First thing I thought when I started watching the movie was, wait, isn't that The Rock?

The movie kept going, and all the time I kept on thinking, yeah, it really does look like him, but after a while I came to the conclusion that it wasn't, it couldn't be, he looked different somehow. I don't know what exactly, not as tall, maybe a bit bigger, maybe a bit... older? He's changed a bit, but I guess I should have paid more attention to the introductory credits instead of pondering over the similarities all through the movie, because it certainly was him.

Faster was a pretty gritty movie, a good blend of action and regular dialogue between interesting people. There isn't much real violence, but where there is, it's real, it looks good, it feels just right. The characters are all pretty depressing people, yet the movie isn't as dark as it might have been had they filmed it differently. The story isn't anything new, a story of betrayal and payback, but it works.

There's also a contract killer movie star that kills for a dollar, a quarter per bullet. There's a preacher, there's a good cop, a bad cop, an old man, a family, there's not very many people on the way towards retribution, but the ones that are there are all well picked, they form the story, they bring up values of life and manners, loyalty, perspective, and the movie puts it in pictures that are easy to understand.

I guess I liked this movie because it's simple, and it's well made, all the actors do a good job and the filming is done so that you don't really notice it, it just flows on. There's a car chase, there are a couple of shootouts, a knife fight... there is action. These scenes aren't long, but they're just right, just like they should be. Along with the main character we get to follow a car as well, a Chevrolet Chevelle SS, and the short scene where it spins around and tears up an infinity sign (vertical eight) with its tires on the asphalt is probably my favorite part. It's small elements like this, angles, actions & other events that make the movie what it is.

It's not an amazing movie, with beautiful scenery and gigantic explosions, but still it strikes me now that I'm writing this review that I really have nothing to complain about with it. Whomever made it didn't try to make it something greater than what it was. It's down to earth, it's just right. The actors don't stand out intentionally, they build up their character, they don't get a head start, and it's the same thing with all other elements of the movie. Hope you know what I mean because my try at explaining it sucks. ;)

I'll give it a

 rated 5/5: friggin awesome

Read on...

If we're speaking horror movies, this here is an all-time favorite. Before the movie I never really played any of the games it's based on (I did start up the game the movie was based on and saw through the intro sequence, but then it crashed so that doesn't count) or anything else, I didn't know anything about Silent Hill. I don't know who told me about the movie or if I stumbled upon it somewhere online, maybe I watched the trailer (it was a few years back now), but I'm happy I watched it. It wasn't one of the scariest movies I've seen, but it was eerie in its own way, the whole post-apocalyptic ghost-world (I won't say more than that, might spoil it for you people), the town being forgotten, the bridge into nowhere, the darkness creeping in... all of those things built up an atmosphere no other movie I know has. Read on...

Usually I just type about good movies I've seen recently, so I tried recalling a bad movie I watched, and I thought of Mortal Kombat.

The reason I thought of this specific movie is not only because it sucks, but because I watched it again yesterday. I remember thinking that it was a decent movie the first time I saw it, but strangely I don't remember much of anything from the movie (maybe I'm mixing it together with one of the sequels?), so I watched it again, and eh, hmm, it didn't impress. The movie starts off with Johnny Cage fighting off a few stunt-man, and the scene is terrible, the moves are all slow and clearly timed and lacking any professionalism... but since the scene ends with him saying "This is where you're supposed to fall" to one of the stunt-men who isn't really doing a good job and then walking off the set complaining about how bad the actors are... maybe that's how it's supposed to be.

Yepp, that's what I thought, until I saw the rest of the movie. Almost all of the fights suck. The moves are as basic as they can get and it's clear that only a couple of the actors actually know martial arts (the two Asian ones, duh), yet their talents don't get portrayed very well either. Read on...

Watched this movie a while back, so here are my belated opinions on it, in simple forms.

It starts out good, the movie kicks off with a little intro sequence featuring the main character and a catchy hiphop tune with the movie title commonly used within it. The main character is a classical villain, always wanting to be as bad as possible (though in a nice classical-villain-y way) and the movie starts with someone (other than him) stealing the pyramid. He gets a bit depressed that there are apparently bigger villains than himself, and just then three kids knock on his door selling cookies. He shouts that he isn't home, and a beautiful friendship starts!

Along with the three kids, the arrival of an unexpected nemesis, his army of small yellow funny-looking creatures with goggles & a lot of strange high-tech equipment along with a white-haired professor the movie manages to deliver an amusing story of which the ending I shall not reveal.

It didn't really stun me though. It was well-animated, with a decent soundtrack, decent characters & a decent story... but somehow it just didn't have anything in it that let it surpass this decency level and rise up into the hall of fame for animated movies. Just another good movie, nothing more than that. I can't really relate to the characters, the emotions never get very tense within the movie (even though it looks like they tried)... yeah, it lacks something.

So why am I writing this review? Well, seems like the world thinks higher of the movie than I did. I enjoyed watching it, but it won't get more than a...

 rated 3/5: not bad

Good movie, no more or less.

I saw the movie today, and it was beautiful! For those who don't know, it's an animated movie about owls and a classical clash between good and evil. The two brothers, the hero, the villain, the sidekicks, all that you would expect... not in a bad way though.

After seeing Despicable Me a while back I didn't have too high expectations, but you better believe that the movie surpassed them easily. The animation quality was superb, it felt like you could touch the feathers on the birds, their movements were realistic too, skippy yet agile; only like birds can be. Some of the scenery was amazing, and most scenery looked great, I think that when the main characters are birds a much bigger focus has to be put on the scenery than in a normal movie, or maybe that's just an excuse to spend time rendering all these fantastic views. Throwing in some slow motion with the most beautiful backgrounds is a good move too. Watching the birds fly through an ominous thunderstorm, a forest fire, high above the ocean... woah. It makes me wish I could fly! Actually it makes me just want to go outside and run around... and it makes me really really really look forward to summer.

Anyway, apart from the great scenery the movie did have a good story, one that starts out as a legend and turns into truth along the venture. There are lot of interesting characters popping up along the way and most of them get involved in the story. There aren't many animals in the background that aren't in one way or another involved in the plot and it gives a sense of familiarity with all the characters. Voice acting is good, though the music is mostly unnoticed (could probably be better, good music stands out).

As for the fighting scenes? Not a lot of them, still the suspense stays pretty high throughout the film. It was an enjoyable film, I'd give it a... hmm...

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

Slightly above the average 'good movie', even if you aren't < 15, it's one I'd recommend.

Watched through Black Mask tonight, maybe the fourth time doing so, and it really pumps me up. I feel like I own the world after watching it, and the same thing goes for all movies in the same genre. The same genre you ask? Movies with action, a lot of action, and filmography that manages to move around a lot and speed up things while still retaining clarity, really capturing the flow of the fight, and the fights are intense. IMDBs recommendations are disappointing though. I'm searching for something similar to this and they tell me to watch Spider-man 2 or a James Bond movie. Good movies indeed, but not even close to the same caliber as this one, and they're a completely different style, I think a suggestion such as FightClub, Wanted or Black Mask 2 would be a bit more relevant. Read on...