Plot
"In Istanbul, retired CIA operative Bryan Mills and his wife are taken hostage by the father of a kidnapper Mills killed while rescuing his daughter".
My Thoughts
Unlike many I wasn't a huge fan of the original "Taken" while I didn't think it was a bad film I didn't think it was a great film either like many felt it was. Liam Neesen is a fine actor and I am a fan of a lot of his films (most recently this year in "The Grey"). The first "Taken" was original in the way that it was presented and the premise behind it, with Neesen being great in his role of a father who would do anything to get his daughter back. In this film unfortunately the same plot exists only this time it is the gang of the people he killed coming to take Liam Neesen's character and his immediate family for what he did, this plot for me already had my expectations for the film lowered as it would be nothing new, and that is not entirely the films fault it is a sequel and not a squeal that had a distinctly different title than the first film that would have indicated that it was drastically different. Acting wise there is nothing groundbreaking here Neesen does a good job in his character who is largely the same as the first film and I had no complaints as I knew what to expect from him, the characters played by Maggie Grace and Famke Janssen where expended much more in this film in an attempt to help strengthen a connection with the characters and make you feel more for them, I did not feel more for them at all in this film, in fact I actually cared about them less in this film than in the original maybe this had to do with in the original they seemed more fragile. And in this film they seemed more tough which for me meant they could take care of themselves just a little bit more, in particular Grace's character maybe it is due to her limited acting ability (I have seen her in a few films and have never been impressed with her) she made me dislike her character the more and more screen time she had (especially in the long chase scene, it got really annoying). The other characters outside of the main cast did a commendable job and did what was required of the not play their roles and I have nothing left to add there in terms of the cast. The camera work for me stood out for its shakiness it got hard to focus on what was happening at certain points due to the camera shaking so much, I am sure the director did this to add an element of to the film but for me it took away from the film if anything. there was no huge use if at all of special effects and I felt that was a good choice as it gave the film a "real" feeling to it . this shocked me after I thought about the film after seeing it but there was not much that I liked about the film it was essentially taken with just more of the same villains just going after him and not just his daughter this time.Rotten Tomatoes had this to say "Taken 2 is largely bereft of the kinetic thrills -- and surprises -- that made the original a hit". I agree this is basically taken but not as good and for me the first one wasn't great.
Rating
Worse than the first film which for me wasn't the great film most people think it was 7.0/10!!!! nothing special here but worth seeing if you have free time available.
The Second movie for the month of October is "Sinister" Starring Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance and James Ransone.
Plot
"Found footage helps a true-crime author realize how and why a family was murdered in his new home, though his discoveries put his entire family in the path of a supernatural entity".
My Thoughts
This film was not originally on my watch list to start the year. after doing some research on this film and finally getting the chance to check out the trailer a few weeks ago, the film intrigued me enough to add to my watch list and see how the film was. I first want to start out with the opening shot of the film I do not want to give anything away but it set the tone of the film right from the start and I felt it was one of the best opening scenes I have seen in a film this year, It was very unexpected and for a film of this nature it was done beautifully. Next I want to go onto the cast which was brilliant in this film for the most part, I have not seen many Ethan Hawke films but the roles that I had seen him in he did a commendable job in them and I would say he is a decent actor, in this film he had his best role in my opinion (other than in training day) He played the role of a writer whose 15 minutes of fame had long since passed and was looking for his next big hit and was willing to do anything to get the inspiration he felt was needed to help him do so., the actors who played his two children did really good jobs in their roles especially the actress who played his daughter, the actress who played the wife of the family was the one dark spot in terms of the cast, she was never very convincing and the British accent didn't help much either, other than her performance great casting in this film. The setting/tone and apace of this film was excellent this is not your classic slasher horror film I would say it is more suspense film that throws in the occasional "jump" scare to keep the audience on its toes and this was the best film to mix the two I have seen since "Insidious" fro m2011 which was another highly rated suspense/horror film for me, The most pleasing aspect for me that this film did was the "home movies" footage that Ethan Hawke's character found in the new home they movies to and he used as the basis for his new book it was something I personally had not seen done in a film before and it really added to the story as a whole. Another aspect of this film that I really liked was the use of the "Demon" whose name was behguul, I liked the fact that in the film you are never really given a chance to fully see his character which I felt was a great idea as it helped lend to his mysteriousness. There was not much I could honestly say I disliked about this film it was very good and I highly recommend for viewers who where fans of insidious or are fans of a good suspense/horror film which this was Rotten Tomatoes gave this film a 60% saying " ts plot hinges on typically implausible horror-movie behavior and recycles countless genre cliches, but Sinister delivers a surprising number of fresh, diabolical twists" I disagree with this rating for the genre this film sits in it was very good.
My Thoughts
Very good film, I am very happy that I did not pass this up 8.0/10!!!!!
The last film for the month of October is Silent Hill: Revelation 3D starring Adelaide Clemens, Kit Harington and Sean Bean the film opend on the 26th.
Plot
"When her father disappears, Heather Mason is drawn into a strange and terrifying alternate reality that holds answers to the horrific nightmares that have plagued her since childhood".
My Thoughts
Unlike many I have talked to, I enjoyed the first Silent Hill film. I thought it was done well the acting was solid the atmosphere felt really close to the film, the CG was good for the time (2006) and it felt true to the games in that sense, The ending for me really hurt my overall view of that film but nonetheless it was a solid entry into the Silent hill movie franchise. Just going over the original silent hill has made m realize that it has been 6 years since that film came out and to me that is a shame that it has taken so long, often the problem with waiting that long to film a sequel is that usually the actors who could potentially return for the following films may no longer be available or want to work on the follow up film, In this case that was not the problem for the cast, the director was changed unfortunately as I like his direction in the first film and for me when making a franchise of films I prefer if the director stays the same as it helps for the films to have the same continuity (see the transition from X2 to X3). Onto this film, which basically takes place from what I am judging takes place 6 years after the vents of the original we still have Sean Bean playing the father from the first film and we have Alessa obviously grown up and played by another actress (which by looking up the actress who played her in the first film they could have still used her). The premise of this film is that Alessa and her father move from state to state town to town avoiding presence in her dreams calling that seems to draw Alessa (who in the state they are occupying now has changed her name to heather) to a place called silent hill. you know where this goes from here she eventually ends up in silent hill and that is basically where the movie picks up, the only problem I had with this story was the lead up to that point it felt drawn out and unneeded but I guess if they didn't take this route the film would literally be 15-20 minutes long and not a feature film length. The acting was sub par for some reason they chose a cast comprised of mostly Australian/British actors which I do not understand (I guess because they are unknowns and potentially are cheaper to pay) even if that is the case I, there are many moments where you can hear the accents come through and that took away from the overall acting experience for me, Carrie-Ann Moss surprisingly was in this film but she didn't make an impression on me during her screen time (Could be the script could be she saw the job as a paycheck who knows). the CG was of good quality nothing spectacular but it was not horrible either. I do want to mention n that the 3D when used was very good and I have no complaints there. As I mentioned earlier in the review, I Like to see continuity when it comes to the cast and the director of sequels films and this film was a testament to why I prefer that method. there are a lot of moments in the film where randomly the film cuts to a monster then cuts back for no apparent reason. In the first film the director used a much more subtle route rather than just throwing a monster n your face, I much preferred the method in the first film. Rotten Tomatoes gave this film a 7% saying "Featuring weak characters, an incomprehensible plot, and a decided shortage of scares, Silent Hill: Revelation 3D is a mediocre effort even by the standards of video game adaptations". I agree with them this was not a very good film, I want to add that in my opinion if the same director and the same cast was kept that this film would have been much better and this is a type of film that further cements why I prefer continuity with sequels and 3rd or 4th films in a franchise (One last note the main character Rose from the first film does have a minor role in this film which was disappointing, I really liked her role in the first film and wish she had been given more screen time).
Rating
Not very good, only major highlight was 3D usage (which was not used all the time but when it was was used properly). Bad choice for cast picking so many Australian and British actors, if you have time to kill or are a huge fan Silent Hill I would say see it once, if not pass it 6.7/10!!!!(Side note there are scenes during the credits and after the credits).
