Uber's Movies > Movie reviews by Uber

Parkour + Fighting = Decent Action Flick

Posted : 1 year, 1 month ago on 14 October 2008 04:26 (A review of District B13)

I've always been amazed by people that parkour and heard that this movie has a lot of it in it I wanted to see it. And the movie was filled with parkour and enough action to keep my interest and be a good action film.

The movie is set in 2010 in Paris where one district overrun by gangsters, drugs and violence that the government built giant wall around it and abandoned it, leaving its inhabitants to survive without formal education, proper utilities, or police protection. Leïto is one of the district residents that obeys the French formal laws and fights one gang lords, Taha, to keep him, his sister Lola and his building safe to live in. Leïto manages to captures Taha and brings him to the only police station in the district but Taha is release as the police was ordered to abandon completely and Leïto is arrested and put in prison outside of the district. Six months later outside of District 13, a police officer named Damien, is assigned to recruit Leïto to get into the district and help stop Taha from setting off a nuke that he captured from a armored truck. The rest of the movie has Leïto and Damien find and undercover the real purpose of the nuke.

The acting is par for a action movie so nothing special or bad.
Sound is pretty good both on the original French and dubbed English and also the FX are on par with other films like it and music is filled with the normal techno like music that fits well.
But the real point of interest is the parkour, which is always sight to see and this movie is filled with it from a couple parkour chase sequences and also adding parkour elements to the hand to hand fights.

Overall it's decent action film but with the parkour inclusion adds just enough to give it a extra point from me.

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Good but not America's Godzilla

Posted : 1 year, 4 months ago on 10 July 2008 06:41 (A review of Cloverfield)

I was really young when I first watched Godzilla and fell in love with the monster and when I heard this was suppose to be the American version of a Godzilla monster so I got excited. Then I heard it was going to be filmed with just hand held camera ala Blair Witch and that excitement faded. But after seeing the movie the camera wasn't the issue, it was the monster.

The movie really starts with a farewell party in a New York apartment when a blackout hit and building shakes the partygoers head outside and notice a giant explosion on the other side of the city. As debris falls near them, including the head of the Statue of Liberty, the camera man captures a glimpse of a giant monster. The rest of the movie follows the 6 people trying to both find out what's going on and to escape the city.

Acting wise the movie is solid as the actors conveyed the sense of urgency and fear really well.
Sound in a music sense is nonexistent but that was okay as the sound FX's were great and the lack of music just makes the filming feel more genuine.
What really killed most of the movie was that it was filmed from the ground and the monster wasn't shown much. Now in Godzilla movies, Godzilla was the main protagonist and was featured most of the time while the Cloverfield monster seemed like a afterthought and so the film makers failed at what they said they wanted to do.

While the overall movie is good and would recommend to someone that likes monster movies to see and judge for themselves, I wouldn't recommend it for someone trying to find America's Godzilla as the film makers said it was.

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When's the nipper?

Posted : 1 year, 5 months ago on 22 June 2008 02:48 (A review of The Weather Man)

I've had a little bit of a affinity for archery and so when TV spots showed the movie with Cage's character shooting with a bow and arrow I was really interested.

Nicolas Cage plays David Spritz, a Chicago weatherman, who has so many things going on that most of his life seem like a daze.
For one he doesn't like his job as a local weather man as all he does is point and speak, and every once a while gets food thrown at him by "fans".
Next he's separated from his wife and is heading towards divorce.
He's got one daughter who is overweight, smokes, and called "camel toe" at school because of her tight clothing. And has a son with a past of drug problems that befriends his creepy rehab counselor.
And to top it off his father, played by Michael Caine, is diagnosed with lymphoma and only has a few months to live.
And the whole movie is how David tries to handle each of those situations, sometimes failing miserable.

While the scenes with Cage and Caine are good and thought provoking the rest of the movie is really bland and sometimes boring as all the actors felt like they were just reading the script and not putting anything else in.
Writing wasn't too bad just not great and music was the same.

With average characters in average real life scenario's really this movie a average movie.

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How do you arm the other 11?

Posted : 1 year, 6 months ago on 21 May 2008 04:40 (A review of Lord of War)

Now part two of my Nicolas Cage trilogy movie reviews.

When I originally saw the trailers for Lord of War I was intrigued as they said the film was based off true events. And that intrigue was not lost after seeing the film.

The film stars Nicolas Cage who play Yuri Orlov, a Ukrainian immigrant who's family left for America under the guise of be Jewish to escape the Soviet Union.
The family owns a restaurant which fills the needs of others, as Yuri puts it.
But then he finds another need that he could help fill after seeing a Russian mob boss kill two would be assassins. And that need is guns.
Rest of the movie trails Yuri's exploits in the realm of arms dealing, from his start trying to get in the business, making one of his biggest deals after the fall of the Soviet Union by raiding a Ukrainian military base, dealing with brothers weaknesses, his marriage and keeping his business a secret from his family, and his problems with the law including Interpol agent Jack Valentine, who's played by Ethan Hawke.

The acting by Cage and Hawke are really good which is great as I thought their characters were the most important in the movie. But the rest of the acting okay as a whole and doesn't bring the movie down much.

The music in the film is the normal orchestral with a dash of some classic rock during some parts that give the film a nice feel.

I enjoyed the movie and would recommend if someone was interested in watching a movie that doesn't have a blaring moral agenda and shows a side of the world that is never really shown.

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*tic*

Posted : 1 year, 6 months ago on 4 May 2008 02:23 (A review of Matchstick Men)

When I first saw the trailer for this movie I wasn't really interested and after watching it that feeling wasn't to far off.

Nicolas Cage plays Roy Waller, a depressed con artist with several mental disorders, agoraphobia, germaphobia, OCD, and a tic. At the start Roy has a panic attack and his parter suggests going to a shrink. He tries just to get drugs from his old shrink but can't and so he finds another and gives him the drugs but with a condition to go and contact his ex-wife and child that he left years before. He finds out who his daughter and it rejuvenates his spirit for one more long-term con. The rest of the movie is Roy's life struggling between the con and his daughter and even brings her into it.

The acting, music, writing, and directing as a whole makes the movie seemed boring and bland.

While the premise did seem interesting with a good twist at the end and could have a good movie but fails and just turned out to be a average movie that I say would be only for hardcore Nicolas Cage fans.

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A good reason why people shouldn't becom

Posted : 1 year, 7 months ago on 15 April 2008 12:46 (A review of Bruce Almighty)

Continuing with my Jim Carrey series after some bad ones, Bruce Almighty is a lot better then the others.

Carrey plays Bruce Nolan, a news reporter for a New York station that fails to earn a anchorman position and flips out and loses his job and blames God for his misfortune. So God calls him and invites Bruce to meet him and give him is powers and find out what it's like to be God. He uses his powers to get his job back and also get the anchorman position, but in the process ignoring peoples prayers and losing his girlfriend.

Acting on Carrey's side is pretty good this time as he was finally funny and enjoyable to watch and the rest of the cast fit their parts really well, with the exception of Jennifer Aniston who could never act.

The writing in the movie is bit witty and doesn't feel like it forcing laughs and Carrey and even Steve Carell have good funny dialog.

In the end this is one of Jim Carrey's better movies that in genuinely funny and while I wouldn't want to watch again anytime soon, I would watch again if forced to.

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I found my pet myself, so leave me alone

Posted : 1 year, 7 months ago on 15 April 2008 12:27 (A review of Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls)

Readers of my last couple reviews can see that I've been on a Jim Carrey streak, thanks to Netflix, and the sequel to the first Ace Venture, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, is next on the chopping block.

Again Jim Carrey stars as Ace Ventura, pet detective, who has lost the will to find pet after failing to rescue a raccoon in the Himalayas and went to become a Tibetan monk and find inner peace. But he is almost forced back in to becoming a pet detective again in order to find a great white bat that has gone missing.

Not much has changed since the first movie as Carrey isn't very funny and neither are the other characters.

The whole story is really boring and the most of the jokes are still bad sex or scat jokes.

Really the whole movie is worse then the first and again not one I would want to see again.

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Please don't find my pets

Posted : 1 year, 7 months ago on 8 April 2008 12:38 (A review of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective)

As I said before in my Me, Myself & Irene review I'm not a fan of Jim Carrey and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is better then MM&I but still pretty boring.

Jim Carrey plays Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, a guy that specializes in finding lost/missing/petnaped pets and returning them back to their owners.
The major story of the movie is the kidnapping of Miami Dolphins mascot dolphin, Snowflake, and Ace goes on to find it while uncovering a bigger plot that includes Dan Marino.

While Carrey is a bit funnier then MM&I he is still boring and mostly unfunny and supporting cast doesn't help the movie either.

Writing is a bit of a saving grace as some of the dialog is witty and most of situations are well used but Carrey acting killed most of it.

Overall Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is a pretty average comedy that could have been really funny but wasn't due to bad acting.

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"My name is gladiator."

Posted : 1 year, 7 months ago on 29 March 2008 12:35 (A review of Gladiator)

Blood, guts, politics, romance, and conspiracy is all in Gladiator and makes for an awesome movie.

Russell Crowe portrays Maximus Decimus Meridius, a general in the Roman army and is loved by Emperor Marcus Aurelius who promises him that when he dies Maximus would become the next Emperor. But the Emperor's son Commodus, played by Joaquin Phoenix, finds out and murders his father before he is able to announce Maximus' to succeed and becomes the new Emperor. Commodus then tries to kills Maximus but he escapes only to find he son and wife killed. He is picked up by slave traders and is forced to become a gladiator and leads him the rest of the movie to getting his revenge with Commodus.

The acting in Gladiator is exceptional as everyone is perfect fit for their characters. Crowe is steely, vengeful, and compassionate and makes Maximus come alive. Phoenix is a great surprise and plays a wonderful paranoid narcissistic Emperor. And is rest of the supporting cast fills in the movies characters wonderfully giving the movie true depth of character.

Music is great and epic as is should be and gives me chills still.

The scope of the scenes from the wardrobe, sets, and special FX are awesome and truly epic.

Gladiator is absolutely wonderful movie , must see for anyone, and should be a requirement for every guy to see to be considered a man.

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Overrated movie/actor/comedian

Posted : 1 year, 7 months ago on 28 March 2008 11:33 (A review of Me, Myself & Irene)

I'm not a fan of Jim Carrey and watching Me, Myself & Irene proves that.

The movie is about Hank who is a Rhode Island state trooper, gets married, but she cheats on him and she leaves him and the lovers kids with him. And because of this, he becomes a wuss and after years of taking everyones crap is kinda snaps and develops a totally opposite personality, Charlie. He is assigned to take Irene to another part of Rhode Island for a criminal charge and the two go on a adventure with all three of them.

I really didn't find the writing funny as nothing really made me grin let alone laugh.

The acting was also dismal as none of the characters were believable or funny with the exception of Hank's kids who were really funny.

The movie was really boring as a whole and I hope that I never have to see it again.

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