When Ottway and his group of oil workers board a very shaky and shifty airplane, the surviving group of men find themselves in the middle of a frozen tundra after a horrible storm brings down the entire plane. Protagonist Ottway is often plagued by visions of his dead wife, a woman who apparently died a slow and miserable death. It’s a passing Ottway himself has never gotten over, and never had the chance to mourn. Rather than confronting his misery and pretty much overcoming this terrible loss that left his life a hollow shell, he instead chooses to run away. When we first meet him, he’s war torn, exhausted and enters in to the tamed darkness of his oil rig where he prepares to commit suicide in the abyss of snow. Choosing instead to live, for reasons we can’t quite know deep down, he ends up leading his remaining group of co-workers from the plane wreck and in to the white wasteland before them.
Category Archives: Movie Reviews
Wrath of the Titans (2012) [Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital Copy]
I’m surprised to admit that, for the most part, “Wrath of the Titans” is a rather entertaining and exciting follow-up to “Clash of the Titans.” In fact, it’s every bit as superior to the awful remake as possible, and often times manages to surpass the first film in the realm of storytelling and characterization. Granted, the film is not without its list of faults. The dialogue is anachronistic, and Perseus’s relationship with Andromeda and his beloved son is painfully under developed and trite, but “Wrath of the Titans” fixes most of the problems with the first film and forges a path for a respectable trilogy. I’m not going to rush out to purchase the “Titans” trilogy set when it’s unleashed years from now, but I’m not above re-watching these films again to see where it continues to improve.
Armageddon (1998)
One of the many aspects about filmmaking that Michael Bay never perfected is subtlety. None of his films are ever about the more quiet and inconspicuous moments in story and characterization. “Armageddon” as a whole is an often loud, bright, irritating and occasionally intrusive film that attempts to assault every inch of an audiences attention before ever managing to tell its story. It’s one of the many reasons why “Pearl Harbor” was considered a cinematic disaster. I’m horrified to fathom what would ever happen if Bay ever made a film about 9/11 or the Titanic.
Haywire (2012) [Blu-Ray]
“You shouldn’t think of her as a woman. That would be a mistake.”
Criticize director Steven Soderbergh all you want for casting someone who isn’t an actual actor to lead a star rich action film, but director Steven Soderbergh accomplishes something studios are often too narrow minded to try. He casts a woman who is brawn, beauty, and brains all in one. While Hollywood and directors have a fetish for casting wafer thin women who look as if they can barely hold a pencil let alone a machine gun (I’m looking at you Milla Jovovich), star Gina Carano is a woman who is built like a fighter in every sense of the word and approaches every single brilliantly staged fight scene with competence and believability, because there’s no doubting a woman of her presence can handle a man two times her size.
Cherry Bomb (2011) [Blu-Ray]
If there’s one chief complaint I have for “Cherry Bomb” is that the performances from the entire cast leave much to be desired. Every single cast member can never seem to decide if they want to play this material over the top like a grindhouse film or with dramatic intensity. The most jarring caveat is from star Julin who can also never seem to decide if she wants to play Cherry Bomb as a ditzy psychopath, or a dignified warrior woman. Sometimes Cherry can barely shoot a sniper rifle, and then other times she’s engaging in hand to hand combat with a master assassin and setting off clever booby traps.
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012) [Blu-Ray/DVD/Ultraviolet]
I’m one of the very few people who actually enjoyed “Journey to the Center of the Earth” for what it was. It was nothing more than a ninety minute roller coaster ride with 3D specks that took the audience through some fun sights and sounds. “Journey 2” is basically the follow-up practicing that very routine all over again. It’s intent is to take you through the various dangers and awe inspiring wonders of the mysterious island before actually telling a story or exploring its characters. One thing it does have going for it, is that it makes reading and compiling information look sleek and exciting. If Dwayne Johnson is doing it, maybe the young audience this film appeals to, will.
True Lies (1994)
Shortly after the Columbine Massacre, Arnold Schwarzenegger decided that he was done with movies about guns. For a long period where his popularity was waning and he attempted to appeal to conservative audiences, Arnold placed a fatwa on guns in his movies. in at least three of his films, he completely avoids the use of firearms, and he’d made the decision to exclude the sight of firearms in promotional materials for his films. I mean for the love of god, in his horrible schlock fest “The 6th Day,” he keeps from killing a thug in front of his child, and walks off with the criminal lecturing him about gun violence before bringing him down off-screen!