Dossier K. [2009]

Plot: Nazim Tahiri (Belrim Desani) finds out that his father has been murdered in Antwerp by members of the rival Gaba clan. Kanun, an Albanian law from the 15th century, forces Nazim to take revenge. He goes to Antwerp, where his godfather, Prenk Shehu (R. Kan Albay), leads the family mafia businesses.

Police officer Vincke (Keon De Bouw) is in charge of finding out what is going on in the world of the Albanian Mafia clans.

This starts off  with powerful opening scene between a wolf hunter in the Albanian mountains and an assassination in the port of Antwerp. The identities of the hunter and the murdered man aren't initially revealed, but the two are already visually connected.Vincke and Verstuyft investigate the case of the Antwerp victim, and the trail quickly leads to the local Albanian mafia. However, the burly local Albanian clan leader (R. Kan Albay), denies knowing the dead man. 

Dossier K derives much of its atmosphere, and several clever plot points from an underworld that is part clan-based, part steeped in the traditions of a foreign culture. The rural Albanians respect for their book of laws and honor, the Kanun, plays a special role here, and is timely: Vincke and Verstuyft provide not only collegial banter but also have to butt heads with their unhelpful colleagues on the Belgian judiciary police, including Filip Peeters and Jappe Claes, with Claes especially impressive as the oily prosecutor. When one of Vincke and Verstuyft's colleagues, and a potential love interest, is caught in the line of fire, the film becomes unexpectedly moving and shows the day-to-day risks of police work. 

A must watch if you like mob films like Eastern Promises or just like movies in general.

Rate - 8/10 

TRON: Legacy [2010]

Plot: Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), a rebellious 27-year-old, is haunted by the mysterious disappearance of his father Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), a man once known as the world's leading video-game developer. When Sam investigates a strange signal sent from the old Flynn's Arcade -- a signal that could only come from his father-- he finds himself pulled into a digital world where Kevin has been trapped for 20 years. With the help of the fearless warrior Quorra (Olivia Wilde), father and son embark on a life-or-death journey across a cyber universe -- a universe created by Kevin himself that has become far more advanced with vehicles, weapons, landscapes and a ruthless villain who will stop at nothing to prevent their escape. 

This film is just quite amazing to sum it up I mean it has amazing visuals and a pretty good storyline but there are some holes in the story but nothing you can't figure out with a little bit of thinking.

The film starts off with a the son of  Kevin Flynn not wanting any part of his fathers company Encom after his father disappearance, even though once a year he plays a practical trip on the company for old time sake. After receiving a page from his father Sam Flynn decides that he will go and investigate and this is when he gets brought into the program world where the film gets exciting and eventful.

After a couple of fights in the gladiator style arena Sam Flynn finds his father and they plan to escape from the program world that has had Kevin Flynn trapped for 20 years. This will prove to be hard since they have the evil Kevin Flynn named Clu on their tail. After meeting with a few people and trying to find a way out they start to head towards the exit and this is where the action really picks up.

Without spoiling it for anyone this movie is a must watch and if you love technology you will love what they did with this movie. Even though at some points you will feel puzzled about what is going on, with a little bit of thought you can come up with a conclusion.

Rate - 8.5/10

Rio [2011]

Plot: Deep in the jungles of Brazil, the world's last surviving male blue macaw gets snatched by poachers and shipped to Minnesota, where he falls off the back of a truck and lands in the hands of an owlish little girl named Linda.Fifteen years later, Linda has matured into an owlish young woman (voiced by Leslie Mann) and Blu(Voiced by Jesse Eisenberg), her highly imaginative name for him, has morphed into a fussy, flightless thing who sips hot chocolate and speaks in the hurried nasal bursts of Jesse Eisenberg. Enter Tulio (Rodrigo Santoro), a nerdy Brazilian ornithologist who persuades Linda to haul Blu to Rio to mate with free spirit Jewel (Anne Hathaway), the last surviving female of the species. When the plan goes horribly wrong, as such plans are wont to do, Blu and Jewel wind up chained at the claw and held captive by vicious smuggler (Carlos Ponce) and his gang.

This movies visual effects are amazing and the music is superb and story line is a good one but I did find it to lack in humor. Rio is by far a rare animated film but it is certainly a  playful one that you and/or family will enjoy watching.

What I liked most about Rio was its energy, its energy is truly infectious at that. I wasn't expecting the writing to be this sharp and witty but it touches your heart to see such a small bird overcome so many obstacles just to be with his owner.The soundtrack has a huge amount of authentic Brazilian flavor and just ripples with zest. I loved the samba and bossa nova rhythms that pulsate throughout, and further fun is to be had in the spectacular Carnaeval finale.

Much of the humor of the film is kid friendly as is expected from this type of film and it is done very well but I do think it could have had more. There is enough for parents and adults audiences to keep them entertaining. My personal favorites were the double act Kipo (Robin Thicke) and Marcel (Carlos Ponce) who were the dumb henchmen for the poacher and outsmarted by a cockatoo. They have some of the best lines in the film. But the two characters Pedro the Red-crested Cardinal (will.i.am) and Nico the yellow canary (Jamie Fox) were annoying and pretty stereotypical.

Jesse Eisenberg gives a nerdy performance as his character is book-smart, but not adventurous at all, preferring to be safe with his owner. Compared to Anne Hathaway she is a feisty, strong female character who wants to explore and distrusts humans. Both learn from each other, for Blu that there is a wider world and for Jewel that not all humans are bad. As well as the bird love in the film there is also some nerd love which will be enjoyed by both adults and kids and will leave you happy at the end of the movie.

Overall I would recommend families and animiated lovers to go watch this film.

Rate - 7/10

Sucker Punch [2011]

Plot: A young girl (Baby Doll) is locked away in a mental asylum by her abusive stepfather where she will undergo a lobotomy in five days time. Faced with unimaginable odds, she retreats to a fantastical world in her imagination where she and four other female inmates at the asylum, plot to escape the facility. The lines between reality and fantasy blur as Baby Doll and her four companions, as well as a mysterious guide, fight to retrieve the five items they need that will allow them to break free from their captors before it's too late...

Movie starts off with a great opening scene and doesn't stop the whole way through. The beginning of the movie sets the president for the rest of the movie and how it's flow will be and in my opinion the director/producer did a great job on hooking you on from the beginning.

The film stars Emily Browning as Baby Doll, a young woman committed to a mental institution after assaulting her stepfather with a pistol. Although she's watched closely by the administrator, Blue Jones (Oscar Isaac), and his resident psychiatrist, Dr. Gorski (Carla Gugino), Baby Doll soon meets fellow inmates Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish), Rocket (Jena Malone), Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens), and Amber (Jamie Chung), and forms a tenuous friendship as their world transforms from an insane asylum into a brothel where they're the main attraction. But when Baby Doll discovers that the High Roller (Jon Hamm) is coming in five days to perform a lobotomy/ take her innocence, the five of them hatch a plan with the help of the Wise Man (Scott Glenn) to acquire a series of items which in theory should help her escape to freedom. 

This is where the movie goes into a lot of CG scenes and you will love it, the slow motion scenes is amazing, the gun/samurai  fights are amazing and the Nazi-Zombies scene brings you back to Call of Duty: World At War. If you love video games then you will love watching these amazing scenes unfold in front of you and even if you don't play video games this film will still hook you on the amazing CG scenes.

 

When baby doll goes into her dance sequence is when every action scene starts off like a video game like its the next level to the game with some aspiring words from the films wise man. The story is a bit off at times but that's what the director/producer was going for is to make you talk about the movie even after you left the theater. This will make for good conversation as you try to figure out some of the holes in the film.

Overall I would recommend this movie for anyone that loves video games or anyone that loves fantasy movies and/or the occasional movie watcher.

Rate - 9/10

SWAT - Firefight [2011]

Plot: A relentless government assassin (Robert Patrick) stalks the Detroit S.W.A.T. team in this explosive urban action thriller. Paul Cutler (Gabriel Macht) knows a thing or two about diffusing tense situations. An LAPD cop and anti-terrorism expert who accepts a job teaching hostage rescue tactics in Detroit, Cutler finds his reputation on the line after responding to a domestic dispute call black-ops hit man Walter Hatch (Patrick) and failing to save the hostage. Now, Walter is back, and he won't stop until the entire S.W.A.T. team is dead. Giancarlo Esposito and Kristanna Loken co-star.

This movie concludes that all straight to Dvd/Blu-Ray movies are essentially trash and not worth a watch.

The acting is terrible and it couldn't really get any worse even Robert Patrick's acting was just not there. The storyline is not well thought out at all, it seems as if they were making up the story as they go. The camera angels were weird at times such as when they would put it on the gun - just didn't look right. The action scenes were OK at best but I was expecting a lot more coming from this movie.

I mean the original SWAT film was pretty good so you would expect this one to be as well,but its a big let down in so many ways. I would deffinitly not recommend anyone to waste their time watching this movie, this is a must skip overall.

Rate - 3/10

Toy Story 3 [2010]

Plot: Woody, Buzz and the whole gang are back. As their owner Andy prepares to depart for college, his loyal toys find themselves in daycare where untamed tots with their sticky little fingers do not play nice. So, it's all for one and one for all as they join Barbie's counterpart Ken, a thespian hedgehog named Mr. Pricklepants and a pink, strawberry-scented teddy bear called Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear to plan their great escape

What can I say about this movie other than its one of the best Toy Story films put out to date, it goes into the concept of the boy finally leaving for college and leaving his toys behind. This film is a mix of Toy Story meets Prison Break and I would go as far as to say Toy Story 3 is way better then Prison Break. Toy Story 3 is hilarious, heartbreaking and original. 

The storyline is on point and it will make your heartbreak at times and a second latter have you laughing your head off, the voice overs were also on point as the voices matches the toys actions perfectly. The sad moments in this film will make you tear up and the happy moments will make you laugh out loud like your a little kid again.

The movie overall was amazing the quality was on point, the voice overs were on point, the camera angels are on point and the storyline is definitely on point. I would suggest watching this with the family or girlfriend/fiance/wife as there is something in this movie for everyone.

Rate - 9/10

The A-Team [2010]

Plot: Four American soldiers who are in Iraq are sent on a mission to recover plates for printing 100 dollar bills that were used to print a billion dollars. After doing the job and returning to the base their commanding officer is killed in an explosion and the plates are stolen by another operative. They would be court martialed and sent to different prisons. 6 months later, the leader, Hannibal Smith is visited by a CIA spook who tells him he knows where the man who took the plates is and wants him and his men to recover it. So he helps him escape and he breaks out the others and they go after the plates. But after doing it, they discover that the spook might not be ok. And a military intelligence officer who was involved with one of them is pursuing them.

This movie is an action packed film with a bunch familiar faces to the action film world such as Liam Nelson (Colonel Hannibal Smith), Bradley Cooper (Lt. 'Faceman' Peck), Jessica Biel (Charissa Sosa),Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson (B.A. Baracus) & Sharlto Copley (Captain H.M. Murdock). With this kind of line up how can you not like the movie and the director does not skip in script or film quality because of this outstanding case which is the best part of the movie.

The acting is on point on almost every scene and the background music is superb. Action should be this movies middle name as you barley go into a scene without seeing some kind of action going on which is the best part of the movie. With all the serious parts in the movie I love how the director incorporated a lot of jokes and funny scenes in the movie to make it more enjoyable for the viewer. 

What surprised me the most was Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson as B.A. Baracus, his acting was on point even though his and MMA fighter he did very well in this film and we will probably be seeing him in many more movies to come. Liam Nelson as usual takes the lead role or head of team and does an amazing job in his role as usual. Jessica Biel and Bradley Cooper have romance in the movie which both shine in and Bradley Cooper also does an exceptional job in his action scenes and Sharlto Copley also plays a great supporting role.

Overall I would suggest this movie to anyone that loves action movies and or to an occasional action movie watcher as its not all serious action.

Rate - 8.5/10