Movie Reviews By Movie Reviews Pro

The Bounty Hunter

Rating:

Movie: The Bounty Hunter(2010)

Studio : Original Film

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 106 min

Website : bountyhunter-movie.net

Trailer :
http://www.dailymotion.com/videoxcupc0

Review:

The whole premise plays out like the classic Seinfeld-ish chain of events. Gerard Butler plays a washed out cop-turned-bounty hunter, and Jennifer Anisten plays an aspiring reporter under parole. What do the two have in common? They were married. What happens when our female protagonist’s parole is missed for a big scoop? Wackiness!

It’s hard for me to not give The Bounty Hunter a little more credit where it’s due. Why? Ideally, I would like to say that the movie producers threw a little money my way and I complied like a bobblehead on a boat, but the honest truth is that despite how cliché this film is, it’s still reasonably watchable. This movie was made with no real contention for a great script, plot, or anything, and the actors know this and you can tell they’re having fun with it as a result. Gerard is practically borderline Jim Carrey at points in his outlandishness to Anisten’s forced straight man compliance, and I have to admit that it genuinely amused me feeling the energy the two gave off with each other. The side characters, while interesting, are fairly forgettable save two roles, one played by Christine Baranski as Aniston’s overly amorous lounge singer mother and Siobhan Fallon as Butler’s crude bail bond contact. Again, both seem to be somewhat exaggerated, and I think that’s what made them so infectiously funny.

This is the sort of film I would call a “compromise” if you want to see something with your amorous other and can’t choose between the chick flick or the action film. They’re both somewhat shlocky genres in general, and while the mishmash between them aren’t totally compatible (it actually stands out more towards the action end, in my opinion), there’s still enough in this film to make it fun to watch for some harmless entertainment.

-Donald Lee

Action, Comedy, In Theaters, Romance

Brooklyn’s Finest

Rating:

Movie: Brooklyn’s Finest (2010)

Studio : Millenium Films

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 132 min

Website : brooklynsfinestthemovie.com

Trailer :http://www.dailymotion.com/videoxbjqfc

Review:

I’m currently teaching a class in introductory literature, during which students are required to read one play. This semester, that play will be Oedipus Rex. As I’ve been rereading the play and attempting to tie it into my lessons on Greek tragedy, I couldn’t help but think of Brooklyn’s Finest, which stars three characters who could easily be tragic heroes in a Greek drama.

The first is Tango (Don Cheadle), a narc who’s been undercover for so long that he’s become confused about where his loyalties lie, particularly to Caz (a returning Wesley Snipes), a drug dealer who apparently saved him during a prison riot when he did an undercover stint there. Eddie (Richard Gere) is a burnt-out patrolman with seven days left before retirement. We first see him when he wakes himself up by chugging some whiskey and pointing a revolver into his mouth. Ethan Hawke is Sal, a detective with a wife and family that’s too big to support, with a set of twins on the way. In desperation, he’s taken to robbing drug dealers.

The movie intercuts these three stories, as we’re meant to see the hardships that real New York City cops endure: it’s the antidote to the fake buddy cop picture. We see Tango’s frustration appear to drift into borderline madness as he keeps being promised Detective First Grade by his supervisor (Will Patton) and threatened by a slimy agent (Ellen Barkin) if he doesn’t bust Caz. Eddie’s being asked to mentor rookie cops by taking them into the high-crime Brooklyn streets that have worn him down. His “retirement ceremony” brings some dark humor, all the more because it’s so sad. Sal’s wife (Lili Taylor) has to go to the hospital because of mold on the ceiling, which is threatening the health of her unborn twins. “Can you move to a bigger house?” the doctor asks. If only he knew…

The pacing here is excellent. Antoine Fuqua, the director of Training Day, does a great job at moving back and forth between these three stories, never dwelling on one for too long but allowing us enough time to get to know each character. The only downside was I had a hard time sympathizing with Hawke’s character, who seems to have put himself in his predicament of “too many kids.” My reasons will make me sound inhuman, so I’ll stop there.

The cinematography is fitting to the story as well. We don’t see overhead shots of the Brooklyn Bridge with the Manhattan skyline in the background, like most New York-set movies. Shots are limited to the streets, because this is the world occupied by these cops. The romance of New York is lost by most people who live there, but these guys appear to see it as a crime-ridden hellhole. With the exception of a shot of a subway station and the Brooklyn accents (well-done by both Gere and Hawke), this could really take place in any city.

One of my favorite movies is Requiem for a Dream, based on the Hubert Selby book. I hadn’t seen his name on any of the previews, but I wondered for a bit if the screenplay had been adapted from one of his novels. Brooklyn served as a fitting backdrop for his stories, all of which focused on multiple characters suffering from their own faults, and ultimately, succumbing to the consequences to follow. Michael C. Martin and Brad Caleb Kane, the screenwriters, certainly seem to have been inspired. It’s well-written and well-made. Not as good as Training Day, but worth the trip to the theater.

-Craig Wynne

Action, Crime, Drama, Just left Theaters, Reviews by Genre, Reviews by Status, Thriller Action, Brooklyn's Finest, crime, Drama, Richard Gere, Thriller

Daybreakers

Rating:

Movie: Daybreakers(2010)

Studio : Lionsgate

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 98 min

Website : daybreakersmovie.com

Trailer :
http://www.dailymotion.com/videox9ot1f

Review:

When the Spierig brothers plotted out this film, you can tell from the start that they have a passion for vampires and the culture around them.

The world of Daybreakers is a reflection of our own, cast in a shadow where the dead work at night through a Metropolis-inspired cityscape as they drink their coffee mingled with AB positive. From sun-blocking tinted panels to LCD mirrors, the design of this alternate reality is perhaps the most breathtaking thing about this film.

We step into this world long after humanity was given an ultimatum to live as vampires or die as their cattle. Unfortunately, living this way has led to a decline in the once mighty human population, and humans are becoming rarer as vampires begin to starve. What’s worse, those that starve do not simply “die,” but instead lose their sentience and mutate into mindless bat-human hybrids (think Nosferatu). The fear of starving and the greater fear of mutating is creating havoc within the populace, and the only salvation to be found is in a blood substitute that will keep vampire society alive.

Ethan Hawke plays Edward—did they really have to name him that?—a researcher for a “Big Brother” pharmacy agency that is trying to find a blood substitute while trying to maintain their dwindling supply of humans to feed the country. He is also one of the only humanitarians of this world and brother to a soldier who enjoys life as a vampire. Along the way, Edward encounters a small colony of humans and a potential new way to save vampirekind.

The movie starts off as interesting, but the storyline can not seem to hold up. It wants to be a horror film, but really comes off as more of a thriller with action elements. I don’t mind this, but a lot of cheap scare tactics get thrown in to prove its origin and it gets annoying. Worse still, the luxurious pace of the film fails as it goes from a scenic stroll of this new world into a clumsy gallop past the interesting grotesqueness of this rotting society. It’s a shame considering there’s so much detail that is easy to miss by the later half of the film.

I think this film would have been better as a mini-series. With what the Spierig brothers made, it would have given more time to love being in their vampire-dominated society and made it that much more horrifying to watch it slowly crumble away. As it stands now, it’s only a good idea with a half-baked execution. Don’t get me wrong, it has a lot of cult potential, and at a 20 million dollar budget this is an impressive film, but I don’t see it winning the recognition it has the chance to gain.

-Donald Lee

Action, Horror, In Theaters, Thriller ethan hawke, michael spierig, movies better off as mini-series, peter spierig, spierig brothers, vampire city, willem defoe

Sherlock Holmes

Rating:

Movie: Sherlock Holmes(2009)

Studio : Internationale Filmproduktion Blackbird Dritte

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 128 min

Website : Sherlock Holmes

Trailer :http://www.dailymotion.com/videox9byrr

Review:

Sherlock Holmes is a popular novel turned into a block buster movie. The cast includes some of the hottest and popular stars like Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams and others. If you liked the novel then you would definitely enjoy the movie as well.

The movie is a thriller in which Sherlock Holmes works to solve detective cases. Serial killer Lord Blackwood and his close assistant Dr. Watson have been caught by Holmes. Sherlock Holmes thinks that he is done with the case but Blackwood returns back again and resumes his killing activity. It becomes the task of Sherlock Holmes to look for the sorcerer Lord Blackwood and hunt him down. The detective has to work hard to open up secrets of killing, cheating and black magic while contending with the head of Scotland Yard as well as the Fiancée of his partner.

The movie is a good one and all the parts seem in place, however even though the director has done a good job in maintaining the viewer’s interest the momentum does not stay the same throughout the movie. The best scenes were those where dialogues were shared between Law and Downey Jr., their interactions were quite witty and quick which seemed to be like that of a married couple.

There is minimal and clear-cut action which is worth watching in the movie. The director has done a good job in not putting too much emphasis on those scenes which are not really important to the story. Everything seems to go in harmony and flows down naturally till the end of the movie.

The make up on Rachel is a little too excessive and unnecessary; she would have looked much better looking a little more natural. The movie has got quite a lot of repetition; once you have crossed the first 30 minutes of the movie you have pretty much seen it all. There seems nothing new happening after the initial minutes, the rest of the movie is just recycling of the first few scenes.

Overall, the movie is entertaining and although it may be a little repetitive you will most certainly enjoy it.

Action, Adventure, In Theaters, Mystery, Thriller sherlock holmes