Hanna movie review (2011)

Hanna (2011)

Brief review: Although it has a couple of dull moments, and a few rather unnecessary scenes, Joe Wright's latest flick is a fast-paced, intense and fantastically-crafted thrill ride, that delivers the goods. "Hanna" is nothing short of captivating, visually, due to Wright's dynamically versatile, yet sophisticated direction, the beautifully washed-out color palette of the cinematography, and the various stunning locations used in the film. Furthermore, "Hanna" 'sounds' as cool as it looks, thanks to Chemical Brothers' original music score, filled with intense electronic beats that prepare the viewer for action. Speaking of action, "Hanna" is not only wonderfully-choreographed, but also creative and edge-of-your-seat thrilling. Acting-wise, "Hanna" succeeds vastly because of its top-notch cast. Saoirse Ronan is a true force of nature in her difficult role as Hanna, who discovers the world for the first time. Her sweet, innocent look contrasts with her daring, fierce spirit, and despite her superhuman strength and abilities, Ronan is thoroughly believable as the title character. One of the finest actresses working today, Cate Blanchett, delivers an outstanding performance as the cold-blooded Marissa, and the insanely underrated Eric Bana gives another solid performance as the bold, protectful father of Hanna, Erik.

Overall summary: Thanks to its unique premise, brilliant execution, impressive variety of settings, and Saoirse Ronan's show-stealing performance, "Hanna" is not only a true breath of fresh air into the genre, but also one of the most clever and spectacularly entertaining action thrillers of the past few years.

The Marsh movie review

The Marsh (2006)

Short review: "The Marsh" is yet another tedious, standard haunted house ghost story, that suffers from uninspired plot, horrendous dialogue, third-rate special effects and cheap scares. "The Marsh" is about a sophisticated author haunted by gruesome visions of violence and death that would be far out of place in her successful series of children's books, who embarks on a brief sabbatical into the countryside that turns out to be far from the convalescent getaway her doctor had prescribed. The acting was mediocre at best, except for Forest Whitaker, who did a decent job with the material he was given, thanks to his considerable talent. Gabriel Anwar, in the lead role, was bland and uninteresting to watch. The cinematography was simply poor, as was the scenery - the forest/marsh environment looked horrifyingly fake and amateurishly-done. "The Marsh" is poorly executed low-budget horror, with a predictable and unoriginal story, that lacks creepiness and suspense, scares and intensity.

• My Rating: 2.75/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: 0% (3 Reviews)
  
• IMDb: 4.8/10

AfterLife movie review (2010)

After.Life (2010)

"After.Life" tells the story of Anna, who after a horrific car accident, wakes up to find the local funeral director Eliot Deacon preparing her body for her funeral. Confused, terrified and feeling still very much alive, Anna doesn't believe she's dead, despite the funeral director's reassurances that she is merely in transition to the afterlife. While lacking in execution, Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo's "After.Life" is a smart, dark and twisted story, that forces you to think and guess while watching it. It's actually so smart, you might struggle to figure it all out, and you'll find yourself think even harder, after you leave the theater. The point of "After.Life" is to provoke conversations and debates, and it certainly succeeds. Much of the clues they put in the movie were illogical and misleading, but they were there for just that reason - to make you wonder if Eliot Deacon was a crazy psycho killer, or if he really could talk to dead people; and to make you question, if Anna Taylor was actually dead or alive?! Another important question concerned is "Do we really deserve this life?", as most of the people just waste away their days on monotonous and pleasureless tasks, and don't spend enough time with people they love care for, and things they like to do. The acting in "After.Life" was top-notch. Liam Neeson did a good job as the funeral director, and Christina Ricci was excllent in her role as the terrified and largely confused Anna. Justin Long gave his all as Paul - he acted with such care and passion, and showed so much emotion, he managed to outshine both Liam Neeson and Christina Ricci. Technically, "After.Life" was nothing special. The atmosphere was mysterious and creepy, but the low budget was noticable, at times obvious, and the CGI effects, while minimally used, looked poor and cheap. Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo's direction was average at best. Perhaps in different hands, this film might have been a masterpiece. Although, it has its flaws, "After.Life" is nicely-acted, smartly-scripted, unpredictable and thought-provoking psychological thriller, that will tease your brain. Solve this mysterious puzzle yourself!

• My Rating: 6.50/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: 26% (4.5/10)
• IMDb: 6.4/10

Don't Look Up movie review (2010)

Don't Look Up (2010)

Short review: "Don't Look Up" is a remake of 1996 Japanese horror film with the same name, directed by Chinese filmmaker Fruit Chan, best know to the western audiences as one of the directors of "3 Extremes". In this story, evil spirits get released from old celluloid, which causes a film crew to slowly go insane over time whilst in production on a new project. Despite its intriguing plot, creepy Transylvanian settings, and a couple of good scares, "Don't Look Up" does nothing to challenge its good premise, and simply falls flat on its face. The film suffers from poor direction and editing, beyond horrible acting, one-dimensional characters and laughably bad special effects. The pathetic attempt for shocking twist at the end was the rotten cherry on top of this terrible mess of a film.

• My Rating: 3.75/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: N/A
• IMDb: 5.9/10

The Sorcerer's Apprentice movie review (2010)

The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010)

In "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", Balthazar Blake is a master sorcerer in modern-day Manhattan trying to defend the city from his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath. Balthazar can't do it alone, so he recruits Dave Stutler, a seemingly average guy who demonstrates hidden potential, as his reluctant protege. The sorcerer gives his unwilling accomplice a crash course in the art and science of magic, and together, these unlikely partners work to stop the forces of darkness. "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" suffers from a bit complicated set up, but it becomes a lot more entertaining and mildly enjoyable half way through. Awkward hero and scary mentor, threat of global apocalypse, simplistic action plot, silly comic relief, awkward romance - it's all there. But, it's what the movie does with that is why it's so fun, and the action is actually eye-candy and fun to watch. Nicolas Cage is also pretty good here, considering his career has been a bit of a joke lately. He does not seem to know when he wants to be serious or wants to ham it up, but it works for his unorthodox sorcerer. Baruchel delivers his 'geek' performance in exactly the same ways he delivers his previous performances ("She's Out of My League" anyone?). He's clumsy, likable and honest, yet a little to goofy at times. The rest of the cast does a good job as well - Alfred Molina is sinister to the max, and the perfect choice for a villain, and the always beautiful Monica Belluci looks amazing. Visually, The Sorcerer's Apprentice is fairly good. Jon Turteltaub's direction is light-hearted and pretty decent. The production design gives an epic, yet at times a bit gloomy look to the movie, and the special effects grade from cheesy to amazing. "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" does cater to a younger audience, but also provides enough action, passable CGI effects, and enough humor to be enjoyed by adults as well. It's far from great, but if you're looking for mindless summer entertainment, this is the one.

• My Rating: 6.25/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: 41% (5.2/10)
• IMDb: 6.3/10

Cherry Tree Lane movie review (2010)

Cherry Tree Lane (2010)

This UK urban thriller titled "Cherry Tree Lane" tells the story of a middle-aged couple who are terrorized in their home by a group of teenagers who want kill their son. Though I perfectly understand this film's concept and everything, I found it somewhat incomplete, quite predictable and a bit amateurish to be honest. It's difficult not to compare this film with similar 'home invasion' films like "Funny Games" and "The Strangers", and while I didn't love any of the above mentioned, I thought "Cherry Tree Lane" was even weaker, due to overly familiar scenario, very limited settings and characters you can hardly connect and feel sympathy for, because the focus is mostly on the intruders, who have no rational motives for torturing this family. Almost nothing happens in the first 20 minutes or so, and unfortunately Paul Andrew Williams' attempt to build tension fails completely, as the results in nothing but boredom. The film is thoroughly disturbing and nasty, yet not as effective as it think it is, and not even moderately scary, thrilling or intense. Also, director's choice of minimalistic scenery and lots of extreme close-up shots just don't work that well as he might think. Acting-wise, the film is pretty decent. Both, Tom Butcher and Rachael Blake do a fairly good job as the tortured couple, but the real stand out here is Jumayn Hunter, who delivers truly creepy performance as the unpredictable and sadistic Rian. Actually, the most terrifying thing about "Cherry Tree Lane" is way the director portrays young British people, particularly young black people - as an ignorant, narrow-minded sadistic idiots. "Cherry Tree Lane" has its moments and is far from awful, but it feels more like an unsatisfying exercise in film-making, rather than a brutal, violent thriller, and due to director's lack of imagination, the film seems to run out of ideas towards the end, despite its ultra-short running time.

• My Rating: 4.50/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: 64% (5.9/10)
• IMDb: 6.1/10