Achylles Reviews

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

The wolf of "unearned" awards

[8/10 · 15 July 2014]

Another year came when Di Caprio did not get an Oscar after outstanding performance. I guess the Academy are corrupted or have something in mind against Leonardo Di Caprio. This movie of his is not an exception.

Jordan Belfort. He has a quite interesting past and an excellent broker and that story of his, like many other interesting bios, inspired people to make a biographical movie about it. In The Wolf of Wall Street we see Di Caprio playing as Jordan Belfort himself and his past about how he became a successful broker but eventually things get rough. You shouldn't of course read Jordan's bio from other sources because that would ruin part of the satisfaction from the movie.

There is not much to be expected from this movie unless you watch it without reading any summaries or maybe reviews because it makes the plot predictable and probably you will know what is going to happen but not exactly in detail so that's what this movie delivers to it's viewers - a detailed story. This reminded me a lot of the movie The Social Network where we see how Facebook has been created and things get rough there too, we already know sorta what's happened but we need to see it in details, to zoom in the story and get acknowledged.

Fortunately, this movie has a comedy genre included. There were many funny moments which literally made me laugh out loud but most of them were inappropriate for young people due to their sexual content. Naked hot girls(LITERALLY COMPLETELY NAKED), boobs, a lot of filthiness and obscene words..like seriously Di Caprio's every third word was f**king but that did not make the screenplay cheesy - contrary. But those funny moments had some tension. Sometimes I just wanted to skip a scene because it seemed too boring or filled with redundant tension.

The acting - perfect. Every actor did a cool play out there especially Di Caprio. His character was very impulsive and he played it fantastically. Sadly he didn't get Oscar again..FILTHY ACADEMY! I mean...Titanic received 13 Oscars and Di Caprio as the main role did not receive any. Inception received 4 Oscars but they missed Leonardo's outstanding performance again. Blood Diamond, Catch me if you can were similar - award winning while the fantastic main role actor got NOMINATED WOW.

In every biographic movie there is big progress and change in the main character and that appeared here as well. From poor but ambitious young lad to the king of stocks and trades. This movie also shows well how cocaine, drugs, sex and alcohol addiction can affect somebody overall which is a lesson for young people. The drama in this movie wasn't skipped. There were some strong moments and I liked the synergy between the actors. This movie is 3 hours long and I'm not sure if it was good enough for such a long movie.

Overall the movie is a funny bio of Jordan Belfort with a lot of sex and drug scenes plus alcohol, some of them were odd but still made me laugh and have a good time, it had some drama in it, tension and the story was well presented. At moments I got bored/frustrated and wanted to skip some scenes. Di Caprio, as always, was brilliant and the writers drove an amazing screenplay for the brokers.

Acting - Outstanding 10/10 Plot - Predictable because it's a bio but Jordan's bio is very interesting 7/10 Screenplay - Brilliant, driven well and the brokers had amazing speeches 10/10 Presentation - Well done but there were some scenes which bored me or had odd tension which made me skip them 8/10

Gave it an 8/10 at average. Thanks for reading!

Revenge (2011–2015)

Outstanding

[10/10 · 6 April 2012]

When I watched the pilot episode, I found the series promising and I really loved it. Then, after continuing the following episodes, it took my interest. The show is dark, smart, filled with subtle humor and wise quotes. The plot is twisted, dark and tense. Each character has an interesting story, presented in a really good way. The acting is perfect and the writing is complete. Emily Van Camp who plays the main role as Emily Thorne is just amazing! I really recommend this show to anybody. It's always interesting, sometimes funny, dark, and mysterious. ABC has another thing to embark, after finishing "Desperate Housewives".

Gary Unmarried (2008–2010)

Garry Unmarried - CBS must be diminished

[9/10 · 2 February 2012]

CBS has done a big mistake, canceling this show because it is very good and close to the perfection. It's funny, full with ironic jokes and has almost everything a comedy should have. I even think it would be in my top 15 if it had more seasons. It is about a divorced man having awkward and funny situations and disputes with her ex-wife and all the things are very well done. The acting is great - Jay Mohr and Paula Marshall are the main actors who do a great job, the jokes are decent and the performance is good - they're all just imperfect though it is one of my near-favorite comedies. I recommend it to everybody and I'm disgusted оf CBS about canceling the show.

Street Racer (2008 Video)

Good for a time waste

[4/10 · 3 January 2012]

Despite having spoilers, they don't tell exactly what happens in the movie so if you read this you won't be made to lose interest in the movie itself so I recommend that you read the review before watching the movie.

Yet you might have seen many racing movies about decent cars, hot chicks and illegal street races and this is another movie similar to F&F. Just films like this have been inspired by the Fast and the Furious franchise. This movie is not so bad as described but is a non-good mock buster. First of all the idea of the movie was very good, a racer has a car accident during an illegal race and hurts an innocent human and then he pays about that while getting involved in the racing life again. But the idea had not been accomplished well at all.

At first, the shooting of the scenes is so awful that I could not understand what actually happened in the beginning - did the character die or he was just stunned. The racing scenes are so unclear that you wouldn't understand how are the things going on. I also noticed that the camera views switch so fast that this would also make you not understand what's happening and you lose interest in the movie. This disbands the adrenaline which should come inside you, just because this is literally an action movie.

The acting is not bad but not good because sometimes the spectator could visibly notice the play of the actors but not the seriousness of the characters inside the movie. Clint Browning, who actually plays the main character didn't do bad job and acted fairly tolerable. The other actors were also not bad but Connor Clayton, who played the invalid boy was awful. I do apologize about my exposure of dysphemismic criticism but he looked like Justin Bieber and was a sort of unbearable and I couldn't stand him, he firstly acts awful and secondly he acts like some twink. I completely liked the play of Robert Pike Daniel who played as Red, an old ex-drunk who lost his son due to cancer and started having business with cars so the acting of this actor made me love his character most.

The plot and even the writing are plain, predictable and incomplete though the idea about them is awesome and potential. The plot could be breath-taking but every detail about the it is incomplete. There could have been put some dramatic moments about the boy and if a good actor had played it, the movie would have become strong and it's rating would be sky high as because people love dramas.

The writing is bad. The main thing making it awful is the overuse of profanity. Everyone is just saying "F*CK" or "SH*T" just for no reason even about the tiniest problem as if they are whining about everything. The moment when Johnny says to Red "I have no choice" I literally reminded myself the movie Saw, whose counsel is that people must appreciate their lives and always have choices, and I immediately predicted the next reply of the writing when Red says "There is always choice..." and I was pleasantly satisfied but that's just myself.

The cars are very poor for the movie year but they were not as bad as to be awful considering the fact that the movie has low budget. The performance and the special effects are again on the average, not so good and visibly not bad. The music is amazingly and surprisingly good. The racing scenes were bad but I liked a lot the carting racing which was my favorite part of the movie.

Overall the movie is completely incomplete though it's idea was very good and potential. All details were not well made but it's good for a time waste.

Plot - predictable, plain, but the idea about it has a big potential though it is badly made. 3/10

Acting - average, I mostly liked Robert Pike Daniel's play. 5/10

Writing - very plain ,big, pointless overuse of profanity. 3/10

Performance - Poor cars for the film's year, averagely good action scenes but bad races and completely awful camera shooting. 2/10

Music - very good and proper, just imperfect. 8/10

The Bounty Hunter (I) (2010)

By friend recommendation overthrew my expectation

[7/10 · 27 December 2011]

I hate imposing my opinion upon other people that have not watched a movie, but I really think about myself that this one is kind of refreshing and non-engaging. We see the famous actors Jennifer and Gerard whose acting is great and they both fit each other in either personal or a common way. What I mean is that both actors are good together and did their job. The plot is little predictable but spicy. It has combined 3 different genres itself that would seem inappropriate in a combination but actually they are completely relevant. I mean the Romance and Action genres that aren't said to be proper when involved together in a movie because few people have seen such movies. In fact, as I said, the plot is literally well made with spicy situations, the action was not complete and straining but because we know this movie is also comedy, all these facts negate the cons of the weaknesses of the action in the film. Moreover, I did not laugh much, despite the movie being comedy, but I did not feel any boredom though. The romance wasn't also redundant so that makes my opinion better, no, it was just diversity among the action comedy elements. In fact I noticed the interchange of genres which makes the movie more entertaining to watch. First you see some funny chases, then some acquiescence among the characters and a spicy development, twisting and unraveling itself, taking the interest of the spectator in.

Actually, a very good friend of mine recommended me this movie while we were talking about films and about what had I been watching in those times. I did not have any good expectations but when I watched it, I was pleasantly satisfied. The mixture of the 3 genres was made very well and I personally like it. If you're a fan of action movies please don't expect much because the action components were not many, despite the genre being first listed on it's IMDb wall, and the purpose of the film is not the action itself. If you're a kind of woman or guy liking romantic comedies you should expect more than you do because the movie ends up with romance and is not boring. If you like both the genres you will definitely like the movie. I personally think it has been given a low vote of the film itself and people had had very big expectations, so the liking about the movie among people depends on what have they had expected. If they have expected too much, as a lot did, they will rather find the movie bad, meanwhile the people like me, who expected little will find the movie rather good. This means it is more about of a personal opinion so I thrusted my professional one more.

Plot - Little predictable; very good mixture of 3 genres that aren't said to stick together properly but they literally do; few disadvantages and weaknesses in each genre; 7/10

Writing - simply fulfilled with subtle humor and refined chasing scenes. 9/10

Acting - Butler and Aniston do great job together and fit their characters perfectly. 10/10

Presentation - Funny and entertaining; worth watching; not time wasting though it completely relates on the viewer's expectations and preferences. 9/10

The Fast and the Furious (2001)

True blockbuster.

[10/10 · 23 October 2011]

Firstly, this movie became a masterpiece and a blockbuster of all times - not because of it's plot, literally it is plain, but because of the scenes with the fast, tuned, hot cars, having neon lights and nitrous which was something people had never seen before. There had been many racing movies but this one is unique itself because of the illegal racing stuff. In my opinion this movie is very underrated because of it's low ratings and disliking reviews complaining about plot, but - come on, guys this ain't a movie whose purpose is to having a nice plot. If you want a nice plot movie go watch Star Wars but the purpose of the F&F franchise is to see some fast beautiful cars, hot chicks and affairs which are not about love but something more... I admit that the writing was not well-made but the defense of this disadvantage is that action films don't need perfect writing - go watch a good drama instead if you want a good writing.

What I mean is that this movie is the origin of the illegal street racing movies and was the first of it's kind. Then we saw Street Racer, Born to Race and even the failure of the year - 200 MPH. But all those movies were inspired by the Fast and the Furious franchise. The plot is plain and predictable otherwise it is different than any plot in any other action movie made before the movie. The acting was great - all the actors made the deal especially Paul Walker and Vin Diesel, whose roles made them famous and the reason being famous now is only the movie. The special effects, that every action movie need to have, are immaculate and the stuff used in the movie is perfect. In addition, people in real life became inspired about tuning their own cars and this movie is the reason about that. In my opinion if you're a fan of cars you should definitely watch the movie and will truly love it. If you expect too much or are a drama/comedy person you will also not be disappointed but also not so satisfied. "Damn" I can say so many things about this movie that literally mean a defence of itself but I would repeat myself so I will skip to the summary.... The movie is a blockbuster itself. It is plot is plain and predictable but because it's unique itself and is origin of all illegal street racing movies so this makes the meaning of the plot inconsequential. The acting is awesome as immaculate are the special effects too. The writing is typical for an action movie, despite being awful but what really makes this hustle and bustle movie amazing is it's uniqueness and beautiful adrenaline among fast and tuned cars. Recommendation - just watch if you're big fan of cars and adrenaline. Don't expect much if you're not.

Plot - mild, plain, predictable though it is unique and doesn't need to be amazing. 6/10.

Acting - Amazing; Vin, Jordana, Michelle and Paul do very nice job. 10/10

Writing - as plain as the plot is though it's very typical to the classic action movies. 6/10

Performance - Immaculate special effects; Very beautiful designed cars; Spectacular racing scenes. 10/10

OVERALL: 8/10, though I give it an excellent personal TEN because it is literally my favourite franchise.

Fast Five (2011)

Not bad but could be much better - does not fit the Fast and the Furious franchise

[7/10 · 22 August 2011]

Seriously? Better than the first one?? You must be crazy..... If I wanted to watch that much action in a movie I would watch Faster..... or Rambo... or Rocky. But this ain't Faster neither Rambo neither Rocky - it's Fast and Furious. I don't see nitrous oxide upgraded cars with any exotic paint or vinyl and neither installed neon lights on them nor hot chicks and high bets round and around them... The lack of races and the fantastically-action scenes made me give it a low 8. In this part of the series the staff overdid with the action and didn't put on the racing idea enough. It looks like Faster(where Dwayne Johnson stars too) with some fantasy. There are some unreal things in this movie like when Dom and Brian stole the safe and bound it to their cars through a rope. I don't know how but both the rope and the safe didn't break after crashing many police cars and even the moment when they totally destroyed the bank building. I do wonder how didn't the rope tear. The directors didn't miss the racing stuff also because they also put a race in this movie but they didn't put enough so they deviated of the title "Fast and Furious". And the end of the movie was so surprising..... Just like a magic but I can't explain it exactly. Overall the movie was good but I missed the adrenaline of the illegal races, the nice-made cars and the race tracks. I liked the first 2 movies in the series more than this one. I'm looking forward to seeing F&F 6 where Dwayne Johnson will participate again. I hope the directors bring back the old standard of the series and I'm also looking forward to seeing Toretto going in Tokyo along with Han and I wanna see Toretto racing again Shawn(Lucas Black). Professionally I find the movie amazingly created. The special effects, the acting and the performance are amazing. But as it is a part of my favourite franchise I give it eight because it does not contain enough of the racing stuff as it is supposed to be as being a Fast and Furious movie.

Plot - mild, proper for an action, fairly not predictable; 8/10.

Acting - the actors were just perfect as always; Also loved to see Han, Ludicrous, Roman and The Rock together as being an addition to the movie; 10/10.

Writing - fairly good but could be better; 7/10.

Performance - Very well done; Special effects were brilliant; Car chases were very straining; Action scenes were immaculate; The lack of racing and the excessiveness of unreal things are a not small weakness in the performance itself. 8/10