Gritty, dark and raw, Act of Valor manages to combine intense action, great special effects and a pretty good, if small, story without ever resorting to acting. The movie uses real life Navy SEALs, instead of actors, to achieve a realism seldom seen in modern day film. Unfortunately for many in the audience, mostly critics, Act of Valor lacks the dramatic effect actors bring to a film. I don’t agree. In Act of Valor, the dramatic effect comes from the battle scenes, not in some contrived interpersonal crisis. The director of Valor eliminates much of the phony sympathy and artificial empathy present in most modern war films in favor of pure action. Make no mistake, Act of Valor is a real take on war and the violence therein.

The plot is simple: a Chechen Islamic terrorist named Abu Shabal (Jason Cottle) plans to bring violence to the United States in the form of suicide bombers. Shabal, with the help of his boyhood friend Christo (Alex Veadov), a Jewish international drug smuggler, get access to bomb vests loaded with ceramic ball bearings undetectable in metal detectors.   They are to cross the border with Mexico bringing terror in their wake. The plan is to set off the vests in crowded tourist sites and stadiums to maximize the effect the devastation. Shabal assumes the brutal attacks will destroy the American economy, traumatize the populace and, presumably, cause a backlash that will mobilize the Muslim world. Yes, not terribly original but still effective. The job of the Navy SEALs: track them down and stop Shabal and his bombers (using extreme force if necessary).

What makes Act of Valor work is its dependence on intense action and extreme violence. I think we all could have done without the uninspired dialogue, the poorly delivered emotional content and contrived empathy, exactly what you’d expect from non-actors. Of course it’s what the audience expected. The whole point of the movie, and it was all over the media, we wanted “navy SEALs, not actors.” The general public likes the film the vast majority of critics do not. Act of Valor is exactly “as advertised.”

The critics though crawled up on their pedestals and rained down scorn: paraphrasing some, “It’s not a movie,” or “it’s a recruiting film.” No! Act of Valor is an attempt to let real Navy Seals tell their own story in their own way. Unfortunately the filmmakers included too much human interest for amateurs to handle. Please, if you attend the film and I think you should, go for the action, go for the riveting gunboat scene or go to see what it looks like for real Navy SEALs to be in a firefight. Don’t go if you want to see an emotional sob fest.

Lastly, Act of Valor is by no means a recruiting film. An Officer and a Gentleman,Top Gun even Patton inspired me, Act of Valor scared the hell out of me. There was no exaggeration of glory, excitement or even beautiful women. Sadly lacking were the great cars, motorcycles and Meg Ryan, Debra Winger or Kelly McGillis.  In fact, the SEALs were shown with little personal control, far away from their families, for months at a time, and in constant danger. Not my idea of a recruiting film.

I strongly recommend Act of Valor for action junkies, war movie fanatics and the strong of stomach, all else BEWARE!!!

Rating 3.5 stars out of 5!

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In the new Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Nicholas Cage, stars once again as Johnny Blaze, former daredevil and current emissary of revenge for hell. His mission: to save the son of Satan (Ciarán Hinds) from his devilish father. Danny (Fergus Riordon), Satan’s son and soon to be Anti-Christ according to the Ghost Rider, is joined by his mother Nadya (Violante Placido) in attempting to escape his demonically abusive father. Satan wants to use the boy’s body as a vessel for his evil majesty, because a normal human body is nearly powerless.

Aiding his fiery-ness in capturing and holding Danny is Ray Carrigan (Johnny Whitworth), a particularly lame villain. He’s a second rate character and hardly threatening. Satan eventually grants Ray immense (if ridiculous) power: the ability to cause the degradation of all things except Twinkies. For a 3D film the power is just as underwhelming as it sounds, in fact the entire film is unnecessarily underwhelming for 3D.  The bulk of the film is a long chase scene with the expected crashes and explosions. I personally found the chase scenes uninspired, the crashes unremarkable and the explosions mundane.

What’s puzzling is why Blaze, as Ghost Rider, is fighting with his boss, Satan. It’s never clear in Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance how the Rider has the freedom. After all, the evil one has control of his soul. It’s also puzzling how Cage could be involved with such a dismal and uninspired project.

A grim reminder of how bad a movie can be, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance manages to disappointment at every level. There is almost no humor, the action seems artificial and contrived and the CGI is lame and inconsistent. In the original film the Ghost Rider’s flaming bike left a streak of burning asphalt down the highway, in this film there’s not even a trail. There are maybe three lame jokes in the film and they’re so weak it’s impossible to remember them. Even the action is like that in a bad biker movie. Fight scenes are derivative and predictable.

I don’t understand the direction either. In the first confrontation scene the Rider drives into the middle of Carrigan’s gang and stands, and stands and stands. He looks ominous, sure, but never attacks. He could have killed the entire gang in a few seconds. I understand, artistically, why the director had Ghost Rider stand interminably (unfortunately, had he acted, the Rider could have killed Carrigan’s gang, rescued the boy and saved the day). The movie, thankfully, would have been over in 20 minutes and I wouldn’t have had to suffer for the full hour and a half.

One more thing…how in the “blazes” can Ray Carrigan pull out his gun fill Ghost Rider full of holes and have Johnny Blaze end up in the hospital. Ghost Rider has always been able to take immense punishment with impunity. Later the Rider takes direct hits from shoulder fired rockets and shakes them off. This type of inconsistency is small compared to the rest of this mess of a film but it is a distraction. I would never recommend Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance even to the most hardcore movie maniac.

Rating 0.5 out of 5.

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Extreme originality, great story elements and a decent plot that makes Lord of the Flies seem like a gentle tropical island romp compared to Chronicle. Been bitten by a radioactive spider recently? Blasted by cosmic or gamma radiation?  Found a giant glowing crystal in an underground cavern? All of these and more are ways to become a powerful mutant, but only one applies in Chronicle, the latest teen “superhero” movie.

Three teenagers, one super popular, another trying hard to be and a third completely out of touch find a perfectly circular hole in the backyard. As teenagers will, they elect to climb into the hole, scramble through a tunnel and come to a very large glowing crystal. The crystal, in some unknown way, grants them powerful telekinetic abilities with which they immediately begin to experiment. The teens, finding themselves growing in power, are soon playing tricks on people, moving cars and even flying.

Steve Montgomery (Michael B. Jordan), the popular teen, manages to take it all in stride rejoicing in the fun of telekinesis. Matt Garetty (Alex Russell), the teen trying hard to be popular, struggles with the moral and ethical ramifications of power and what rules need to be in effect. Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan) embraces the power and becomes intoxicated with it. His sociopathic tendencies lead him to the conclusion that he is an “apex” predator.

Not a pretty thought. Andrew, bullied all his life, becomes the ultimate bully. You’ll have to watch the rest of the movie to see the results. The movie that comes to mind is Carrie. Carrie, under her mother’s thumb, pushed around and teased by the other children and finally humiliated in front of the school unleashes the fury. I would suggest being nice to the disenfranchised youth…you just never know when they will manage to get ultimate power!

Chronicle is X-Men with a twist: it’s supposed to be real and director Josh Trank and his young cast add just enough oomph to make it seem so. This is a pretty good film and deserves a look. I would suggest seeing Chronicle in the theater for it needs the big screen for the full impact.

Rating 3.5 out of 5.

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Mark Wahlberg and Kate Beckinsale star in a remarkably average film on smuggling. Wahlberg as Chris Farraday, a legendary smuggler, is retired. Farraday‘s security business seems to be taking off and he is now completely legit. Unfortunately his brother in law Andy (Caleb Landry Jones) is not. Andy is actively, if incompetently, attempting to smuggle cocaine. Predictably, the ship with the cocaine gets boarded and Andy and his buddy must toss the drugs overboard, leaving him in debt to a particularly sleazy drug dealer named Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi).

Of course, Wahlberg must “heroically” rescue Andy from, the verging on insane, Briggs. What complicates matters is that Briggs, while Bryce is actively seeking to find the money to pay him, begins to threaten Kate Farraday (Beckinsale) Chris’s wife. Why Briggs thinks this will help escapes me. Farraday is aboard ship and it can only go so fast. Why would you want to infuriate the man bringing you your money. Frankly, I would have flown home and killed Briggs myself…or hired someone instead and kept the money.

To further complicate matters a third party is waiting for the money from the drugs but Farraday is planning to bring counterfeit 20 dollar bills to sell, not the drugs. What makes this somewhat convoluted plot to a screeching halt is simple: if someone is bringing you over seven hundred thousand dollars to replace the street value of the drugs you lost, what does it matter if it’s in cash or cocaine. The value is the same and you have none of the risk. I find it damn near impossible to believe that the very practical business man waiting for the cash would have minded. There are worse plots but this one certainly was up there. So ludicrous and so contrived that the movie completely lost me.

I cannot fault the performances but I can fault the writing and directing. Wahlberg’s performance is solid, Beckinsale’s certainly fine with what’s she’s given but Ribisi’s is stilted, perhaps because of the one dimensional character with which he’s presented. Very unfortunate because I love his work. There are a few twist and turns that are good and Ben Foster turns in a typically fine performance as Wahlberg’s best friend, Sebastian Abney, but it’s not enough to save Contraband from mediocrity.

There was never much of an attempt to develop any of the characters and the entire film is lacking in chemistry. The sad truth is…this could have been a very good film had they taken more time to develop our relationship with the characters, made the plot more logical and added in some fun. I dislike films that are all disaster. And Contraband certainly is.

My recommendation is: see this film when it comes to Netflix, pick it up on HBO or Showtime or maybe someday, when you least it expect it, it will be a late night feature. If you miss it, don’t worry a similar film will be out soon…

Rating 1.5 out of 5.

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Great action sequences spoiled by almost no character development make Underworld: Awakening a film easy to miss. Awakening manages to pack much of what make the earlier film successful: great fight scenes, dangerous enemies and excellent graphics, but none of the chemistry between characters or fun.

Underworld: Awakenings is set 12 years after the last mainstream film in a world torn by war. The humans, determined to destroy lycans and vampires, have developed powerful weapons to hunt and exterminate them. Using ultraviolet light and variants of silver iodide or projectiles, the enhanced humans are nearly extinct and in hiding. Only a few of the creatures are frozen in hopes of finding a cure to the “disease.”

One of those frozen is Selene (Kate Beckinsale). She is freed by the mysterious subject 2, a strange vampire/lycan hybrid the humans are using for their experiments for genocide. When Selene meets a coven of the very few vampires left all hell breaks loose and a new war breaks out: lycans vs. vampires, and such lycans. Enhanced by hybrid blood the lycans are powerful and, one in particular, is massive.

The plot is derivative, the characters reactions predictable and even the story is just a rehash, something we’ve all seen before. The originality of the Underworld series seems completely gone. Worst of all, the best character, Michael Corvin, didn’t come back for this iteration. There was a feeble attempt at including him but it was just that, feeble. Apparently the actor elected to bolt the series.

I love vampire films, but I truly don’t love this one. The action is good but most of the vampires are pale imitations of the deadly killing machines in former films. There is nothing worse than a wimpy vampire…nothing!

I also felt Beckinsale, certainly hot in her skin tight outfit, was not enough to save the film. Only Theo James stood out in the new Underworld. As David, unfortunately one of the wimpy vampires, he managed to capture my interest and I look forward to seeing him developed in the next movie. Oh yes, there will be another!

One further point: there is absolutely no reason Underworld: Awakenings needed to be in 3D. The film is too dark. I can’t even remember a moment when the technology enhanced the film. 3D for 3D sake is unconscionable.

I want to see the series return to the premier format: original story elements, powerful vampires, great character development and some visceral fight scenes. Should that happen I will be a fan once again. For now, I cannot be.

Rating 1.5 stars out of 5 and a bag of moldy Milk Duds…

Elegant Simplicity, rustic charm and unassuming characters blend to make this wonderful film a nice break from the typical. Le Havre is the story of a young boy smuggled into Normandy from Africa with his grandfather. The boy escapes but the grandfather, and several others, are rounded up from the cargo container in which they arrived. The second busiest port city in France, Le Havre is apparently a center for people smuggling and has a very active immigration police and deportation policies.

The youngster is found by Marcel Marx (André Wilms), a street shoe shiner with a child-like view of life: work hard, cherish your loved ones and enjoy the small pleasures. His wife Arletty (Kati Outinen) is the practical one. She saves for the future, eats sparingly, so Marcel doesn’t have to, and manages to keep them both alive. Unfortunately Arletty is sick, very sick. Without a miracle, according to the hospital’s Doctor Becker (Pierre Étaix), she will die. Arletty’s first thought is to protect her husband. She tells him she will be fine but he needs to not see her for two weeks so she can recover.

Marcel, on his own, manages to get himself involved in helping the boy, Idrissa (Blondin Miguel), not out of some idealistic notion but simply because the boy needs it. That’s what makes the film so good. Everyone gets involved for the same reason, because Idrissa needs it. The green grocer (owed money by Marx), the baker (also owed money) and the local bar owner (probably owed a lot) all help him hide Idrissa, feed him and keep him out of trouble.

There’s a wonderful scene, and very French, where Marcel enlists the aid of Yvette, the wife of popular singer Little Bob. Marcel wants Little Bob to do a “trendy” concert to raise money. The concert money will pay to send Idrissa to London where his mother waits for him. Marx presents his cause, introduces Idrissa and touches Yvette’s heart. She agrees, all Little Bob has to do is apologize and the reuniting of Little Bob and Yvette is, like the film, elegant simplicity.

Ah, and there’s a surprising performance by Jean-Pierre Darroussin as the seemingly evil inspector Monet. Complete with the black hat, black trench coat and rather black look on his face he looks to be an dark version of Inspector Clouseau, but is he? You’ll have to see the film, but I will say that Darroussin’s performance was a delight as was the entire film. Not since Il Postino have I enjoyed a subtitled film so much. Like a simple French pastry with a wonderful creamy filling such is Le Havre.

A little warning: Le Havre seems like a film from the fifties. The clothing, the furniture and architecture and even the hair styles all seem very much a throwback. Even the constant smoking hearken to an earlier age, which could be disturbing to some, but hopefully will not spoil the film for you.

Finally, Le Havre is about the dilemma that many of the western nations face. The separation of mass undocumented immigration with the helping of the “illegal” alien you find in your own backyard. I believe that most of us would have helped feed Idrissa, clothed him and given him a place to stay, perhaps even helped him on his way. I would, would you?

Rating 5 stars out of five (and a glass of Bordeaux).

An action packed thrill ride and one of Tom Cruise’s best films Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is the best pure action film of the year. From the first frame Protocol grabbed me and didn’t let go even in the few peaceful moments.

The world is in danger once again and only the IMF team can save it. A Russian maniac named Sidorov plans to hearken back to the cold war and “win” an atomic war. Sidorov (Vladimir Mashkov) determines that the world has no hope without it and naturally only America’s IMF team can stop him. The problem: the United States has disavowed the team and their only resource is a single train car full of amazing electronics and top level weapons.

To stop the maniac the IMF team must infiltrate the Kremlin steal files and escape scot-free. Unfortunately Sidorov has anticipated them and blows up the Kremlin and pins it on the hapless team. Now they must find away to grab Russian launch codes, find a way to control the tallest building in the world, capture or kill the Russian and prevent WWIII. All in a days work for the Mission Impossible boys and girls.

With stunning visuals and jaw dropping stunts it’s “impossible” to imagine a more perfect action junkie film. I damn near had to close my eyes during the ultimate climbing scene. Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) must climb up the side of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. 130 stories in the air the fearless Hunt dangled from his remaining climbing glove and gave the audience (and me) heart palpitations.

With Director Brad Bird at the helm, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is not only the best of the series but one of the best of the breed. Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner and Paula Patton all add great depth to the film but it is Cruise that makes it. Cruise manages to expand his character and finally bring some real emotion to the part. He is the star!

One comment on Pegg: Simon Pegg is a great lead man (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) but he can also manages to be one of the best character actors of the day (Star Trek‘s Scottie and Impossible’s Benji). This guy is a traditional comic genius and cannot wait to see what he does next.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is a must see for all Movie Maniacs and action junkies but it’s also a should see for all movie fans.

Rating: 4.5 tubs of hot buttered popcorn and a large bag of Peanut M&Ms

Hey fellow Movie Maniacs check out our new mini-review podcast of Tom Cruise’s latest attempt at movie magic. It was worth the wait!

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