Originally set in 1975, the iconic series “S.W.A.T.” is given a welcome modern spin with all the original characters back in tow. Director Clark Johnson does a good job selecting an all-star hip cast to portray the famous characters from the original series. What this movie manages to do that most modern action films don’t is successfully establish every character, their personality, and their background which is interesting and then pulls the audience into the action taking place with the story. It’s reported among the stars that they actually studied the real S.W.A.T. training sequences and also interacted in exercises which can be seen in the very realistic and steadfast depictions of the exercises used by the S.W.A.T. infantry.
Tag Archives: Adventure
The Greatest Store in the World (1999)
The Greatest Store in the World” is one of those films you can finish watching and look back on with a smile later on. What this film does is take a somewhat dramatic plot and turn it into a bittersweet tale with occasional laughs that a family can watch together. Like “A Miracle on 34th Street”, the film presents a large store so big it’s capable to house a small family. Dervla Kirwan plays Geraldine a basically free-spirited mother who uses the store as a home for her children and quite cleverly is able to dodge security guards, the doorman “Mr. Whiskers” and the stores snoopy Santa and his elf who swagger around the store bothering people.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
Loosely based on the critically acclaimed comic book from critically acclaimed author Alan Moore, “LXG” tells the tale of Allan Quartmain, an aging adventurer in 1899 who is called upon by a mysterious man named M who enlists him and six other super-powered beings whose powers are parallel to legendry literary characters who must fight a warlord called “The Phantom” who plans to take over the world. Alan Moore presents an idea and concept so ingenious and brilliant, I was stunned upon hearing of it. Take some of the most famous heroes and villains in literary history and turn them into superheroes. What turns up as the end result is a guilty pleasure that kept me entertained all the way through.
The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
I thought “The Matrix” was great and very innovative in its own right. The basic element from the original “Matrix” film is present in this; there’s your pretty dazzling opener with Trinity doing what she does best and we enter into the great story that serves a heaping help full for any “Matrix” fan to feast on. The Wachowski brothers manage to surprise and amaze with some stunning machine special effects and great scenes that truly dazzle the mind. The opening where we’re introduced to Zion is truly magnificent as we’re first shown the exterior’s of the almost too lifelike Zion guard robots then shown the entire city. Zion is a basic hybrid of modern machinery and old age homes that live among each other in a community.
The Hot Chick (2002)
What makes Rob Schneider’s movies so bad, (among many other million defects) is that Schneider is basically unlikable and incredibly obnoxious, and when he pretends to be a girl stuck in a man’s body, it’s just plain creepy. Not only that, but he’s such a horrible actor in both comedic form and dramatic form; much of that can be seen when he pretends to be the female Jessica played by Rachel McAdams and pretty much makes no effort in copying her exact mannerisms or body characteristics. In “Face/Off”, Travolta and Cage studied each other’s facial expressions, mannerisms, and even their modes of speech which made the film mostly tolerable, but in this Schneider simply acts homosexual more than a woman.
The Italian Job (2003)
Not exactly a remake per se, but based on the concept of the original 1969 film starring Michael Caine, “The Italian Job” is a fun popcorn action flick. The filmmakers play it smart by comprising an all-star cast of actors that play their roles well; there’s a round up of charismatic and memorable actors who all play some great characters. Mark Wahlberg leads the cast as Charlie the gifted thief and leader of the group, Charlize Theron is Stella, the daughter of John who is a legitimate safe cracker for the police. Edward Norton plays the slimy and sneaky Steve.
Big Fat Liar (2002)
Jason Shepherd (Frankie Muniz) is a slacker and he always tends to get into mischief; the problem is, he’s a liar who tends to fib to get him out of the toughest situations. Eventually, all of it comes back to him when he is hit by a car and made late for school. He hitches a ride with a limo seating a Hollywood producer named Marty Wolf (Paul Giamatti ) who steals young Jason’s essay called “Big Fat Liar” and makes it into a movie. Jason misses a school deadline and decides to go to Hollywood to get revenge on the ruthless producer. Now he and his best friend Kaylee (Amanda Bynes are out for revenge and will stop at nothing to get back his paper.