Knight and Day

Oh Tom Cruise. It seems like you can never stay away from spy films. After three Mission Impossibles (and a fourth very likely to be coming next year) and even Valkyrie which has a undercover, spy-ish feel to it, it seems like Tom Cruise has a passion for the genre. Sure enough, Cruise is back in this action/romantic comedy in his newest spy film, "Knight and Day."

June Havens (Cameron Diaz) is just trying to get back to her family so she can go to her sister's wedding. Too bad she keeps running into little setbacks like several "accidental" bumps into Roy Miller (Cruise), a smooth talking secret agent, and not to mention a plane crash after Roy kills all the people on the plane. Now that June is wondering who this crazy man is, Roy decides that they need to stick together until Roy sorts out his problem. What is the problem? Roy claims that he has a new kind of battery called the Zephyr that is capable of powering whole cities. He tells June that when the battery was first created, Agent Fitzgerald (Peter Sarsgaard) wanted to take the battery for himself and when Roy declined, Fitzgerald framed Roy. However, one day when intelligence agents pick up June, they tell her that Roy is a rogue agent that is unstable and wants to sell the battery to a Spanish gang. Taking both stories to mind, June procedes to follow Roy on his mission to clear his name and will have to find out which story is true.

What carries "Knight and Day" is the on-screen performances and chemistry of Cruise and Diaz. I wouldn't have picked a better twosome to play the roles. The way both of them deliver their comedic lines is great. Cruise pours both charm and comedy into his character which looks to be a crazy secret agent who doesn't seem to be afraid of any risks and dangerous situations. On the opposite side is Diaz whose character matches Cruise's character with a bit of wackiness of her own. Both performances help give the film a good comedic twist.

Unfortunately, "Knight and Day" is bound by the fact that it is pure formula. This is definitely not the first time we have seen the story of a secret agent trying to clear his name. In fact, one of the well known examples of when that kind of premise was considered more original (at least in my memory) was another Tom Cruise film, "Mission Impossible." Yes, because of this the film fails to be original and is too predictable.

To be honest, I can't really find that much to say about "Knight and Day" because after looking at the unoriginal plot and common laughs, the film isn't that complex. In all it's just a simple popcorn film. The best way to describe "Knight and Day"? An accurate description is an unoriginal romantic comedy with entertaining chase sequences and good acting from its leads. Besides that, nothing really sticks out as being unique and the film takes its place with many other summer popcorn films of its kind. I give it two stars out of four.

"Knight and Day" has a running time of 110 minutes and is rated PG-13 for sequences of action violence throughout, and brief strong language.

Jonah Hex

Most know that when it comes to comic book films there are two studios who tend to do the competing. These two studios are Marvel and DC. Most also know the much more successful studio when it comes to their films...Marvel. Yes for some reason most DC films (the only major exception being "The Dark Knight") tend to not be as successful as Marvel films. Well here we are again, DC is trying to create a successful comic book film with the help of A-listers Josh Brolin and John Malkovich (if you thought I was going to say Megan Fox...no comment). Unfortunately, "Jonah Hex", a western-esque film about vengeance, fails to capture the heart and brilliance that "The Dark Knight" and "Superman" captured.

At the start of the film, (set shortly after the civil war) we are introduced to Jonah Hex (Brolin) who is being tied up outside his home by the antagonist, Quentin Turnbull (Malkovich). Soon after, he burns Jonah's house with his wife and son inside. After this sight, Turnbull brands Jonah with his initials to remind him of the man that took everything from him. This whole scene sets the DARK tone that will be present for the rest of the film. Why did Turnbull want revenge on Jonah? A quick line at the beginning of the film states that Jonah killed Turnbull's son but unfortunately, the film does a bad job of explaining the whole situation. Anyway, Turnbull is said to be dead and Jonah is now a vengeful bounty hunter that has a price on his own head. However, the U.S. government learns that Turnbull is alive and out to destroy the U.S. Jonah is recruited to help bring down Turnbull and a quest for vengeance and murder is started. Congratulations, that was a summary of about 45 minutes of an 80 minute film (saved you all nine bucks at the theater).

Even the plot summary seems a little confusing and full of twists doesn't it? Well, I'll start off by saying that one of the first problems with "Jonah Hex" is that unfortunately the film does a bad job of explaining the several back stories it tries to tell. As if the several plot twists are not enough, the storytelling and plot of the whole film is scattered and confusing. More problems include that there are some elements that simply should have been kept out of the film. For example, Megan Fox's character, Jonah's slight love interest, has probably less than ten minutes of screen time. So why was she in the film? Most likely to get people to see it...that's the only reason. The character has no value whatsoever.

Unlike most comic-book films, there is not one happy or redemptive thing about "Jonah Hex." The whole movie consists of murder, hate, anger, and at no point does the protagonist question his motives. SPOILER ALERT!!! Even if the film claims to have a happy ending, I couldn't feel happy because what it boils down to is that Jonah, whether he gets his revenge or not, will always carry his hate with him and never have a decent life. Hands down, "Jonah Hex" is the darkest film since "The Dark Knight."

"Jonah Hex" has entertaining action sequences. There. That's pretty much the only positive thing I have to say about the film. Sadly, the action couldn't hide the other flaws in this film. "Jonah Hex", mostly due to the fact that it is a comic book film, suffers from over the top plot twists, unneeded elements, and to top it all off, half of the time I couldn't even understand what the actors were saying. Once again DC has proven that they can't consistently keep up with Marvel and their plethora of comic book films. I give it one star out of four.

"Jonah Hex" has a running time of 80 minutes and is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, disturbing images and sexual content.

The A-Team

"I love it when a plan comes together." In this case, I love it when four good actors, an action savvy director, and an 80's TV show come together to create an action fueled thrill ride. Complete with original tag lines, scenarios from the show, and creative action sequences, this adaption of the old TV show, "The A-Team," is a must see for any action lover.

The film opens as we see Hannibal (Liam Neeson) being held captive by corrupt Mexican officers. When the men leave to meet with their leader, Hannibal escapes and pursues them. Along the way he meets B.A. Baracus (Quinton "Rampage" Jackson) who decides to help Hannibal when he realizes that they were in the same, elite group of army rangers. The two procede to catch up the the officers who are in the middle of questioning Face (Bradley Cooper) who is involved in Hannibal's plan. B.A. crashes in the area, rescues Face, and then the three rush to the nearest hospital (while being pursued) to find their last member, Murdock (Sharlto Copley) who gets them all into a helicopter and flies away triggering an action scene that gave me chills for the next five minutes.

Then, "eight years and eighty successful missions later," we find the team stationed in Iraq, now considered a very popular top notch team. Hannibal gains information that a case full of U.S. treasury plates are in the possession of terrorists. So he and his "A-Team" set out to retrieve the plates. The mission is successful but when they return, Hannibal's commanding officer is murdered and the evidence goes missing. As a result of this, the four men are tried and sent to prison since no one could prove that they were acting on behalf of the United States. Of course prison couldn't hold the four men and soon enough they all escape and go on another mission to track down the man who framed them and get back their reputations.

Last month I read an article on "The A-Team" in an Entertainment Weekly. The director of the film, Joe Carnahan, stated in the article that in the film there would be an action scene so cool that if you didn't like it, you didn't like movies. A very big statement I know and while I'm not quite sure which scene he was referring to, I can think of at least three scenes that can fit the bill. "The A-Team" was filled with all kinds of action which included the team flying helicopters, planes, and get ready for this...TANKS! Right now you're probably saying the same thing B.A. said..."WHAT? You can't fly a tank fool!" And who better to engage in this action than the four leads of the film: Liam Neeson and Sharlto Copley have proved themselves to be great action stars from their films "Taken" and "District 9" respectively. "Rampage" Jackson who fights for a living, and Bradley Cooper showed that he is more than capable of being an action star. In my opinion, a better team of actors couldn't have been chosen. Classic scenarios from the show like B.A. and Murdock's arguments and B.A.'s fear of flying are very much present in this film which give the movie a comedic twist.

Sadly, the film suffers from being a little too fast-paced which keeps the film from having a strong plot line and room for character development. It seems that the makers of the film went on the basis that the viewers would automatically know the characters thus the four main protagonists were given no introduction. When looking at the plot line, I felt the same. It was almost like watching the TV show with better acting, action, and special effects.

"I love it when a good plan comes together." Thankfully, Hannibal's "good plans" give us a whole lot of high octane action and comedy that in the end, makes me forget about the weak story and lack of character development. Two and a half stars out of four.

"The A-Team" has a running time of 117 minutes and is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence throughout, language and smoking.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

For as long as I can remember, video game adaptations have been categorized as, well...BAD! It seems that a curse has been placed on video game adaptations because whether its a movie about, aliens, assassins, or treasure hunters, the movie versions are hardly ever well received. When the media heard that the immensely popular "Prince of Persia" series was getting its own chance at silver screen fame, people started wondering if the curse could be broken. And when we learned the the films would consist of producer Jerry Bruckheimer("Pirates of the Caribbean" trilogy), director Mike Newell ("Harry Potter 4") and actor Jake Gyllenhaal at the lead, things were starting to look good for the newest video game adaption. Sure enough, it seems that this new Arabian Nights tale has taken the genre of video game films in a new and better direction.

The Persian empire is under the rule of King Sharaman who has two sons, Tus and Garsiv but one day the king brings in another son off the streets whose name is Dastan(Jake Gyllenhaal). The king sees good in young Dastan's heart when Dastan saves a boy in the market from cruel soldiers and so he makes him a prince. After the first five minutes, we see the three brothers all grown up and on the way to attack the city of Alamut because they believe that they are selling weapons to enemies of Persia. During this raid, Dastan finds a mystical dagger of which no one except the princess of the city, Tamina (Gemma Arterton), knows the true powers.

When the army successfully overtakes the city, the king travels to celebrate with his three sons. Dastan is given a robe to present the king as a celebratory gift of their victory but when the kings puts it on, he is soon killed by poison that was soaked into the robe. Suspected by the people as the murderer, Dastan flees with Tamina and go on a quest to clear his name. Soon after they flee, Dastan realizes that the dagger he found is capable of taking back time and told by Tamina that he must protect the dagger at all costs.

The best thing about "Prince of Persia" is that it has top notch stunts and action sequences, the best I've seen in a long time. One of the top things that made the video games so popular were the acrobatic abilities of the prince. He could swing off of poles, do back flips across walls, and my personal favorite...running on walls. So naturally, the film had to include this factor and for me it was the most enjoyable part of the film because when you include the classic sword fights and then throw in acrobatic stunts throughout...it goes together very well (it is almost like "Pirates of the Caribbean" on steroids).

One thing that sets this film aside from other video game adaptions is the good, well thought story. Most video game films have poor story lines because they are strictly based off of the video games themselves. In this film, they take elements from the game but then re-craft the story into a more original plot line, much like what producer Jerry Bruckheimer did with "Pirates of the Caribbean." This is the way to go because it allows for a more creative approach to the film and it's story.

All in all, "Prince of Persia" has almost every element that one could want: great action, great stunts, romance, suspense, a good script, etc. I think it is now clear that all video game films do not have to be terrible. The "curse" has been broken. Three stars out of four.

"Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" has a running time of 116 minutes and is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action.