Reviews

The overall feel of this movie was superficial at best. I did not get the feeling of grief and anger that Charles Bronson had when they killed his family in the original. The lack of these emotions by Bruce Willis was the fault of the Director or the screenwriter. The whole impetus behind the ruthless vengeance of Dr, Kersey was the pain that he suffered with the loss of his family. Without the display of emotion of deep trauma that precipitated his vigilante actions, really diluted the impact of the killing that occurred later in the movie. They needed to build up the emotional reasons behind his decision to become a vigilante. I wanted to feel the hate that he felt toward the criminal element to make me feel OK and cheer for the deaths of the bad guys. This remake missed the whole point of the human emotion of deep personal loss and the change that can occur to a law abiding citizen to a cold blooded killer when they are forced to do so. The original movie gave you the look inside a man that was pushed to a point where he did not value his life more than getting justice for his family. I did not empathize with Bruce Willis because he lacked the emotional display of loss that was the whole substance of his decision to start killing bad guys.

After watching Strike Back seasons 1 -5, I became invested in the characters of Scott and Stonebridge.All due to the development of their personalities and backstories. At the conclusion of season 5, it just felt like the end of the series had been made and all loose ends had been tied. If the powers that be would have just left well enough alone and called it quits after Season 5, they could have renamed and repackaged Strike Back in a way that the fan base would have been able to reset their allegiance and emotional investment to the presentation of a new series with a different name but with a similar story line and premise.When will the studio shot callers realize that the viewers are more loyal to the actors and the characters that they portray than the show itself. The only thing about Strike Back that became a little annoying was that the enemy awareness,aggression and shot accuracy level was set at minus ten. Even though the enemy was equipped with the same weapons as the Strike Back operatives and had superior numbers, they were killed in disproportionate numbers because their guns were pointed at the ground while being fired upon or couldn't hit the side of a barn when they did fire their weapons.

The show during the first and most of the 2nd season was entertaining. Spader's character Reddington was over the top but that made for a little levity to go along with all the drama. If it wasn't for Spader's outstanding portrayal of Reddington this show would have ended after the first season. Agent Ressler is way underdeveloped to the point that you really wouldn't care if he was killed or not. That's not good since he is one of the main characters and Lizzy's partner. Which brings us to Lizzy. This is where the writers made a big mistake by making Lizzy a FBI profiler. A profiler sits at their desks and comes up with a profile of people that are committing crimes and need to be identified so as to narrow down the search.A profiler would not be a field agent. Reddington's stipulation that he will only talk to Lizzy about the cases on the blacklist, doesn't make Lizzy all of a sudden Jame Bond. Every time she is confronted with a fight she gets her ass handed to her every time.This is very annoying to the point that you would just wish that somebody would just put her out of her misery. If they would have written her part as some bad ass woman field agent with martial art training and a weapons expert, instead of this helpless female with a badge and gun, then you would have something.

This movie lacked the depth of backstory and development of the story-line that the original had. There were some scenes that tried to show the jealousy and infighting of the girls and the Head Mistress, but it felt rushed and superficial. The casting of Kidman was spot on and she did a commendable performance, however I felt that Colin Farrell never had the opportunity to develop his character. Thus, the interaction between his character and the girls of the school never gave the full impact of his true nature. This remake just doesn't make it to level that the original achieved.

Every once in awhile a movie will come out that surprises you with how good it is. Unlocked is such a movie. It has everything a movie goer wants. It has an intelligent plot, It has twists and turns within that plot, it has good acting by an A-list cast and a fast tempo delivery that holds your attention for the whole movie. All in all a very entertaining movie and I think that is all the audience wants for their money. Kudos on a job well done!

I went into this movie not really knowing what it was about. So I was pretty open minded about what I was going to see. The first thoughts I had after 20 minutes was that the direction of The Circle was going to be about a invasion of privacy gone amok. Then, the direction seemed to want to suggest that a game of mind control by The Circle to be used against the employees. Then, the direction of the movie seemed to want to unveil a sinister plan by the 2 Corporate officers. Then....... the movie ended. This movie had all the ingredients to succeed, but fell way short on bringing it home with a bang. Instead, it just fizzled after all the plot buildup. Not entirely unwatchable, but temper your expectations and you will probably enjoy The Circle.

I am not sure what I was expecting from this movie going in. Now that I have seen it, I am glad that my expectations were tempered. This movie lacked the traditional intensity that a Tom Hanks film usually delivers. I can't put my finger on just what I didn't like about the film. Was it the fact that this movie couldn't decide if it was a love story, or a comedy? Or that the underdevelopment of the characters left me scratching my head. Or that the storytelling seemed rushed in slow moving manner. In any case, I was disappointed in this movie when I walked out of the theater. I was a little surprised that Hanks even took this role after reading the script. This movie was beneath his talent. Anybody could have played the part and done just as well.

At first, the Movie "Traders" seemed to have a unique story to be told. After watching it, I left the theater very disappointed with how the plot didn't have any teeth. The idea that you could bet your life against another person and winner take all seemed interesting almost provocative. However, the simplistic way that it was done was boring and unimaginative. The script lacked depth and imagination with how the story played out. There wasn't any hook to keep you interested in what happened next because the plot was too shallow and obvious. The acting wasn't bad but the characters were one dimensional and underdeveloped. I highly recommend that you don't waste your time with this one.