(note the article in the title – this is the 1975 Peckinpah film) Awful. Just. Awful. How could the guy who made “The Wild Bunch” make this? The plot and dialogue are embarrassing (Stirling Silliphant should have taken his name off this preachy, confused, mish-mash script). The less said about the acting (a great cast on paper) the better. And the finale of the tired finale: James Caan stands by and watches two Japanese guys (one in ninja garb) wail away with katanas. No, really. I’m not making that up.

FF=2

Should be “Cowboys & Indians & Aliens” – sort of like a Lego set with really nifty pieces that don’t quite fit together. And when you do get them together, you’re not sure what you’ve got. Did they use up all their effects budget to pay the big-name stars? Because the CGI aliens were lame. The alien wrist gun was cool, but it just happened to land on his wrist and just happened to fit and just happened to respond to his nervous system. And the aliens attacked the cowboys (and Indians) in hand-to-hand combat instead of zapping them. Eight names get writing credit and not an original idea in the film. But that’s what you’d expect with Roberto Orci involved. A great cast, some great set pieces, but overall a letdown.

FF=2

One scary film. A Iraqi man is forced to become Uday Hussein’s double. Uday (Saddam’s son) is psychotic – a sex, drug, and power-crazed oxygen waster who kidnaps and rapes school girls and flogs soccer players who don’t perform to his expectations. An example of the horror that results when unlimited power falls into the hands of a psycho. US troops killed him in 2003.

FF=2

I wanted to like this, I really did.  And I gave it lots of time through the lingering slow takes and minimalist / non-existent dialogue (all fine with me).  But the driver was simply too distant.  Since he’s in virtually every scene, we need to engage with this guy if the film’s to work.  I couldn’t, so it didn’t.  He’s pretty savvy throughout most of the film, and very stupid at the end.

FF=2

Kind of goofy fun – if you don’t mind gore and don’t mind a screenplay that plays fast and loose with Greek mythology.  Mickey Rourke is his usual overplayed self.  Lots of spectacle and cool effects.  Directed by the guy who did “The Cell” so expect neato visuals but not a lot of coherence.

FF=2

Nothing original here. The DI’s arc was totally predictable.  And the prism lens used on the transitions and establishing shots was way annoying.

FF=2

Nothing you haven’t seen before, no surprises for folks who watch these spy-action films. Denzel shows his “Training Day” side, and Ryan Reynolds is very convincing as a young agent out of his depth and struggling to do his job. If you don’t know who the mole is right off, you haven’t seen enough of these. But I hated the grainy “Hurt Locker” look. Other than that, an engaging film and not a bad way to kill a couple of hours. I FF’d through the chase scenes because I always FF through chase scenes. They’re filler – all that matters is how they end, so why prolong it?

FF=2

Sorta kinda like Occupy Wall Street meets Batman?  A little more formulaic than its two predecessors, I thought, with no Heath Ledger to make things interesting.  I FF’d through the fight scenes knowing Batman would lose the first and eventually win the second.  I guess we’ll never know how he survived that neutron bomb.  I’m trying to care, really I am.

FF=2

Anyone else have problems with this? I’d heard such good things, I was surprised it was so sloppy. The final act – the return-to-old-school sequence — saved the film for me, but jeez, getting there was kind of a chore. I like Bond and I can suspend disbelief with the best of you, but the gaps in logic and common sense made for some tough going.

FF=2

(some spoilers here) Did I miss something? What was my take-away supposed to be? Act I is riveting. After that it’s a parade of addiction cliches – superbly acted, for sure – that maneuver us to an unbelievable (in all senses of the word: emotionally, logically, plotwise) NTSB hearing where, for no good reason, Whip decides to tell the truth. He could have said “I don’t know” and ended the case, but he chose self immolation. Did he see it as a last stab at decency? The only way to clean up his act? Okay, fine. Great. But from what we’ve seen of him to this point, it’s damn near impossible to buy. Especially since the whole climax turns on his gaining access to the super-stocked minibar in the so conveniently unlocked adjoining suite on the night before a hearing that will decide his whole future.

FF=2