Category: Reviews

A cast full of hip hop artistes, cardboard actors and a big budget makes a surprisingly enjoyable movie. Forget the plot holes or terrible clichés, you’re not in it for the story, you’re in it for the ride. Takers tells the story of a group of bank robbers who pull off extremely well-planned, high-profile heists- at least that’s what we’re supposed to think. Hot on their trail is Jack Welles (Matt Dillon), a police officer with problems of his own. Fresh out of jail, one of the group’s ex-members, Ghost (T.I.) proposes to them the job of a lifetime- an armored truck containing $12 million. It’s enough for them to stay out of crime forever, and start their lives anew.

When I first saw the trailer from this movie, I knew what to expect- explosions, car chases, gun fights, alcohol, women, and money. The movie has all that, and some more. Right from the get go, the action is on and lets up only for a few scenes in the movie. If you’re looking for an action movie, Takers will not disappoint you.

Heist movies have been done for a very long time now, and what I attracts me about these movies are the planning stages. Like The Italian Job, Oceans, Inception– the recruitment of the team, their specialized roles, and the master plan. Sadly, Takers has none of that. You don’t know what each member is good for, and their plan is as complicated as a math textbook- for kids in primary school. It’s a no-brainer movie.

One problem about movies with too many main characters is that not enough time is spent developing them, and with a movie where the ‘bad guys’ are the protagonists, you don’t feel any connection to them. The characters are rich and don’t look like they aren’t desperate for money. They’re not on the most wanted list (they pulled off all their jobs so well that nobody knows who they are) and they live comfortably. They lack any emotional aspects that allow the audience to connect with them. The only exception being Gordon (Idris Elba), with a half-assed sub-plot of his sister in rehab.

I think in movies like these, you either develop these sub-plots fully, or you don’t include them at all. It just makes the overall movie much weaker. There’s quite a number of story arcs that are left hanging or just felt like they were thrown in for good measure. Like Jack’s backstory- why is he trying so hard to catch the gang? There’s no explanation. I guess he’s just a diligent cop doing his job. The story about his day out with his daughter and his ex-wife (you don’t even see her in the movie) felt incomplete as well. Jack’s partner, Eddie (Jay Hernandez) also has some issues, again, only mentioned in dialog that felt like a half-court ball thrown during the final buzzer beater- there’s not enough time, let’s just shoot and hope for the best. I also didn’t like how they tied up some loose ends- one scene almost made me laugh out loud.

Those issues aside, Takers isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Most of the cast impressed me with their acting chops, and there weren’t any cringe-worthy moments. The story moves forward fluidly, despite being predictable it is entertaining. Don’t let the trailer fool you, these rap stars can act better than you think (I guess starring in music videos does help) and Matt Dillon hasn’t played a cop role like this since.. Crash. I guess that’s why he was chosen to play the cop. The star of the show was Idris Elba- I mean, who doesn’t like a black guy with an English accent? Exactly. Paul Walker does what he does best, and Hayden was surprisingly bearable- he’s come a long way since his days as Anakin Skywalker (and his fedora look should score him some points with the ladies as well).

Takers won’t be taking the place of your favorite heist movie, or be in the running for any Oscars next year, but it should keep adrenaline junkies happy in the meantime. I rate Takers 6/10.

I was supposed to watch this movie with no expectations because I had not watched the trailer and did not know what to expect beyond the premise of Ryan Reynolds buried alive in a coffin. But when I was putting my name on the list, Grace, organizer of the screening told me that the movie scored 86% on Rotten Tomatoes. I was like, “wow, that is high.” I still didn’t know what to expect though. I sat inside the cinema, and they started playing the trailers. The first trailer was for Buried. I mean come on! I’ve never been to a screening where they played the trailer of that very same movie just before the movie. The trailer had some really big statements, something along the lines of “Plot Twists Hitchcock would be proud of”. From that moment on, my expectations just shot through the roof. I was thinking to myself, “this must be one awesome movie.”

This is one of the most daring movies I’ve seen to date. Honestly, a movie that starts off with about a minute of blackness and just sound takes a lot of guts to pull off. The director managed to use enough different shots and angles to make it look interesting without being repetitive. Ryan Reynolds definitely pulls off his best performance to date (forget Deadpool)- the whole movie is just him in a box for about 1.5 hours. Yes, I kid you not. And it managed to hold my attention all the way to the end. I would compare it to the first half of Wall-E where you just have the robot all alone on the planet. Wall-E bored me to death, Buried did not.

But in the end I think my high expectations for the movie ruined my experience. The movie just left me with so many unanswered questions unsolved.

I can’t really review this movie without any spoilers, so if you haven’t watched the movie, skip the next 3 paragraphs:

Spoiler:
When watching the movie, so many questions ran through my head: Why does he need to turn on the lighter when he has the cellphone light? Why does he get so many items in his backpack? The knife felt like it was put there cos the kidnapper knew that he would have to use it. How can his phone make so many calls? Why did service get cut off sometimes? Why did the terrorist agree to lower his ransom of 5 million to 1 million so quickly? Why would they kidnap a truck driver when there were so many more valuable targets. I mean they could find out about his kid and wife, I’m sure they had the resources to find out he was broke.

Why did he have to write so many numbers down if they were saved on his phone? Why didn’t he try changing the language in the first place? What was the significance of the battery meter? The phone never even runs out of battery. The twist felt very weak to me. It never seemed as if he was going to be rescued at all, so when he didn’t get rescued I wasn’t surprised. Unconvincing voice acting from the voices at the other end of the phone. The part where he asks the lady on the line “how did you know my name?” I thought it was going to be some conspiracy which he was part of. So many red herrings that just left me hanging. They could’ve made the movie so much bigger than it was.

I expected him to be trapped in a box in some sort of lab where they were testing humans ability to survive being buried. Or something more far fetched since the movie seemed like it was headed in that direction. I guess I was looking for something more.
/Spoiler

All in all, the movie wasn’t bad. It wasn’t fantastic either, but it was definitely above average. I really liked the fact that they managed to shoot the movie with just Ryan Reynolds in a box. I don’t think many people could pull that off. Props to the director and Ryan Reynolds for his performance. If you just watch the movie without thinking too much, it should be an enjoyable ride. Just don’t expect too much, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised. I rate Buried 6/10.

After watching the trailer for this movie, I kinda expected a decent chick-flick that shouldn’t be too bad. Considering the decent cast of Kristen Bell, Odette Yustman, Sigourney Weaver and Jamie Lee Curtis. If you are a guy and find women attractive, this movie is worth watching for Odette Yustman alone. Oh my god, I swear, she is a goddess sent to Earth.

You Again tells the story of Marni (Kristen Bell), a girl who was bullied terribly in high school and blossomed into a successful young lady working for a PR firm in another state. When she goes back to her home state for her brother’s wedding, she finds out that he is marrying her worst nightmare- Joanna (Odette Yustman), the girl who bullied her in high school. It turns out that Joanna has completely changed and is no longer the girl she used to be. Marni refuses to believe it and tries her best to expose Joanna’s past to her family. Hilarity ensues when Joanna’s visiting aunt, Ramona (Sigourney Weaver) turns out to be Marni’s mother, Gail’s (Jamie Lee Curtis) nemesis as well.

An interesting story that is downplayed by the immature gags weaved into the plot. Then again, what did you expect from a movie distributed by Disney? There are also parts of the story which felt like unnecessary fillers. It’s all good wholesome fun that isn’t by any means terrible, but fails to take the comedy into places where other movies haven’t gone before. Besides the unexpected cameo by the Rock in the intro, everything else seemed so scripted and forced. And one of the best gags was shown in the trailer- Gail and Ramona showing up to the wedding dinner in the same dress.

Kristen Bell plays Marni well, and is believable as the bullied high school girl (props to the make up/costume team for doing a great job with her looks as well). Odette Yustman, where do I begin? She is drop dead gorgeous. After only catching glimpses of her in Cloverfield, I haven’t had the chance to see her in any other movie until she appeared as Joanna in You Again. Though I didn’t like how Joanna’s role wasn’t clearly defined throughout the movie. After her introduction, in which she appears to be the perfect angel, her role then changed into somewhere in between evil and not-so-evil. I think they could’ve done a better job in that aspect. Gail and Ramona are played well, and provide some pretty good laughs in the show as well.

All in all, You Again will tickle some funny bones, but you won’t find yourself tearing up and gasping for air. There’s definitely something for everyone. A family-oriented, kid-safe comedy that you could bring your parents to. I’d rate You Again 5/10.