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Posts Tagged ‘Trailers’

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit – Review

Posted: January 15, 2014 by MichaelSmithNC in All, Movie Review, Movies
Tags: Chris Pine, Jack Ryan, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Review, Tom Clancy, Trailers

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Rated R

for sequences of violence and intense action, and brief strong language

Back in 1990 the movie world was introduced to novelist Tom Clancy’s character John Patrick “Jack” Ryan in the hit The Hunt for Red October. The movie was the first of Clancy’s novels to be adapted to film. Alec Baldwin is the first actor to get the opportunity to play the role on the big screen. Jack had to convince the Navy that Russian Submarine Captain Marko Ramius, played by Sean Connery, was trying to defect to prevent a war from breaking out. The movie was such a success in the box office, a sequel was ordered.

Now it is 1992 and Jack Ryan is back, this time Harrison Ford is the guy tabbed to play the role of a now retired Ryan. Patriot Games is the novel that was selected to be adapted. Jack is on vacation in London when he happens to be in the right place at the right time to intervene in an assassination attempt on a British Government Minister. Afterwards, he and has to deal with the revenge of the assassins for foiling their plot. Yet again, we have a box office success and another sequel ordered.

In an effort to keep milking this cash cow, Harrison Ford is brought back to play Ryan in the 1994 Clear and Present Danger. Now, Jack Ryan is the Deputy Director of the CIA tasked with stopping a Columbian drug cartel. As no surprise, the movie is another box office success for the character but this time no sequel is put in motion.

It is eight years before we are to be given another Jack Ryan movie. In 2002 Ben Affleck is given the role as Ryan in The Sum of All Fears. This time the movie steps out of the continuity that was in place with the previous three movies with Ryan back to being a lowly analyst in the CIA. He must stop a nuclear showdown with the Russians while simultaneously trying to stop a terrorist from blowing up a major US city. The movie was released a little after the attacks of September 11, 2001. This time, we do not have the major box office success or the acclaim of the previous installments.

That little history lesson was to set the tone for my expectations for this new installment in the Jack Ryan franchise. I enjoyed The Hunt for Red October, because of Connery, Baldwin was okay at best. I liked Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger because of Harrison Ford. I HATED The Sum of All Fears because of what Affleck did to the character that I loved. All that being said, I went into the screening of Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit thinking, “How bad is Chris Pine going to mess Jack Ryan up?”

Shadow Recruit is a reboot of the franchise, chronologically speaking. We are taken back to September 11, 2001 in London, England where a young John P Ryan is working on his PhD. After the horrific events of that day, Jack joins the Marines and volunteers for combat duty in Afghanistan. While serving he is severely wounded and forced out of the Marines. During his recovery from his injuries he is recruited by the CIA, sent back to school to finish his PhD and put in play as an undercover analyst tracking the financials of threats to the United States.

As for the villain and threat that Jack is trying to stop, it is something very real, very up-to-date and something that is possible at any given time in the real world. Not to give up any details, but it is not your run of the mill terrorist bomb plot. The individual villain, Viktor Cherevin, is played by Kenneth Branagh. He is a credible villain but not your typical “bad guy”, you get the impression that he is really just a misguided patriot.

Chris Pine as Jack Ryan… Not bad at all. My fears were unfounded as Pine and the filmmakers did not turn the character into another James Bond or Jason Bourne. He was the scared, over his head, yet supremely intelligent guy that Jack Ryan is supposed to be. In one scene; the look of shock, awe and horror that are on Pine’s face say more about the mindset of the character than 30 minutes of dialogue by Affleck in The Sum of All Fears. Pine does a wonderful job getting the point across that Ryan has absolutely ZERO desire to be on the operational side of things with the CIA.

As with any movie in this genre, there are going to be aspects of the story that are a little too much. The scenes with Keira Knightley playing Cathy Muller, she hasn’t married Jack yet, are just too sappy. I just rolled my eyes at the way the two were portrayed as a couple. Also, the American accent that Keira was attempting was just so awkward, thankfully, her dialogue was limited

Do I recommend it? Yes. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit has a good plot, unique story, decent acting and minimal annoyances. It is worth your time and money to go check it out.

Coming Soon: Movies In Theatres This Week

Posted: January 13, 2014 by MichaelSmithNC in All, Movies, Trailers
Tags: Devil's Due, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Ride Along, The Nut Job, Trailers

Ride Along

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

The Nut Job

Devil’s Due

The Legend of Hercules – Review

Posted: January 10, 2014 by MichaelSmithNC in All, Movie Review, Movies
Tags: Review, The Legend of Hercules, Trailers

The Legend of Hercules

Rated PG-13

for sequences of intense combat action and violence, and for some sensuality

The Legend of Hercules is a re-telling of the classic story from Greek mythology of a young man that is the son of a mortal and of the god Zeus. That is all you need to know about the story and / or plot.

I was taught a long time ago that a picture can tell a story more effectively than words in some cases.

That being said, here is my opinion of The Legend of Hercules…

This movie was horrible! Summit Entertainment should be ashamed of themselves for putting out that piece of trash.

Acting: I was waiting for some, never got any…

Dialogue: Unintelligible

Editing: Hack job at best

Story: Huh?

If you waste time and money seeing this movie, even on DVD, you deserve to have your armpits infested with the fleas of one thousand camels.

Helpful Viewing:

Nothing can prepare you for that level of bad…

Lone Survivor – Review

Posted: January 9, 2014 by MichaelSmithNC in All, Movie Review, Movies
Tags: Ben Foster, Emile Hirsch, Eric Bana, Lone Survivor, Mark Wahlberg, Navy Seals, Operation Red Wing, Peter Berg, Review, Taylor Kitsch, Trailers

Lone Survivor

Rated R

for strong bloody war violence and pervasive language

In the summer of 2005 the United States military embarked on a campaign to disrupt the actions of anti-coalition militias that were running rampant in the Pech area of the Kumar Province in Afghanistan. The operation was code-named Operation Red Wing. Operation Red Wing was conducted using Marines, aviators from the Army and Operators of the elite Navy SeALs.

Lone Survivor is the story of one group of SeALS that were inserted into the region to perform reconnaissance and observation of a Taliban affiliated militia leader. The movie is based on the first –hand account of the events as told by former SeAL team operator, Marcus Lutrell. Lutrell wrote a book called Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 that was used by director Peter Berg as the inspiration of the film.

In my thoughts about this film after I left the theater I struggled to form an opinion that I felt was appropriate for the movie. Do I say that a movie about the ambush and killing of American servicemen was “Good”? Or, do I say that the overwhelming negativity of the story made it hard to enjoy it as a movie? What I settled on was a bit of a hybrid of the two.

The movie Lone Survivor is exceptionally well made; you really think you can feel what the team is going through. The physical punishment the men had to endure, aside from their actual wounds, is portrayed very honestly and graphically. At several points in the movie I caught myself saying something like, “Geez, how much more can these guys possibly take?”

From the relationships perspective, there was great emphasis put onto the interactions of those four men who worked as a team, more like brotherhood. As they attempted to overcome the odds that they faced, you saw how their true dedication to each other and to what they were asked to do would motivate them when weaker men would just give in.

Each main actor; Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster and Eric Bana, made the roles they were playing and the lives they were re-living very believable and honest. The various scenes of the deaths of the three SeALS that were on the mission with Lutrell are heart wrenching moments that you know are coming but still seem to surprise you. The deaths are all portrayed as heroic and yet humanizing. They were not “movie-deaths” at all, very real and very graphic.

As a whole, I felt that movie was of a high quality in the acting and in the way it was made, but I have a hard time giving a recommendation to see it. I felt like an emotional train-wreck as I was walking out of the screening. I was not alone in that feeling as evidenced by the rest of the audience in the screening. As the audience filed out, no one spoke, there were no comments made, positive or negative, just silence. Somber, sullen, stricken silence.

If you are looking to see a movie to just entertain you, then Lone Survivor is NOT it. It is an emotional train-wreck in waiting. If you want to see a movie that is an honest, well-made and truly genuine portrayal of the sacrifices that our servicemen and women are called on to make, then Lone Survivor is a perfect choice.