America Fuck Yeah war is not so glorious as we thought! Hello fellow film connoisseurs B-rod to talk about a movie that is either oscar worthy masterpiece or glorifying a man who killed people. (Yes I've seen some people make that argument). American Sniper is that movie and I personally loved it; well to a point. The plot of American Sniper for those who may be unaware is about real life soldier Chris Kyle. The man with two first names. (cue in dramatic music) He currently holds the record for the most confirmed kills as a sniper. When you see these deep and emotional trailers you might think this is a character piece about him during and after the war. I personally thought that most of the movie would be about him suffering from PTSD more than just his tours in Afghanistan. If you think that you are half right the movie is all about Chris's time overseas with a touch on how it affected his home life. While this movie truly captures the horrors of war, and how war is not like the latest Call of Duty game, it still feels a bit more like a action movie drama hybrid. There actually was a central antagonist that Chris is after the entire film. I am not to say that wasn't the case, but it seemed a bit Hollywood with the rival sniper he is chasing after. The movie has some very strong emotional parts that had me close to tears, and super gory parts that had me going "ohhhh shiittt", which is a nice mix in my book. The cast consist of very few if not only one really big name. That name is Bradley Cooper. Cooper captures this character and becomes him in every sense of the word. While you may disagree with the characters moral views, or completely agree the true honor of this character is how deeply and willingly able to sacrifice himself for them. Bradley Cooper is suave, badass, and emotional in his portrayal of Chris Kyle. The other cast did well, but ultimately overshadowed by how well Bradley Cooper was, also the fact the movie is about him and him alone the others get about a third of the screen time. The director is good ole Dirty Harry a.k.a Clint Eastwood. Clint known for directing Million Dollar Baby and Gran Torino this goes right in his best of list. Clint made a movie that in a few years film teachers may use to demonstrate how to make a good and emotional character piece. The writer Jason Hall is pretty fresh meat to this screenwriting game. Sadly I do not recognize much of his work.(all two other movies) I honestly think that he wrote great dialog to help create a likeable character. From what I hear from those who have read the book he adapted this very close to the original work. Overall the movie is a gut punch in the fact that much like seeing Lone Survivor it takes a lot out of you to see more realistic war, and some of the horrors of the home life after four years of war. I do believe some people take away the wrong message from the movie thinking that it promotes war. It doesn't the ending is well proof to show war is hell just or unjust. I truly enjoyed this film and think it worthy of a nomination at the very least. I give this a 4/5. I leave with a question. Is it just me or are hardcore war films becoming a mid January kind of thing? This is two years in a row.
0 Comments
Taken 3 is more like taken your money, am I right? Ok not good to start with a pun, but regardless I'm B-rod here to talk about Taken 3. So the most fun fact with this movie is the fact you don't have to see the previous two installments because it has nothing to do with any of them. I personally missed the second movie, and I must say they make one reference to it, and that reference was worthless. Without further ado let us dive into the movie series that started Liam Neeson's action film career. The plot to Taken 3 involves no one being kidnapped or taken as it were. Instead this storys very predictable plot is about Bryan Mills being framed for the murder of his ex-wife, and it is up to him to find out who actually killed his wife and protect his 20 something that looks like a mid thirty something daughter. One of the plots biggest sins is when he is framed. Bryan decides to fight the cops and run instead of getting cuffed and proving that he is innocent by the abundance of evidence that he is. When they reveal who is the evil doer it made me think, "asshole if they weren't chasing you throughout the state they would've figured this out days ago". The movie is more like a Bourne movie than a Taken film to be honest, and when I say "like a Bourne movie" I mean it is a poor imitation. The entire film Liam Neeson is kicking guys asses left and right, but never fights a person to his equal. That is a problem; how can we the audience get invested in a dude that is essentially the fucking Terminator. You can only see a dude kick ass for so long before you just stop caring. The movie is a predictable January movie with how everything is laid out, and has an ending that just pisses me off that I can't even talk about how shitty it is. The cast of consist of a few good actors we've seen in better movies. Liam Neeson is Bryan Mills a ex-CIA badass who's family is constantly in some sort of paril. Forest Whitaker is a detective who is hunting Bryan but knows he didn't do it in his heart. Basically he is the cop chasing the badass stereotype. Last is Maggie Grace who I personally don't like any of the roles I've seen her in, but she is his daughter who is supposed to be early 20s when she is actually early 30s I wouldn't normally say anything but this chick looks fucking old compared to an actual 20 year old. The director is Olivier Megaton who made Taken 2, and I feel like he just rehashed his shit over again. This guy is a foreign director not a action movie director and it shows. He made a movie that has the most basic action movie plot it was unreal. Somehow this movie has four writer credits, I will only talk about the top billed writer Luc Besson. This guy has written Taken, Lockout, and The Fifth Element, so he knows how to write action movies. I can't say what the fuck happened but either he phoned this in or it went through editing hell. Overall the movie is a flimsy plot with good ole jump cut fighting that gets old quick. I'll admit that because the sound was fucked in my theater that my experience was a bit lost, but the flaws I talked about are very real. While I had a screening to see this I can't recommend anyone to pay to see this movie. This is Hollywood shovelware if you are a fan of Taken (which I am) just re-watch that and be happy. I give this a 1/5. I leave with a question. Do you think that there will be a Taken 4? If yes will someone finally kick Liam's ass? |
FilmThis is just to see our opinion on movies we have seen. Feel free to let us know what you think in the comments section. Archives
April 2016
Categories |