Runtime:
107 minutes
Directed
by: Jee-woon Kim
Starring:
ARNOLD, Forest Whitaker, Luiz Guzman, Jaimie Alexander, Eduardo
Noriega
From:
Lionsgate
Finally,
I've seen my first 2013 film. Tomorrow evening I'll finally post that
2012 list, but tonight I'll talk about this film, one that ended up
bombing at the box office; maybe not enough people care in these
modern times about one old action star, maybe it was his
controversial time in office, maybe it was that affair with the
scary-looking maid, or maybe it was a combo of all of those... point
is, I was surprised it did almost nothing at the box office. The
trailers made it look good but I heard reviews from action fans, many
of whom said that this was middling at best. I was shocked. Turns
out, I disagree with the naysayers.
You
probably already know the plot: A cartel leader on the level of
Escobar (Noriega) escapes from FBI custody and he takes a Corvette
ZR1 and heads to Mexico. He decides to have his henchmen set things
up where he surprises the authorities and goes through a rather small
town in Arizona on the Mexican border. But he wasn't expecting a
grizzled sheriff (ARNOLD) and his wacky collection of deputies being
there to try and stop them.
This
is the American debut of famed Korean director Kim. I'd compare this
to his other films like The Good The Bad The Weird or I Saw The
Devil, but I would have had to have seen them before to be able to do
such a thing, so... I imagine this isn't as good as the movies I
mentioned but that doesn't mean this is bad. Sure, this is a big dumb
action movie where you should shut your brain off... that said, if
you enjoy action movies with many interesting characters, nice
moments for all of them, bitchin' cars (a Camaro ZL1 also is used by
someone), plenty of violent bloody action, funny moments, familiar
faces (there's also Peter Stomare, the really hot Genesis Rodriguez,
and a cameo from Harry Dean Stanton) and yeah, hot women
throughout..
If you enjoy that sort of thing, then ignore the
criticisms and check this out, at least if you are able to. By the
start of February it'll be gone from many theatres due to it bombing.
I say it's a shame it did not do well. Maybe on DVD/Blu-Ray it'll get
more attention and appreciation, where you can admire that it starts off with a cover of Sleepwalk and it ends with a cover of the Jeff Beck Group version of Howlin' Wolf's I Ain't Superstitious.
Like
I said, tomorrow night I'll be back with THE LIST.
No comments:
Post a Comment