Spy (7/10): The name's Cooper, Susan Cooper.

“Can you imagine me as a spy?“

It’s a safe bet to say that Melissa McCarthy is at her comedic best when working alongside writer and director, Paul Feig (Bridesmaids and The Heat), so if you were worried about her recent failings in Identity Theft and Tammy, fear not because Spy delivers plenty of laughs and interesting action sequences. McCarthy can easily be discarded for repeating the same gags, but she proves that when given an intelligent script she can continue to deliver strong comedic roles. It helps that Feig is a fan of the spy genre and he cleverly manages to balance the action set pieces with the comedic moments. Spoof films have grown tiresome over the past years, but when done correctly they can still be entertaining and Spy is such a film. The film didn’t open strong with me, but it eventually grew on me as McCarthy’s character was empowered. 

In Spy, McCarthy plays the under confident Susan Cooper, a CIA analyst who serves as the eyes and ears of one of the agency’s top field agents, Bradley Fine (Jude Law). It becomes evident from the opening sequence that Fine is a spoof of James Bond, but I felt those moments a bit forced. When a mission goes wrong and the identities of all of the spies in the agency have been compromised, Elaine Crocker (Allison Janny), the agency’s stern boss decides to send Susan to Europe to uncover a conspiracy involving an arms dealer who is trying to sell a nuclear bomb to terrorists. The elegant dealer, Rayna Boyanov, is hilariously played by Rose Byrne who is convincing as one of the main villains in the film. Susan’s mission in Europe is compromised however, when the aggressive agent Rick Ford (Jason Statham) dismisses orders to stay clear from the site and decides to infiltrate the location despite having his cover blown. The interplay between Susan and Rick and between Susan and Rayna are by far the highlight of the film as these actors play off each other extremely well. 

Despite some hilarious scenes involving Statham, McCarthy, and Byrne, Spy misses some marks with a couple of characters. Jude Law is an incredibly talented actor, but I wasn’t a fan of his role here. He might be spoofing James Bond, but it’s Statham who delivers the most laughs poking fun of the macho character he has played during most of his career. It was great to see him back in a comedic role after his initial collaborations with Guy Rithcie (Snatch and Lock, Stock, and two Smoking Barrels). The cameo with 50 Cents was also quite horrendous and forced. Miranda Hart also has an important supporting role as one of Susan’s best friends in the agency, but I wasn’t a particular fan of her character and most of her jokes fell flat. Despite missing the mark at times, Spy is still hilarious when it centers on McCarthy, Statham, and Byrne. The feminist message might be too loud and obvious, but it works extremely well for a genre film where females are often overlooked and reduced to desk jobs. Spy also succeeds at delivering genuine suspense as we follow the hero trying to solve the case. There are memorable action sequences that take place in a kitchen and on a private jet that are incredibly entertaining, and it’s not something you see in spoof films. Spy balances the comedy very well and it delivers the action that espionage films have us accustomed to. I had a lot of fun with it.  


>

Furious 7 (8/10): The over-blown action scenes continue to improve the beloved franchise

"This time it ain't just about being fast.”

James Wan, who is well known for directing horror films (The Conjuring and Saw), took over the seventh film in this franchise replacing Justin Lin who had been sitting on the director’s chair since the third installment. What I found most interesting about this franchise is that it didn’t seem like it was going anywhere after its solid debut in 2001 since the first couple of sequels focused on different characters and storylines. Even when they got the entire cast back together in 2009 for the fourth film I didn’t feel like it was anything special. I’d always mildly enjoyed the films, but it wasn’t until Fast Five that I was really engaged with the series. Justin Lin may have not impressed me before, but when that film came out he decided to have fun with the overblown action scenes and audiences embraced it completely. We had the team reuniting together being chased by tanks and planes and pulling off nearly mission impossible tasks. My greatest concern for this film was that Wan wouldn’t follow that basic formula that had elevated the franchise in the first place. But in an early scene in the film those fears were soon gone when Wan practically gives the audience a wink by having Brian (Walker) telling his son that “cars don’t fly” when he playfully throws a small toy car through the window. We were about to find out that that claim wasn’t necessarily true because throughout this film we actually see several cars fly during the spectacular action scenes. 

By the end of Furious Six the franchise was tied perfectly together by uniting the events that took place in Tokyo during the third film with the present. In the fifth and sixth installments Toretto (Vin Diesel), Brian (Paul Walker), Tej (Ludacirs), and Roman (Tyrese Gibson) had finally found financial stability and cleaned their names to return home. The character of Agent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) had helped reinvigorate the franchise and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) was brought back from the dead (well actually she never really died, but fans of the franchise know what I mean). Mia (Jordan Brewster) and Brian were enjoying their newfound family life, but as we found out in the end of the sixth film, Owen’s brother Deckard (Jason Statham) was set on avenging him. Their seemingly peaceful life  is interrupted as the team begins to be hunted down by this dangerous British criminal. Loretto is offered the opportunity to flip the papers on Deckard from being hunted to becoming the hunters when a secret government official known as Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) offers him a deal. A Somalian mercenary (Djimon Hounsou) has kidnapped a hacker known as Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) who has developed a computer program known as God’s Eye that basically allows you to find anyone across the globe in a matter of seconds. If Toretto’s team can rescue Ramsey and retrieve God’s Eye he will let them use it to track down Deckard and catch him off guard. And so the adventure across the globe begins with flying cars, helicopters and droids exploding across the mountains of the Middle East, the elegant buildings in Abu Dhabi, and the city of Los Angeles. 

Gisele and Han were part of the reason why I enjoyed the previous films so much so I was worried that their absence in this film would hurt the movie, but the addition of Jason Statham as the main villain of the film elevated this to a higher level. There are great fight scenes between him and Dwayne Johnson and then with Vin Diesel that were incredibly entertaining. These are probably the best action stars of our generation and when the fighting choreography is filmed correctly you can’t go wrong with these guys.  There are also some fantastic action scenes involving fast car chases across a gorgeous mountain that ends in a Jurassic Park like cliffhanger. The action scenes are overblown, but that is what makes them so entertaining once you learn to accept the absurdity of it all and simply enjoy the ride. Over-the-top action scenes is what elevated this franchise in the first place and Furious 7 continues to play with that same premise taking advantage of Wan’s knowledgable work behind the camera and his use of different camera angles which makes the film look all the more entertaining. 

The greatest success of Furious 7 is being able to blend the incredibly fun action scenes with the dramatic elements involving the chemistry between the characters. We’ve grown to love these characters and each new addition always seems to work. Furious 7 takes some common themes from films like Mission Impossible or Ocean’s Eleven and applies them really well here. Tyrese Gibson plays a similar character to the one Matt Damon played in Ocean’s where he wants to prove his leadership qualities to the rest of the crew. There are elements recycled from other action films, but thanks to the cast it works extremely well in this franchise. And then you have the emotional aspect of this film surrounding Paul Walker’s untimely death. You can’t help but feel emotionally engaged towards his character knowing that the actor has recently passed away. There are several scenes of his face where the CGI seems evident, but the voice work was perfectly executed. The CGI never distracted me however, and I’m glad they decided to continue with the production of the film. The last five minutes are emotionally engaging and without spoiling the film all I can say is that the crew did him justice with a beautiful tribute. Furious 7 continues to build on an already engrossing franchise and it might just be my second favorite after Fast Five. 

Wild Card (5/10): Fun action scenes, but too few for a disjointed film like this one.

“I can take care of things. That is all you need to know.”

Don’t be fooled by the awesome poster that has Jason Statham pulling off an acrobatic stunt because Wild Card is more of a character driven drama than an action film. The only problem is that it never does manage to say anything about the character despite trying to be an inventive character driven film. Jason Statham is supposed to be this compulsive gambler living in Las Vegas working as a fixer thanks to his special skills, but we would’t actually know these things about the character until about forty minutes into the film so everything leading up to that seems like a waste of time. Wild Card has some interesting ideas and the action scenes are extremely fun, but there are only three action scenes in the entire movie. Getting to watch Statham beat up a gang of mobsters with a spoon and a butter knife is the highlight of the film, but the rest of the movie feels disjointed and disconnected. There are a number of secondary characters that have interesting appearances but most of the subplots end up going nowhere. It is surprising that the screenplay failed to work here because William Goldman is an Award winning writer (All the President’s Men and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) and the film is based on his novel “Heat.” But somehow Wild Card feels like it is missing a link and every sideplot that is introduced doesn’t fit in the film as a whole. 

Simon West has directed several mediocre action films, but I will always have respect for his most entertaining film, Con Air. This is his third collaboration with Jason Statham and I think The Mechanic was their best one. He is trying to do something different with Wild Card by focusing on the character rather than the action, but the drama doesn’t make much sense. Statham is still able to keep us interested thanks to his charisma and the few action scenes are well choreographed and stylized. It was almost enough for me to recommend it, but ultimately the waste of a talented secondary cast and the disjointed subplots left me wanting more. 

I already mentioned Statham’s charismatic performance, but I want to point out some issues I had with other performers. Max Casella and Sofia Vergara have a small scene at the beginning of the movie that is far from memorable. They are talented actors but the way West introduces these characters and never connects them with the story sort of falls flat. Then you have the talented Anne Heche working as a waitress at a bar that Statham frequently visits, Jason Alexander who is a lawyer that shares his office with Statham, and Michael Angarano who wants Statham to be his personal bodyguard for the night while he is out in Vegas. As much as I like these actors their roles are wasted. Dominik Garcia-Lorido has an interesting role as Statham’s friend who is beaten by a mobster (played by Milo Ventimiglia) just for funs sake. She wants revenge and she knows Statham can help her. This is the part of the plot that worked best for me, but Ventimiglia never ends up being much of a threat. There is an incredible cameo however with Stanley Tucci that worked so well that I wished the film would’ve focused on his relationship with Statham instead. There are some interesting moments in Wild Card but West was never able to piece them together into a cohesive and entertaining film. By the end no matter how much fun I had with the action scenes I couldn’t help but feel as if I’d seen an incomplete film.

Homefront (4/10): Next time let Jason Statham unleash the beast!

"Whatever you're thinking, rethink it."

I can't think of a better actor to deliver a line in a menacing, yet calm way, than Jason Statham does here.  He is one of the contemporary action stars that audiences will go see without hesitation or worrying about the screenplay. The reason is because there are very few actors that can deliver their fight scenes as well as he does. Audiences can feel every punch or kick from Statham without the need of quick edits or shaky camera movements. Unfortunately, the main problem with Homefront is that director Gary Fleder (Kiss the Girls, Runaway Jury) didn't use his action skills as a means to improve the movie, but rather sticked to the usual way of filming action scenes which involve quick edits, extreme close-ups, and shaky camera movements. Why would you have Statham star in your film if you don't take advantage of his well choreographed action scenes? The few action scenes in Homefront could have been shot with a steady camera and less cuts which would have made this a much more enjoyable watch because Statham has a great screen presence and he's always fun to watch. It's too bad that they decided to hold Statham's character back and didn't let him explode on screen. 

Homefront's screenplay was adapted by Sylvester Stallone from Chuck Logan's novel. Sly had intended to use the story for another Rambo sequel, but decided to put it into Statham's hands instead. The premise of the story is very familiar as you have the main character moving to a small town in order to put his violent past behind him (if you think about it, it is what Rambo has always been trying to do, but somehow he's a magnet for violence). Homefront is just another standard action film that follows pretty much every genre convention so it becomes way too familiar to enjoy it as something other than that, but the problem is that Fleder tries to make a more serious film instead of accepting the fact that it is simply a silly and familiar story. By trying to build character and move the story forward, the film loses its steam because it doesn't accomplish neither and ultimately it drags for most of its runtime. The few action scenes aren't entertaining either because of all the hyper editing going on. The film tries to build character and introduce new elements but it doesn't do it well. Take the romance for instance which is introduced, but it never goes anywhere with the subplots it introduces. We know exactly where everything is leading up to so the least you can do is explode Statham's potential instead of underlying his performance. 

Despite the familiar story and the hyper edited action scenes there are some positive elements to Homefront. First of all the cast is solid. Besides Jason Statham, you have James Franco, Kate Bosworth, Winona Ryder, and Frank Grillo starring together. James Franco plays a very different villain. He is a local meth kingpin who goes by the name of Gator. He might be intimidating in his small local town, but we know he is no match for Jason Statham. There isn't a second in this film where we feel Statham's character is in real danger and all we are waiting for is for him to let his rage loose. The small grudges that the people in this town hold are about to be blown out of proportions and they will soon find out that they are completely out of his league. The second positive thing about this film is Kate Bosworth's performance. She is almost unrecognizable in her role here, but she delivers the best performance of the movie. If your a fan, you will want to check this film out, if not then there isn't anything worth your time in Homefront.

My Review: The Expendables 3 (5/10)

"How hard can it be to kill ten men?"

The third time is the charm, right? Wrong! By now we already know what we are going to get from an Expendables movie. We know it is going to have generic action scenes, very little going on plot wise, and a lack of character development. We've even learned not to expect much from the crowded 90's A-list cast because they are mostly all reduced to caricatures. But if you enjoyed the first two films in this franchise then you are guaranteed to enjoy this as well because it pretty much gives you what you expect. There are plenty of old school action scenes, lots of explosions, and several cheesy one-liners. The nostalgia factor is a key element to these movies, but the problem is that we have seen plenty from these actors recently with a few exceptions. The attracting thing about these films was being able to watch these guys together, but that kind of rubbed off us in the first film.  There is no novelty left and only true fans of the genre will be satisfied. The thing that The Expendables has going for it is that it knows who its target audience is and they focus on them exclusively without even attempting to reach a more mainstream audience. They give fans exactly what they want. I even think this was an improvement from the second film, despite the fact that it was overlong and it became tedious at times. The final climactic scene was also a disappointment and it really doesn't get more generic than that. Plot wise I always forget what these films are about, I can honestly not remember what they were fighting for in the first two films and I imagine I will forget everything about this film in a few days. The main attraction is getting to see these guys working together and all I remember from the second film was the cameo from Chuck Norris and that Van Damme was a satisfying villain. This third film has some interesting cameos, but there is nothing much more to it.

Expendables 3 was directed by Patrick Hughes, who directed the little known but warmly received Red Hill in 2010. The story is basically the same as the previous two films in the franchise with some new additions and a new villain. This time the Expendables have to face a former founder of the team, Stonebanks (Mel Gibson), who has turned into a dangerous arm dealer. We are first introduced to Barney (Stallone) and his crew as they are freeing a former partner named Doc (played by Wesley Snipes). Together they embark on a mission to try to stop Stonebanks and along the way Barney signs up a younger crew with the recruiting help of Bonaparte (Kelsey Grammar). Other than Mel Gibson and Wesley Snipes the other new faces in this film are Antonio Banderas who plays a comical Spanish character named Galgo and Harrison Ford who has replaced Bruce Willis' Church as one of the directors who hires Barney's team. So there is a lot of testosterone in this film with scenes of these buffed up guys carrying weapons on one hand and a beer on the other. It is the ultimate definition of macho men from the 90's. It is even comical at times so I found it hard to keep a straight face, especially with all the cheesy dialogue. I did enjoy Snipes performance as I hadn't seen him in over a decade. Antonio Banderas was a bit too comical and Mel Gibson really didn't present a real threat as the villain. The film really suffers from a poor screenplay and it wastes the talented cast perhaps because there are just too many characters and so little time for a decent and engaging story. We never really care for any of these characters and I'm surprised I even remembered some of their names despite having seen them in 3 films already.

My Review: Redemption (5/10)

"When I'm sober...When I'm healthy and well...I hurt people. I'm lethal. I drink to weaken the machine they made."

This is acclaimed screenwriter, Steven Knight's directorial debut, which ultimately suffers from an unbalanced story. This isn't your typical Jason Statham action thriller; it's more of a neo-noir dramatic film that seems to be building up to a climactic ending but never manages to get there. The look of the film (the poster with the neon lights) and the silent main character gave out a sort of Drive vibe to it, but it never reaches that same quality and it never managed to draw me in emotionally. The film is barely over 90 minutes long and somehow due to the pacing of the story I felt like it was at least a two hour movie because there are several moments that just drag on and on without any specific purpose to build the story. Statham is a great actor, he has an on screen charisma, and this is perhaps one of his best performances but we don't get to see him do much of what we like in his films which is to beat up the bad guys. He gives a very convincing dramatic performance, but I really wasn't sold with the love story that much. The chemistry between him and Agata Buzek was practically nonexistent despite them both giving credible performances. I think the main issue had to do with the script which never quite knows where it is heading. It's a shame because Knight has written some great scripts in the past (Eastern Promises and Dirty Pretty Things), but here he simply never manages to be compelling. There are way too many forced coincidences to move on with the story and several cliches as well. For a film that tries to take itself seriously it certainly misfires and never quite reaches the potential it could have. The cinematography is pretty strong as we get to see a much darker side of London, but the film pretty much falls flat.

As for the story goes, we are introduced to Joey Smith (Jason Statham), a former special forces soldier who experienced a severe trauma in Afghanistan and has been running ever since from a military court martial. At the present he's homeless and living on the streets of London under a constant state of drunkness. One night he and his friend Isabel (Victoria Bewick) are attacked by a pair of thugs and while trying to escape from them, Joey ends up breaking in to a nice apartment where he decides to hide for a while. While he's hiding he discovers that the owner of the apartment is currently in New York and will be staying there for several months, so Joey decides to take his identity during his absence and use his apartment, suits, and car to move around. Not being able to contact Isabel he decides to visit Sister Cristina (Agata Buzek), who always sets up a tent and provides several homeless people with food. Cristina hasn't heard from Isabel either, but she discovers that she has accepted to work for the thugs that had attacked them. Joey sees the opportunity that destiny has given him to start over again and clean up his act, and lands a job as an enforcer for a local Chinese mobster. Unfortunately Isabel's body is found washed up in a river, and Joey decides to take vengeance and find those responsible for her death. 

There is also a strange sort of love relationship between Joey and Cristina that never really quite works, and he also happens to have a young daughter with whom he has become estranged. The film barely explores these elements as it tries to move the story forward in a rather bizarre pace, jumping back in forth to scenes of Joey in Afghanistan. These scenes of his past never work and they feel out of place, although I can see how the director wanted to tie this in to the sense of paranoia Joey was living under. Sister Cristina also has quite a shocking back story but the film simply is unbalanced and never quite figures out where it wants to go with all these elements. There were some strong moments where I thought the film was going to pick up, but then it took another unexpected turn that simply felt out of place and incoherent. I simply didn't get anything out of Redemption and couldn't quite figure out what it was trying to say. 

My Review: Parker (4/10)

"I don't steal from anyone who can't afford it, and I don't hurt anyone who doesn't deserve it."

The title of the film is based on the main character who is a thief with a set of moral codes which he never breaks. Oddly enough, Parker resembles every other Jason Statham character played on film, more than the character he was based on in Donald E. Westlake's novel "Flashfire." If you aren't familiar with the novel, you might be familiar with the 1999 revenge film, Payback, starring Mel Gibson. Despite not being called Parker in that film, Mel's character is supposed to be the same one played here by Statham. If you've seen both movies you will discover that they are completely different, so fans of Westlake's novels featuring Parker might be disappointed if they expect to experience that action hero, because all they will find is another Statham movie. I don't have a problem with Statham, I think he has great charisma on screen and has made some good films, but his act is wearing out if he doesn't try something new. This is the kind of film that he can make with his eyes closed considering he doesn't have as much fighting scenes as he usually does. The same could be said for director, Taylor Hackford, who has made some really strong films in the past like Ray and The Devil's Advocate, but this one is simply another generic and predictable heist film. John L. McLaughlin adapted the novel and this is also one of his weakest efforts considering he has written strong screenplays before (Black Swan and Hitchcock). This film didn't bring anything new to a genre we've seen played out a million times before in even straight to DVD movies. I could probably come up with a list of dozens of other revenge heist films that stand above this one. Parker was simply too generic and poorly executed with a character playing a thief with a strong moral code (which really never seems believable). 

Parker (Jason Statham) is working on his next heist after his long time partner, and now father-in-law, Hurley (Nick Nolte) recommends him and introduces him to four other thieves for an apparently easy heist: Melander (Michael Chiklis), Carlson (Wendell Pierce), Ross (Clifton Collins Jr.), and August (Micah Hauptman) who has close connections with the mafia in Chicago. After the heist the five thieves easily escape with the money, but instead of splitting the 200,000 they had all agreed on, Melander asks Parker and the rest of the gang to invest it in another heist in which they could all walk out of with a couple million dollars each. When Parker doesn't agree and asks for his share of the money, the rest of the members of the team shoot and leave him for dead. Parker survives and sets out to get back at these men because he believes in his set of ethical codes and they have broken it. It is not just about the money anymore, and he doesn't care how connected these men are with the mafia, he is out to set things right. After learning about their whereabouts in West Palm Beach he takes on a new identity and hires a real estate agent, Leslie Rodgers (Jennifer Lopez), as an excuse to look around and find these men. The only problem is that they know Parker is still alive and have set the mafia after him as well.

Parker is supposed to be an anti-hero, but it really doesn't play out like that in this movie. I couldn't identify with him and never found his set of moral codes really believable. Statham has charisma, but it just didn't play out that well with his character Parker. This felt like just another heist film where the audience is sort of forced to pull for the bad guy simply because he has a good heart. He only kills people when they don't do what they are told, he only steals from rich people, etc. He simply doesn't pull it off here and I couldn't root for his character. The film tries so hard to justify his actions in such a way that it never feels authentic. I also found Jennifer Lopez's role pretty pointless. Her character doesn't bring anything to this story and at times her life feels like a soap opera. Nick Nolte's character is another one that is completely pointless and misused. There were so many pointless things going on in this movie that could've been left out. The longer the film played out the more and more I disliked it. There are no thrills, the love triangle is hardly developed, and not even Statham's classic action scenes save this movie. Parker is simply too formulaic and very forgettable. 

My Review: The Expendables 2 (4/10)

"Track him, find him, kill him."

The Expendable 2 is a ridiculous and over the top action film that tries to connect with the audience through nostalgic action scenes and cheesy one liners. Teaming these great action stars from the 80's was a great idea and appealed to us in the first Expendables because we hadn't seen these actors do anything interesting in a long time, but in the sequel that novelty is gone and it felt like a complete embarrassment seeing these once great and talented actors working with such a lazy and predictable script. These action films full of testosterone kind of have the same appeal for men that Katherine Heigl's films have for women. Not even director Simon West who has made some decent action films in the past couldn't save this film from becoming such a train wreck. I really enjoyed Con Air and thought The Mechanic was entertaining, but this has to be one of his weakest efforts as a director. There are so many cheesy lines and dialogues in this film that it's not even funny. Arnold Schwarzenegger repeats his "I'll be back" line from Terminator like three times, Bruce Willis tells Arnold "You've been terminated," and several more lines that try to appeal to our memory of those great films of the past. I think that it was a great idea to reunite these guys for one movie, but a sequel was completely unnecessary.

The team from the first film is back with Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) leading the guns for hire crew which consists of Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), Yin Yang (Jet Li), Gunnar (Dolph Lundgren), Hale Caesar (Terry Crews), and Toll Road (Randy Couture).  Barney hires some fresh blood for their next mission, former US soldier Billy (Liam Hemsworth), who everyone pretty much calls the Kid. CIA agent Church (Bruce Willis) hires the men for a simple mission that consists of retrieving something from a crashed plane in Asia. He assigns his assistant, Maggie (Nan Yu) to go with them and bring back the device they are looking for. The mission goes wrong when some men are waiting for them at the crash site and take The Kid hostage forcing them to drop their weapons and give them the device they've come to retrieve. Vilain (Jean Claude Van Damme) takes the device and the Expendables are forced to regroup in order to face Vilain and his team known as The Sangs. 

In my opinion the best thing about The Expendables 2 are the two new additions: Jean Claude Van Damme as the villain and Chuck Norris who has a couple of cameos. The scenes with Chuck Norris are hilarious as he plays along with the famous internet memes about him. He mentions how once a cobra bit him in the dessert and after five days in agonizing pain the cobra died. The Expendables does play a lot with the stereotypes of each actor and the films that made them famous, but the action scenes aren't worth saving this movie. There is nothing unique or original about this film, we've seen it all before with much better scripts. This film is so predictable that you could tell everything that was going to happen. It is just a lazy repeat of the 80's action genre films. The self deprecating jokes didn't really work for me. 

My Review: 13 (4/10)

¨13 didn`t pull the trigger. You have to pull the trigger.¨

13 is a remake of a 2005 Georgian film ¨13 Tzameti¨ which was also written and directed by Gela Babluani. Unlike the original film in which Babluani also stared, this time the film had a lot of known Hollywood actors and it was filmed in color. The film has an interesting concept and it could have worked for a short film, but not for a full length feature film. Even at 97 minutes long the movie feels stretched and the dialogue really didn’t help either. There are some interesting and thrilling moments, but not enough to save this film. I had no idea what 13 was about before watching it so at the beginning I was drawn and intrigued to what was going to happen, but after the suspense was over the film got lost in the narrative. I also was expecting more from the cast because there were some interesting actors involved in the project, but the only real one who stands out in this film was Sam Riley (who I loved in Control). Riley gave a great performance and he is probably the best thing about this film. Mickey Rourke, Jason Statham, Alexander Skarsgard, and Michael Shannon were all underused, and they had little screen time to truly shine. With a better script this movie could have been much better. I was also a little disappointed with the ending, but I don’t want to give anything away, so I won`t say anything more about it.  

The less you know about the plot probably the better, but since the movie isn’t really that good I will go ahead and tell you about it. If you don’t want to know anything about the story then just go ahead and skip this paragraph. Vince (Sam Riley) is an electrician who has to put his home on mortgage in order to pay for his father`s operations because he`s very ill. Apparently the operation isn’t successful and they have to operate him again, which means Vince is going to need more money. That same day while he is working at someone`s house named William (Michael Berry Jr.) he overhears him speaking to his wife about the opportunity he just got of making a lot of money, while holding an envelope he just opened in his hands. That same day, William overdoses, and Vince doesn’t hesitate in taking the envelope and trying to figure out if he can make some money in his place. In the envelope he finds a number of hints that will lead him to some sort of secret place. Once he arrives to the location indicated he is taken by a driver named Jack (Alexander Skarsgard) to an underground building where a lot of wealthy people are gathered together making bets. He is given a number, 13, and before he can back out he discovers that he is part of a deadly game where other men gamble on his life. There are others just like him such as Jefferson (Mickey Rourke), Ronald (Ray Winstone), and many more that are all given numbers and are forced to point guns at each other with one bullet. They all have to shoot, those who are lucky survive.

13 is really poorly developed. The concept was interesting at first, but it got really boring after a while thanks in most part to a terrible script and very little character development. There were so many characters that were just wasted in the film and some of the background stories that were told about them were useless. Mickey Rourke and Jason Statham are both great actors, but their roles in this film were absolutely pointless. I really don’t understand how a movie like this needed to be made. The only positive thing I can say about 13 is that Sam Riley had a lead role and he was great. He was the only character that was really developed, and he did a decent job with the poor material he had to work with. There were a couple of intense moments, but like I said before, it could have worked well in a short film, but not in a movie like this. I really wouldn’t recommend this movie, unless you are a fan of Sam Riley (in that case just watch Control all over again and skip this).

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/

My Review: The Mechanic (6/10)

¨Victory comes with preparation.¨

The Mechanic is a remake of a 1972 film of the same name staring Charles Bronson in another of his infamous revenge movies. Bronson made at least a dozen of those flicks. I never saw the original one, but I didn`t have to because I`ve seen several films like The Mechanic, action packed and dealing with revenge. Jason Statham was the right choice to play the role Bronson once played in the 70`s since in a way he is becoming the Bronson of our generation. Statham has made several films like The Mechanic in the past, The Transporter being perhaps one of his best roles to date. Statham might not be one of the most talented actors in the industry, but he is good at action. He seems to be playing pretty much the same role in all his movies (the tough guy act), but given the right script his films can be entertaining. The script was originally written by Lewis John Carlino for the original Mechanic, and it was adapted by Richard Wenk (16 Blocks) for this newer version. The Mechanic is directed by Simon West, the guy who brought us Con Air, and he`s been around action films for a while. This probably won`t rank among his best works, but The Mechanic still manages to entertain with all its twist (some more predictable than others), and nonstop action scenes. The Mechanic is a very violent film; it has a lot of blood and raw scenes. The problem with the film is that we`ve seen this sort of action movie in the past, but Statham still makes it worthwhile.

Jason Statham is Arthur Bishop, a ¨mechanic¨, in other words a hitman, or an elite assassin (whichever you prefer to call it), and he`s one of the best in his field. He`s quiet, professional, and remains unattached to his victims. He receives his targets via an internet add sent to him by his boss Dean (Tony Goldwyn) and prepares for each job in his quiet bayou, which serves as his hideout. Arthur is a perfectionist, he studies every detail about his victims and if he can he carries the job out as silently as possible. Sometimes you never even know he was there, making the murders appear as natural deaths. Arthur is troubled when he receives his next target because it is Harry McKenna (Donald Sutherland), his friend and the man who taught him everything about being a mechanic. Apparently Harry has betrayed the company and sold out some of the other mechanics. Arthur follows through with his assignment, but when Harry`s son, Steve (Ben Foster), wants Arthur to teach him everything he knows about being a hitman the situation becomes complicated. Arthur has a strict code, he`s a perfectionist, and likes to eliminate his targets as clean as possible, but Steve is more volatile and likes to get dirty. Arthur tries to teach Steve how to remain detached from his victims, but things begin to get messy. The situation gets worse when Arthur discovers that he was set up and that Harry never had betrayed the company, it was the other way around. It`s time for Arthur to send his company a message for fooling with him.

I really liked the opening scene of the film, I thought Arthur`s first assignment was well thought out and it helped establish his character. He did his job quietly and clean, and then he headed to his hideout, turned on some classical music and got rid of all the evidence like if nothing had ever happened. The Mechanic begins with clean kills, but then it becomes increasingly more violent as the film progresses. Then the twists begin showing up and several plot holes can be found, but they are numbed down by all the violence. As long as the viewer remains detached to the plot, like Arthur is detached to his victims, then they will have a good time with this action packed film, but if they sit down and analyze it scene by scene then it probably won`t be very entertaining at all. The Mechanic isn`t a great film, but it still is entertaining thanks to Statham and Foster who are great in the action scenes. It’s far from being memorable and I probably won’t be seeing it anytime soon, but it`s still worth a onetime viewing. This isn’t among Statham best films (like Bank Job, or his collaborations with Guy Ritchie), but it is still better than most of his recent movies. Foster and Statham form a deadly partnership and make this movie worth the while. In summary, The Mechanic is a forgettable, but entertaining film.

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/

My Review: The Expendables (7/10)

¨ We are the shadow, the smoke in your eyes, the ghosts that hide in the night. ¨

Sylvester Stallone directs, writes, and stars in The Expendables, an action packed movie that knows exactly who its target audience is: Men. This film pays homage to the action movies from the 80`s and 90´s, and either stars or has cameos from most of these actors (Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger). The Expendables also stars some of today`s action heroes as well such as Jet Li, Jason Statham, Steve Austin, and Randy Couture. Stallone had previously written and directed other of his movies, such as the Rocky and Rambo franchise. The reason I actually enjoyed this movie was obviously not because of the plot, but because it was just great to see all these stars working together and doing what they do best. The action scenes are raw and really bring back the nostalgic feeling of the 80`s B action movies. The film will satisfy those blood thirsty action fans who want to see real choreographed action scenes, plenty gun and knife fights, crushed bones, and a lot of explosions without relying on the CGI effects. The Expendables isn`t a smart movie, the plot is formulaic and predictable, but the action makes up for it. It doesn`t try to be something it shouldn´t, it knows exactly who its target audience is and will only satisfy them. It`s not like ¨Killers¨ for example that really lost itself by trying to target different audience groups and couldn`t be defined in any genre. The Expendables is a fun and entertaining action film and it doesn`t try to be anything else.

Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) is the leader of a group of mercenaries who call themselves the Expendables. The team consists of Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), a man who really appreciates his knives and is having some love issues; Ying Yang (Jet Li), an expert in martial arts who is always being made fun of because he is the smallest of the group; Hale Caesar (Terry Crews), who handles heavy machinery; Toll Road (Randy Couture), the demolitionist, and Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren) the sniper who is beginning to go a little crazy. The Expendables return from a successful mission in Somalia, although Barney has to cut Gunner from the group because he is becoming dangerous and unreliable. Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) offers the group a new mission on a small South American island where they have to overthrow the military dictator General Garza (David Zayas). The General receives the money to support his military dictatorship from an American drug dealer named James Munroe (Eric Roberts). Barney and Lee travel to the island in order to scout the enemy where they meet one of the rebels named Sandra (Giselle Itié). Barney decides the mission is too risky and doesn`t want the group to get involved. He offers Sandra to escape with them, but she decides to stay and fight the enemy. Back in America, Barney has a talk with his good friend and tattoo artist Tool (Mickey Rourke) and he decides the right thing to do is accept the job and rescue Sandra.

The Expendables is one of those fun action movies that is enjoyed even more because of the cast. I would recommend this movie only to fans of the 80`s action films who would like to bring back the memories. This is not a film for everyone, and is specifically a man made movie. I really had a lot of fun, but this is no masterpiece. This isn`t a smart action movie with good dialogues like Tarantino films, but it has the best action stars who are really good at kicking butt. The movie also has a couple of funny scenes which made the movie all the more entertaining. The fighting scenes were excellent, there is a lot of gore, but the plot is pretty simple, however that doesn`t take away all the fun you experience while watching all these men get their bones broken and killed. It has been a long time since I saw such a high body count, and gratuitous violence, but this is the sort of thing you are expecting from a movie like this. I didn`t think I would have as much fun with The Expendables like I did, but this is definitely not a movie for everyone. If you hate violent films then you will not want to see this. This is for fans of the 80`s action movies who would like to bring back some of the nostalgia.

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/