phoneeko Reviews

Oblivion (I) (2013)

Beautifully shot, never boring, but...

[7/10 · 1 May 2013]

Excellent cinematography, if maybe a bit too much on the "euro" style (instead of the over saturated colors we see lately). Story is good, but it tries too hard to present you with shocks and twists that can either be seen a mile away or are not significant enough to bring anything interesting to the movie as a whole. Tom cruise is solid as usual, and the rest of the cast supports him accordingly, althou talents like Morgan Freeman and Nicolas Koster Waldau are largely underwritten and underused. Sadly the script sometimes seems borrowed, and as a result the movie reminds you of so many other science fiction movies that it looses its own identity to an otherwise decent reimagining of a "post- disaster" future earth. I did enjoy the movie, it is by no means a waste of your time and/or money, it only leaves that idea in your mind that by tweaking it a little more, or maybe even by shortening it and pacing it a little bit faster, a much stronger movie could have emerged. Anyhow, i'm hoping to see Joseph Kocinsky's next directorial effort as soon as possible (TR30N?), I'm becoming a fan pretty fast.

The Avengers (2012)

This rating system needs to go to 11

[9/10 · 28 April 2012]

BB / TDK not withstanding, (to me those 2 are drama/action/thrillers that happen to include a guy with a costume)"The Avengers" is the best super hero movie ever. ...or in other words: This is the best superhero movie ever. And that's because it is the best superhero movie EVER. Script:9, DP:9, Sets:9, Directing:10, Acting:8, Editing:10, FX:10, Score:9, Sound Design:8, Fun:1000. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. There are so many levels of ass-kicking in this movie i cannot begin to describe them. I think i barely blinked for the first act of the movie, stopped breathing altogether during the second act only to have my eyeballs drop and my ears explode for the third act, which made me go AAAAWWWW EEEEHHH OOHHHHH UUUUU and loads of AHAHHAAAHHHAA. At one point i was actually using my t-shirt to wipe teardrops off my face i was laughing so hard. I actually cannot remember the last time i had so much fun at the movies. If you are a comics / superhero or even just a general movie fan, this one is a must-see. Joss Weadon just made himself the uber-god of geek Olympus. Now somebody please give him a billion dollars and let him work his magic on the next 2 installments.

Falling Skies (2011–2015)

Not good.

[3/10 · 28 June 2011]

Pretty Bad i'm afraid. Disappointing to say the least. Writing is shallow, 100% clichés, and repetitive, acting is mostly sub-par with few exceptions. Lighting is totally unrealistic, photography in general attempts a "Euro" style but fails. CGI is like a low budget version of BSG. Action sequences are poorly written and badly choreographed. To make it worse the cheap music is omnipresent, empty and terribly annoying. All you want to do is look for a Fast Forward button hoping to find something interesting to watch. It all sums "up" to bad direction and production in general. Yep. It is pretty bad indeed. Maybe, just maybe it can manage to pick itself up in the coming episodes... but at the moment... chances look slim.

Smokin' Aces 2: Assassins' Ball (2010 Video)

Entertaining and good fun. Worth a rental for sure.

[6/10 · 28 January 2010]

Thou not even close to its predecessor, this movie is quite watchable and entertaining. Pretty big cast doing a bit less than what could be expected from such actors, given the decent script, although the dialog was surely not the greatest.. everything was there for some better exposition and back-story. Maybe 20 minutes more runtime might have done the trick. You could see the reduced budget, especially during the explosions and in choice of music. Budget (as most of the time) surely influenced the total feel of the movie.. which seemed a bit rushed and unpolished, and also the pressure (from Exec Producer J.C. maybe?) to follow the visual style of the first movie so closely...looks like it was a bit too much. All in all it's still a decent / fun movie, could have been much better (like so many big-budget releases) but still manages to be fairly entertaining.

Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009)

Above average, Way above.

[8/10 · 1 January 2010]

This was great entertainment, Story:well scripted to avoid the many pitfalls the this kind of movie could have fallen in to. More layering and character development that you could ever expect from a film like this. Acting: no Oscars gonna be won here... but hey it's a JCVD flick and he and the rest of the cast do a good job in it. Action (fights): No Jason Bourne, or Taken, but pretty close!, you can see how much went in to choreography and rehearsal, very well done. Production: Nice cutting, great timing, superb use of location. Maybe the only weakish spot was the score, it sometimes felt out of context and/or under-produced.

Anyway: Director sure knew what he was doing here, and i liked it a lot.

Please Mr Hymas (Sr and Jr?) find a big budget, a great script and go do a Jason Bourne movie!

The Core (2003)

I had so much fun watching this..

[7/10 · 18 July 2009]

Cmon.. it's as plausible as any R.Emmerich disaster movie and just as entertaining. Witch is exactly my point: mostly unbelievable, at times ridiculously stupid... but the more it gets stupid, the more fun it gets! And not in an unintentional way! It has a mini-romance, lots of disasters, tons of good sci-fi and good action. Acting is more than decent form this pretty strong cast. I think i have watched it like 3 times now simply for its entertaining value, Believe me... even if it needs some pretty hard "suspension of disbelief" in this one, it so geek fun and entertaining you wont even notice how absurd it sometimes is. Rent it / Buy it. Will make a fun 2h!

Knowing (2009)

Entertaining, interesting and nicely shot.

[7/10 · 25 June 2009]

I know, I know.. it rips stuff from every major sci-fi sub-genre i can think of... but hey, if only all the sci-fi we get to see was this good! Proyas proves (again) to be a very capable director, Nic Cage is OK (but not as good as we all know he can be if he wants to), rest of the cast is more then adequate. I liked the story, good mix of weirdness and believability, some plot inconsistencies here and there, some development missing on some issues but mostly OK and also not "stupid". It does not require the usual "suspension of disbelief" that most sci-fi movies seem to need today. FX are on par with bigger budgeted movies and sound was really good. In the end all i can say is i had a good 2 hours of fun watching an entertaining movie, ...isn't that what these movies are made for? A solid 7+ is my vote.

Punisher: War Zone (2008)

Violent, Fast, Loud! ...more please!

[8/10 · 24 February 2009]

I really liked it. Ray Stevenson was a superb choice and he delivers! Rest of the casting is OK(ish) Action is fast, ultra-violent and sometimes unnecessarily gory and in need of a reality check... but still fun to watch. But these are all details...bottom line is that as somebody wrote in an earlier review, this is not a critics movie... but a fans movie. Not just Punisher fans but good-fun-action movie fans. Don't look for Oscar nominations here, but you'r definitely not gonna regret the trip to the theater and/or a renting this. I recommend watching it with your system at full volume, you'll see what i mean :) I just really hope this one gets many sequels. And if that ain't gonna happen... at least i hope to catch more Ray Stevenson in any kind of ass-kicking role.