Knight and Day - Review

I have not gone into a movie in quite a while with lower expectations than when I went to see Knight and Day over its opening weekend. I had heard mediocre things at best about it from various different critics, but I did hear one by the Movie Man where he was pretty positive (http://bit.ly/9HOHn6). The Movie Man is into this movie and so am I, the movie takes about 5 minutes to get going, and then continues to throw in a mix of action, comedy, and dramady which holds your attention for the almost 2 hours that this film runs.

Tom Cruise (Roy Miller) and Cameron Diaz (June Havens), make for an odd couple. I believe in real life she towers over the actor but on screen their pairing kind of makes sense. He plays a suave, confident super-spy and she's a capable but clueless owner of a car shop. They meet randomly in Wichita, Kansas while waiting for their flight to depart. That's about all the set-up there is, in addition to some dialogue in the plane, before shit starts to get really real, really quick for June. While in the bathroom freshening up for Roy, June is completely oblivious to the fact that he dispatches a handful of assassins as well as the pilots of the plane they are on, and is then forced to crash land the plane in a field. That's the first 10 minutes of the movie, and from then on its a great back and forth between the two of them, from highway chases to speedboat rides, the two play off of each other and have a great rapport and chemistry on film.

The movie's plot is based on Roy trying to save Simon (Paul Dano) and keep a battery that Simon has developed from falling into the wrong hands. He's being chased by Fitzgerald (Peter Sarsgaard) of the FBI and Antonio (Jordi Molla) of a European gun manufacturing syndicate. At first I thought Jordi looked familiar and when he started yelling, I recognized where I knew him form, he played Hector Tapia in Bad Boys II and I really liked him in it, shame he doesn't get much screen time in Knight and Day.

I have to say that Cruise is back to his goofy bad-ass self in this movie. He's been doing different dramatic (Valkyrie) and comedic (Tropic Thunder) films for the last few years, but here he's back to what made Mission Impossible so great, he's: funny, smart, charming, daring, and has that Tom Cruise grin that all the ladies swoon over. It's almost unfair to Diaz, she tries very hard to keep up throughout the movie, but Cruise steals the show. She's a good fit for him though and their comedic timing fits well together (think Mr. & Mrs. Smith which is the closest thing to this movie).

I give Knight and Day a 4.5/5. That might be a little bit high, but the movie met and exceeded my expectations in every way (and that's not just because my expectations were low at the get-go). The best part about this movie is the way it ends, the final sequence is well done, and plays off the feel of the movie. Of course it also leaves a bit of an opening for a sequel and I, for one, and really hoping that they can do it.

George W.

One of things that I realized after watching the United States play Ghana in the World Cup yesterday was that Bill Clinton was right there watching the USA battle it out. That kind of made me ponder as to wear George W. has been for the last year and a half. After leaving office Clinton has popped up all over the place, from various humanitarian efforts to other events where he can use his celebrity to help his and/or the United States' causes. I haven't really seen anything from George W. or have even heard what he is up to now, does anyone know?

A-Team Review

For those of you who were fans of the original 80's TV show, which ran from 1983 to 1987, you will be happy to know that this origin story keeps the same tone that the TV series did. Murdock (Sharlto Copley) is still insane, B.A. (Quinton "Rampage" Jackson) is still B.A., Face (Bradley Cooper) is pretty damn gorgeous and has fantabulous abs, and Hannibal (Liam Neeson)is still the brains of the operation.

Directed by Joe Carnahan, The A-Team starts off with 15 minutes of pure awesomeness, following Hannibal as he attempts to save Face (pun) and meets Murdock and B.A. for the first time, and then jumps 8 years and over 80 successful missions into the future. We meet Charisa Sosa (Jessica Biel), Lynch (Patrick Wilson) and Pike (Brian Bloom), all of who are trying to get the A-Team to obtain a series of plates used to produce American currency that were rebuilt in Iraq after the fall of Saddam.

The plot follows those plates as for the first time ever, Hannibal's plan doesn't go according to plan, and his team gets arrested and court martial-ed. After busting out of prison, the fugitives try and chase down the plates to clear their names and bring those responsible to justice.

Unfortunately, The A-Team hasn't made as much money as I would have liked it to make in order to guarantee a sequel, I am hoping that there will be one in the works soon. Carnahan, who also directed an underrated but quite good movie by the name of Smokin' Aces, makes sure that the pace is kept up and that there is no real downtime in between action or comedic sequences, which makes the movie go by pretty quick even though it clocks in at about 2 hours.

I really enjoyed the characters and Quinton Jackson does a great job even though he doesnt have a lot of acting expertise, then again this is Sharlto Copley's second major film. The cast has some serious chemistry, and they play off of each other pretty damn well, especially Jackson and Copley.

This is a solid 4 out of 5, and I hope that everyone go see it and experience the movie. It's probably not the best written movie that is out right now, especially with Toy Story 3 being released this week, but it really is a great popcorn movie and I recommend an ice cream right along with it as well.

The Karate Kid - Review

Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith team up to take on an evil kung Fu gym... sounds like the beginning of a very strange buddy martial arts flick. The Karate Kid would probably have been a better movie if it had been just that. It would have made a lot more sense, especially with the ways movies are made now, to have Jackie Chan, an old school master, team up with Jaden Smith, a reluctant new student, and take on a gym full of Chinese kung fu masters. Instead, Jackie Chan's Mr. Han is an oldish maintenance man, with no legitimate kung fu training, except for what his father taught him, and Jaden Smith's Dre Parker is an American kid transplanted to China after his mom is inexplicably transferred (she works in a car factory, which makes little to no sense).

Dre needs to learn how to defend himself after falling in like with Meiying (played adorably by Wenwen Han). The problem with Meiying, is that she has a "family friend" by the name of Cheng (Zhenwei Wang), who finds it hilarious to knock Dre to the ground and pummel him for interrupting Meiyings violin practice. After continued pummelings, Dre decides that he wants to learn kung fu, and after watching Mr. Han defend him during a bout of six dudes to one.

Mr. Han eventually gives in to Dre (after accidently having him challenge Chan in a kung fu tournament) and starts teaching him kung fu, mainly by having him take off and put on his jacket, which he tends to drop on the floor. This goes on for an indeterminable amount of time, until Dre begs to be taught some actual moves that will help him fight in the tournament.

The problem with the movie is that while the parts that are good are great, the majority of the film tends to run a bit long and have you waiting for the next scene where Jaden is practicing or actually fighting. The fight sequences are pretty good and fairly visceral, you can almost feel the kids getting slammed on the ground, but the rest of the movie drags, and the Meiying story line is good, but goes on too long and goes into too much detail, detracting from the kung fu master/kung fu student story, which should be at the center of the film.

I'd have to give this a 3 out of 5, its a solid movie, and a decent re-imagining of the original story. Unfortunately the side plots took away from the overall experience. I can still easily recommend this movie, if for nothing more than for the Jaden Smith's performance. He does an impeccable job and steals practically ever scene he is in. Will and Jada Pinkett Smith definitely have to be proud of their son after this performance, and it is a great one, especially for his first more or less starring role. At the very least, The Karate Kid isn't as bad as some of the crap that has been coming out in this lackluster blockbuster summer. Hopefully Toy Story 3 can bring this summer movie season around.