I'm just a guy who loves stories, whether they be past, present, future, movies, TV Shows, video games, whatever. If you came to get an average guys thoughts on film, you've come to the right place.
So last year I did my first full review of a Terminator movie... and it was Terminator Genisys... Yeah... I have not begun my Terminator viewing experience very well. Terminator Genisys is a special piece of garbage that I will not be able to unlive.
But since The Terminator is leaving Netflix pretty soon I thought it was about time to see this movie finally. Its not that I haven't tried in the past, I just tried and failed, the movie starts out very slow and that made it difficult for me to watch it the first time. Honestly I fell asleep. But I won't hold that against the movie just yet, I don't totally remember the circumstances that made me fall asleep to this movie but maybe I was tired. There's a lot of reasons why I could have fallen asleep...
The Terminator begins by telling the story of humanity in the future. In 2029, humanity has been fighting a war with machines in a hive mind called Skynet.
The backstory of the Terminator franchise is almost the best part about it because its become somewhat of a modern day legend.
At the end of the war, as the humans are about to defeat Skynet, the machines send a single Terminator robot back in time to 1984 to murder the mother of the human resistance's leader, John Connor. Humanity also sends back a soldier by the name of Kyle Reese (played by Michael Biehn) to find the woman who would give birth to John Connor in order to protect her and preserve the existence of their savior. This woman's name was Sarah Connor.
Oh did I mention the Terminator they send back is played by Arnold Schwarzenegger?
The Terminator is arguably the role that Schwarzenegger is probably the most well known for. And its kind of amazing because its really not a role at all.
The Terminator is a robot. So all Arnold needs to do is walk around a look a little bit scary, and I'll give him the credit he deserves, being the scary Terminator is a role that suits him.
Honestly I've never really understood how Arnold became a huge action star because the honest to god truth is, he is a god awful actor. I have only seen a couple of movies that I really liked where he starred and a lot of those movies had really good stories and distracted from the fact that Arnold cannot act. So yeah, The Terminator is a great choice for Arnold because all he has to do is act like a robot, which he is most of the time anyway.
So anyways, the major story of The Terminator is that the Terminator and Kyle Reese both are sent back in time to pursue Sarah Connor.
Sarah Connor (played by Linda Hamilton) is a pretty average woman in the 80s. She works at a diner, she has a roommate, there's nothing incredibly important about Sarah Connor.
And that is the problem with this character. Now I've heard that Sarah Connor becomes a better character in the 2nd movie and you can kind of tell by the end of this movie, however, this version of the character is kind of boring and just not as interesting as you think she would be.
She's very much the damsel in distress in this movie and while she has some moments where she distinguishes herself, she's not really the star she should be in this movie.
That is why Genisys had so much potential. While it was just a down right crappy movie, Emilia Clark had a perfect position to become a great female heroine. And again, I'm sure Linda Hamilton does a great job in the second Terminator movie, but in this one, she's just kind of boring.
But hey... we get to see her boobs?
And honestly, that's the entire movie. Kyle Reese is helping Sarah Connor survive the assassination being brought on by The Terminator, or Arnold.
One thing I will say about The Terminator story in general is that it really has become a legend in its own right. There is a great originality about this story that has really reverberated in the pop culture community.
Now I could talk about the continuity errors and the paradoxes that are created in this movie, like how (SPOILERS) Kyle Reese is in fact the father of John Connor even though it doesn't really make logical sense for that to take place, because John couldn't exist if Kyle was never sent back and Kyle can only be sent back if he's sent back by the savior of the human race, John Connor.
So yeah I don't really need to talk about the paradoxes in this movie, and instead we should talk about the execution of the legend as opposed to the legend itself.
And honestly, this is the biggest problem I have with this movie.
Now I'm watching Terminator in 2016 after there have been four sequels. I've also grown up in a world where Terminator is a pop culture icon, I knew the story of Terminator well before I ever thought about actually watching the movie.
And honestly, I didn't think the execution of that legend was as good as the legend itself.
Yes, the savior of the human race sending a man back in time to save his mother from being killed by the machines, all while that man that was sent back turns out to be the father of said savior is a great story. But in essence, without the novelty of the story, Terminator is kind of a boring movie.
Back in 1984, The Terminator was more of a horror movie than it was an actual science fiction phenomenon. A killer machine with some cool imagery and "state of the art" visual effects that in reality didn't really age that well, really makes this movie a little bit boring.
Maybe back in the day Arnold was scary. Maybe his weird, deformed, obviously a mask, broken up face was really cutting edge at the time. But today it just looks cheap and just not that great of a movie. Its not scary and it doesn't totally embrace the originality of the story as much as I think its sequels do. Like I said before, Sarah Connor is a boring character and by today's standards, The Terminator could have been played by a plank of wood.
But let's not totally downplay this movie.
There are good things about it. Arnold does still have his iconic lines and again, this is arguably his most iconic role. I think its a role that works perfectly for him. Furthermore I liked the relationship between Kyle Reese and Sarah Connor.
Furthermore, I like Kyle Reese. I think Michael Biehn did a good job in this movie and its kind of interesting that he didn't have resonating career you'd think a movie like this would give him.
Like the rest of this movie, I just don't think the performance really holds up. Overall, that's the theme for this entire movie, it just doesn't hold up.
Its got a good story that I think because the visuals were good at the time, lasted long enough to become iconic, but again, thinking about it now, the concept of Terminator is a lot better than the execution, because the acting isn't great. The action is so-so, and a movie that was supposed to be scary at the time is more funny now than anything.
Now I have told myself that I will be watching Terminator 2 soon so I can get a real fair look at the Terminator franchise but the two movies that I've seen in full haven't impressed me. For different reasons of course but overall, I'm not a fan of The Terminator.
But what do you think? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as give me requests for future movies I should review. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews as well as live tweets from movies and TV shows I'm watching at the time.
Pirates are cool right? I think so. And so did Disney in 2003. So much that they decided to create a movie based off of a... theme park ride?
Its been many years since I've been to Disney World and I'm pretty sure its been even longer since I rode the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney World. I'm not even totally sure who thought up that ride and I know for a fact that he didn't think there would ever be a movie made out of it. But here we are 13 years later (wow doesn't that make you feel old). There have been four of these movies and there is definitely a fifth one on the way.
Now there's a lot to talk about when it comes to the sequels of Pirates of the Caribbean but the more important part to talk about right now is where it all began. Its all about going back to 2003. And talking about Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.
The Curse of the Black Pearl, begins with the introduction of the three main characters. Elizabeth Swan (played by Kierra Knightley) the daughter of a governor of a small British colony in the Caribbean. It also introduces the character of Will Turner (played by Orlando Bloom, who looks young as hell in this movie, again, I feel old). Will is the apprentice of a blacksmith who was rescued by Elizabeth and her father when he was a child when he washed up by their boat mysteriously.
And finally you are introduced to the star, Captain Jack Sparrow. (played iconically by Johnny Depp).
This of course was the role that put Johnny Depp on the map. If I recall correctly, he was a pretty established actor but this is the role that made him a household name. And I get it. He was hilarious. It was the kind of role that just set him apart from anything else. And he was one hundred percent committed to it was the other thing. He walked like he was drunk, he talked in a funny voice. He had all the quips and one liners. Overall, it just felt new. Hands down, Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow was the best part of this movie, that's not really something I think anybody would argue against.
Again we can talk about the long term effect of this character and how it may or may not have gotten old... really quick. But I will say, for the time it was hilarious and I do think it does hold up today.
When they were younger, Elizabeth took a mysterious medallion that Will had around his neck. This medallion becomes very important to the story, especially when a band of pirates attack their little town and abduct Elizabeth.
Its at this point that Will Turner goes on a journey to save Elizabeth. He recruits Captain Jack Sparrow who seems to have a prior knowledge of these pirates who attacked the town.
And the rest is a swashbuckling journey filled with sword fighting, betrayal, romance, and a mysterious curse.
Geoffrey Rush plays Captain Barbossa the captain of the infamous Black Pearl, a mysterious pirate ship that seems to only be something of legend. And I think that this is a role that often gets overlooked, obviously because it wasn't as ground breaking as Depps. But at the same time, there's a reason he gets brought back in later films, because he is really a blood thirsty villain who is actually a lot of fun to watch.
There's just so much about this movie that was so inspired and just right. Yeah, Orlando Bloom and Kierra Knightley are a little bit of the wooden main romantic leads but their perfect foils to Sparrow and Barbossa. And everyone in the cast takes this movie perfectly seriously. Again its really amazing to think that this movie was based off of a theme park ride, probably the most uninspired cash grab you could think of and now, most people associate the brand Pirates of the Caribbean with the movies rather than the ride.
Now I think a criticism that you might be able to pull out of this film is that its pretty formulaic and a little bit archaic in regards to its story. I mean it is basically your standard adventure story with a damsel in distress, a heroic lead and his comedic companion.
The funny part about this movie is that despite the fact that everyone takes it seriously and everyone plays along with the story pretty perfectly, the movie is a little bit self aware. Orlando Bloom and Kierra Knightley are both incredibly serious and again they create that good foil for the pirates who have great comedic moments and make it more of a fun adventure film rather than a scary thriller or a drama. This movie doesn't work without Johnny Depp or the funny pirates.
But furthermore, this movie isn't just a comedic adventure. Its a little spooky, its got some drama, and its mystical. Its just a lot of fun and I don't really know what else I can review.
Now... what I can talk about is the effect this movie had on the movie world.
Most namely, the sequels.
Now I think that I will probably do a review of the sequels to Curse of the Black Pearl in the near future, so I won't talk too much about how I feel about them until I've gotten a refresher. However, I do know that this is a franchise that doesn't seem to die.
For as much money as the first movie made, it makes perfect sense to make a sequel and when those were successful, it made sense to keep on making sequels and make a sort of franchise out of it. Continuous adventures of Jack Sparrow sailing on the seven seas.
The problem is, they really drove this character into the ground. And it wasn't just Depp's performances in this movie, the whole quirky comedic character he played in Pirates became his schtick for years to come. All his characters suddenly became Jack Sparrow. And I know Johnny Depp can act. He's done it before in movies like Blow and other stuff. But for some reason he just keeps on playing the same characters over and over again and it all began with this movie.
Does it take away from the fact that this movie is a really fun and entertaining movie? No. This is the movie that started it all and this is a fun swashbuckling adventure really worth celebrating. I'm just saying it gave birth to a franchise that just doesn't seem to want to die. The fifth installment, Dead Man Tell No Tale is set to be released in 2017 and I really can't think of anybody who is excited for that movie. I'll explain in future reviews if/when I review the sequels.
But overall, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is a really great adventure. Its really hard to find anything not to like about this film. And its definitely worth checking out, even if it gives birth to a franchise I think we might have gotten tired of already.
But those are my thoughts on the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. What do you think? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @cmhaugen24 as well as requests for movies I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter you can get updates on future movie news and reviews as well as live tweets from movies I watch at home.
I'll leave you with this. I don't think I really gave this movie all the credit it deserves and I don't think I truly gave a full idea of where this franchise heads, I know for a fact I didn't hit everything. But this honest trailer hits it on the head perfectly. However, I can't post that... so here's a bit of him talking about his performance in Black Mass, a movie I never got around to seeing but am interested in because it actually seems like a role Johnny Depp should be playing. Enjoy!
I'll just get it out of the way, I don't know if anybody has ever said that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are not hot, or aren't hot anymore, they lied! And nothing is more attractive than a beautiful woman that can make me laugh my ass off.
I've wanted to see Sisters for quite a while actually. Its a movie that I heard about a long time ago when the teaser came out.
I didn't even need to know what this movie was about, all I saw was Tina Fey and Amy Poehler looking like they're having the time of their life and I was sold on this movie. And that teaser came out a year ago. January 2015, isn't that crazy?
But what is Sisters about?
Like I said, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey star in Sisters as, just that, sisters. They are Maura and Kate and they are the absolute opposites. Maura (Poehler) is responsible, Kate is a party animal. Maura is usually the "party mom" taking care of everyone, Kate is the party animal. Maura has a difficult time flirting... and Kate is the party animal.
When their parents decide they're going to sell their childhood home Kate and Maura come back for a few more nights to pack away their childhood memorabilia. These two sisters are in two very different circusmtances with their lives and that's really based on their personalities. Maura is a nurse who is divorced. She is successful with her life but she never really got that time to be wild or be crazy. Whereas Kate has been crazy all of her life and hasn't turned it around and become responsible.
So they decide they're going to have one last party in their childhood home, invite all their friends from high school and have that final rager. A part of it is an opportunity for Maura to be the one to go crazy and Kate to be the "party mom" for a change.
I really liked the first act of this movie. It introduced us to the characters in a really funny way, let us in on their problems, showed them getting ready for the party, and showed us the stage for the second and third act which is their parents already sold house for the party.
... Do you see where this is going yet?
If you don't, watching the movie is like watching a Final Destination movie, you see all these clues to things going wrong and you know at the end of that mouse trap, somebody is going to die... and spoiler its the house.
The second act is mainly the party getting started and them having a great time. The third act is the party already started up and it going to shit very very quickly. The problem with that formula is that this party seemed like it goes on for the length of an actual party. Which sounds awesome, but the thing is I'm not actually at the party dancing and drinking, I'm sitting at a movie wishing I was partying.
Its not that the movie is boring, its just the party just goes on and on. And I get it, that's the point of the movie, but there's so much that happens in the course of a couple hours and without that change of setting, it can feel like the movie drags a little bit.
Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of elements about the party that are a lot of fun. Its just a hodge podge of SNL cast members present and past that come to this party and they're all really, really funny.
The funniest of them all was hands down Bobby Moynihan. This is a guy who probably gets all the shit he deserves for being on SNL the longest and never really seeming to move on like other more successful cast members have done before him and probably will before he finally leaves. However, he was really freaking funny in this movie. I kind of hope that this launches some kind of career for him outside of SNL because my lord, he's been on there forever. But yeah he's really funny in this movie, throughout it. And there are other parts of this movie that I was laughing throughout.
However, there were a lot of parts of this movie that probably could have cut down on the time and made this movie feel a little less bloated.
A good example of this is John Cena.
Yeah John Cena has been making a lot of random cameos in a lot of comedies in the past few months. I don't know if I mentioned this in my review but he made a cameo in Daddy's Home and now he has a glorified cameo in this and honestly, the John Cena joke went too long in this one.
John Cena is a drug dealer to sell them drugs. His purpose could have been just that. Show up, sell them drugs, go away. But for some reason he sticks around...
And yeah its kind of funny cause its John Cena but that joke only goes so long and I definitely think it could have been reduced to him just showing up, making a cameo and leaving. I don't think it would cut A LOT of time off the movie, but its an example of an element of this movie that maybe took it a little too far.
Because while John Cena is selling weed, Bobby Moynihan is high on something else and everyone else is enjoying the party. Maura and Kate have their own personal drama that threads itself in and out of the story that you know is going to come to critical mass at a certain point and because the party is rolling, there's no way to stop it.
Kate has some issues with her daughter. Maura is trying to sleep with a neighbor (played by Ike Barinholtz) and its just going horribly. And I think the best way to describe this drama is this.
Think of a real party.
You're dancing, you're having a good time, the alcohol is affecting you, its all good. And in many ways, that's the feeling you get with the scenes at the party. People are having fun. You're laughing. Its good.
And then you see people do something that even in your inebriated state, you know is going to have bad consequences in the morning. Its kind of annoying, especially if you own the house, but you can bounce back from that.
But then that one girl brings out the drama.
And if you're drunk, this is hilarious. But if your sober, this is not fun. This is annoying. Everyone else if having a vibe and the drama just gets in the way. It can be a mood killer.
But the party picks up again and you're having fun. There are some quiet moments but that does happen at parties so I get that. While everyone else is out partying you can be in a quiet room with a special person, and I get that.
But then again, the dumb shit happens, like someone just going a lot farther than they should.
And again, if you're drunk this is hilarious. But if you're sober, which the majority of the movie going audience is, this is just uncomfortable and just gets tiresome.
This analogy is going on a little bit too long but do you get my point. I've never been a huge fan of movies that focus so much on the huge parties that are thrown because I don't go to the movies drunk. And even if I did, I'm not there partying with these people for half the movie. I'm watching them party which on its own kind of takes me out of it. Again, this analogy went a little too far because the truth is I liked Sisters.
It just has moments were it does drag. There's definitely the point where you just get fatigued with some of the jokes and they don't land as well as they could have at the beginning of the movie.
No matter how much this movie drags, none of the problems are with Poehler and Fey's performances. They are great. Every SNL cast member, from Moynihan, to Rudolph to McKinnon, and all the other ones made me laugh really hard.
And this movie is funny. Some parts more than others, but it is funny. And at the end of the day I think that's all that matters sometimes.
But have you seen Sisters? What did you think? Comment and Discuss below! You can also leave your thoughts on Twitter @cmhaugen24 or you can leave requests for future movies I should review. If you follow me on Twitter you can get updates on new movie news and reviews as well as sometimes live tweets of movies I'm watching at home.
I'll leave you with this. Here's a clip of Fey on Fallon... nothing special just a funny clip. Enjoy!
So when I first saw the trailer for 13 Hours. I got super pumped. From the beginning of this trailer there are just a lot of reasons to get excited about this film. Its got John Krasinski (Jim from the Office) and James Badge Dale (24, The Departed), who I think are both incredibly underrated actors as badass looking Navy SEALs/ contractors or whatever, they just look cool. Then you start to realize that this movie is about the 2012 Attack on the Libyan embassy which resulted in the death of 4 service members including a United States ambassador Chris Stevens. Suddenly this goes from a bad ass action movie, to a historical event that is still a hot topic four years later. Politicians still invoke the name Benghazi into rhetoric so this has the potential to either be an incredibly sore subject, or a feature to honor those who fought and died in this event, its all about how they present it. They show the embassy being overrun, you see some really intense imagery. And unfortunately, in the trailer you're getting excited about how they're going to show this incredibly tragic event... until you see who is directing this display
There were people who openly groaned in the theater when I first saw this trailer when Michael Bay's name showed up. And I'm not gonna lie, when I saw this my expectations went down quite a bit. Unfortunately, Michael Bay just doesn't have the track record to do a movie on such a tender subject and assure us that its going to be good. Which is incredibly unfortunate. The trailer for this movie made this film look like it was going to be on par with other intense war movies like American Sniper, The Lone Survivor, and Zero Dark Thirty. And the sad thing is... this movie could have been. Had it not been directed by Michael Bay.
13 Hours takes place in Benghazi Libya. In an actually pretty good opening, its explained that when Mommar Gadhaffi, Libya became a very dangerous place and all diplomatic buildings from the US got closed down except for a small diplomatic outpost and a covert CIA operation center. These government operations were protected by hired contractors who are former elite military operatives. That's where John Krasinski's character comes in as Jack Silva, a former Navy SEAL who is the new guy in the team of incredibly trained contractors, led by Tyrone Woods (played by James Badge Dale).
The beginning of this movie is actually really interesting because its set a few weeks before the actual attack on September 11th 2012. These guys are doing their job as body guards for the CIA operations going on in Libya. And I'll tell you, they do not paint the CIA very great in this movie. In order to make these ex-military contractors look like total badasses, they really paint the CIA agents as these stuck up, never seen any combat weaklings. And don't get me wrong, I'm sure these people who worked for the CIA in Benghazi were not as tactically trained as the private contractors, but they're just painted in the worst way in this movie.
And of course they're led by this clown.
This guy was the first sign that this was a Michael Bay movie and not a culturally relevant movie about a tragedy. While he was played by David Costabile (a guy I really enjoyed from Breaking Bad), this guy is not a character, he's a caricature. He's that government official who gets in the way of the main characters for no legitimate reason but because the script calls for it.
And the sad thing is, I think this was based off a real person. I just read an article about the guy this is suppose to be based off of and then I thought about that and realized that Michael Bay created a movie that painted this guy as an incompetent asshole. A guy who is very much still alive. Even if it is true, you're basically saying this guy was responsible for the deaths of a US ambassador. Regardless of whether its true or not, thats kind of a low blow in my book.
I suppose theres a little bit of a political edge to that sword as conservatives might say this guy is representative of the Hilary Clinton State Department but c'mon Michael Bay! Don't continue to politicize a tragedy more than it already has been, especially when its dealing with the death of 4 Americans.
I don't know, I just think that that character could have been handled more and they could have made this movie about the struggle of a group of Americans to survive in a hostile environment instead of throwing the blame on bureaucrats like this movie was definitely trying to do.
But I do have to give Michael Bay credit where credit is due. Because he really handles the entire event in a pretty respectful way.
I thought the performance of Matt Letscher as Chris Stevens was done very well and the reactions to this horrible event are really done well. You see the terror in their eyes, you see the panic that everyone would face. It was so good it was almost a little bit uncomfortable because you know how it ends for him and its sad.
And don't get me wrong I thought a lot of this movie was good. Beyond the obvious caricature of David Costabile's character and the obvious Hollywood ploys for a lot of the characters, I thought the display of this event was really well done. I didn't know if they could make a 2 hour film on an event that seemed to come and go really fast but the fact is there was a lot more to that story than I think people knew and its a story worth telling.
I feel like this could have been a really good movie with a compelling story if it wasn't for one aspect of it and sadly, its Michael Bay. There's just a ton of shots, dialogue, jokes, and of course explosions in this movie that reek of Michael Bay.
Believe it or not, the explosions actually worked pretty well for this movie and they weren't overdone. I'm talking more about the lines of dialogue that are just schmaltzy and corny that you just sigh and say, "Goddammit Bay".
And I get it, in a movie like this, there needs to be a little bit of Red White and Blue chest pounding, but it was done in such an over the top way that I couldn't help but groan the same way I did when I saw Michael Bay was directing this.
So while this movie has a great story, and a lot of it is executed very well if not perfectly, its just sugar coated with Michael Bayisms that took me out of it.
That being said, I do have to give Michael Bay some credit because you can tell he was holding back. That's not saying much because there is a lot of dumb dialogue in this movie, there's a lot of poorly timed jokes, and of course, there are a lot of explosions, but if someone wasn't familiar with Bay's style, they may not catch onto it. You can tell that Bay wanted this to be as respectful and in good taste as possible, but you can always tell when a Bayism is peaking its head out.
And then it brings me to the acting.
Honestly I've been going back and forth with John Krasinski because on one hand, this is something totally different from his time in The Office so I think we can now see him in a movie without thinking of Jim from The Office.
However, I can't totally say I was on board with all his choices. He's very good at looking like a badass, I definitely didn't see Jim Halpert. But at the same time, he was a little too stoic. And then I think to myself that I know guys like this and they are pretty stoic, but then I think that's not really an interesting character and I just go back and forth. The short of it is, I think it was a good role. I'd like to see Krasinski do more and really show his talent as an actor but for this it was passable. He made for a good main character, even if he was a little wooden at certain times.
And then there's James Badge Dale.
Now I've known about Dale from his time as Chase in 24 season 3. I really enjoy him as an actor and I really wish he was in more because he is a really talented actor.
And this movie he really shines. I was so glad to see that he wasn't just the supporting character, he was one of the main characters and I thought he really carried a lot of the film. I thought him and Krasinski really worked well together as well as everyone in the cast.
Unfortunately again, a lot of what I liked about the performances were brought by the actors themselves and not really the script that they were working with. Again, it wasn't horrible, it just reeked with Bayisms that it was a little hard to move past.
Now I'm reading over some of the stuff that I've said and I think that maybe I went into this looking for the Bayisms and that's what took me out. And maybe it was, I just feel like this movie could have been really phenomenal and been on par with those war movies that I mentioned before like American Sniper and Zero Dark Thirty.
But Michael Bay is a lot more focused on the action.
Speaking of which, let's talk about the action.
I'll talk all day about how Michael Bay doesn't really understand character development or a good script, but one thing that he does understand is how to shoot an action sequence. And he does it incredibly well.
There were a couple of sequences that had a pretty shaky camera, however, I am the kind of person who isn't exactly bothered by that if it makes sense for the scene. I thought the way they shot those scenes were really good and the shaky camera didn't bother me too much in this.
But the part that I loved about this movie was how intense it was. I'm not talking about the fighting itself because at a certain point, once you've seen Saving Private Ryan or any war movie, you kind of get used to the war scenes. No, what made this movie different was how it portrayed street to street fighting. These guys are fighting on enemy turf, where they live. They have allies in the Libyan government and military but you can't tell who is who and you never know if someone is going to pop out of the bushes and try and kill them. Its hard to tell who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. And considering a lot of what Michael Bay has done has been borderline racist, he deals with the local population in a semi appropriate manner.
The terrorists look evil, but almost cartoonish evil, but they mention it at some point that this is a totally different culture and its not something they're used to. I don't know how accurate it is, because I haven't been to Libya, but it was tense and an aspect of the war we face in the Middle East that I don't think we've seen very much and if we have it hasn't been done like this.
I really enjoyed 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. I just put that out there. I thought the action was good. I thought it was intense and made me feel, especially about a topic that is so relevant to today. I just think the biggest flaw this movie had was the choice to have Michael Bay direct it.
As much as I wanted this to be Michael Bay's comeback, as much as I wanted it to be his way to show people he can make a great movie, I can really only say I was minorly impressed with it. It gives me a little bit of hope that Michael Bay can restrain himself enough to make a movie about Benghazi that I thought was while a little more political than it needed to be, was respectful.
I thought this movie was intense. I thought the performances, though a little Bay inspired, were good. And I thought the action was good. The main problem I had was Michael Bay. I think that while he was restraining himself, he wasn't the right choice for a movie that could have been on par with Black Hawk Down. In fact, why the hell didn't Ridley Scott direct this film? I feel like if this movie had been pushed back a year and The Martian had come out well before the production of this movie, Ridley Scott would have directed this film. I would have liked to see this concept in the hands of him or a Clint Eastwood because I just feel like they would have done it better.
Oh well. What we got was good. Not great as it probably could have been, but good.
But what did you think of 13 Hours? Comment and Discuss below!
You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @cmhaugen24 and send me your requests for future movies I should review. If you follow me on Twitter you can also get updates on future movie news and reviews as well as live tweets occasionally from movies I'm watching at home.
I'll leave you with this. The reason I haven't done too many movie reviews is that I'm getting caught up on a couple different television shows. I'm hoping I can knock out a couple reviews soon on some of the shows I've been watching. One of them is Turn: Washington's Spies. Here's the trailer for that.
Now this is a movie that I watched in 2016 but just didn't have much time to write a full review for. However, it is a Saturday, I don't have to get out of bed for a couple more hours, so let's talk about The Rock.
The Rock is a movie that I honestly had never heard of until about a year or two ago. The weird thing is when I heard about it, I realized that in some circles, this is one of the most beloved action movies of the 90s. Now I'm not a huge fan of the 90s, I was pretty young so I wasn't incredibly atuned with the pop culture of the time but I am realizing that the 90s had a style to them that I'm not a huge fan of, and yet people in my age group revere everything 90s related in this weird nostalgic wave we're on these days. But since I love over the top action flicks and I see Michael Bay the same way Luke Skywalker sees Darth Vader believing that there is still good in him somewhere, I wanted to watch The Rock and see what I had been missing.
And believe me, I was missing something that is for sure.
The Rock opens up to Brigadier General Frank Hummel (played by Ed Harris) and his team of renegade Marines stealing a deadly nerve gas and enough weapons to blow up San Fransisco, and taking over Alcatraz Island with a bunch of hostages.
Hummel claims that this act of terrorism is to make a statement about the compensation of soldiers who have carried out secret missions for the US government and he demands that that compensation be met or he will fire rockets of this deadly toxin into the populace of the United States.
From the get go, you sympathize with Hummel. You realize that he's not necessarily a bad guy, he has good intentions, he's just going about them in the wrong way and has a deadly serious conviction to those intentions.
Enter Nicolas Cage. He plays FBI agent Dr. Stanley Goodspeed. He is a chemical weapons expert which basically means that he has no experience but a lot of knowledge. Though Goodspeed is a Special Agent, he's never used a weapon outside of training and he has no experience fighting terrorists.
He is brought in to advise and help with the recovery of the VX gas Hummel is using and eventually he is informed he will be assisting in the recovery as well.
But Goodspeed and his team don't have a good way to get onto Alcatraz island without being detected. Therefore they are forced to use a man who knows the prison walls of Alcatraz better than anybody else, because he had escaped from those walls 30 years prior.
Enter Sean freaking Connery as Captain John Patrick Mason, a former British military and intelligence operative who has been locked away in American prisons for years.
Mason is a master escape artist and you see that exemplified in this movie. He is also a fighter and is skilled many ways to kill a man.
In essence, he's the absolute opposite of Cage's character in this movie.
And man is it good to see Sean Connery again. Its even better seeing him in a role that isn't either James Bond or Indiana Jone's father. I can't say I'm overly familiar with all of Connery's filmography besides Hunt for Red October, but damn is the guy entertaining. At first I didn't think I could take him seriously, but the guy is just charismatic and entertaining that it just made me sad that he's retired now and probably will never be in another movie again.
Goodspeed and the US government strike a deal with Mason that if he helps them capture the VX gas and the missiles from the terrorists, he will be freed from captivity. A deal however that Goodspeed's highers do not intend to fulfill.
So its Cage, and Connery and a team of FBI special agents against Ed Harris and his team of renegade Marines.
Now with any movie starring Nic Cage, you're going to expect him to give an over the top performance with some great lines and awkward delivery.
And don't get me wrong, there are plenty of those lines in this movie and they are hilarious.
Oddly enough though, Cage isn't the most ridiculous part of this movie. The plot is. Fighting terrorists on Alcatraz with Sean Connery is a phenomenally ridiculous plot and with the incredibly over the top action and needless explosions of Michael Bay, its really kind of amazing that it actually balances out the performance of Cage. So much that it works perfectly in fact.
This movie is just a perfect storm of ridiculousness and over the top action that it actually makes this movie perfect.
Now its by no means a perfect movie. There are a lot of dumb lines, stories that are never really fleshed out, and contrived formulas that we've seen in every action movie ever made, but this movie just capitalizes on all of that that its really damn entertaining.
If you can think of a cliche used in every single action movie, its probably used in this one. There's the quippy one liners. There's the never ending ammunition that comes out of no where. There's the countdown on the bomb before it blows up. Everything I mentioned from my review of The Peacemaker is in this movie and yet I think the majority of action movie fans will say this movie is a lot better than that one.
This movie came out before 9/11. Now I feel like I always bring up 9/11 when it comes to movies like this but the fact of the matter is, you don't see terrorism in movies treated like this anymore. You don't have an over the top action film like this anymore and I'm wondering if that ended up hurting Michael Bay's career before it even got started. Because I'll say it, this is a situation where Michael Bay's style is needed and works really well.
This and Bad Boys are probably the only good Michael Bay movies that I can think of and its a shame because there are parts of Michael Bay's style that is really good. I was listening to a podcast the other day that said that Michael Bay isn't a person who doesn't care about movies, he just cares about different aspects of movies than other directors. For Michael Bay, an explosion needs to look perfect or the movie is shot. I'm sure he cares about other aspects, but that is an important part for him whereas another director might not see it that way.
13 Hour: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi is coming out this month and the funny part is, I want this movie to succeed. This movie has the potential to tell a really interesting story about Benghazi, an event that is still fresh in peoples memories. It also has the possibility of being a really good war movie. I remember when I watched the trailer I was getting super excited about this movie...
Until I saw the words, Directed by Michael Bay.
Its kind of amazing how that meant something in the 90s but now it has a horrible connotation that floors me from all the awesome visuals I see in the trailer and think, while this movie looks awesome, its directed by Michael Bay... it has the potential to really suck as well.
Now I realize that I've really gone on a tangent on a totally different movie when I probably could have said more about The Rock, but the truth is, its hard to review a movie this ridiculous. I could say the performances are over the top but I would have to ask, what did you expect? Its a Michale Bay film with Nic Cage, Sean Connery and terrorists on Alcatraz. Its kind of a hard movie to seriously say bad things about when it is not exactly a movie that is supposed to be taken that seriously.
Is it as memorable as Die Hard. No I don't think so. I might watch it again soon to really pick up on all the aspects of it I liked, but for now I would say that while its ridiculous, its probably just as forgettable as The Peacemaker because of how by the numbers of an action film it is. I liked all the actors involved and this movie is fun to watch in 2016 because you see everything that it inspired in the 10 years since its release. But overall, The Rock is an entertaining movie. Not groundbreaking, just entertaining.
But those are my thoughts on The Rock. What do you think of this movie? Can you think of a more ridiculous plot and set up? Comment and Discuss in the comments below! You can also send me your thoughts via Twitter @cmhaugen24 and send me your requests for movies I should review in the future. If you follow me you can get updates on future movies new and reviews coming from this blog as well as live tweets I do from time to time when I'm watching movies at home.
I'll leave you with this. Since I talked a lot about 13 Hours, here's the trailer. Let me know what you think. Enjoy!
I feel bad that this is the first movie that I'm reviewing in 2016, especially since I've seen Star Wars The Force Awakens 4 times and I'm still debating on whether or not I should do a full fledged review or not. (its an issue of bias because I loved Star Wars, I'm not sure if I can give a fully objective review) But I have been slacking a little bit on the reviews and I want to start 2016 off on the right foot so Daddy's Home is better than nothing.
You would think this movie would be a slam dunk. Will Ferrell, probably the funniest comedic actor out there today. Mark Wahlberg, both an incredibly talented actor and when he's in the right movie, a really funny guy. You'd think that these two together would be a match made in heaven. However, whenever it happens, it just doesn't really work out for some reason.
Daddy's Home follows the story of Brad Whitaker (played by Ferrell), a mild mannered guy who is the step father for two children. His wife (played by Linda Cardellini) and him are happy but the kids are having a little bit of difficulty really warming up to Brad.
This is made even more difficult when their biological father Dusty (played by Wahlberg) comes into town. Brad being the mild mannered conflict avoider that he is, obviously invited Dusty over so his kids will be happy. And thus begins a competition for the affection of the children between Brad, the overly involved sappy step-dad, and Dusty, the cool devil may care lets build a skate park in the backyard biological dad.
Now I won't say I was overly excited for this movie when I first heard of it. I saw the trailers and I saw a couple funny moments but nothing said this movie was going to be the next Step-Brothers or something. I thought it was two actors who I enjoy in a movie that has kind of a funny plot. Its the same with the new movie Central Intelligence coming out with Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson. The plot looks kind of funny but without those two names, I don't think I'd be interested.
This movie is a comedy so the first question you have to ask is, is it funny? Well... yes.
The fact of the matter is, these two actors are funny guys. It doesn't matter how bad the script is, or how formulaic it is, these two are going to get a laugh out of me no matter what because they are talented guys.
That doesn't take away from the truth that the script is formulaic and horribly written.
So much of this movie happens exactly how you think its going to happen and there's not too many
surprises at the end of the day. With the personalities that are presented in even the trailer, you know that Brad is going to be this mild mannered person who doesn't like conflict. He's going to deal with Dusty's shit until he can't anymore and then he's going to dole out his own shit and he's going to go too far, there's going to be a blow up, there's going to be a span of time where it seems hopeless and then everything is going to resolve itself. Its the same formula that you see in a lot of comedies and there wasn't really anything new added to this one.
And unfortunately, this movie really banks on these two actors working off one another, and they do but its just not as good of a pair as you would think.
This same pair was in The Other Guys, and while I have learned to enjoy that movie after multiple viewings, I do know that its not either Wahlberg or Ferrel's best outing.
The issue that I have with this movie I think is mainly in the character of Brad.
I think in The Other Guys, Wahlberg was more of the straight man character while Ferrell was the
eccentric character, but in this movie, Ferrell is more of the straight man (though he has his quirks) and Wahlberg is the cowboy who breaks Ferrell out of his element. The problem is, while Ferrell is suppose to be the "normal" person in this situation, he's a dumbass. They paint him as this incredibly nice guy but he's just stupid and he does all these things just to please his kids when someone who doesn't even have kids know, that's not how you do it. And the weird thing is, that's not even addressed. For a lot of the movie, Ferrell is pandering to these kids but that's not how parenting goes. A valuable lesson would have been Ferrell figuring out that sometimes he needs to be the bad guy and actually be responsible with his kids.
And speaking of responsible, Linda Cardellini in this movie is just as dumb. Disclaimer: I actually really like this whole Linda Cardellini renaissance as she seems to be in everything and everything she is in she brings a good performance. And this movie is no different. However, her character is dumb as rocks. They kind of mention that she doesn't want to be the bad guy anymore because that's what she was when she was married to Dusty, but even still, she doesn't become the responsible adult until way late into the movie and by that point I was kind of thinking she wasn't a great character anyways. So she's written horribly, but she's entertaining and works with what she has.
And then there's Dusty.
Mark Wahlberg is interesting because I think I used to think the problem with The Other Guys was
because Mark Wahlberg isn't a funny actor, but then I saw him in Ted and he's actually really funny, so that's not the case. And he is funny in this movie.
However, the weird part is, I almost feel like this movie would have been funnier if Mark Wahlberg was the straight man being broken out of his element by Will Ferrell in this situation.
Yeah I know it makes sense that Mark Wahlberg would be the cowboy bad ass biological dad that comes in to disturb the weak and a little pathetic Will Ferrell's step father world, but thinking about it a little bit more, how unconventional would this movie have been if Mark Wahlberg is emasculated by Will Ferrell if the roles were switched. I think that would absolutely hilarious and make me forgive the conventions this movie falls prey to.
The big surprise of this movie was actually Hannibal Buress as Griff. Its a little bit confusing how Griff becomes a part of this entire situation but throughout the movie, there's just this random black guy hanging out in their house because Dusty wants him to hang out with them.
Like there will be this really serious moments and there will be Hannibal Buress just sitting there eating cereal or watching Frozen with the kids. And oddly enough, it really works.
Now I don't really think Hannibal Buress is that funny of a person, I just haven't really gotten into any of his work and everything I have seen him, including this, he just looks high and doesn't really do anything. But for some reason, him just being in the scene was funny. Like the picture above, Brad and Dusty are having a very serious conversation and Griff is just there. He'll add a line or two just to be funny but then it sits in with you, why is Hannibal Buress there? I don't think he was the funniest character but just how they used him was hilarious and I have to give the movie credit for that.
I think the biggest problem I had with this movie was how by the numbers it was. I didn't feel any of the heart I feel from movies like Step Brothers, the first Anchorman or any of the 21 Jumpstreet movies, I just felt this was a throw away comedy from the same guys who did Get Hard, Tammy, and Anchorman 2. And I know the purpose of the movie business is to make money but the sad thing is, I could have guessed this was going to be uninspired crap from the trailer and I only went because The Force Awakens was sold out.
The thing is, I'd like to believe that comedies do well when they are inspired and actually have some heart put behind it. Daddy's Home is not that movie. Yes there are some goofy moments that made me laugh and everyone involved is talented, I just wasn't wild about the script, I thought it was formulaic and the characters were just so stupid that I couldn't really handle it by the end.
I really want to see a movie with Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell work but I just don't see it happening. They've had two movies come out that have just not done as well as they though it was going to and I don't know if there will be a third outing for these two. At least not for a while.
But those are my thoughts on Daddy's Home. Have you seen it? What did you think about it? Comment and Discuss in the comments below! You can also share your thoughts with me on Twitter @cmhaugen24 as well as send me your requests for movies I need to review in 2016. If you follow me on Twitter you can get updates on movies news and reviews coming out of this blog all year as well as live tweets from movies I have been watching.
I'll leave you with this. Now to talk about something that is actually really funny and something I'm really looking forward to. A new Deadpool trailer dropped over Christmas. I probably won't do a whole post on it, but I love this trailer a lot more than the last one and now I'm super psyched for this movie. Here's the trailer. Enjoy!
