BATTLE: LOS ANGELES (2011)
MyRating: YY1/2Director: Jonathan Liebesman
Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Ramon Rodriguez, Michelle Rodriguez, Ne-Yo, Bridget Moynahan, Michael Pena
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sustained and intense sequences of war violence and destruction, and for language
Our world is being invaded by aliens when thousands of meteors suddenly crash into the Earth's oceans. The meteors turn out to be extraterrestrial spacecrafts and they start to destroy and kill everyone in sight. In the middle of the chaos, a platoon of U.S. Marines in Los Angeles is assigned on a mission to rescue some civilians trapped inside a police station. But they have to finish the mission fast within three hours and get out, before the U.S. Air Force bombs the territory. As the soldiers step into the alien hunting ground on their mission, they are being ambushed mercilessly by the alien forces. And that hunting ground soon will become their burial ground.
A promising and intriguing premise is not enough without a proper script and execution, and this movie was the prove. Despite quite good special effects, this movie ends up to become an average sci-fi movie. A plain and sour one, despite the noisiness that this movie created with men shot aliens and aliens shot men back, and machine guns bombarding in the background and men shouting all over the place, orchestrated the hell out of a fight, in a big mess. As soon as the movie began, it battled till the end. But without a proper story, the movie was just not engaging and involving enough, and the not enough character developments made the audience didn't care much on who will die. It was also difficult to differentiate one soldier from another, as there were many characters involved but all just look the same in the battle. They died before we even got to know them better, or maybe we confused on who actually has just died. The aliens themselves were not more than war machines and robots. It's like Terminator Salvation meets Black Hawk Down. This is not a totally bad and unwatchable movie, as we may still enjoy the battle and the messy fights. For me, it was just not memorable. Next time when aliens plan to attack our world again, remember to tell them that 'all actions and no story' is never enough. (MJ)
I AM NUMBER FOUR (2011)
MyRating: YYY
Director: D.J. Caruso
Cast: Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Teresa Palmer, Dianna Agron, Callan McAuliffe, Kevin Durand, Jake Abel
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and for language
A movie based on the novel written by Jobie Hughes and James Fre with the same title, about John Smith (Alex Pettyfer), a teenage boy came from planet Lorien, who finds himself next in line to be killed, after three of his kinds were being murdered by the enemies who hunt them since they were toddlers. He is Number Four. Living in runaway all his life with his guardian Henri (Timothy Olyphant), they move from one town to another and changing their identities each time. When they move to a small town in Ohio, John feels that it's time to settle down as he falls in love with Sarah (Dianna Agron). But it's just only a matter of time before his ruthless enemies will track him down to his latest place. Before that happens, he has to decide whether he has to run again or stay, while he has to sharpen his powerful new abilities. And when he meets with Number Six (Teresa Palmer), John realizes that they have bigger chance to stay alive by joining force together.
A fun enough teen action sci-fi movie. It has a decent script to back the story, while the action sequences were quite cool, especially the final battle between Number Four, Number Six and the Mogadorians. Watching these super teenage fighting while launching lights from his hands to attack the enemies can turn out to be enjoyable to watch. There was also beast versus beast scene, it may look clumsy, some may feel ridiculous, but it was there as the part of the thin-paper light story. For teenage girls, Alex Pettyfer maybe hot, but for guys, there were the very beautiful and refreshing Dianna Agron (the girl from Glee) and Teresa Palmer. Don't take this movie too seriously (it was not a material to be praised out loud, but at the same time easy to mock). I was just having some good time and I don't think the story was bad. Don't mind at all if they continue the story. (MJ)
UNKNOWN (2011)
MyRating: YYYY
MyRating: YYYYDirector: Jaume Collet-Serra
Cast: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Aidan Quinn, Bruno Ganz, Frank Langella
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of violence and action, and brief sexual content
Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) wakes up from a coma after an accident in Berlin, only to find out that his identity has been stolen by another man. No one recognizes him, including his beautiful wife (January Jones). Desperately wants to prove that he is 'him' and he is not insane, Martin suddenly finds himself becoming a target of some people who want to kill him. Trying to stay alive, and with the help of a woman (Diane Kruger), the only person who seems to trust him, he slowly discovers that there is even a major grand plan behind his amnesia and loss of identity. But why him?
Neeson is back with another action thriller after the successful Taken (2008), and this is another good one. A suspenseful movie with an interesting mystery and intrigue, as we also tried to guess and find out what was actually happening to him. A good portion of actions add up to the good thriller. Neeson was great and he looked comfortable in this kind of role. And don't mess with him, even when he is having an amnesia. He was tough, resourceful in critical situations, and he definitely kicked asses. The story gave a twist at the end, not totally unpredictable, but it was a good one. The movie may not be totally plausible, but it was a good fun and entertaining that will keep you on your seat. (MJ)
PAUL (2011)
MyRating: YYYDirector: Greg Mottola
MPAA: Rated R for language including sexual references, and some drug use
The dynamic duo is back. After horror (Shaun of the Dead, 2004) and action (Hot Fuzz, 2007), this time these two funny men, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, took the sci-fi genre in a comedic way (like their first two movies), as they have to bring Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen), an alien who has stuck on earth for more than 60 years, back to his mother ship. As two English comic book and sci-fi nerds, Graeme Willy (Pegg) and Clive Gollings (Frost), taking a road trip in their rented RV to America, their close encounter with Paul also has crashed their world with unbelievable and crazy adventure, as not only they now know that the extraterrestrials do exist, but the alien also causes them to be chased by FBI agents and a religiously fanatic father of a young woman that they accidentally kidnap.
A decent film by Pegg & Frost (who also wrote the script), but the humors were inferior as compare to their first two movies. The absent of Edgar Wright in the chair of director as well as the co-writer proved that the movie, even though starred by the same guys, was not the same without him. Something is missing. If Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz made me laugh hilariously, I hardly laughed or find something very funny to be laughed in this movie. The script and the dialogues were just not as funny, especially if you have high hopes to laugh as much as their two earlier movies. I tell you, it will not. But I think both Simon Pegg and Nick Frost appeared well in their ignorant trademark. They are funny and the ones who made this movie still worked (maybe one, no, two of the funniest comedians nowadays), they were just not very supported by their own script to make continuous laugh bombs. This made the movie fall short as a completely satisfying comedy, but it still has its funny moments. And despite the high expectations, the story was actually quite enjoyable. I like the second half better than the first half (the second half was also funnier), when it gets to the chase scenes and I started to accept that this movie was not in the same aura with the first two. The movie was closed with a cliche, but still a good enough ending. Now, what made me like still this movie despite the below expectation that I got? Pegg & Frost. (MJ)
THE LINCOLN LAWYER (2011)
A decent film by Pegg & Frost (who also wrote the script), but the humors were inferior as compare to their first two movies. The absent of Edgar Wright in the chair of director as well as the co-writer proved that the movie, even though starred by the same guys, was not the same without him. Something is missing. If Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz made me laugh hilariously, I hardly laughed or find something very funny to be laughed in this movie. The script and the dialogues were just not as funny, especially if you have high hopes to laugh as much as their two earlier movies. I tell you, it will not. But I think both Simon Pegg and Nick Frost appeared well in their ignorant trademark. They are funny and the ones who made this movie still worked (maybe one, no, two of the funniest comedians nowadays), they were just not very supported by their own script to make continuous laugh bombs. This made the movie fall short as a completely satisfying comedy, but it still has its funny moments. And despite the high expectations, the story was actually quite enjoyable. I like the second half better than the first half (the second half was also funnier), when it gets to the chase scenes and I started to accept that this movie was not in the same aura with the first two. The movie was closed with a cliche, but still a good enough ending. Now, what made me like still this movie despite the below expectation that I got? Pegg & Frost. (MJ)
THE LINCOLN LAWYER (2011)
MyRating: YYY1/2Director: Brad Furman
MPAA: Rated R for some violence, sexual content and language
Matthew McConaughey is back in his top form in this crime thriller, adapted from Michael Connelly's best selling novel, about Mickey Haller (McC), a slick and successful criminal defense lawyer operates around Los Angeles in a Lincoln Town Car, who receives a case to defend Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe), a son of a wealthy and powerful real estate mogul, accused of brutally beating and raping a prostitute. As Haller studies the evidence against his client, he finds out that the case may not be as simple as it seems. And when he further investigates the case as his ethical conscience being knocked, he discovers that his actions may just put him and his family in great danger.
McConaughey was the real charmer here. He was terrific and convincing as the smart and cocky lawyer, who puts 'right' and 'wrong' next to each other in a very thin line. He shined and sparked on screen with his fun to watch acting. He is indeed a good actor and this is one of his best performances, after straying away for so long in many roles that did not really bounce his career into the next level. Another good performance surprisingly came from Ryan Phillippe as the innocent client, who also pulled his role out in a good way. The script was well written and executed, even though I have to say that it was not exactly perfect and there were times when the story slightly lose its focus. But overall, a good and satisfying court room thriller with a performance to be remembered. (MJ)
MYMOVIE CRITIC - REVIEWING MOVIES FROM THE AUDIENCE'S STANDPOINT
