When you have the name Gabriele Muccino associated with your movie, you have to expect a lot of – and I really mean it when I say it – A LOT OF TEARS. He has that innate capability to build in moments that are poignant and force your lachrymal glands into overtime action. And if you don’t believe me then you have to watch Pursuit of Happyness and Seven Pounds.
But, if you walk into the screen expecting a tear jerker but intense movie like what you have seen Muccino make in the past – you are in for one hell of a shock. Playing for Keeps has only some amounts of background music that shows some semblance of his previous work. If anything, PFK, looks more like Nancy Myers has somehow found her way into Muccino’s mind.
Now don’t get me wrong. I am a huge Nancy Myers fan. But Muccino is expected to get some really intense and gut wrenching scenes into the movie. He is supposed to make you think about stuff. He is supposed to make you debate about right and wrong. Not trail the life of an erstwhile soccer player who is separated from his wife and kid and is now looking at some kind of redemption by trying to get back with them.
George Dryer (Gerard Butler) is our victim of a failed marriage. A famous soccer star in from Scotland in his hey days, his relationship with the love of his life – Stacie (Jessica Biel) – has always been strained thanks to his priorities being slightly warped. It has nothing to do with the fact that Stacie comes from across the Atlantic. However, when the marriage fails, George makes the arduous trip across the Herring Pond to do the right thing – finally.
He tries his hand at sports-casting without success. And after watching his son Lewis’ (Noah Lomax) soccer coach teaching the wrong things, he steps in to be the school soccer coach. Of course, doing that comes with its benefits (read – 3 soccer moms). Denise (Catherine Zeta Jones), Patti (Uma Thurma) & Barb (Judy Greer) are either divorced or cheating on husbands with guess who – George!!! – I thought you would never guess.
By now, you are sure that this is anything but a Muccino movie right? So you will agree with the disappointment that I faced. However, to its credit, it is only the story that is not Muccino. Everything else is. I am also convinced that if there is a serious romance movie that you need a lead actor for then Gerard Butler has to be your man. No one else can get the male emotions of being in love better than Butler. And of course it is an added benefit for you women that he is eye candy. 6 on 10. Decent watch. But wait for the DVD.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3070338073/
Showing posts with label Jessica Biel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jessica Biel. Show all posts
Friday, 7 December 2012
Friday, 10 August 2012
Total Recall (2012)
When was the last time you saw Kate Beckinsale in a negative role? The word you would be looking for maybe “Never”. And I would love to be informed about an instance if it ever happened in the past. Just another piece of useless info that I may find useful sometime . Having said that, even if this is a first of its kind, I strongly believe that she should not stop picking up such roles. In the nearly 2 hours that you will stay in the hall, she is probably the only reason you will have to actually stay in your seat.
Scenes without Beckinsale, pale in comparison to the rest of the movie. Especially because you have 2 of THE most over rated actors in Hollywood hogging a big chunk of the screen time. An Irish man called Colin Farrell and a Latina looking hottie called Jessica Biel. Both of them are fine human specimens and worth ogling at. But unfortunately, that’s where it ends.
Very rarely has Colin Farrell shown signs of being a good actor. Maybe in The Recruit and Phone Booth. Total Recall doesn’t do much to change it. Most scenes are splattered with the registered Trade Mark constipated, weight of the world on my shoulders look. And the lesser said of Ms. Biel, the better – only in the acting department. Actually, in this one she slips to an all time low I think. Unfortunately, with only 3 key characters hogging the screen time, it gets really difficult.
Total Recall (2012) is almost identical to the 1990 movie of the same name which starred the Austrian born, ex-governor of the great state of California (USA). It is based on the book by famed SciFi writer, Philip Dick. The book is titled “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale”. Credit to the makers of this version that they actually call it out as “Based on the movie – Total Recall (1990)”.
While a lot of the paraphernalia and the breaks in the story line have been removed in this version, the overall concept continues to remain the same. Chemical warfare has got the world to almost an end. There are 2 places left to stay in – The United Federation of Britain (UFB) which is erstwhile Europe & The Colony which is esrstwhile Australia. Both are connected by a mode of transportation called “The Fall” which is a high velocity automobile that goes straight through Mother Earth passing the core on the way.
Douglas Quaid (Farrell), a citizen of The Colony, is a man who is bored of his job that doesn’t seem to be making a difference to anyone’s life. In an attempt to add spice to his life, he goes to a local agency called “Rekall” (yes it is with a K and not C) which promises great memories without changing your life in general. Quaid is married to Lori (Beckinsale) and is troubled with some dreams which shows him trying to escape soldiers of the UFB and saving a girl (Biel) whose name he doesn’t know. At Rekall, he signs up for a memory of a “spy” and as they would say – the roller coaster begins.
Total Recall – this version – is again not upto the mark that it could have reached. Len Wiseman is a strong SciFi director and makes up for the lack of intensity with SFX that are quite good. But after all of that, he only had his Underworld star to bank on and doesn’t really come up with a block buster. Not a must watch. 5 on 10.
Watch the trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi297444633/
Scenes without Beckinsale, pale in comparison to the rest of the movie. Especially because you have 2 of THE most over rated actors in Hollywood hogging a big chunk of the screen time. An Irish man called Colin Farrell and a Latina looking hottie called Jessica Biel. Both of them are fine human specimens and worth ogling at. But unfortunately, that’s where it ends.
Very rarely has Colin Farrell shown signs of being a good actor. Maybe in The Recruit and Phone Booth. Total Recall doesn’t do much to change it. Most scenes are splattered with the registered Trade Mark constipated, weight of the world on my shoulders look. And the lesser said of Ms. Biel, the better – only in the acting department. Actually, in this one she slips to an all time low I think. Unfortunately, with only 3 key characters hogging the screen time, it gets really difficult.
Total Recall (2012) is almost identical to the 1990 movie of the same name which starred the Austrian born, ex-governor of the great state of California (USA). It is based on the book by famed SciFi writer, Philip Dick. The book is titled “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale”. Credit to the makers of this version that they actually call it out as “Based on the movie – Total Recall (1990)”.
While a lot of the paraphernalia and the breaks in the story line have been removed in this version, the overall concept continues to remain the same. Chemical warfare has got the world to almost an end. There are 2 places left to stay in – The United Federation of Britain (UFB) which is erstwhile Europe & The Colony which is esrstwhile Australia. Both are connected by a mode of transportation called “The Fall” which is a high velocity automobile that goes straight through Mother Earth passing the core on the way.
Douglas Quaid (Farrell), a citizen of The Colony, is a man who is bored of his job that doesn’t seem to be making a difference to anyone’s life. In an attempt to add spice to his life, he goes to a local agency called “Rekall” (yes it is with a K and not C) which promises great memories without changing your life in general. Quaid is married to Lori (Beckinsale) and is troubled with some dreams which shows him trying to escape soldiers of the UFB and saving a girl (Biel) whose name he doesn’t know. At Rekall, he signs up for a memory of a “spy” and as they would say – the roller coaster begins.
Total Recall – this version – is again not upto the mark that it could have reached. Len Wiseman is a strong SciFi director and makes up for the lack of intensity with SFX that are quite good. But after all of that, he only had his Underworld star to bank on and doesn’t really come up with a block buster. Not a must watch. 5 on 10.
Watch the trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi297444633/
Sunday, 26 February 2012
Cellular
The concept is one that is really hard to believe. But as you watch the movie, you get a bit carried away with the continuous thrill and the well directed chase sequences that pepper the entire movie. Cellular is an average thrillers which the boys will lap up like fodder and the girls may or may not be too excited about. It is an edge of the seat drama in almost the truest sense of the word. But mind you all of this doesn’t mean that it is a well made movie. The action sequences over power the plethora of errors that are all over the movie.
Jessica Martin (Kim Bassinger) is your average everyday mother who is extremely concerned about the well being of her only son Ricky Martin (Adam Taylor Gordon) – yes her son’s name is actually Ricky Martin (ROTFL). Anyways, she is a teacher at the local school but in secondary school. Her son’s concerns are oriented around how his mother will be in the same class as he will be in the next year. All of that is soon to pale in comparison when unidentified gun men (and a gun woman) barge into her house and kidnap Jessica.
Although they smash the phone in the cellar where she is held, our heroine manages to get some wires together and inadvertently connect to Ryan (Chris Evans) a good looking but not good for much bloke. Ryan takes a little bit of convincing but decides to focus on getting Jessica freed from the clutches of her kidnappers. Hard to believe that there would be someone like that in today’s day and world no? Guess it wasn’t the case in 2004. Where most of us would have hung up the cell phone especially when we are running a girl friend’s errand, Ryan believe in some social service. But that’s what gets us most of the excitement I guess and therefore warranted.
Cellular cannot be held up there for performances of any kind despite Basinger’s pouting and crying repeatedly over the phone. There is not much of a cast anyways to be held accountable for acting. Even Jason Statham is an action hero and not an acting hero but it is definitely interesting to see him in a negative role. The only person one can expect something from could be William H Macy who is as focused and solid with his execution as always. Someone who can always be depended upon.
Overall, Cellular is quite an enjoyable but brainless action movie. There is enough to keep people interested for an hour and a half. Definitely worth watching when it plays on Television. 6 on 10.
Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2-wO0kG8as
Jessica Martin (Kim Bassinger) is your average everyday mother who is extremely concerned about the well being of her only son Ricky Martin (Adam Taylor Gordon) – yes her son’s name is actually Ricky Martin (ROTFL). Anyways, she is a teacher at the local school but in secondary school. Her son’s concerns are oriented around how his mother will be in the same class as he will be in the next year. All of that is soon to pale in comparison when unidentified gun men (and a gun woman) barge into her house and kidnap Jessica.
Although they smash the phone in the cellar where she is held, our heroine manages to get some wires together and inadvertently connect to Ryan (Chris Evans) a good looking but not good for much bloke. Ryan takes a little bit of convincing but decides to focus on getting Jessica freed from the clutches of her kidnappers. Hard to believe that there would be someone like that in today’s day and world no? Guess it wasn’t the case in 2004. Where most of us would have hung up the cell phone especially when we are running a girl friend’s errand, Ryan believe in some social service. But that’s what gets us most of the excitement I guess and therefore warranted.
Cellular cannot be held up there for performances of any kind despite Basinger’s pouting and crying repeatedly over the phone. There is not much of a cast anyways to be held accountable for acting. Even Jason Statham is an action hero and not an acting hero but it is definitely interesting to see him in a negative role. The only person one can expect something from could be William H Macy who is as focused and solid with his execution as always. Someone who can always be depended upon.
Overall, Cellular is quite an enjoyable but brainless action movie. There is enough to keep people interested for an hour and a half. Definitely worth watching when it plays on Television. 6 on 10.
Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2-wO0kG8as
Monday, 9 January 2012
Next
Lee Tamahori gave us one of the best movies last year (2011). It was called Devil’s Double. And it wasn’t a great movie just because of a great performance from Dominic Cooper. Mind you, Tamahori has given us equally good movies such as Die Another Day – now purists may argue that it’s a Bond movie and doesn’t take much – yadda yadda yadda I say… duh. It was a well made Bond movie. And then there was this serial killer movie called Along came a Spider starring Morgan Freeman. So pray tell me what is he doing with my favourite (notice the sarcasm) actor and an equally constipated feminine version of him called Julianne Moore. The saving grace in the star cast is the stunning (notice the drool) Jessica Biel. There is actually no one else who seems to have a role in this excuse of a science fiction action thriller of sorts which doesn’t quite do justice to Tamahori’s direction skills. To put it in a different way, it probably was Tamahori’s most challenging assignment to date. It is so not the kind of movie that he is cut out to direct. Consequently – he failed oh so badly at it.
The funda is that the protagonist – Cris Johnson (Nicolas Cage) can see about 3 minutes into the future. A gift that can have a lot of advantages. I could fill the next 10 pages about what I would do with something like this. Cris does use it to his advantage for certain by doing simple magic tricks at a local circus of sorts. But he finds out soon enough that, hot on his heels, are the FBI or secret service or whatever you want to call it led by a lady, Callie Ferris (Julianne Moore) who believes that Cris is the solution to all problems including the one that involves finding a nuclear war head that has been stolen by some really bad men. In between all of this, Cris bumps into the love of his life Liz (Jessica Biel – the only tolerable part of this otherwise quite sad movie) and suddenly he can see like 60 times more into the future – for those who do not know math we mean 3 hours into the future. If you like the story so far then please go ahead and watch Next.
Personally I thought the story was average at best. Most of you know that I have no love lost for Francis Ford Coppola’s nephew who I believe is one of the most over rated actors of our time who somehow manages to get some great movies down his path. He typically makes the most of it but this time around his constipation gets the better of him. There is not too much really to look forward to in the movie but it is just that it is finished well enough for me to still give it a 5 on 10. I would give it lesser because honestly, my sleep did get the better of me a couple of times during the movie but then there are many Nicholas Cage fans… oops sorry to add the “h” which doesn’t seem to have made any difference to the performance. Watch at your own risk.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1083769113/
The funda is that the protagonist – Cris Johnson (Nicolas Cage) can see about 3 minutes into the future. A gift that can have a lot of advantages. I could fill the next 10 pages about what I would do with something like this. Cris does use it to his advantage for certain by doing simple magic tricks at a local circus of sorts. But he finds out soon enough that, hot on his heels, are the FBI or secret service or whatever you want to call it led by a lady, Callie Ferris (Julianne Moore) who believes that Cris is the solution to all problems including the one that involves finding a nuclear war head that has been stolen by some really bad men. In between all of this, Cris bumps into the love of his life Liz (Jessica Biel – the only tolerable part of this otherwise quite sad movie) and suddenly he can see like 60 times more into the future – for those who do not know math we mean 3 hours into the future. If you like the story so far then please go ahead and watch Next.
Personally I thought the story was average at best. Most of you know that I have no love lost for Francis Ford Coppola’s nephew who I believe is one of the most over rated actors of our time who somehow manages to get some great movies down his path. He typically makes the most of it but this time around his constipation gets the better of him. There is not too much really to look forward to in the movie but it is just that it is finished well enough for me to still give it a 5 on 10. I would give it lesser because honestly, my sleep did get the better of me a couple of times during the movie but then there are many Nicholas Cage fans… oops sorry to add the “h” which doesn’t seem to have made any difference to the performance. Watch at your own risk.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1083769113/
Tuesday, 20 July 2010
Valentines Day
Here’s one of those extremely feel good romantic comedies. An out and out chick flick. Minor tear jerker. But what it does give you is a slightly different perspective. The idea of course being what happens on Valentines Day. But with a slight twist. What happens when u get dumped or find out that the love of your life has cheated on you or that the love of your life is actually old enough to be your mother or you have no clue why you are in love with the person but you still are or you realize that your current boyfriend is married with 2 kids or you meet the one meant for you doing something that you really don’t want to be doing…. 6 such stories intertwined form the basic premise of Valentines Day.
Now I am a self confessed romantic and missed out on the movie when it released about 6 months back. But got myself the DVD anyways as soon as it released a couple of weeks back.
The story begins with Reed Bennett (Ashton Kutcher) who in typical V Day style starts off his day by proposing to Morley Clarkson (Jessica Alba) who says yes. Reed is a florist who has his own reasonable size hand me down business from his granddad and is one of the few people in the world who is always happy. Obviously Morley says yes but much to the surprise of most people who know Reed for reasons best known to them. It is very typical of most of your friends who don’t tell you in as many words that the woman who u think is the one is probably not actually THE ONE.
Reed's best friend is Julia Fitzpatrick (Jennifer Garner) who is currently dating Dr. Harrison Copeland (Patrick Dempsey). Julia’s close friend is Kara (Jessica Biel) who is a PR specialist for NFL player Sean Jackson (Eric Dane) and is having a tough time deciding whether to continue with his career or not. Kara does not believe in V Day and spends it each time throwing a “I Hate Valentines Day” party. Julia also teaches at a school where Edison (Bryce Robinson) is a primary school student. Edison stays with his grandparents Edgar (Hector Elizondo) and Estelle (Shirley MacLaine) who spend V Day every year by watching a movie @ a Cemetery which is actually top draw on V Day. Edison’s baby sitter Grace (Emma Roberts) believes she has found her THE ONE and is planning to lose her virginity on the same day to Alex (Carter Jenkins). Grace’s best friend is Felicia (Taylor Swift) an 18 year old bimbette who is totally in love with the school’s star athlete Willy (Taylor Lautner) for purely superficial reasons.
Sean’s agent is Paula Thomas (Queen Latifah) who portrays herself as a self confessed class A bitch of a boss. But her stand in secretary Liz (Anne Hathaway) finds out that beneath that tough exterior is actually a soft person. Liz moonlights as an Adult “Remote Entertainer” (Phone Sex operator ) and has recently met Jason (Topher Grace – Christopher for short… gah!!!!) who is a mail delivery man in Kara’s office.
Kara’s business associate is another self confessed “player” Kelvin Moore(Jamie Foxx) who is the 2nd best correspondent of the local sports station and avoids doing the rounds on V Day coz he is secretly waiting for THE ONE (yet again).
Lastly, Sean’s best friend Holden (Bradley Cooper) is a stinking rich man who is on a flight back home and is seated next to Capt. Kate Hazeltine (Julia Roberts)
Phew… I believe I have managed to successfully cover all characters in the movie for sure. No point in explaining what happens in this melee of relationships. Its upto you to find out. If u are not the rom com kinds then avoid this like the plague. If you are then u will definitely like to see this once. Can watch on the tube whenever a movie channel decides to play it. No need to really own it despite the fact that Garry Marshall has directed it. Not really up with his best movies like Pretty Woman, Frankie and Johnny, The Other Sister, Raising Helen etc. Garry Marshall is a specialist in Rom Coms for sure but this one is not his stand out performance by far. Long way to go to catch up with the likes of Nancy Meyers who gives us amazing rom coms every single time.
The casting, however, is probably perfect. The likes of Kathy Bates who is the only person not shown as romantically inclined (Kelvin’s boss) have a screen time of less than 2 mins and leaves a powerful impact. What has helped Marshall is that each actor is on her/his own quite wonderful and therefore gives their best.
Good movie to get your valentine to see. Especially if you would like to get brownie points. But overall 5 on 10 for this one.
Now I am a self confessed romantic and missed out on the movie when it released about 6 months back. But got myself the DVD anyways as soon as it released a couple of weeks back.
The story begins with Reed Bennett (Ashton Kutcher) who in typical V Day style starts off his day by proposing to Morley Clarkson (Jessica Alba) who says yes. Reed is a florist who has his own reasonable size hand me down business from his granddad and is one of the few people in the world who is always happy. Obviously Morley says yes but much to the surprise of most people who know Reed for reasons best known to them. It is very typical of most of your friends who don’t tell you in as many words that the woman who u think is the one is probably not actually THE ONE.
Reed's best friend is Julia Fitzpatrick (Jennifer Garner) who is currently dating Dr. Harrison Copeland (Patrick Dempsey). Julia’s close friend is Kara (Jessica Biel) who is a PR specialist for NFL player Sean Jackson (Eric Dane) and is having a tough time deciding whether to continue with his career or not. Kara does not believe in V Day and spends it each time throwing a “I Hate Valentines Day” party. Julia also teaches at a school where Edison (Bryce Robinson) is a primary school student. Edison stays with his grandparents Edgar (Hector Elizondo) and Estelle (Shirley MacLaine) who spend V Day every year by watching a movie @ a Cemetery which is actually top draw on V Day. Edison’s baby sitter Grace (Emma Roberts) believes she has found her THE ONE and is planning to lose her virginity on the same day to Alex (Carter Jenkins). Grace’s best friend is Felicia (Taylor Swift) an 18 year old bimbette who is totally in love with the school’s star athlete Willy (Taylor Lautner) for purely superficial reasons.
Sean’s agent is Paula Thomas (Queen Latifah) who portrays herself as a self confessed class A bitch of a boss. But her stand in secretary Liz (Anne Hathaway) finds out that beneath that tough exterior is actually a soft person. Liz moonlights as an Adult “Remote Entertainer” (Phone Sex operator ) and has recently met Jason (Topher Grace – Christopher for short… gah!!!!) who is a mail delivery man in Kara’s office.
Kara’s business associate is another self confessed “player” Kelvin Moore(Jamie Foxx) who is the 2nd best correspondent of the local sports station and avoids doing the rounds on V Day coz he is secretly waiting for THE ONE (yet again).
Lastly, Sean’s best friend Holden (Bradley Cooper) is a stinking rich man who is on a flight back home and is seated next to Capt. Kate Hazeltine (Julia Roberts)
Phew… I believe I have managed to successfully cover all characters in the movie for sure. No point in explaining what happens in this melee of relationships. Its upto you to find out. If u are not the rom com kinds then avoid this like the plague. If you are then u will definitely like to see this once. Can watch on the tube whenever a movie channel decides to play it. No need to really own it despite the fact that Garry Marshall has directed it. Not really up with his best movies like Pretty Woman, Frankie and Johnny, The Other Sister, Raising Helen etc. Garry Marshall is a specialist in Rom Coms for sure but this one is not his stand out performance by far. Long way to go to catch up with the likes of Nancy Meyers who gives us amazing rom coms every single time.
The casting, however, is probably perfect. The likes of Kathy Bates who is the only person not shown as romantically inclined (Kelvin’s boss) have a screen time of less than 2 mins and leaves a powerful impact. What has helped Marshall is that each actor is on her/his own quite wonderful and therefore gives their best.
Good movie to get your valentine to see. Especially if you would like to get brownie points. But overall 5 on 10 for this one.
A Team
In the early 80s Stephen J Cannell and Frank Lupo came together and created an action adventure was then made into a TV Series. It featured 4 Vietnam Veterans framed for a crime they did not commit and who help people when on the run from the Army. Well the TV series completed nearly 100 episodes. Joe Carnahan’s silver screen version is either a prequel to the TV series or probably the first few episodes.
Col. John “Hannibal” Smith (Liam Neeson) leads a team of 4 on high risk missions that the army is otherwise not too thrilled to take up. The A Team as they are called include Lt. Templeton “Faceman” Peck (Bradley Cooper) who is one heck of a handsome womanizer. The number of women I have heard swooning on him is unimaginable. I have always found him to be despicable. But then my opinion is influenced by the fact that most characters he has played before this are not stuff that one can look up to. However, my opinion counts for little since the women still seem to be obsessed with the guy.
Next in line is “Howling Mad” Murdock (Sharlto Copley), a nutty doc who can also fly almost anything. Rounding up the A Team is Bosco B.A. Barcus (Quinton “Rampage” Jackson) whose first love is his GMC Vandura Van – one mean looking all terrain vehicle.
The A Team is contacted by a CIA agent who goes with the name of Lynch and reveals that a billion dollars of counterfeit cash is being moved out of Baghdad very soon. He also informs them that the insurgents in possession of the cash also have the treasury plates that are used to manufacture the currency. The mission – Steal the cash and the templates and return them back to the government. Somewhere here is when Agent Charissa Sosa (The oh so hot Jessica Biel), also a CIA agent comes in. Being Peck’s ex-girlfriend or the one that got away, she does not have too much of respect for Peck or the team. She however, gets in touch with Peck to warn him and the A Team to stay away from the plates. Much against the Commanding Officer, General Morrisson’s (Gerald McRaney) wishes, Hannibal accepts the assignment, recovers the plates and the money only to be blown away by the ruthless Brock Pike (Brian Bloom) who works as part of a security team called Black Forest.
As they see their efforts being blown to smithreens, they also realize that the only person who could have vouched for them, Morrisson, has also been pretty much disintegrated. The army, for obvious reasons find them guilty of treason and puts them all into prison for a period of 10 years.
Six months later, Lynch visits Hannibal once again and informs him that the plates are being sold by Pike to an Arab of whom the CIA know nothing of. With Lynch’s support, Hannibal escapes from prison and in due course gets his team out of their respective hell holes in quick time. The only way they can redeem themselves is of course by getting back the plates. Do they manage to get them? Watch it to find out.
Liam Neeson, as always turns in a super performance as Hannibal. I for one am pleasantly surprised at his ease of transformation to action oriented roles. First Taken and now A Team. The rest of the team Brad Cooper, Copley and Jackson are very good in their respective roles. Jessica Biel, although extremely hot, is more like good looking furniture. She does not have much of a role to write home about.
Joe Carnahan never really had any great movies before this one unless you count Smokin Aces which is the only one I have heard about. Not sure how it was either. However, A Team would make me want to at least have a dekko. The movie is very slickly made with good effects where required. Unlike K&D, this one does not have any blue screens that look like blue screens.
The A Team completely fulfils the dearth of man movies in the recent past. Non Stop slickly done action which includes all kinds of stuff like crashing planes, blowing buildings and most of all flying off a plane in a tank!!!!! All ye men out there… WATCH IT… clearly 6 on 10!!!!!
Col. John “Hannibal” Smith (Liam Neeson) leads a team of 4 on high risk missions that the army is otherwise not too thrilled to take up. The A Team as they are called include Lt. Templeton “Faceman” Peck (Bradley Cooper) who is one heck of a handsome womanizer. The number of women I have heard swooning on him is unimaginable. I have always found him to be despicable. But then my opinion is influenced by the fact that most characters he has played before this are not stuff that one can look up to. However, my opinion counts for little since the women still seem to be obsessed with the guy.
Next in line is “Howling Mad” Murdock (Sharlto Copley), a nutty doc who can also fly almost anything. Rounding up the A Team is Bosco B.A. Barcus (Quinton “Rampage” Jackson) whose first love is his GMC Vandura Van – one mean looking all terrain vehicle.
The A Team is contacted by a CIA agent who goes with the name of Lynch and reveals that a billion dollars of counterfeit cash is being moved out of Baghdad very soon. He also informs them that the insurgents in possession of the cash also have the treasury plates that are used to manufacture the currency. The mission – Steal the cash and the templates and return them back to the government. Somewhere here is when Agent Charissa Sosa (The oh so hot Jessica Biel), also a CIA agent comes in. Being Peck’s ex-girlfriend or the one that got away, she does not have too much of respect for Peck or the team. She however, gets in touch with Peck to warn him and the A Team to stay away from the plates. Much against the Commanding Officer, General Morrisson’s (Gerald McRaney) wishes, Hannibal accepts the assignment, recovers the plates and the money only to be blown away by the ruthless Brock Pike (Brian Bloom) who works as part of a security team called Black Forest.
As they see their efforts being blown to smithreens, they also realize that the only person who could have vouched for them, Morrisson, has also been pretty much disintegrated. The army, for obvious reasons find them guilty of treason and puts them all into prison for a period of 10 years.
Six months later, Lynch visits Hannibal once again and informs him that the plates are being sold by Pike to an Arab of whom the CIA know nothing of. With Lynch’s support, Hannibal escapes from prison and in due course gets his team out of their respective hell holes in quick time. The only way they can redeem themselves is of course by getting back the plates. Do they manage to get them? Watch it to find out.
Liam Neeson, as always turns in a super performance as Hannibal. I for one am pleasantly surprised at his ease of transformation to action oriented roles. First Taken and now A Team. The rest of the team Brad Cooper, Copley and Jackson are very good in their respective roles. Jessica Biel, although extremely hot, is more like good looking furniture. She does not have much of a role to write home about.
Joe Carnahan never really had any great movies before this one unless you count Smokin Aces which is the only one I have heard about. Not sure how it was either. However, A Team would make me want to at least have a dekko. The movie is very slickly made with good effects where required. Unlike K&D, this one does not have any blue screens that look like blue screens.
The A Team completely fulfils the dearth of man movies in the recent past. Non Stop slickly done action which includes all kinds of stuff like crashing planes, blowing buildings and most of all flying off a plane in a tank!!!!! All ye men out there… WATCH IT… clearly 6 on 10!!!!!
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