Movie Reviews By Movie Reviews Pro

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Rating:

Movie: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)

Studio : Paramount Pictures

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 118min

Website : gijoemovie.com

Trailer :http://www.dailymotion.com/videoxa0ryb

Review:

And so comes one of the most anticipated movies of the year, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Having been a fan of the cartoons and the action figures as a kid, I was excited to see this movie. As I watched, that excitement dwindled.

This movie seems to want to do for the cartoons what Phantom Menace did for the Star Wars movies. At the beginning of the film, we see two Special Op soldiers, Duke and Ripcord, being recruited for the G.I. Joe unit led by General Hawk. Their current mission seems to involve the retrieval of four nuclear warheads from the evil Cobras, before they destroy world landmarks, although this plot element unfolded in such a slapdash manner that I had a hard time grasping the logic of why the Joes would even be involved in this mission.

No matter: you don’t watch a movie like this for the story, which seems to be mostly background material so that the makers can create explosions and dogfights for the blockbuster action crowd. That being said, the movie is well-made on a technical level, but the special effects don’t make up for a lack of story. I love an action movie best when well-drawn characters who are fighting for something at stake. For most of the movie, I didn’t care whether the Joes retrieved these warheads because the makers didn’t take the time to make characters we could root for (the cartoons, campy as they were, actually had stories and distinguishing differences between characters).

The movie began to grow on me in the last hour, as some of the backstories involving Storm Shadow, a troubled ninja, and Barroness, Duke’s ex-fiance gone Cobra, engaged my interest. Marlon Wayans also provides some good comic relief as Ripcord as he jive-talks and takes pratfalls in a robotic suit of armor, but these things don’t bring the movie up to the level.

The ending all but tells us that there will be a sequel in the future. If and when it comes out, I’ll probably end up watching it on someone else’s Netflix subscription with a group of friends and a case of beer. If you must see this movie, I recommend that you learn from my mistake and save it for that particular forum.

-Craig Wynne

Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller Action, Adventure, gi joe, sci-fi

Orphan - Jaume Collet-Serra

Rating:

Movie: Orphan (2009)

Studio : Warner Bros.

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 123min

Website : orphan-movie.warnerbros.com

Trailer : http://www.dailymotion.com/videox8qjbh

Review:

Movies about creepy kids have long been a reliable box office draw. Usually consisting of some seemingly angelic little boy or girl who starts out all wide-eyed and innocent but in the end is revealed to be a granny-mangling demon from the bowels of pre-pubescent hell, this sub-genre has given us such nightmarish cinematic icons as Regan from The Exorcist and Damian from The Omen.

The Orphan probably sits somewhere between the above classic examples of how to do creepy kid movies and Children of the Corn (as an example of how not to). Essentially it’s a domestic horror tale centering on the troubled Coleman clan and the swirling black-hole of loss and guilt that resides at the core of the family. We soon come to learn that the black-hole is the result of the tragic loss of Kate and John’s unborn baby. Kate is in therapy for her drinking problem while John deals with things by wandering around the house in a near perfect state of semi-consciousness. And so, to fill in the hole they decide to adopt another (older) child. Enter Esther.

Believed to be born in Russia and possessing prodigious musical and artistic abilities, the delightfully polite Esther immediately impresses Kate and John with her quiet and sad demeanor and they quickly decide to take her home from the orphanage. What was interesting at this point was that Esther was not simply being depicted as a one-dimensional mini -monolith of evil, but rather seemed genuinely vulnerable and moved by her introduction to the Colemans’ (relatively) stable family life.

It wasn’t long however before the creepy kid clichés began to pile up. But still, I reassured myself, that’s okay – heck, you could argue that all genre movies are just a series of orchestrated clichés! It was in the final act though that I finally gave up on The Orphan. Back-pedaling furiously from the complex position of having created an almost sympathetic killer kid, the film-maker instead took the easy way out by inserting one of the most ridiculous “twists” to come down the pipeline since Bobby Ewing came back from the dead in Dallas. Yes, the “twist” did answer a few (unimportant) questions – but it also provoked a new one: why did I spend $10 dollars on this crap?

In the end, despite the strong first half, the only person I would recommend this orphan to is Madonna.

-Paul Meade

Drama, Horror, In Theaters, Mystery, Thriller Drama, Horror, Mystery, orphan, Thriller

The Hurt Locker- Kathryn Bigelow

Rating:

Movie: The Hurt Locker (2009)

Studio : Kingsgate Films

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 130min

Website : thehurtlocker-movie.com

Trailer : http://www.dailymotion.com/videox91vpy

Review:

The Hurt Locker is the story the Army’s elite Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) squad and their call to missions in modern-day Iraq. The story focuses on the Bravo Company, specifically commissioned to handle IEDs or Improvised Explosive Devices. We follow this company—which comprises Staff Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner), Sergeant J.T. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie), and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty)—on their 39-day tour of Iraq. We watch as they weave through each mission with their lives on the line, and as they consistently escape death, the layers of their complicated emotions and intentions unfold right before us.

It doesn’t take very long to realize that the real star of this film is director Kathryn Bigelow. Although her claim to fame up to this point might be Point Break and being the mega-director James Cameron’s former better half, this movie should cement her as a serious and formidable new voice.

The amazingly authentic script by Mark Boal aids her vision. Much like In the Valley of Elah, Boal has researched a real story in order to create a compelling fictitious one. Here, Boal imbedded himself with an actual EOD squad and fashioned himself part-journalist, part-screenwriter. And upon the viewing of this film, it will be hard to deny that he has succeeded exceptionally as both.

Jeremy Renner as Sergeant James does a commendable job of turning his performance into a bona-fide character study. As the most complex character, he gives an appropriately understated performance while maintaining a certain amount of bravura, making him fascinating to watch.

There’s a noticeable dip in the quality of the action at the end of the second act where a particular soldier goes AWOL. It’s the only part of the movie that feels a little “Hollywood.” Nevertheless, it doesn’t take away from the overall excellence of the film, and fortunately, it gets back on track shortly thereafter.

However, there is a major oversight that does affect the overall impression of this film: Although directed by a female, it is mysteriously devoid of female soldiers. For a film that’s committed to being so real and so true, it’s an unfortunate critique for a film that is otherwise virtually flawless.
 
The crux of this film lies within its final 5-10 minutes. And it’s these minutes that catapult it from being a run-of-the-mill war story to modern parable.

-Sam Henderson

Action, Drama, In Theaters, Thriller, War Action, Drama, hurt locker, Thriller, War

Moon - Sam Rockwell

Rating:

Movie: Moon (2009)

Studio : Liberty Films UK

Info : Click Here 

Runtime : 97min

Website : sonypictures.com/classics/moon/

Trailer : http://www.dailymotion.com/videox9jn9l

Review:

It’s been a while since I thought of Gerry Anderson’s Space1999, but Moon, directed by Duncan ‘I’m-David-Bowies’-kid-Jones made me feel all nostalgic for that long-ago TV series…and a whole lot more. This is a throw-back to the science-fiction films I grew up on, heavy on character, idea and story (remember ‘story’ kids?) and less on any real effects. I had thought this kind of science fiction filmmaking was over and I was tickled to see the use of miniatures (I assume), imaginatively treated sets, clothes and neato vehicles making a comeback. Used to be I could suspend belief quite easily because effects didn’t take me out of the element of the film but because of the recent spate of ridiculous CGI it’s been a long time for me to really get into and believe a film of a fantastic nature.

 Moon had me believing I really was ‘up there’ with Rockwell and his dilemma. 
Sam Rockwell playing Sam Bell, treats us to an unnerving 97 minutes, centered round the perfect dusty tightness of cinematographer Gary Shaw’s movements and sets. As we should all come to expect from Rockwell, his performance is top rate, in what can only be described, in the strictest sense of the word, a ‘dual role’. I knew the guy could act ever since I saw him as Chuck Barris in Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind but watch the guy in this movie and you’re convinced he is one of the best of his generation.

Helped along by his GERTY robot (voiced by Kevin Spacey) a mystery is slowly revealed to explain just what and who Sam really is. And while laconic movies of this type usually implode after the secret is out, it is a testament to the power of Nathan Parker’s screenplay (Jones wrote the story but then handed screen writing over to Parker) and Rockwell’s amazing acting chops that keeps one engrossed with Moon, on the Moon, about Moon ‘til the very end.
 
-Ralph Greco, Jr.

In Theaters, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller Kevin Spacey, Mystery, scifi, Thriller