Plot Summary - Action adventure tale, set in post-WW2 times, following a couple of adventurers, the O'Connells (Brendan Fraser and Maria Bello) on their latest Mummy caper. Acting as couriers, they carry the "Eye of Shangri-La" (this huge diamond thing) to Shanghai, China, and encounter their twentyish son Alex there, a young explorer who has skipped out on college and following in mum and dad's footsteps, has discovered the tomb and sarcophagus of an emperor of ancient China. This emperor (Jet Li) was originally cursed by a beautiful "witch" who he sought to give him the secret to immortality, and now some bad guys want to awaken the emperor and put him back in power, 2,000 years later. Well, soon enough the emperor's mummy is on the loose, wreaking havoc on the streets of Shanghai. And he's not exactly a normal guy - the curse left him basically melting and burning over and over again, he has super powers, and he can also morph into various creatures, such as a three-headed dragon. Our group heads to the Himalayas to find Shangri-La, and the emperor is heading there too, with the "Eye of Shangri-La" to make himself immortal (the thing he always dreamed of, ya know). A big battle between the emperor's "terracotta" army and an army of skeletons rounds things out.
Review - Okay, here's some of the stuff you'll see here - abominable snowman creatures, a rip-roaring avalanche, a fire ball throwing emperor, a sea of flying arrows, all sorts of battles with our heroes facing ridiculous amounts of danger and death at every turn, yet coming out with nary a scrape (well, almost), you even see the famous Shangri-La itself. Far-fetched? Definitely, but it could have been fun - yet I found myself somewhat bored watching this film - too much non-stop action, too little story. This film struck me as a sort of b-list version of the Indiana Jones films - similar in style, but not as good. The special effects, are, as usual in films made lately, extremely well done - perhaps more effort on the plotline, less on the effects would have helped?! Father and son look more like brothers, by the way - young looking Brendan Fraser, as dad. Rating - 6/10 stars
Showing posts with label Adventure movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adventure movies. Show all posts
Monday, December 22, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) Film Review
Watched this last night on Turner Classic Movies channel.
Plot Summary - Classic tale, based on a true story, of the HMS Bounty, helmed by perhaps the cruelest, hard-hearted captain ever to sail the sea, Captain Bligh (Charles Laughton), on a late 18th century voyage from England to Tahiti to pick up breadfruit trees. Men are shanghaied from taverns for the two-year voyage, others choose sailing over jail, then there's the handsome first mate, Fletcher Christian (Clark Gable), and midshipman Byam (Franchot Tone), a young officer and gentleman on his first voyage. Watch out for Bligh - the slightest wrong word or look and a man will be keelhauled, or made to go up top of the ship to the crow's nest in a huge storm - or given a hundred lashes even after death. Bligh accuses men of stealing bananas even after it's noted they were brought to his house, he later accuses Mr. Christian of stealing coconuts. The men are under-fed and brutalized and finally Mr. Christian and most of the other men (or "rabble" as Bligh calls them) finally get fed up and start a mutiny, taking over the ship and putting Bligh out on an open boat along with his few loyal men to find their way on the sea, or die trying.
Review - This one is amongst my favorite films from the thirties, I've seen it many times. Charles Laughton gives a mesmerizing performance in this, one of the great character portrayals in the history of film - every time he's on screen it's hard to look at anything else, he owns every scene. But, I was noticing how great Clark Gable is in this too, very powerful as Mr. Christian. Of course, my personal favorite thirties heartthrob, Franchot Tone, is wonderful and cute to boot here. Okay, I do seem to enjoy a good tale at sea, especially when there's a wicked captain you love to hate. And this film includes plenty of eye candy of the male variety, for those interested - Clark Gable and Franchot Tone spend quite a few minutes in this film roaming about shirtless. While in Tahiti the two of them meet two extremely beautiful, sweet-natured young island gals who romp about in sarongs and speak no English, but fall for our fellows anyway - and the men are, obviously, smitten immediately. This is a film not to be missed. Rating - 10/10 stars
Plot Summary - Classic tale, based on a true story, of the HMS Bounty, helmed by perhaps the cruelest, hard-hearted captain ever to sail the sea, Captain Bligh (Charles Laughton), on a late 18th century voyage from England to Tahiti to pick up breadfruit trees. Men are shanghaied from taverns for the two-year voyage, others choose sailing over jail, then there's the handsome first mate, Fletcher Christian (Clark Gable), and midshipman Byam (Franchot Tone), a young officer and gentleman on his first voyage. Watch out for Bligh - the slightest wrong word or look and a man will be keelhauled, or made to go up top of the ship to the crow's nest in a huge storm - or given a hundred lashes even after death. Bligh accuses men of stealing bananas even after it's noted they were brought to his house, he later accuses Mr. Christian of stealing coconuts. The men are under-fed and brutalized and finally Mr. Christian and most of the other men (or "rabble" as Bligh calls them) finally get fed up and start a mutiny, taking over the ship and putting Bligh out on an open boat along with his few loyal men to find their way on the sea, or die trying.
Review - This one is amongst my favorite films from the thirties, I've seen it many times. Charles Laughton gives a mesmerizing performance in this, one of the great character portrayals in the history of film - every time he's on screen it's hard to look at anything else, he owns every scene. But, I was noticing how great Clark Gable is in this too, very powerful as Mr. Christian. Of course, my personal favorite thirties heartthrob, Franchot Tone, is wonderful and cute to boot here. Okay, I do seem to enjoy a good tale at sea, especially when there's a wicked captain you love to hate. And this film includes plenty of eye candy of the male variety, for those interested - Clark Gable and Franchot Tone spend quite a few minutes in this film roaming about shirtless. While in Tahiti the two of them meet two extremely beautiful, sweet-natured young island gals who romp about in sarongs and speak no English, but fall for our fellows anyway - and the men are, obviously, smitten immediately. This is a film not to be missed. Rating - 10/10 stars
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Transsiberian (2008) Film Review
Watched this one on Tuesday afternoon.
Plot Summary - Thriller set aboard the Trans-Siberian railway travelling from Beijing, China to Moscow, Russia where Jessie and Roy (Emily Mortimer and Woody Harrelson), an American couple who have just been on missionary work in China, befriend the rather mysterious young couple who are sharing the same small sleeping compartment as them, Carlos and Abby. Jesse, an amateur photographer, has some flirtations with Carlos, he's a handsome Spaniard and Lothario of a sort. POSSIBLE SPOILER AHEAD: But something seems not quite right about this couple, and as it is, Carlos is a mule, secretly carrying heroine to Moscow. Murder, a Russian police officer (Ben Kingsley) onboard in pursuit of drug traffickers, and some fast-paced train-board action to follow.
Review - This film is very atmospheric with it's Russian snow-covered locations, exotic train passengers singing and drinking Russian vodkas, and hot, uncomfortable train with narrow passageways and surly train workers - I enjoyed the escape into this interesting, exotic locale and found the film to be quite entertaining and suspenseful (okay, I do love films set in Russia - like fave "Doctor Zhivago"). Most of the action takes place inside the moving train, I always seem to find films set on trains to be interesting! I quite enjoyed this one. Rating - 8 to 9/10 stars
Plot Summary - Thriller set aboard the Trans-Siberian railway travelling from Beijing, China to Moscow, Russia where Jessie and Roy (Emily Mortimer and Woody Harrelson), an American couple who have just been on missionary work in China, befriend the rather mysterious young couple who are sharing the same small sleeping compartment as them, Carlos and Abby. Jesse, an amateur photographer, has some flirtations with Carlos, he's a handsome Spaniard and Lothario of a sort. POSSIBLE SPOILER AHEAD: But something seems not quite right about this couple, and as it is, Carlos is a mule, secretly carrying heroine to Moscow. Murder, a Russian police officer (Ben Kingsley) onboard in pursuit of drug traffickers, and some fast-paced train-board action to follow.
Review - This film is very atmospheric with it's Russian snow-covered locations, exotic train passengers singing and drinking Russian vodkas, and hot, uncomfortable train with narrow passageways and surly train workers - I enjoyed the escape into this interesting, exotic locale and found the film to be quite entertaining and suspenseful (okay, I do love films set in Russia - like fave "Doctor Zhivago"). Most of the action takes place inside the moving train, I always seem to find films set on trains to be interesting! I quite enjoyed this one. Rating - 8 to 9/10 stars
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) Film Review
Watched this one on Thursday.
Plot Summary - Action-packed sci-fi adventure in which a professor (Brendan Fraser) and his thirteen-year old nephew (Josh Hutcherson) end up in Iceland where they bond on the ultimate get-to-know-you adventure - a literal trip to the center of the earth! While nephew is staying with uncle for 10 days after something like seven years apart, a trip to Iceland finds them hooked up with a beautiful blonde mountain guide named "Hannah" who takes them up into the mountains where they end up falling through a volcano portal into an old, abandoned mine. Soon they've found emeralds and diamonds - oh happy days - but unfortunately, the floor breaks through and they end up on a zoom-paced fall miles and miles to the center of the earth and into a fantastical world full of waterfalls, glowing blue birds, and fossilized giant mushrooms - plus some bad stuff too, like huge carnivorous plants, sea monsters, and angry dinosaurs. Worst of all - there is seismic activity causing the temperature to gradually rise, and they realize they have less than 48 hours to get themselves back to the earth's surface or die when the center of the earth turns into a 200 degree oven.
Review - This is a fun film - very, very light fare, but entertaining and real fast-paced. Some scenes I liked - the fast "roller-coaster" mine car ride they go on while trying to find a way out of the mine, and also the *long* drop through the tunnel down to the center of the earth is interesting to watch. Nephew almost gets eaten by a very fierce-jawed, drooling dinosaur in a later scene - but, in the way of all filmland, you can usually figure that no main character will probably come to harm, though some of the things these three live through is pretty darn amazing. Interesting special feature on the DVD talking about the history of hollow earth theory and "scientists" who have thought there was really another world inside the earth! Rating - 7/10 stars
Plot Summary - Action-packed sci-fi adventure in which a professor (Brendan Fraser) and his thirteen-year old nephew (Josh Hutcherson) end up in Iceland where they bond on the ultimate get-to-know-you adventure - a literal trip to the center of the earth! While nephew is staying with uncle for 10 days after something like seven years apart, a trip to Iceland finds them hooked up with a beautiful blonde mountain guide named "Hannah" who takes them up into the mountains where they end up falling through a volcano portal into an old, abandoned mine. Soon they've found emeralds and diamonds - oh happy days - but unfortunately, the floor breaks through and they end up on a zoom-paced fall miles and miles to the center of the earth and into a fantastical world full of waterfalls, glowing blue birds, and fossilized giant mushrooms - plus some bad stuff too, like huge carnivorous plants, sea monsters, and angry dinosaurs. Worst of all - there is seismic activity causing the temperature to gradually rise, and they realize they have less than 48 hours to get themselves back to the earth's surface or die when the center of the earth turns into a 200 degree oven.
Review - This is a fun film - very, very light fare, but entertaining and real fast-paced. Some scenes I liked - the fast "roller-coaster" mine car ride they go on while trying to find a way out of the mine, and also the *long* drop through the tunnel down to the center of the earth is interesting to watch. Nephew almost gets eaten by a very fierce-jawed, drooling dinosaur in a later scene - but, in the way of all filmland, you can usually figure that no main character will probably come to harm, though some of the things these three live through is pretty darn amazing. Interesting special feature on the DVD talking about the history of hollow earth theory and "scientists" who have thought there was really another world inside the earth! Rating - 7/10 stars
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) Film Review
Watched this a few days ago - Friday afternoon.
Plot Summary - Action packed adventure tale set in 1957 that brings Harrison Ford back in the role of Indiana Jones, apparently fearless archaeologist/professor who gets into a new adventure when approached by twentyish Mutt, Marlon Brando wannabee who can't be parted from his black leather jacket, his switch blade, and especially his comb - which he uses to constantly keep his thick head of hair in place. Seems Oxley (John Hurt), an archaeologist and old friend of Indy's, is in trouble for his life - and so is Mutt's mom. All in the name of a crystal skull that must be returned to a mythical lost "city of gold" somewhere in the Amazon. Soon Indiana Jones and new sidekick Mutt are in Peru and into a romping tale full of cemeteries, scorpions, skeletons, cobwebs, aliens, crystal skulls, an army of giant red ants, and some evil KGB villains after the crystal skull - especially one, Russian beauty/spy (Cate Blanchett) who is interested in acquiring a mind weapon for psychic warfare. I know, I know - this all sounds pretty out there, but it's all part of the fun.
Review - Okay, this is light, silly fare - but fast-paced and fun to watch. It's not the greatest movie ever made, but it did keep me entertained and amused for two hours. Well done special effects and non-stop action keeps this film alive. The big chase scene near the end is quite good - edge-of-your-seat sort of stuff - with Mutt sword fighting against the KGB gal while each is on top of their own side's speeding vehicle, then the cars end up at the edge of this steep cliff, and Mutt ends up in the trees where he seems to befriend a pack of vine-swinging monkeys. Um - okay, you must pretty much suspend disbelief over the way these characters go over cliffs and waterfalls and falls up or down stone towers and the like without any harm, while the bad guys seem to get it right and left - oh well. Karen Allen returns in her old part here - Harrison Ford is still using that bullwhip. The film has a real nice orchestral score, done by composer John Williams, which includes the familiar "Raiders of the Lost Ark" theme music. Rating - 8/10 stars
Plot Summary - Action packed adventure tale set in 1957 that brings Harrison Ford back in the role of Indiana Jones, apparently fearless archaeologist/professor who gets into a new adventure when approached by twentyish Mutt, Marlon Brando wannabee who can't be parted from his black leather jacket, his switch blade, and especially his comb - which he uses to constantly keep his thick head of hair in place. Seems Oxley (John Hurt), an archaeologist and old friend of Indy's, is in trouble for his life - and so is Mutt's mom. All in the name of a crystal skull that must be returned to a mythical lost "city of gold" somewhere in the Amazon. Soon Indiana Jones and new sidekick Mutt are in Peru and into a romping tale full of cemeteries, scorpions, skeletons, cobwebs, aliens, crystal skulls, an army of giant red ants, and some evil KGB villains after the crystal skull - especially one, Russian beauty/spy (Cate Blanchett) who is interested in acquiring a mind weapon for psychic warfare. I know, I know - this all sounds pretty out there, but it's all part of the fun.
Review - Okay, this is light, silly fare - but fast-paced and fun to watch. It's not the greatest movie ever made, but it did keep me entertained and amused for two hours. Well done special effects and non-stop action keeps this film alive. The big chase scene near the end is quite good - edge-of-your-seat sort of stuff - with Mutt sword fighting against the KGB gal while each is on top of their own side's speeding vehicle, then the cars end up at the edge of this steep cliff, and Mutt ends up in the trees where he seems to befriend a pack of vine-swinging monkeys. Um - okay, you must pretty much suspend disbelief over the way these characters go over cliffs and waterfalls and falls up or down stone towers and the like without any harm, while the bad guys seem to get it right and left - oh well. Karen Allen returns in her old part here - Harrison Ford is still using that bullwhip. The film has a real nice orchestral score, done by composer John Williams, which includes the familiar "Raiders of the Lost Ark" theme music. Rating - 8/10 stars
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