Movie Review: 211

My Rating:

3Stars

This evening I saw the movie 211 on AppleTV. I must say this is one of the worst if not the worst movie I have ever seen. Unfortunately, this is not the first bad movie with Nicholas Cage. It is so obvious that the whole movie was filmed at a backlot. Don’t get me started on the dialogue, it was horrible.

I should have paid attention to the Rotten Tomato rating for the movie before I pay to rent it,

Nicholas Cage performance was typical, he just doesn’t have any other character. The characters are weak and doesn’t get time to develop. I have no idea what the purpose of Sapir Azulay’s character Jacobs in the movie. She plays an Interpol agent that goes around claiming she has been hunting the bad guys and pretending to be tough.

Rating Legend:

  Must watch before you die  Must watch before you die

  Wait for the DVD  Wait for the DVD

  Buy from iTunes Store  Buy from iTunes Store

  Rent it on iTunes  Rent it on iTunes

  Waste your time elsewhere  Waste your time elsewhere

Movie Review: Spy (2015)

 Spy (2015) Spy (2015)

My Rating:

This evening I saw the movie Spy at UA Cine Times, Times Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. One of the movies from my Must See Movies list, and the following is my movie review.

I had not written a movie review for some time, not to say that I had not been watching movies. In my opinion this was the best movie I watched this year; even after big names like Avengers: Age of UltronFurious Seven (2015) and Still Alice. That was saying a lot since I watch a lot of movies, both at the theater and via iTunes.

Melissa McCarthy was very good. Something I had expect, ever since I watched her performance in Identity Thief with the not so great Jason Bateman. This time around Melissa was partnered with two famous male actors: Jason Statham and Jude Law, who both have not had blockbusters movies for a while. This time around Jude played a pretty boy James Bond type who didn’t really have any talents, Jason played a guy with tough exterior, all-talk but soft inside.

Melissa’s natural stand-up comic side came out throughout the movie. I can imagine how enjoyable it would have been for the other actors on set. Making the director’s job even harder to stay on track as Paul Feig had envisioned it.

If you’re looking for a fun night out this is definitely a sure bet.

Rating Legend:

  Must watch before you die  Must watch before you die

  Wait for the DVD  Wait for the DVD

  Buy from iTunes Store  Buy from iTunes Store

  Rent it on iTunes  Rent it on iTunes

  Waste your time elsewhere  Waste your time elsewhere

Movie Review: Prometheus (2012)

 Prometheus
Prometheus

My Rating: 

 Wait for the DVD

This evening I saw the movie Prometheus at AMC Theater, Pacific Place, Admiralty, Hong Kong. One of the movies from my Must See Movies list, and the following is my movie review.

This Ridley Scott movie is a prequel to the Alien franchise. Although the first Alien is the only movie in the series that Scott directed. For fans of the Alien franchise they may find this movie has many unanswered questions.

After the first quarter of the movie the audience will recognize the aliens from the previous Alien franchise. Similar to the other movies in the franchise there is also a heroine, in this movie it is Elizabeth Shaw, played by Noomi Rapace. Rapace may be familiar to many of you as she gain critical acclaim with her role as Lisbeth Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its subsequent sequels.

Rating Legend:

 Must watch before you die
Must watch before you die
 Wait for the DVD
Wait for the DVD
 Buy from iTunes Store
Buy from iTunes Store
 Rent it on iTunes
Rent it on iTunes
 Waste your time elsewhere
Waste your time elsewhere

Movie Review: Taken 2

Taken 2

My Rating:

  Rent it on iTunes

This evening I saw the movie Taken 2 at AMC Theater, Pacific Place, Admiralty, Hong Kong. One of the movies from my Must See Movies list, and the following is my movie review.

Like most sequels that have difficulties living up to the standards and expectations of their respective original episode. The sequel to Taken is no exception. All the suspense and originality from the original are gone and surprisingly the writers did not attempt to introduce anything new.

The movie feels more like a Bourne sequel than Taken. Fortunately that is the saving grace of this movie and earned an extra penguin in my rating.

Although, I did not want to give it a single penguin rating, this is definitely a miss if you have to pay to view this movie.

Rating Legend:

  Must watch before you die  Must watch before you die

  Wait for the DVD  Wait for the DVD

  Buy from iTunes Store  Buy from iTunes Store

  Rent it on iTunes  Rent it on iTunes

  Waste your time elsewhere  Waste your time elsewhere

Movie Review: Act of Valor

 Act Of Valor
Act Of Valor

My Rating:

 Buy from iTunes Store

This evening I saw the movie Act of Valor at AMC Theater, Pacific Place, Admiralty, Hong Kong. One of the movies from my Must See Movies list, and the following is my movie review.

This movie is very realistic mainly because all the action sequences were done by real Navy Seal and stunt men.

The story is simple and the dialog very amateur but the purpose of the movie is to show off the the tactics and maneuvers of Navy Seal. If you’re into military stuff and particularly war games then you will like this movie.

Even though you are the demographics above you should still consider other options at the box office.

Rating Legend:

 Must watch before you die
Must watch before you die

 Wait for the Blu-ray
Wait for the Blu-ray

 Buy from iTunes Store
Buy from iTunes Store

 Rent it on iTunes
Rent it on iTunes

 Waste your time elsewhere
Waste your time elsewhere

Movie Review: X-Men – First Class

 X-Men: First Class 500x150
X-Men: First Class 500×150

My Rating:

 Wait for the Blu-ray

This afternoon I saw the movie X-Men: First Class at AMC Cinemas, Pacific Place, Admiralty, Hong Kong. One of the movies from my Must See Movies list.

This is another prequel to the X-Men franchise, with the first being X-Men Origins: Wolverine. This time it did a good job providing ample amount of background to the characters: Charles Xavier, Erik Lehnsherr (aka “Magneto”), Raven (aka “Mystique”) and Hank McCoy (aka “Beast”), which we were introduced in the past three X-Men movies: X-Men: X-Men, X-2 and X-Men: The Last Stand. The movie offers fans and non-fans of the franchise opportunities to understand why the characters behave the way they do, and why they are segregate into two groups.

After four previous versions of the franchise one will expect the story to be over done, to our present surprise this is not the case. It has the spirit and excitement of the franchise, while bringing the audiences back to the cold war era where the US government seeks the mutant’s assistance in preventing a nuclear war.

This is a well made sequel to one of my favorite franchises. If this movie is an option at your box office, it will guarantee an exciting evening out.

Rating Legend:

 Must watch before you die
Must watch before you die

 Wait for the Blu-ray
Wait for the Blu-ray

 Buy from iTunes Store
Buy from iTunes Store

  Rent it on iTunes
Rent it on iTunes

 Waste your time elsewhere
Waste your time elsewhere

Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean – On Stranger Tides

 Pirates of the Caribbean - On Stranger Tides
Pirates of the Caribbean – On Stranger Tides

My Rating:

 Rent it on iTunes   

This evening I saw the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides at AMC Cinemas, Pacific Place, Admiralty, Hong Kong. One of the movies from my Must See Movies list.

This is one of the worst 3D movie i’ve ever watched. There are hardly any 3D scences and the ones that are in the movie did not have to be 3D. The worst part is that none of the theaters in Hong Kong are showing the non-3D version.

As usual Johnny Depp played Captain Jack Sparrow that has no care in the world except for his own hide. They brought back some previous characters from past editions of the franchise like, Barbossa played by Geoffrey Rush and Gibbs played by Kevin McNally. Since this is the fourth edition of the franchise the originality of the plot and characters were not there, one will expects the screenwriters to go the extra distance to make the movie more special. I think this lack of originality started with Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End when the movie became very unbelievable and strange.

If you do not live in an area where they offer the non-3D version, I recommend you wait for it to become available in iTunes Movie Store, Netflix or airline entertainment system. But I think even fans of Depp will be disappointed with this movie.

Rating Legend:

 Must watch before you die
Must watch before you die

 Wait for the Blu-ray
Wait for the Blu-ray

 Buy from iTunes Store
Buy from iTunes Store

 Rent it on iTunes
Rent it on iTunes

 Waste your time elsewhere
Waste your time elsewhere

Movie Review: Source Code

Poster

My Rating: 3Stars

This afternoon I saw the movie Source Code at AMC Cinemas, Pacific Place, Admiralty, Hong Kong. One of the movies from my Must See Movies list.

It stars Jake Gyllenhaal (as Captain Colter Stevens) and Michelle Monaghan (as Christina). Without giving away the plot, it is about a military pilot (Captain Stevens) who wakes up inside someone else’s body and had to figure out what happened.

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