Tag Archives: action movie

What are you watching at the cinema this weekend? @thereelfilmshow brings you #gonein60 #film #movies #whattowatch

7 Mar

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Well things are really starting to take shape for the team at The Reel Deal. Huge thank you to all that have so far been involved. But as you probably know by now, Friday is indeed Film Friday and I’m lucky enough to give you a micro movie review of what’s hot and what’s not at the cinema each week.

So if you want to have your own pocket size guide on what to watch at the cinema, then here it is, Gone in 60 Seconds. Its a short, sharp action packed look at what launches in your local multiplex week on week. This week is no exception, we’ve got testosterone heavy men shouting all sorts of homoerotic sayings in one of the films, a trip to an all star quirky quirky hotel in another, and something shooting straight out of errr…Mexico!

Now if you’re after more film fun, then we’ve got new strands of content launching too, including Joe’s Public, where presenter Joe Forrester goes around making the good people of London do lots of silly things to do with films.

And we also lots of fun additional footage coming your way too, for instance, here’s our very first junket interview for hit US comedy Ride Along.

This is just the start of our brand new channel, so make sure you subscribe, follow us on Twitter @thereelfilmshow and share to all your friends, The Reel Deal is all about real reviews and fun around films, so be a part of it too.

Thanks for your support. x

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Olympus has Fallen – Movie Review

1 Apr

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You almost feel a little bit naughty for liking this film. It has every cliché in the book… the patriotic drum rolls when an image of the white house is shown in full glory, the American flag falling solemnly to the ground when the take over is complete, and the words “God Bless America” that are used perhaps more times than a skeptical British audience cares to hear. However, Olympus has Fallen is a very enjoyable film. Even though its made by the director of Training Day, Antoine Fuqua, it is no Training Day (there is no Denzel for starters…) but rom-com hero come face stabber Gerard Butler steps up to the plate as disgraced Presidential Guard Mike Banning pretty well.

The story follows the former Head of Security, eighteen months after he fails to save President Asher’s (Aaron Eckhart) wife from falling to her death Screen Shot 2013-03-31 at 20.57.06following a freak snow accident en route back from Camp David. He is now working a desk job at the State Treasury so to not remind the President of that fateful night. There is unrest in Korea and the South Korean President comes to the White House to find a solution. This is when the take down begins. A full blown storm on the White House occurs and it seems that the FBI, Navy Seals and Homeland security have are facing more danger than they ever could have imagined, so its down to one man to get the President and his son out of the White House alive.

Butler has been known in the last few years to take the easy money route with his career, rom-coms like Playing for Keeps and P.S. I Love You have been a strategic way of keeping the actor Screen Shot 2013-03-31 at 21.04.46both funded and in the forefront of Hollywood’s minds (on screen at least). We can be forgiven for momentarily forgetting that he actually played King Leonidis in the brutal graphic novel 300, but its good to see him back on form here. Apart from a few dodgy accent slips, it’s easy to see him as a high profile security guard who has a charismatic relationship with both the President and his son. He brings an everyman quality to this performance which makes him more accepting in this role, clearly knowing his place as to when to be friend and when to serve. Its easy to follow Butler as the central character here, his action moves are not unexpected, you feel he knows when he’s delivering a cheesy line and you even on occasion get a little glimmer appear in his eyes which tells the audience that although he shouldn’t, he’s definitely laughing at this line with you.

Screen Shot 2013-03-31 at 20.57.29Accompanying him in supporting roles are Angela Bassett (Secret Service Director Lynn Jacobs) and Morgan Freeman (Speaker Trumbull). Having these two in this film I feel balances up the ridiculousness of some of the scenes and forces a sense of credibility into what we’re watching. Although understated, these two actors become an audience within the film, watching action themselves from the Pentagon, and making a few big decisions as and when necessary.

As the villain of the piece, Kang, Rick Yune is perfectly cast. Amidst all the chaos of the epic take over scene, the Screen Shot 2013-03-31 at 21.05.30criminal mastermind is cool, calm and calculated. It’s almost sinister how relaxed he is, and you automatically think back to his Bond villain Zao in Die Another Day. You find yourself intrigued as to what happen will happen next with him, and a key highlight for me was his un-emotive reaction to Butlers proposed game of “Fuck Off.” As an actor, Yune really does play the ‘less is more’ card very well.

Overall, the film is a combination of cheese, violence (in parts verging on ultra-violence) and an almost worrying example of the most protected building in the world being overtaken by terrorists. Despite its terrible title and slight lack of gravitas to make it a classic action flick, its really worth a watch, the fight scenes are exciting, you almost fear for your own safety a little when the take over begins, and apart from a few dodgy lines Olympus has fallen makes for an engaging and solid watch – definitely one for the boys though.

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Move over John McClane – here’s John McClay!

11 Feb

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A hero can come in many different shapes and forms, but none more diverse and well dough light than…John McClay, in A Good Clay to Die Hard!

Yep you heard it right, Bruce Willis’s iconic character takes a new meaning in this very clever animated short. It reminds me a little of Celebrity Death Match, and made me laugh, A LOT… so its definitely worth a watch.

But if nothing but the real thing will do, then A Good Day to Die Hard is out on Valentines Day – how romantic!

Altogether now…Yippie Kay Yay Mother Russia!

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Just remember… you asked for it – Jack Reacher review

12 Dec

 

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“Just remember, you asked for this” *queue five on one fight scene* just one of the brilliantly deadpan ‘zingers’ given by Tom Cruises character Jack Reacher in this fabulously fun take on the Lee Childs novel One Shot.

The story follows a complicated plotline around the shooting of five innocent civilians in broad daylight by an ex-Iraq serving soldier. Reacher has a vested interest in this case so returns to the US to help see that the man responsible is brought to justice, however all is not as it seems…

Whether you are a fan of the book or not, the brilliance of this film is not the fact that Cruise is a mere 5”8 when the literary character is 6”5 (something he had to address quite extensively at the World Premiere) but that it doesn’t take itself too seriously, and that it doesn’t patronize its audience. The humour in this film is well placed and provides the optimum reaction from the people watching, mixed in well with all the elements that make it a great action movie.

Tom Cruise makes an excellent Jack Reacher. His delivery of the lines are as dry as a desert and this creates maximum effect as the audience pinch themselves throughout asking “is this guy for real?” He fits the bill physically, his height really doesn’t seem an issue on screen and his broody loneliness and dis-engagement with the real world is apparent and clear. There is also the odd feeling of vulnerability for this vigilante which brings out a human side to the character making him far from indestructible, and in some instances, refreshingly out of his depth and control. Rosamund PikeScreen Shot 2012-12-11 at 10.38.07 is an interesting choice for Helen Rodin, the DA’s daughter and lawyer who hires Reacher to be her private investigator in this case.  Her take on the American accent is somewhat distracting at times, but she provides a good sparring partner for Cruise, with a calm versus the storm factor, and the undertones of a romantic involvement which are danced around but never fully played out.

Robert Duvall however, only features in the second half of the film, but brings in an old school heroism feel to the film, that he is simply magnetic in presence and hilarious in delivery. The moment he appears as gun range owner Cash, he gels instantly with Cruise and you feel taken back to Days of Thunder, you can tell they have great chemistry on screen and have remained friends off. Another surprising casting is Werner Herzog as The Zec. If you were to paint a picture of an action hero nemesis, he would be it, blind in one eye, living in the shadows and thumbless after having to bite it off himself in order to stay alive. He is almost cartoon like in appearance, and the moment he delivers the line “I was born in Siberia…” you know not to take this film too seriously if you hadn’t figured this out before.

The flow of the film, mixes from serious to the absurd. The opening ten minutes rest on a dialogue-less tension-building opener where the crime is Screen Shot 2012-12-11 at 10.39.27committed and the scene is set. It then breaks to something that resembles a cheesy holiday advert as we see from behind the head shots, Cruise waking up with a leggy brunette in his bed, seeing the incident on the TV in his hotel room, going outside to the beaches of Florida, buying second hand clothes, with the till girls gawking at his “god-like” presence, showing his bus driver his ticket and ending up downtown ready to solve the case, it is pure brilliance and fun and only lacking the Shaft signature theme tune to accompany it.

There is also a slap-stick goon scene in the middle of the film which is so ridiculous, its not unlike Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern’s turn in Home Alone, the way these two “henchmen” were acting, Jack Reacher wasn’t needed as a kid really could have outsmarted these two- you cannot help but laugh out loud at the buffoonery. Finally, the crescendo is an all out action packed car, gun, fist fighting final scene, which is so outlandish in format you really are taken back to the Van Damme, Schwarzenneger films of days gone by, a fitting end to the film.

For all its ridiculousness, I found it hard to fault, it is what it is, nothing too serious and yet it has a stroke of brilliance about it, which makes all its absurdities forgivable. A very watchable movie, fans of the book wont be disappointed, action loving boys will love it and maybe girls will swoon at Tom Cruise in this new action role. I for one loved it.

The film hits cinemas on the 21st December.

 

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