run away each time he had to face off with Captain America. This film could have used a much more intimidating villain. The best performances actually come from the supporting actors such as Tommy Lee Jones and Stanley Tucci who share some of the best scenes. In my opinion Evans didn’t have what it takes to be the lead character, but I expect he will be great in The Avengers as one of the supporting actors. He will probably be outshined by Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Samuel L. Jackson, and Jeremy Renner (or at least his Captain America film was by Iron Man and Thor), but that is ok because he always does well in those films where he just lays back in the supporting role. The best part of this film was by far the scene after the end credits where we get to see the trailer for The Avengers. The film looks so great and it will be interesting to see how all these actors work together. Hopefully audiences won’t be tired by then from all the overexposure and producers can maintain the freshness and originality alive.

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/

My Review: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (9/10)

¨Every Pilgrim reaches the end of its journey…some sooner than others.¨

I can guarantee you one thing about Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: It is like no other film you have seen in 2010. You might love it or hate it, but it definitely won`t be for its lack of originality. What some viewers may find off-putting are the eye-candy arcade style visuals, which I really enjoyed and found original. I completely loved this movie and was rooting for Scott Pilgrim all the way. This film is as close as anyone will get at adapting a graphic novel. Some scenes felt as if I were passing the pages of the comic book itself since it was full of texts throughout the action sequences (Zombieland tried this successfully last year as well). British director, Edgar Wright (of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz fame), successfully adapted the screenplay along with Michael Bacall, in order to bring Brian Lee O`Malley`s graphic novel to the big screen. The visuals, the action sequences, and the soundtrack are all highly entertaining, but what I really enjoyed the most in this film were the characters. The film moves at a really fast pace and it is surprising how much stuff they get into this movie in only two hours. It brought me so many different sensations at the same time: I felt like I was playing an arcade game, watching a live concert, and reading a graphic novel all at once. There are so many talented actors as well, but I will get into that in the next paragraph. All I can say is that director Edgar Wright keeps on demonstrating that he can make highly entertaining and fun films one after another, and isn`t afraid of taking risks. He always goes all in and pushes the boundaries of filmmaking.

For those of you who aren`t familiar with the graphic novel I will introduce you briefly to the plot and characters. Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is a twenty-two year old who is in between jobs at the moment, living with his gay roommate, Wallace Wells (Kieran Culkin), and currently dating a seventeen year old named Knives (Ellen Wong). She is slowly becoming obsessed with him, but he seems to be enjoying her company as they hang out mostly in the arcades. Scott is also the bass player for a small band called Sex Bob-Omb along with Kim (Alison Pill), Stephen (Mark Webber), and Young Neil (Johnny Simmons). Scott is still trying to get over the girl that broke his heart, Envy Adams (Brie Larson), who has now become a famous pop star. It has been a year since he was dumped, but now things begin to be looking all right for Scott and his relationship with Knives. That is until Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) shows up and Scott falls head over heels for her. Ramona is the girl of his dreams and it is love at first sight for Scott Pilgrim. She doesn`t seem to be interested in him at first, but Scott manages to get a date with her and she gives him a chance. The only problem is that Ramona comes with some heavy baggage and in order to date her he will have to defeat her seven evil ex lovers: Matthew (Satya Bhabha), Lucas (Chris Evans), Roxy (Mae Whitman), Todd (Brandon Routh), the Katayanagi twins (Shota Saito and Keita Saitou), and Gideon (Jason Schwartzman). To make matters worse he also has to face Knives and let her know that he is in love with someone else.

The cast is absolutely amazing. Michael Cera is great in the lead role and he plays his usual self although this time around he can fight really well. He has to face two ex superheroes: Superman (Brandon Routh) and the Human Torch (Chris Evans), who actually have pretty funny and entertaining scenes. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is gorgeous in this movie and it’s also love at first sight with her. Jason Schwartzman is always entertaining too watch as well. However the person who really steals every scene he`s in actually is Kieran Culkin who gives a terrific and funny performance as Wallace. I really fell in love with these characters and with the movie as well. The dialogue is very witty and funny, the visuals are stunning and really fast paced, the soundtrack is incredible, and I really loved the video game effects introduced in the movie. The story also served as a metaphor for love. Just like Scott we too have to face the evil exes of the person we love if we want to win their heart. If we can`t manage to make them forget about their past they will never want to move on with you. I thought it was an interesting metaphor anyways. It’s not a film you can take seriously, but it is one of the reasons why we love to go to the movies: Its pure fun and entertaining.

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/

My Review: The Losers (4/10)

¨ Did you know that cats can make one thousand different sounds and dogs can only make ten? Cats, man. Not to be trusted. ¨

(4/10) Who cares how many sounds a cat can make? And the same thing can be said about The Losers: who cares about this action oriented film? The plot and the dialogue simply bored me to death. I know the movie is to be taken lightly, but still I found the movie so dull and couldn`t care less for the characters. The dialogue is just terrible and there is not even a funny moment in the movie which would allow you to sympathize with the characters. The action alone wasn`t enough to save the movie. I just finished watching a much better film (Kick-Ass) which also had to be taken lightly, but was far more entertaining than this movie because that one actually had funny dialogues and interesting characters. Sylvain White (Stomp the Yard) directs this movie which was supposed to be fun, but it just didn`t work for me. The screenplay was written by Peter Berg and James Vanderbilt and it was loosely based on the characters from Andy Diggle`s DC comic. The screenplay could have been written by any amateur really because it was just awful. I knew this movie was to be taken lightly and enjoyed for the action so I was prepared for that, but I really didn`t find anything entertaining about it. The Losers is a film you could definitely live without seeing.

The opening of the film takes place in Bolivia where an elite squad is preparing for an attack on a drug dealer´s home. We are introduced to the five members of the squad in a cartoonish style. Clay (Jeffrey Dean Morgan from Watchmen) is the leader of the group, Roque (Idris Elba, RocknRolla) is the demo and tactical specialist, Pooch (Columbus Short, Armored) is the transpo and heavy weapon specialist, Jensen (Chris Evans, Fantastic Four) is the comms and tech specialist, and Cougar (Oscar Jaenada, Che: The Argentine) is the long range elimination specialist. Yes, they are all special. While on their mission in Bolivia they discover that there are several children where the attack is going to take place so they decide to abort the mission against the CIA orders. Somehow a man named Max (Jason Patric, Speed II) sabotages their mission and tries to get them killed. The five members of the squad are left for dead in Bolivia, while they try to survive and get their identities back. A mysterious woman named Aisha (Zoe Saldana, Avatar) shows up and promises to get them their identities back if they help her to find and kill Max. The problem is that Max is a very powerful man and is very difficult to get too, but the Losers want to get there revenge as well so they decide to trust Aisha. The plot moves on from this point in a very predictable manner.

There are some very good actors involved in this movie, but they just didn`t have good material to work with. Jeffrey Dean Morgan proved that he was a good actor in Watchmen, and in this film he is probably one of the best characters and has more screen time. Zoe Saldana also has done great movies, but she falls short as Aisha. Chris Evans tried to be as funny as he was in the Fantastic Four franchise, but I didn`t care too much for his character this time. Oscar Jaenada was perhaps the coolest character of the film, and the fact that he didn`t have many lines was probably a plus for him considering the terrible dialogue. Jason Patric played a strange villain; at times he seemed overly stereotyped and way too exaggerated. His portrayal of Max was probably the most cartoonish villain on film. Overall I really didn`t find The Losers entertaining. I know not every film has to be deep or have meaning, but this wasn`t entertaining or fun for me either. This is one of those movies I will have forgotten about the next day.

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/

The Losers: Book One (Vols. 1 & 2)The Losers: Book One (Vols. 1 & 2)