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BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated The Gray Man (2022) in Movies
Aug 6, 2022
Entertaining Enough...but...NOTHING NEW
Have you seen the touring company of Hamilton when it came to your town? You liked it, didn’t you? I sure did, but I didn’t like it as much as I liked the Broadway Company of Hamilton that I saw in NYC the year before.
Such is the case with the new Ryan Gosling/Chris Evans action flick THE GRAY MAN. It is reminiscent of the MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, BOURNE and JOHN WICK films - and is very enjoyable - but I like the other movies better.
Directed by THE RUSSO BROTHERS (AVENGERS: ENDGAME) and written by Joe Russo, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (writers of AVENGERS: ENDGAME), based on the book by Mark Greaney, THE GRAY MAN stars Gosling (LA LA LAND) as an enigmatic secret agent (is their any other kind) who is sent on a deadly mission that, perhaps isn’t what it seems on the surface (are there any other)?
This is a plot VERY reminiscent of the aforementioned MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, BOURNE and JOHN WICK films and when Chris Evans (CAPTAIN AMERICA, of course) and Ana de Armas (the latest James Bond flick, NO TIME TO DIE) show up as a few other mercenaries who might be on Gosling’s side - or might not - you can’t help but be reminded of those other flicks.
And that’s the trouble with THE GRAY MAN, it just can’t compete (at least in my memory) with those other films, mostly because it doesn’t do anything new. It is your basic “Super Spy” flick, very professionally done, but it isn’t anything you haven’t seen before.
The actors (Gosling, de Armas and Evans) are very good in their roles and have enigmatic (Gosling), out of control (Evans) and mysterious (de Armas) down very well and are ably assisted by wily veterans like Alfre Woodard (CROSS CREEK) and good ol’ Billy Bob Thornton (SLINGBLADE) who seem to having a good time going along for the ride.
And…it’s a fun ride…the action scenes are well done, set-up and choreographed professionally with just enough unique ways to take out a henchman or blow-up some sort of transport to make it interesting to watch, but…again…it’s really nothing new.
An entertaining 2 hours of film-making - and a film that will have a sequel on the way - there are worst ways to spend your time and with good (enough) action sequences and interesting and charismatic performers to watch - THE GRAY MAN suits its purpose…it entertains.
Letter Grade: B+
7 1/2 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Such is the case with the new Ryan Gosling/Chris Evans action flick THE GRAY MAN. It is reminiscent of the MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, BOURNE and JOHN WICK films - and is very enjoyable - but I like the other movies better.
Directed by THE RUSSO BROTHERS (AVENGERS: ENDGAME) and written by Joe Russo, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (writers of AVENGERS: ENDGAME), based on the book by Mark Greaney, THE GRAY MAN stars Gosling (LA LA LAND) as an enigmatic secret agent (is their any other kind) who is sent on a deadly mission that, perhaps isn’t what it seems on the surface (are there any other)?
This is a plot VERY reminiscent of the aforementioned MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, BOURNE and JOHN WICK films and when Chris Evans (CAPTAIN AMERICA, of course) and Ana de Armas (the latest James Bond flick, NO TIME TO DIE) show up as a few other mercenaries who might be on Gosling’s side - or might not - you can’t help but be reminded of those other flicks.
And that’s the trouble with THE GRAY MAN, it just can’t compete (at least in my memory) with those other films, mostly because it doesn’t do anything new. It is your basic “Super Spy” flick, very professionally done, but it isn’t anything you haven’t seen before.
The actors (Gosling, de Armas and Evans) are very good in their roles and have enigmatic (Gosling), out of control (Evans) and mysterious (de Armas) down very well and are ably assisted by wily veterans like Alfre Woodard (CROSS CREEK) and good ol’ Billy Bob Thornton (SLINGBLADE) who seem to having a good time going along for the ride.
And…it’s a fun ride…the action scenes are well done, set-up and choreographed professionally with just enough unique ways to take out a henchman or blow-up some sort of transport to make it interesting to watch, but…again…it’s really nothing new.
An entertaining 2 hours of film-making - and a film that will have a sequel on the way - there are worst ways to spend your time and with good (enough) action sequences and interesting and charismatic performers to watch - THE GRAY MAN suits its purpose…it entertains.
Letter Grade: B+
7 1/2 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
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Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015) in Movies
Jun 3, 2020
BB-8 (2 more)
Old Cast
Better Than The Prequels
A New Hope Shortly Lived
Contains spoilers, click to show
The Force Awakens- is a excellent, phenomenal movie, no doubt about that. Its the return of old charcters coming back and a whole new cast of new charcters. My favorite is BB-8, he reminds me of R2-D2. The problem if you really think about it is.. Its a copy & paste of A New Hope. Lets look deeper into that.
Case 1- Introducing A Core Trio, you have Rey, Finn and Poe. In ANH, you have Luke, Leia and Han.
Case 2- Rey's beginning. Some one who is lonely, raised in the desert and finds a droid that has important infomation and that sets off the beginning of the adventure. Sounds like Luke to me, cause it is.
Case 3- The Droid Holds The Secret Clue To Everything Important. In this case, BB-8 is holding important infomation on the whereabouts on to find Luke.
Hmm R2-D2, secret message from Leia to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke, the farmboy whose future as a Jedi would save the Rebellion and the galaxy, is led to his Jedi. Intresting right.
Case 4- Jakku And Tatooine. Jakku is basically Tattooine. Its where the main charcter is from, where the story begins, where the main charcter finds the droid and where the adventure begins.
Case 5- Starkiller Base And The Death Star. Basically Starkiller Base is the Death Star. The First Order's Starkiller Base is just a complete rip off of Darth Vader's Death Star. While the Starkiller Base can inflict much more damage than the Death Star, it's basically the same weapon. A has basically the same weak point.
So basically what Im saying is that The Force Awakens is a copy & paste of A New Hope.
The plot: Set 30 years after Return of the Jedi, The Force Awakens follows Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, and Han Solo's search for Luke Skywalker and their fight in the Resistance, led by General Leia Organa and veterans of the Rebel Alliance, against Kylo Ren and the First Order, a successor to the Galactic Empire.
I remember seeing this film opening day at 9:15am on Friday. With a packed theater, every seat was full and that was a excellent experience. Seeing it with a crowd full of star wars fans was epic and would do it again.
Its fun, entertaining and overall a excellent, phenomenal movie. Bringing us a new star wars movie after the awful prequels. The Force Awakens brought us fans a new hope after the disappointed and awful prequels. A new hope that didnt last long, but i will get to those soon. But for now this review.
Case 1- Introducing A Core Trio, you have Rey, Finn and Poe. In ANH, you have Luke, Leia and Han.
Case 2- Rey's beginning. Some one who is lonely, raised in the desert and finds a droid that has important infomation and that sets off the beginning of the adventure. Sounds like Luke to me, cause it is.
Case 3- The Droid Holds The Secret Clue To Everything Important. In this case, BB-8 is holding important infomation on the whereabouts on to find Luke.
Hmm R2-D2, secret message from Leia to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke, the farmboy whose future as a Jedi would save the Rebellion and the galaxy, is led to his Jedi. Intresting right.
Case 4- Jakku And Tatooine. Jakku is basically Tattooine. Its where the main charcter is from, where the story begins, where the main charcter finds the droid and where the adventure begins.
Case 5- Starkiller Base And The Death Star. Basically Starkiller Base is the Death Star. The First Order's Starkiller Base is just a complete rip off of Darth Vader's Death Star. While the Starkiller Base can inflict much more damage than the Death Star, it's basically the same weapon. A has basically the same weak point.
So basically what Im saying is that The Force Awakens is a copy & paste of A New Hope.
The plot: Set 30 years after Return of the Jedi, The Force Awakens follows Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, and Han Solo's search for Luke Skywalker and their fight in the Resistance, led by General Leia Organa and veterans of the Rebel Alliance, against Kylo Ren and the First Order, a successor to the Galactic Empire.
I remember seeing this film opening day at 9:15am on Friday. With a packed theater, every seat was full and that was a excellent experience. Seeing it with a crowd full of star wars fans was epic and would do it again.
Its fun, entertaining and overall a excellent, phenomenal movie. Bringing us a new star wars movie after the awful prequels. The Force Awakens brought us fans a new hope after the disappointed and awful prequels. A new hope that didnt last long, but i will get to those soon. But for now this review.
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019) in Movies
Dec 24, 2019
"Satisfying Enough" Conclusion
I am a fan of the STAR WARS films. Ever since I first went to a place A LONG TIME AGO IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY I have enjoyed the adventures of the ragtag group of rebels taking on the evil Galactic Empire. Like most folks, I was blown away by the first STAR WARS film, LOVED the sequel, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, thought the concluding film in the original trilogy, RETURN OF THE JEDI was "good enough", hated the prequels and have been cautiously optimistic when both THE FORCE AWAKENS and ROGUE ONE were good films. Finally, of course, I was disappointed (like everyone else) with THE LAST JEDI and SOLO. So...I was going to go to THE RISE OF SKYWALKER no matter what anyone else says.
And...I was satisfied.
STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER is an above average, "good enough" conclusion to the Skywalker saga of Star Wars, bringing enough action, energy, adventure and character moments - and character cameos - to satisfy my appetite for all things Star Wars.
Directed by returning Director J.J. Abrams, ROS picks up events after the events of THE LAST JEDI. Rey is training to be a Jedi and Poe, Finn, Leia and Chewie are fighting Kylo Ren and the First Order. The film starts out rapidly - perhaps too rapidly - as multiple events take place with action pieces and fast pacing that does leave you slightly breathless - it also feels just a bit rushed, as if J.J. is trying to pack 10 lbs. of movie into a 5 lb bag. By gosh, he was not going to accused of delivering a film that was not "fast-paced".
The performances of the leads are strong - Daisy Ridley (Rey), Adam Driver (Kylo), John Boyega (Finn) and Oscar Isaac (Poe) all know their characters by now and they are able to play in them well. Joined by the expected CGI and costumed droids and aliens (C3PO, R2D2, BB8 and good ol' Chewie), I was happily entertained to see them all together on screen - along with "veterans" like Lando (Billy Dee Williams) and General (not Princess) Leia (the late Carrie Fisher). The filmmakers put a loving tribute to her in this film that is effective (though I could see where they had to use a body double in places), but it is still well done. And, of course, there are plenty of callbacks and cameos to make any StarWars afficianado happy.
Ultimately, the emotional stakes of the denouement fell a bit short for me (as the "big bad" in this didn't have the emotional heft of Darth Vader), but it was a "good enough" emotional ending buried in an above average "final space battle" to have me leave the film satisfied.
And...that's all you can ask for from the 9th film of a series...enough to keep you "satisfied".
Letter Grade: B+
8 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank (ofMarquis)
And...I was satisfied.
STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER is an above average, "good enough" conclusion to the Skywalker saga of Star Wars, bringing enough action, energy, adventure and character moments - and character cameos - to satisfy my appetite for all things Star Wars.
Directed by returning Director J.J. Abrams, ROS picks up events after the events of THE LAST JEDI. Rey is training to be a Jedi and Poe, Finn, Leia and Chewie are fighting Kylo Ren and the First Order. The film starts out rapidly - perhaps too rapidly - as multiple events take place with action pieces and fast pacing that does leave you slightly breathless - it also feels just a bit rushed, as if J.J. is trying to pack 10 lbs. of movie into a 5 lb bag. By gosh, he was not going to accused of delivering a film that was not "fast-paced".
The performances of the leads are strong - Daisy Ridley (Rey), Adam Driver (Kylo), John Boyega (Finn) and Oscar Isaac (Poe) all know their characters by now and they are able to play in them well. Joined by the expected CGI and costumed droids and aliens (C3PO, R2D2, BB8 and good ol' Chewie), I was happily entertained to see them all together on screen - along with "veterans" like Lando (Billy Dee Williams) and General (not Princess) Leia (the late Carrie Fisher). The filmmakers put a loving tribute to her in this film that is effective (though I could see where they had to use a body double in places), but it is still well done. And, of course, there are plenty of callbacks and cameos to make any StarWars afficianado happy.
Ultimately, the emotional stakes of the denouement fell a bit short for me (as the "big bad" in this didn't have the emotional heft of Darth Vader), but it was a "good enough" emotional ending buried in an above average "final space battle" to have me leave the film satisfied.
And...that's all you can ask for from the 9th film of a series...enough to keep you "satisfied".
Letter Grade: B+
8 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank (ofMarquis)
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated The Internship (2013) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
In The Internship, Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson play Billy and Nick, two men in a profession that is sorely outdated. They are watch salesmen in a world where more people use their cell phones as time pieces than hunks of metal/plastic on their wrists. When their company shuts down because of this, Billy and Nick suddenly realize they don’t have any real skills, other than being excellent salesmen. Nick accepts a job working for his sister’s tatted-up boyfriend in a mattress store, while Billy is recovering from being unceremoniously dumped by his girlfriend after their house goes into foreclosure. So in a desperate bid to find jobs online, Billy stumbles across an unlikely possibility for the two of them: an internship at Google.
The movie plays out the way any other buddy comedy might. They somehow land the gig, fight adversity, teach a few life lessons along the way, and have the tough defining moments for each character. However, despite this formulaic plot, the movie was very funny and entertaining. From the smarmy British intern who spends the movie antagonizing the 40-something duo, to the two’s intern team, there is a great deal of comedy in the movie.
Vaughn and Wilson should be the most entertaining and funny in the movie, but you have to give credit to these two veterans. They really did allow their supporting cast to shine. Josh Brener, Dylan O’Brien, Tobit Raphael and Tiya Sircar all have hilarious laugh-out-loud scenes as Billy and Nick’s intern team. Josh Gad and Aasif Mandvi also steal the scenes they are in during the course of the movie.
Throw in legitimate tech jargon, real world technology, and the fact that this was actually filmed on location at the Google campus, and you have a pretty great movie. The only issue I had with the film was they did not play too much into the intern team’s story too much. For example, there was a nice wrap up for Sircar’s character that didn’t make sense. They talked about her issue some in the movie, but the resolution for her character was just never built up to, it kind of just happened and seemed out of place. But, this could be because I am a guy and don’t pick up on some of those things. My friend that saw the movie with me said I was crazy.
Overall, this movie exceeded my expectations. I came into expecting Fox to be grabbing at the success of Wedding Crashers. But in reality, this movie does well in standing on its. Coming in at one hour fifty-nine minutes, it is a bit long compared to today’s comedy standards, but you will never notice it. I know it kept our theater laughing the whole time. Definitely worth the watch. On my “would I buy it” scale (which has three levels No, DVD and Blu Ray), it is definitely worth the Blu Ray.
The movie plays out the way any other buddy comedy might. They somehow land the gig, fight adversity, teach a few life lessons along the way, and have the tough defining moments for each character. However, despite this formulaic plot, the movie was very funny and entertaining. From the smarmy British intern who spends the movie antagonizing the 40-something duo, to the two’s intern team, there is a great deal of comedy in the movie.
Vaughn and Wilson should be the most entertaining and funny in the movie, but you have to give credit to these two veterans. They really did allow their supporting cast to shine. Josh Brener, Dylan O’Brien, Tobit Raphael and Tiya Sircar all have hilarious laugh-out-loud scenes as Billy and Nick’s intern team. Josh Gad and Aasif Mandvi also steal the scenes they are in during the course of the movie.
Throw in legitimate tech jargon, real world technology, and the fact that this was actually filmed on location at the Google campus, and you have a pretty great movie. The only issue I had with the film was they did not play too much into the intern team’s story too much. For example, there was a nice wrap up for Sircar’s character that didn’t make sense. They talked about her issue some in the movie, but the resolution for her character was just never built up to, it kind of just happened and seemed out of place. But, this could be because I am a guy and don’t pick up on some of those things. My friend that saw the movie with me said I was crazy.
Overall, this movie exceeded my expectations. I came into expecting Fox to be grabbing at the success of Wedding Crashers. But in reality, this movie does well in standing on its. Coming in at one hour fifty-nine minutes, it is a bit long compared to today’s comedy standards, but you will never notice it. I know it kept our theater laughing the whole time. Definitely worth the watch. On my “would I buy it” scale (which has three levels No, DVD and Blu Ray), it is definitely worth the Blu Ray.
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