Thursday, January 24, 2013

Taken 2


In Istanbul, retired CIA operative Bryan Mills and his wife are taken hostage by the father of a kidnapper Mills killed while rescuing his daughter

Ok remember how Liam Neeson killed all those guys in Taken?  Turns out they had families.  Said family are now out for revenge.  Basic plot.  So far so good.
  So Liam is heading to Istanbul to work security for some dude, they don't really say and he invites his ex wife and daughter to join him.  See his ex wife is getting divorced from her current husband and he canceled a romantic vacation they had planed.  So you know nothing says romance like Istanbul. 
Once there The bad guys show up and TAKE Liam and his ex wife, so he has to call his daughter to help him escape, and save the day.
  First issue, when the group of bad guys show up the first time Liam is beating the crap out of them until they bring out his ex wife with a gun to her head.  He pulls out his phone and calls his daughter.  Yes they let him talk on his phone.
  Then his daughter finds him and they have a huge car chase scene.  Problem is, is his daughter keeps flunking her driving test in the states.  Yet somehow she can weave in and out of traffic during shootouts in a foreign country.
  Plot twist aside the film is ok.  I say ok because of the way the fight scenes are filmed.  It looks like it was filmed by an epileptic on a trampoline.  
If you can handle shaky cam fight scenes your fine.  The plot is exactly what you expect, and it has a nice 90 minute run time so its hard to get board.  Not as good as part one, but a good way to kill an afernoon.

Overall 3 out of 5 stars

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Crawlspace



A special forces unit sent, to infiltrate Pine Gap Australia's top secret underground military compound, come under attack from unknown forces

Ok, let me say this before I start, the last good Australian film I saw was Dead End Drive In.  That was about 25 years ago.  So needless to say I was interested to give Australian cinema another chance after years of crap.  Crawlspace, suffice to say peaked my interest in Australian Horror once again.
  Set inside an underground facility, a group of soldiers go in to investigate a security breach.  What they find is a facility that is doing experiments on people. 
  They set off into a giant maze of "Crawlspaces" looking for various escapees, and instead encounter at first a giant razorback type monster, random crazy's an evil scientist, because you have to have one of those in every good film, and a bizzar girl named Eve who has telekinesis.  Seem she was heavily experimented on and can now make people see things via her mind.
  The title fits as the film does take place mostly in a crawlspace.  Its done quite well.  It has the same claustrophobic feel that the original Alien film had.  Followed that up with good special effects, both practical, and CGI, and a very good cast and you have yourself a hell of an entertaining suspense filled ride.  I should note I did get a few jump scares. 
  Overall I would highly recommend checking this out.  In the world of remakes, this is a fresh, and new concept.

Overall 3 out of 4 Stars!

Dredd 3D



In a violent, futuristic city where the police have the authority to act as judge, jury and executioner, a cop teams with a trainee to take down a gang that deals the reality-altering drug, SLO-MO

  Not to be confused with the Stallone Judge Dredd (Which I actually liked) this one is much more true to the comic.  Violent, over the top, action packed, and cheese as all hell.

  In the future, law enforcers are Judges.  Judge, as in Jury and Executioner as well.  There cops who can give sentence to the criminals they go after.  Life, parole, warning, death sentence.  Judge Dredd is the most feared Judge in Mega City One. 

  The plot is simple, Dredd and his new partner, a really hot psychic rookie judge are investigating a homicide at a block in a slum area.  The block is actually a giant high rise building that is being controlled by a crime lord named Ma Ma.  She is producing a new drug called Slow-Mo which gets you so high it makes you think time is slowing down.  Dredd and his partner take a suspect in for questioning, but before they can leave Ma Ma, who doesn't want the perp giving up any info on her organization has the building locked down, and orders Judge Dredd and his partner killed.

What follows in about 70 minutes of over the top action as Dredd must make his way up the Block to get to Ma Ma (Bad guys are always on the top of the high rise) amid chain guns, thugs, dirty cops, and random Block Dwellers.  Violence galoer, with over the top gore make this not only a winner for fans of the book, but for action lovers as well.

Highly Recommended!

3 out of 5 Stars.