I liked The Island! It ain’t Huston or Ford but it was a fun coupla of hours.
Well, let’s see:
80 million dollar budget. So far, so good.
Directed by Peter Hyams. Uh-oh. Let’s see what else he’s made. Hmm. His last film was The Musketeer, four years ago. A terrible film, I hear. End of Days. Yikes. The Relic. Well, that one was OK, but that was eight years ago.
Renny Harlin actually left this film to direct something else. Oh, boy.
Written by the guys who wrote Sahara.
OK, I’m predicting not good.
Tell me you’re kidding me. Even if you are not kidding me, tell me you’re kidding me. Because if this is true, I’m not sure I want to live.
Universal Lizard?
Well, I hadn’t read it in a while, but I was close. I hate this website and the writer rambles on and on forever before finally discussing the script itself, but here is a cite:
Hey I don’t care what anyone says. Jerry Bruckheimer + Michael Bay = ACTION MOTHERFUCKER!!! (and to a lesser extent, the Jerry Bruckheimer + Tony Scott combo).
Regardless of how they do in the theaters or how much the various geeks and nerds complain about asteroids this and Pearl Harbor that and faithful to the book whateverwhogivesafuck, I’ve pretty much found them to be entertaining when taken as what they are - escapist action fantasy that has no bearing on reality.
Problem is (as I’ve been saying for years) there’s no decent action heros to replace the Schwartzeniggers, Willis’ and to a lesser extent the Stalones, Segals and Van Dammes. The Rock’s acting lives up to his name and Vin Deisel should be voted “most likely to pick the crappiest of three possible movie franchises (and I actually LIKE the Riddick character).”
At least it’s not John Woo.
I tend to disagree. I think The Rock is terrific, and he has more of a range than Arnold (who tended to be the best “action” moviestar; Bruce Willis and Mel Gibson were good enough actors to do more than JUST action movies). The Rock is blessed with great comic timing, and he’s much more willing to do self-deprecating humor or mock his he-man image than Arnold. He’s much easier to understand, he can do more of his own stunts, he can sing and dance, and he’s just charismatic and cool. For anyone who doubts this or doesn’t believe a wrestler can transition to becoming a decent actor, check out *The Rundown * (a surprisingly great buddy adventure movie) or Be Cool, in which The Rock and Vince Vaughn are the only highlights of an otherwise crummy and unnecessary sequel.
I also think Jason Statham belongs in the next pantheon of action movie heroes. He can do ass-kicking action or smug, smarmy comedy: he is quite funny in Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, and The Italian Job, and he takes part in some of the best fight scenes I’ve ever seen in a non-Asian action movie in The Transporter. He’s studied martial arts for most of his life, so he is in amazing shape and doesn’t need to constantly rely on stuntmen. Plus he has that uber-cool British accent, and he’s a good role model for balding men.
I love John Woo’s Hong Kong action films and he was a major trendsetter in the late '80s and early '90s, influencing everyone from Michael Bay to Quentin Tarantino. But so far he’s only made two good American movies: Hard Target and Face/Off. I consider myself a fan, and I haven’t even cared for his others.
Sigh. Michael Bay. And I still have hopes for Transformers: The Movie.
I hope.
Yeah, but what kind of MF action we are talking here?
http://www.ugo.com/channels/filmtv/features/middleearthguide/retold_mines.asp
Despite all the Transformers references I maintain, even I’m not holding out much hope that Michael Bay will turn the Transformers live-action flick into something more than mindless action fare to shamelessly exploit the license. I’d like to be surprised, but right now it’s up there with Bumblebee defeating Trypticon single-handedly…
Isn’t the theatre in general not doing so well? Last I heard there was something like a record-long 18 week slump in movie attendance.