Wednesday, January 14, 2015

January 2015!!!!

The first month of the new year brings with it two films to review the first being "Taken 3" Starring Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace and Famke Janssen.




Plot

"Ex-government operative Bryan Mills is accused of a ruthless murder he never committed or witnessed. As he is tracked and pursued, Mills brings out his particular set of skills to find the true killer and clear his name".

My Thoughts

I was a huge fan of Taken, it was awesome to see Liam Neeson in a role like that (and since he has played a lot of actions roles which he does a really good job at. Taken 2 for me was an Okay film nothing special but passable. hen taken 3 was announced I was really excited about making a new film to get the taste of Taken 2 out of my mouth, I was also hesitant, with the original taken idea there is only so much you can really do in terms of story. I will give taken 3 credit it actually made a decent plot for what the "taken" series usually focuses on. The idea of Liam Neeson running around trying to clear his name, with Inspector Franck Dotzler (Played Well by Forest Whitaker) following him ever step of the way waiting for Neeson's character to slip up. The pacing of the film felt to me a little slower than Taken and on par with Taken 2, what I mean by that is the film starts off pretty slow and doesn't really build up till about the 35-40 minute mark, once the film does build though the action is what you would expect from any of the taken films, I will say it was nice to have the film set in the United Stats (LA to e exact) in contrast to the previous two films that where set in Europe. The actin in this film was passable no one did a really great job in the s department, but this isn't a film where you would go in expecting Oscar worthy acting, the acting was passable for what the film was. the action scenes in the film for me where a little underwhelming a lot of the big scenes where kind of cliche to me (car chases, gunfights) what I liked about the taken films was the kind if stealthiness and subtle ness of some of the action sequences in this film that went out the window is was full boar and very visceral once it started going, I guess the director wanted to switch it up a bit this time around which for me wasn't a great choice. I really just am a huge Liam Nesson  in these types of roles and stepping back and taking this movie for what it was, it was a okay film and a decent entry into the series.Rotten Tomaotes gave the film a 11% saying " Hampered by toothless PG-13 action sequences, incoherent direction, and a hackneyed plot, Taken 3 serves as a clear signal that it's well past time to retire this franchise". I agree somewhat with what they said, I do agree that it is time to  hang up t he Taken Series, I don't think the movie was as bad as they make it out to be, it was an okay film and worth a watch, especially if you are a liam Nesson fan and also a fan of the Taken Series.

Rating

Decent film and a nice addition to the taken series, although nothing special and overall I feel that it is time to move on from the "taken" series it is worth a watch 7.1/10!!!.



The next and last film for the month of January is "Project Almaanc" Starring Jonny Weston, Sofia Black-D'Elia anSam Lerner.




Plot

"A group of teens discover secret plans of a time machine, and construct one. However, things start to get out of control".


My Thoughts.

Time travel is one of my favorite concepts to research (With space being my other favorite) when I read about this film I was hooked and knew I would see it as soon as the film came out. I can honestly say I have not seen to many good time travel films, So I was really looking forward to this film to see what direction the filmmakers would go for this film. When I also heard that this film would be a found footage film that really enticed me, this was anew way to do a time travel film (one of my favorite films Cloverfield was a found footage film and generally most found footage films I have seen have been very good). After finally seeing this film disappointment is what comes to mind, The film started off pretty good we get introduced to a group of teens who while trying to make a science project stumble upon blueprints to make a device which turns out to be a time machine. The cast for this film fit the criteria of high school teenagers, the acting by the cast overall was not very good (The whole cast was comprised of basically unknown actors, which is always a hit or miss in this instance to me it was a miss). there just was not much emotion shown by the actors in the scenes that required it and at some points of the film it just was not very convincing, The plot for me was also very weak once the time machine had been built the film really went downhill, I actually enjoyed the first 40-45 minutes of the film it had decent  feel to it and actually helped make a connection with the actors and their characters, once the time machine entered the story what really bothered me was the way the machine as used and the restrictions that where in place I felt really took from the overall aspect of having a time machine, To top it off there was a really long and I felt unnecessary portion of the film that I will say involves a concert that I felt was a hindrance to the overall feel of the film, this part of the film serves as a key portion to the overall story but I really felt it was boring and wished the climax to the film had a more interesting portion. Special effects for the film where nothing spectacular but passable and did a decent job for a film of this caliber. The film was 1 hour and 46 minutes long and honestly baring the climax concert portion the film flowed pretty well and didn't feel long, which for a movie of this type can be the case which thankfully it wasn't here.Rotten Tomatoes had this to say about the film " Project Almanac isn't without wit or originality, but its thin story and irritating found-footage camerawork ultimately make it difficult to recommend.". Overall I really liekd the idea of the film and the idea behingtime travel will always interest me, but this film fell short of what I was hoping would happen, the idea of it being a found footage film was nice touch, but the acting, the plot overall and certain scenes in the film left me wanting mor and getting less.

Rating 

Great Idea, not executed properly 6.8/10!!!!!




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