Arnold Schwarzenegger plays firefighter Gordon Brewer, a family man who witnesses his wife and son get murdered in a terrorist bombing. When he sees a Colombian ambassador refer to their deaths as “Collateral Damage”, a term meaning that their death is all part of war, he get angered and vows revenge on the mercenary who committed the crime. With the help of his wits alone, he travels to Colombia to track down and kill the terrorist crime lord known as “El Lobo”. Arnold Schwarzenegger does his best with what he’s given with in this movie and doesn’t overact his part like in his frequent movies. He’s a likeable character in this movie, and for once is a relatable character.
Tag Archives: Crime
Daredevil (2003)
Now, first of all, I am a fan boy, for the record; and I love the Daredevil comic books; so when this came out in the theatres, I was foaming at the mouth. Daredevil is not a household name like Spider-Man or Superman, so it’s a challenge trying to make this appeal to a wide audience. Many people compare this to spider-man, and in a lot of ways, the marketing and advertising is almost identical, but it’s unfair to compare the two. Spider-man is a light fun action-packed romp, while Daredevil is more deep, complex, and incredible. I was rather upset at the casting choices for each of the characters, but I decided to give it a chance. I was breath taken by this movie. Ben Affleck is incredible as Matt Murdock. I’ll admit, I didn’t think he would do good to the role, but he was able to pull it off without flaw. Ben Affleck is great as the humble and often cold Matt Murdock.
Sin (2003)
Ving Rhames is an ex-cop whose sister, who is a drug addict, was nearly killed by a drug lord (though its all assumption, we’re never told he is a drug lord because he’s so broadly developed), and now he’s on the quest for vengeance despite the warnings of his ex-partner and grizzled ex-boss played by the always great Brian Cox in a small thankless role. He shouldn’t even be considered a part of the cast because he is so wasted in this film it goes beyond unfunny. The somewhat talented Ving Rhames is terrible in this as the lead character Eddie. I’m not sure if it’s the hackneyed writing or his acting alone, but he’s bad.
Cherish (2002)
This is an excellent movie, I must say. At first I was a bit hesitant to watch this, because the first five minutes drag on with slow moving dialogue and character development. This movie tries to make a clear point of the fact that she is indeed a lonely desperate character, and they use her vulnerability and desperation against the audience as we witness her injustices but can do nothing about it. Finny Taylor is top-notch at both directing and writing this great black comedy and gives us a minds eye view into this character. The character Zoe often hides herself and escapes into music throughout the movie, so much so she is well-known by a DJ at a local radio station.
Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
I am a huge fan of this series and love the first two sequels but unfortunately it seems Austin has lost his mojo. From the first five minutes of the movie I found myself un-amused and highly disappointed. The movie, though true to its efforts, attempts to bring about new life to the series with a brand-new villain named “Goldmember” which I found sad and very odd. The movie resorts to awful bathroom/gross-out humor to almost desperate measures. The most disgusting aspect of the movie was “Goldmember” who, due to his obsession with gold began to get diseased throughout the entire movie as his skin peeled constantly.
John Q (2002)
This movie has a lot of heart, sure, but it doesn’t have a good story to go with it. The movies story and pacing is so weak and slow, that at times it makes it hard to watch. It has excellent plot devices yet never pulls through with them. For example, the entire hostage scene with Denzel in the hospital felt so rushed, and badly paced that you feel more confusion than empathy. I felt it could’ve gone for a good hour, yet only lasts for about a half-hour. Too bad. I didn’t appreciate the producers adding Eddie Griffin as comic relief, since we’re supposed to feel for Washington’s character and his plight.
Hardball (2001)
Connor O’Neil is a man out of his luck. He’s a no good gambling addict who constantly fails at his bets. He’s also got a bunch of guys after him who will stop at nothing to kill him for their money. Connor turns to a rich friend who offers to pay him 500 dollars a week if he agrees to coach an inner-city baseball team. Desperate, he agrees.