lmatoso-76252 Reviews

Breaking Bad (2008–2013)

Breaking Bad, my review.

[16 May 2024]

All right. Now I am writing this review having already seen the show 3 times.

Season 1: A short season. And I find it an underrated season. Yes, it focuses much more on the dark comedy aspect. But I don't find that a bad thing. The show gets progressively darker as it goes and it started with dark comedy. And good dark comedy also. The comedy is very effective. The best episode in season 1 (which is very hard to pick in this show) is probably "Crazy Handful of Nothin'" by a smidge? I just really liked the classic "This is not meth" scene. I love the story of breaking bad and how it shows the obvious evolution of Walter White. Who in this season is new to all of this. The worst episode? Pfft....ok.....I guess the pilot because.....it's the pilot? I love the pilot and there is nothing wrong with it. But, ok, I guess the pilot is the worst. Even if it beats every other show in this episode alone.

(I will review season 2 when I rewatch it)

Collateral (2004)

"Take comfort in knowing you never had a choice..."

[8/10 · 14 May 2024]

Collateral...a movie that I have very mixed feelings about.

It involves a taxi driver (Max) (supposedly a side job) that meets a strange man (Vincent) that enters his taxi and asks him to drive to a certain place, he does, and the man turns out to be a contract killer who holds Max hostage and tells him to drive around for Vincent's kills. Definitely an interesting plot, and a good plot. Definitely not a bad point of this movie (oh and also, Max meets a woman in the beginning of the movie that serves importance later in the movie).

The acting is also not a bad point in the movie. Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise work great together. Tom Cruise acts phenomenally. Jamie Foxx does as well. The secondary characters are also very well played.

The cinematography is also something great about the movie. I absolutely love the camera. It makes the movie feel much more personal and interesting. The soundtrack is good. The audio is reasonable. But the visuals are just phenomenal, honestly, it is some of the best visuals I have ever seen in a movie. The cinematography gets a 10/10 from me for the camera work alone.

Now, the realism is a big problem with this movie, so many scenes just make no sense at all. The consistency in this movie just does not exist. (Don't even get me started on that jazz scene.) Some things are just nonsensical while other parts make a lot if sense. I wish it could be more realistic because this movie could be a lot better if it were.

For the entertainment, equally as inconsistent. The movie goes from pretty good, to mediocre, back to good then to bad and the end is pretty great. Some scenes are just awful and confusing (like the club scene), and then other scenes are really well done. Which is why this leaves me confused for what to think of this movie. The whole movie I was thinking to myself: This is pretty good or This is not very good. But there are definitely some thrilling parts that leave you excited to see what happens next.

For the emotional impact, I can't say it scores very high in that either, but there was no intent of anything emotional. So, I have no opinion on that.

As for the characters, they are well written and there is significant character development especially in Max's character who goes from the social kind taxi driver to the bad ass during the movie. I find the characters great.

And the ending is phenomenal, the one-liner from Vincent in the end is great, I couldn't put it as the review title though, it would be a spoiler. Jada Pinkett Smith really does great in this film. And the ending was well written and unexpected.

In conclusion: Plot: 8.8/10 Acting: 9.3/10 Cinematography: 10/10 Realism: 6.5/10 Entertainment level: 6.7/10 Emotional impact: 5.0/10 (neutral) Characters: 8.9/10 Ending: 9.3/10

Final rating: 81%

Lincoln (2012)

"As the preacher said, I could write shorter sermons, but when I start, I just get too lazy to stop..."

[9/10 · 7 May 2024]

Lincoln is not a movie about Abraham Lincoln's life and presidency, yet it focuses more on the passing of the 13th amendment, which is the abolishment of slavery. It would have been nice to see a movie about Abraham Lincoln's life, but to be honest I think it was a good idea to focus the movie on the passing of the 13th amendment.

The acting is impeccable, from everyone, the main characters, the supporting actors, even the extras, all phenomenal, my only issue with the acting is the accent that is so obviously fake. I think it is attempting to be a southern accent, but it is so obviously not the actor's accent. Other than that, the acting is fantastic.

As for the cinematography, the visuals are incredible, it is a beautiful and attractive film. And for the audio, it is a very loud movie, a little too loud, I had it had 33, and I had to change the volume to 23...maximum is 100. But the characters sounded vivid, and overall the cinematography was good.

As for the realism, based on my research of course, so I might be wrong, but I have concluded that it is very accurate. A tad bit fictionalized and mostly grounded in reality. Which is a good thing.

Now I get to the entertainment, now the movie did not need to be 2 hours and 30 minutes. It was *way too slow*, it took a good hour for it to actually get to something. The beginning was very boring, and just not really necessary. There were not *that* many characters that needed a big introduction. But when it gets good, it gets great. But the movie would get a much higher rating from me if it weren't for the first hour of the movie.

For the emotional impact, it is a very important movie, and has one of the most emotional scenes I have seen in a movie. It is definitely more emotional than entertaining, which is not an issue, not every good movie needs to be both. The emotional impact gets a high rating, even if the entertainment level might not be so high.

And finally the ending, now as previously mentioned in the last paragraph, I said that there was one of the most emotional scenes I have seen in a movie. That happened towards the end, and the ending of this movie is a great ending, powerful, emotional, and just great to watch. I highly recommend watching this movie even though the first hour is boring as hell.

In conclusion: Plot: 9.5/10 Acting: 10/10 Cinematography: 8.5/10 Realism: 9.6/10 Entertainment level: 7.3/10 Emotional impact: 9.0/10 Ending: 9.5/10 Characters: 10/10

Final rating: 91.75%

The Aviator (2004)

"The way of the future.."

[10/10 · 7 April 2024]

This was a great movie that kept getting better throughout until it couldn't possibly get any better.

It is about the early life of the director and aviator (hence the title; "the aviator") Howard Hughes. It shows a lot of the making of Hell's Angels, and it shows his severe, yet undiagnosed OCD that seemingly gets progressively worse, as well as his relationship with Katherine.

As with a lot of biopics I have reviewed, the acting is perfection, which does not come as a surprise to me, Leonardo DiCaprio, Alec Baldwin, Alan Alda, and John C. Reily all have important roles in the movie. And obviously they all do a fantastic job.

As for the cinematography, I love everything regarding the audio. The sound quality is great, as well as the sound effects, the volume, and the soundtrack, especially the soundtrack. The visuals are good as well, It has reasonable visual quality, as well as real-looking visual effects.

For the realism, I did some research and it is among the most realistic biopics I have ever seen (along with Ray and Milk). There are very few completely dramatized scenes in the movie, which is very surprising seen as it is a 2 hour and 50 minute movie.

For the emotional impact, seeing Hughes get progressively worse is hard to watch (in a good way). It is very realistic, and DiCaprio does a great job at portraying it. It is sad, mildly disturbing.

For the entertainment, I am glad to say that the movie absolutely passes this factor as well. In the beginning, it is slow, and you don't know where the movie is going because it seems like the whole movie will be about a guy getting 2 extra cameras. But he then meets Katherine, and it gets very entertaining from there. And I am by no means saying the beginning is bad, I am just saying it lacks the entertainment that the rest of the movie has. It is still great to watch, there is also some pretty good dark comedy towards the beginning, and the 2 hours and 50 minutes end up feeling like nothing more than 1 hour and 45 minutes.

And the ending...fantastic, is all I have to say.

Conclusion: Plot: 10/10 Acting: 10/10 Cinematography: 9.9/10 Realism: 9.5/10 Emotional impact: 10/10 Entertainment level: 9.8/10 Ending: 10/10 Characters: 10/10

Final rating: 99%

Capote (2005)

"More tears are shed over answered question than unanswered ones..."

[9/10 · 24 March 2024]

Mild spoilers in the following review:

Capote is a very good movie. It is a movie that I like to call: Boring and great.

The plot is not quite about Truman Capote's life, but rather his quest on writing the revolutionary book: "In Cold Blood" which I have not read for the record, so keep that in mind during the review. It is a very odd yet intriguing plot idea. It is not about his life itself, it is solely about the making of the book which I really enjoyed.

Seymour-Hoffman's performance is great. He was a practical replica of the real Capote. I mean, I will be honest, I never knew about Capote, I never knew about the book, I never knew his relationship with Harper Lee, I just watched this movie because it was on my list. Yet I learned a lot from this movie. Everyone's acting is good, but Capote's actor stands out by a bunch.

The cinematography is ok. Everything regarding the audio is perfectly fine, but for the visuals not so much, I noticed that at the end before the execution of Perry, there was a slightly useless cut that served no purpose. It looked almost accidental. And overall the graphics looked ever so slightly grainy.

Based on my research, it is a highly accurate movie with very few dramatized scenes.

Now for the entertainment level, the entertainment is complicated. It is similar to Milk (not the movie, the entertainment style), it is not an entertaining movie. But. It is still a phenomenal movie. Entertainment is only a factor of how good a movie is that is not exactly theoretical. It remains a great movie, but for the entertainment level, it is not incredibly high.

Emotional impact, emotional does not mean sad (even though the execution and Capote's reaction is heart breaking), it is educational above all. It is an important one. Which is a great quality in a movie.

As for the ending, as I said it is very sad, and it gets to the point without useless build up. And I love it.

In conclusion: Plot: 9.6/10 Acting: 9.8/10 Cinematography: 7.7/10 Realism: 9.9/10 Entertainment level: 7.2/10 Emotional impact: 9.5/10 Ending: 10/10 Characters: 9.9/10

Final rating: 92%

Crash (I) (2004)

"Look at me, you embarrass me, you embarrass yourself"

[10/10 · 24 March 2024]

This is among my favorite movies ever. I have seen it 3 times in a time period of 2 months so far.

There is no "single" plot to Crash. It has 7 main plots. Many of them are very emotional and powerful. A locksmith and his daughter, 2 detectives, a couple who got carjacked, 2 criminals who are the carjackers, A persian store owner who got robbed and blames it on the locksmith, A cop and his "partner" who pull over a man and his wife for sexual acts, and a screen director and his wife who get pulled over by the cop. All of these people, lives, they intertwine at some point in the movie. And it is truly genius.

The acting is perfection from nearly every actor except Jennifer Esposito, whom I have never been a huge fan of. I find that she lacks the emotion. But the other actors make up for it.

As for the cinematography, the visuals (graphics, effects) are perfect, nothing wrong with it, the audio (the sound, the quality of the sound and the soundtracks) is all great as well. I do not have any criticism for it.

It is a very entertaining movie that may be confusing at first. But it is entertaining as hell, and it does not get old. It is more emotional and sad and dark, but it is very good to watch.

The emotional impact is a 100% from me. It makes you think a lot, and it successfully makes you feel bad for something you probably did not even do. And it does it very well. It is powerful, and very very emotional.

And it is also highly realistic, actually, among the most realistic films I have seen to date. There is nothing I can think of that is unrealistic about this film.

The character development is crazy. Every character has a purpose and is very useful to the film. And the evolution is done so very well.

And finally the ending, and the ending is impeccable. Every story comes to a conclusion at the end. Some are good conclusions, and some are bad. And the good conclusions make you feel great. And the bad conclusions are simply destructing in a good way. There is even a plot twist that was far from expected.

In conclusion: Plot: 10/10 Acting: 9.8/10 Cinematography: 10/10 Characters: 10/10 Entertainment level: 9.9/10 Emotional impact: 10/10 Realism: 10/10 Ending: 10/10

Final rating: 99.625%

Milk (I) (2008)

"All men are created equal...."

[9/10 · 17 March 2024]

This was a very good movie.

It depicts the story of Harvey Milk. A gay activist who fought very hard for his rights. I did not know a thing about who this even was until I saw this movie on the *more like this* row on the movie "Ray". And me, being a slight idiot, thought it was going to be about...well...milk. Turns out it was something a lot better than that. The only issue is that it did not show more about him when he was younger. Maybe they could not find research to do, I still wish we knew a little more about his past.

Sean Penn is simply an incredible actor and can play just about any role. So of course, his performance was incredible. So was the rest of the acting. The performances were very believable.

As for the cinematography, there are a few issues. I find that the graphics weren't ideal. They went from perfect, to a little grainy, to perfect again, to even worse. Some things felt a bit late, similarly to "The Last King Of Scotland", the gunshots were obviously fake. Everything in graphics was not ideal. But in audio, it was perfect. The sound was of great quality, I had it at 25% volume, and I could hear it perfectly. The soundtrack was great. I loved the opera. And the orchestral piece in the opening credits was great.

As for realism, based on my research it was *very* accurate. One of the most accurate biopics I have ever seen, if not the most. Of course, every biopic has a few fictionalized scenes but this one has very few of them.

It was not an entertaining movie. But it was not boring, see, in my opinion, a movie does not need to be entertaining to be incredible. This is not a popcorn movie to watch on movie night. It was a great movie, but not entertaining. Which is not exactly a flaw. This movie would not be able to be entertaining.

But it was very emotional. Impactful. Inspiring. Accurate. I could think of a million compliments that are not entertaining per se.

For the ending, it was very sad. But it was an ending that was accurate. And it was an ending that people will talk about for at least 20 minutes after the film.

In conclusion: Plot: 9.5/10 Acting: 9.8/10 Cinematography: 7.5/10 Realism: 9.9/10 Entertainment level: 6.3/10 Emotional impact: 10/10 Ending: 10/10 Characters: 10/10

Final rating: 91.25%

The Last King of Scotland (2006)

"Your work here is not yet finished...."

[9/10 · 16 March 2024]

SPOILER ALERT FOR THIS REVIEW: This is a movie about Ugandan dictator Idi Amin (played by Forest Whitaker) who finds a Scottish health physician named Nicholas that he made his personal physician (played my James McAvoy). Nicholas however, has no idea what he got himself into, as dictator Idi Amin gets progressively more out of his mind. It is a great plot that mixes fiction and real life.

The acting in this movie is incredibly believable. Impeccable. Whitaker's performance really stood out for me, I have not seen many of his movies but I don't think that a crazy dude is his typical character. And he did it really well. McAvoy's performance was also phenomenal, but for me Whitaker's performance stood out a little more. Everyone in the movie played perfectly however. And I have no complaints for the acting at all.

As for the cinematography, that is where this movie suffers a little. It is not mind-bogglingly awful, but it suffers. The visuals are fine. No shaky cam, no terrible graphics (though the graphics are not great). But the audio, is not great at all. When there is music, it tends to completely drain all dialogue, and I noticed that there are some points that are a little late....let me explain. For example, there is a part where Nicholas is seen walking down a hallway, you hear footsteps, and the actual step is half a second later. Other than that it is fine, but the few audio flaws are big flaws.

As for the entertainment, it is a very entertaining film. It is a not expected thriller, and it is very dark. It keeps you on the edge of your seat, especially towards the end. It truly is incredibly entertaining and leaves you on a high once it finishes, you have a sigh of relief that it is finished in a good way. It is a terrifying movie that is not a horror.

As for emotional impact, there are a few sad scenes, but it is not the main focus, at least I find. But the few emotional scenes there are, are very emotional. For an example, and unfortunately it is a spoiler, when Nicholas sees Kay, it is heartbreaking. It is sad to see Nicholas try so hard to do something and just immediately fail. There are a few sad scenes, not many, but the ones there are, are indeed sad. Which is why emotional impact gets a high rating from me.

The realism, I would give it a much higher realism level if it did not class itself as a total biopic. Because Nicholas, is a very fictional character. Yes, Idi Amin had a physician, but he was Ugandan, and did not survive, in fact in real life he committed suicide when he saw Kay. But it does very realistically depict Amin's dictatorship. He was insane. And this movie shows that. A lot. It is basically very accurate except almost everything involving Nicholas. But Nicholas's story is wonderful. The realism level is not low per se, but it is not perfect.

Now the ending, it is very satisfying. However it would have been nice to see a little bit of aftermath, how did Nicholas handle the trauma of what happened? But it remains a very satisfying ending. It shows pretty much everything it needed to.

In conclusion: Plot: 10/10 Acting: 10/10 Cinematography: 8.9/10 Entertainment level: 10/10 Emotional impact: 9.5/10 Realism: 9.5/10 Ending: 9.7/10 Characters: 10/10

Final rating: 97% (very close to 98 which I would round up to a 10)

Walk the Line (2005)

"I am telling you this is the right time...."

[10/10 · 15 March 2024]

Such a great movie.

It depicts the life of Johnny Cash.

The acting is superb and believable. Excellent performances from Phoenix and Witherspoon. I found that Goodwin's performance was not as good, but I am generally not a fan of hers. And the rest of the performances were excellent, so it makes up for it. The stand-out performances were definitely the 2 main characters plus John's father. Nearly perfect acting in my opinion.

As for the cinematography aspect of the film, everything is perfect except the audio, which is not terrible per se, but it goes up and down, sometimes the dialogue is too loud, or too quiet, most of the time it is perfectly fine, but it varies throughout. I love the soundtrack, the visuals were great.

As for the entertainment level, this movie was never boring. It gets straight to the point from the very beginning. No hour long opening credits which I appreciate. It was very fun to watch, equally as emotional and important as it was entertaining, similarly to "Ray" (2004, I wrote a review for that too (excellent as well)). The movie is 2 hours and 16 minutes and it felt like 90 minutes. And I was genuinely sad when it ended, I just wanted to keep watching it. It is not a movie where you are constantly checking how much time is left. It goes by very quickly. Very entertaining.

It is also very emotional. Very sad, very dark, very significant. There are a few tearjerker scenes, and you don't necessarily have to be a wuss to tear up at them (unlike some Liam Neeson action movies), it was emotionally significant.

As for the realism, (after research), I found it very accurate. A lot of the events in the film actually happened. Sure there were a few dramatized scenes which a biopic needs. There is no biopic on earth that doesn't even have a single dramatized scene. But it was one of the more accurate biopics I have ever seen. His love for June, his addiction, the whole folsom prison thing. Very accurate.

As for the ending, I felt it ended at the perfect time. And it was a damned good ending.

In conclusion: Plot: 10/10 Acting: 9.5/10 Entertainment level: 10/10 Emotional impact: 9.9/10 Cinematography: 9.5/10 Realism: 9.7/10 Ending: 10/10 Characters: 10/10

Final rating: 98.25% (I round off anything 98 or higher to 100)

Ray (I) (2004)

"Don't let nobody turn you into no cripple..."

[10/10 · 10 March 2024]

I absolutely adore this movie.

The movie is about Ray's life, and it covers a lot of aspects of his life which is very impressive. It did a great job at potraying it.

The acting is absolutely wonderful. Jamie Foxx's performance was spectacular. He conveys the emotion perfectly. I also really liked Kerry Washington's performance, I think she did a great job, and the rest of the acting is also perfect. I have 0 complaints with the acting.

As for the cinematography category, the soundtrack is fantastic (of course it is, it is Ray Charles), and the audio is great and loud, I had the movie at 37% volume and I heard it loud and clear. As for the visuals, I found those perfect as well. Perfect graphics, and clear to see. The camera was perfectly fine, there was no shaky camera. And the cinematography aspect has no complaints from me.

It was a very engaging movie to watch. It is more of an emotional and important film than a "fun" film. But it was not fun (except watching the music scenes, that was fun), it was engaging to watch. It was entertaining. So, while maybe entertainment might not be the main goal, it did it anyways. And I was satisfied with the entertainment.

But most of all it was an emotional journey. It was a very dramatic and sad film. It is important and powerful. Tear-jerking scenes are very present. It manages to make you emotional.

As for the realism, I hear it was an accurate movie (I was not part of Ray Charles's life, but from what I hear, it is highly accurate), but based on my research of his life, it simply missed a few aspects of his life. A lot of it was presented. But, there were some things that the movie did not talk about, which is all right. It showed a lot of it. So not many points are taken off on the realism category.

The ending is great in my opinion, however there could have been more. It only removes a few points. But, there could have been more to the ending. Such as, what happened after rehab? Sure, we can just go on google and research it but it would have been nice to see it. I still loved the ending, but it is the weakest part of the movie.

In conclusion: Plot: 10/10 Acting: 10/10 Cinematography: 10/10 Entertainment level: 9.8/10 Emotional impact: 10/10 Realism: 9.8/10 Ending: 9.7/10 Characters: 10/10

Final rating: 99.125% (but I round it up to 100 after 98%.)

The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017)

"I am harm's way...."

[9/10 · 9 March 2024]

This is one of my favorite buddy action comedies.

The hitman's bodyguard is about a professional bodyguard that is hired to protect an assassin who is making a testimony at a court. In order to get there on time, the bodyguard must protect him. The plot is super original. I have never quite seen anything like it. I love the plot. It is truly intelligent.

Everyone's performances are perfect. Ryan Reynolds plays a super sarcastic character and he does it so well, Samuel Jackson also plays a great character, priceless. And Salma Hayek's character is absolutely hilarious. Though she has little screen time, the screen time she has is gold. The acting was perfect from everyone in the movie in my opinion. They made it very believable.

The cinematography was very good in this movie. The only aspect in the cinematography category that I did not like was the soundtrack, the music they decided to play at certain times was awful. But the rest. The audio was perfect, I watched it at 59% volume and it was perfectly easy to hear, the visuals were great, great graphics, and it was easy to tell what was going on in most of the action sequences (which were great by the way).

This is an extremely entertaining movie. It is so fun and so funny. Unlike spenser confidential, it manages to be very suspenseful and hilarious at the same time. It is enjoyable and memorable. It is perfectly paced. And it is superb.

The movie manages to be ever so slightly emotional. Obviously, they turn it into something funny eventually, but in that time, they manage to make you think a little. So, emotional impact is not too bad.

As for the realism, there are very little implausible moments, however the implausible moments are....very implausible. So, it brings the realism level down a little, but most of it is in the realm of possibility and makes sense. The story is unlikely to happen, but it is possible. I find that the realism is not that low, yet maybe even high.

Every character in this film is necessary. There are no over-the-top characters. They all had use. They all added to the plot in a good way. They were all intelligently written. And the character development was there. I have no complaints for the characters.

The ending is satisfying. Not super predictable, but it is not anything huge or any huge plot twist. I liked the ending, however there was one scene right before the end credits that seemed completely pointless. But the ending overall was good and satisfying.

In conclusion: Plot: 9.8/10 Acting: 10/10 Cinematography: 9.3/10 Entertainment level: 10/10 Emotional impact: 7.9/10 Realism: 9.1/10 Characters: 10/10 Ending: 8.9/10

Final rating: 93.75%.

Spenser Confidential (2020)

"Hawk is the name of a ************ with a shotgun, Spenser does your taxes..."

[8/10 · 8 March 2024]

Spenser Confidential is a very good *Action thriller*.

Spenser Confidential is about an ex police officer that gets released from prison prior to the assault of captain Boylan, and decides to team up with his room mate to discover who killed him the same day he was released. In my opinion, it is a very good plot. A very original plot. I find this movie to be heavily underrated. One of the main issues I have with it though is that.... I believe that it should not be labelled as a comedy. Sure, there are a few comedic scenes in it. But Spenser Confidential tries to be more funny than it is suspenseful. And I only chuckled at the jokes. There are no real laugh out loud moments. But that is ok with me because it is very suspenseful. Wahlberg's performance was incredible, and overall the acting in the movie is very good. I have no complaints about it. But it was nothing impeccable (except Wahlberg's). The cinematography is good, the graphics are good, the camera is ok, but when it comes to sound, this movie gets some points removed. The audio was low, I was watching at 100% volume, and it felt like it was at 70% volume. But then the music comes, and the music is so much louder, and it is not balanced. Also, the soundtrack was awful, so that did not make things any better. The ending was great. And most of the characters seemed necessary and well developed. The only ones I deemed unnecessary were the Terrance family. Don't get me wrong, they were not bad by any means, but the movie could have gone without the whole Terrance sub-plot. It felt kind of forced, and out of place. There are a few implausible moments that makes no sense (example, Hawk pushes someone into a brick wall, and that brick wall somehow falls apart, or when Spenser and Cissy are....having fun in the bathroom, she somehow breaks the mirror with her head and feels no pain or does not bleed whatsoever, and so on), but it is not an extremely low realism level. But it is a very entertaining movie. I felt more suspense than laughter, but it is ok. It entertained me a hell of a lot. And the whole Terrance sub-plot was not bad, in fact it was rather emotional, but it just was not exactly super necessary. There are a few plot-holes (for example, who is Hawk? And who exactly is Henry to Spenser), but it is ok. I really enjoyed the movie.

In conclusion: Plot: 9.3/10, great and original plot that I loved.

Acting: 8.5/10, good performances from all actors.

Pacing: 8.7/10.

Realism: 7.4/10, not highly unrealistic, but there are obvious faults, plot holes, and implausible moments.

Cinematography: 6.9/10, I found everything with the sound to be terrible, but everything visual to be good.

Entertainment level: 9.5/10, very, very entertaining.

Emotional impact: 8.4/10, the whole Terrance sub-plot gained most of the points here.

Characters: 8.0/10, the Terrance sub-plot was great, but unnecessary, and no one really wanted it. It may or may not have been better off without it.

Ending: 9.1/10, I loved the ending.

Final rating: 84.2.%

Safe House (2012)

"You're better than me...."

[8/10 · 8 March 2024]

Safe house is a movie that I have seen at least 4 times. And I really enjoy it every time....however, there are a few obvious flaws to it. It is about a simple guy that works for the C. I. A that has to protect a most-wanted criminal. It is a somewhat original plot. But, mostly, we have seen it many times before. The cinematography is a big issue in this movie. The graphics however, are fantastic in my opinion. It is a very unique style. But the camera.....it is so, very shaky. It is always very difficult to tell what is going on. In the action scenes, you are always wondering who is fighting who. It is terrible cinematography. Except the graphics. The soundtrack is bad, the camera is bad, even the audio is difficult to hear if you are not constantly putting the volume up and down on your TV. The acting is wonderful, however. Of course Denzel Washington is fantastic, that is no surprise. But all the other actors do wonderful performances in this movie. Returning to the story, there are some moments in the film that seem....completely pointless. It would have been better if it were a little shorter. Maybe 1 hour and a half would be good. But this movie is almost 2 hours, and it is too much. There are so many unnecessary scenes, and so many unnecessary supposed plot twists. But that and the cinematography are really my only problems with the movie, and those 2 problems take a lot of points away from it. But other than that, it is a very good movie. The ending is just...fantastic. It is very emotional. And the movie is entertaining, but there are a few moments that are incredibly useless and boring. It is realistic, good pacing, great acting, good plot, emotional, and mostly entertaining.

In conclusion: Plot: 8.3/10, not exactly highly original, but not extremely unoriginal and the plot is solid.

Acting: 9.7/10, fantastic acting from everyone.

Characters: 8.3/10, well developed.

Cinematography: 4.6/10, terrible cinematography, honestly. It is very bad, the only reason this is not 4.0 is because of the graphics.

Emotional impact: 8.7/10, as I said, rather emotional at times, good drama.

Entertainment level: 9.0/10, mostly very entertaining except for a few pointless and boring moments.

Realism: 9.0/10.

Ending: 9.4/10, very emotional and sad ending, and a great ending.

Pacing: 8.1/10.

Final rating: 83.4%, it would have been in the high 80's, early 90's if it weren't for the cinematography.

White House Down (2013)

"How do you lose a rocket launcher???"

[8/10 · 6 March 2024]

This is a good movie comparable to Olympus Has Fallen. This review will determine which one is better.

White House Down is an underrated movie. It is nothing that deserves an Oscar nomination, but neither is Olympus has fallen. It is about a man that goes for a job interview as an agent who protects the president with his daughter for a tour of the white house. During this time, American terrorists do what they do with the white house. However, the man who does the interview does not get the job, but he still decides to save the president. Olympus has fallen is nearly the exact same thing. Except the protagonist already has the job, and the president is holden hostage. In White House Down, the president is not holden hostage. It is not a bad plot. It is just....cliche. The reason the terrorists are doing this are because of revenge for a petty reason. There were a few comedic moments in it, that were effective, they just did not work with the movie. Donnie (a character) is rather pointless, and I think the movie could go without him. The acting is great from everyone. Except the little girl. Joey King plays an extremely annoying character. She is a little girl obsessed with politics. Which is fine....except she is annoyingly obsessed. She is just not the actress to play a brave girl. The cinematography is great in my opinion. Except the CGI, the cinematography is fantastic. The audio, the action sequences are really good. There are no over-the-top cuts. And I find they did a really good job with the cinematography. It is a highly entertaining movie, but it is something that I would consider to be fun. Olympus has fallen is also fun. But, Olympus has fallen successfully makes their movie more serious and dark. Whit house down is lighter. It has scenes where it tries to be extremely emotional. And I find that those scenes were a little cringe-worthy. Some were ok, but most of them were cringe-worthy. Especially when Joey King was involved. It was also not a very realistic movie, there were several implausible moments, plot-holes. Overall, I really enjoyed this movie. Here comes the part where we determine which one is better.

In conclusion: Plot: 8.3/10, good, not phenomenal, not original.

Acting: 8.9/10, great, except Joey King is very present, and so she takes a lot of points off.

Characters: 8.4/10, Donnie is useless. Joey King is annoying.

Cinematography: 9.6/10, great cinematography. Almost perfect except the CGI, which looks very, very fake.

Pacing: 8.5/10.

Entertainment level: 9.8/10, you are almost never bored in this movie.

Emotional impact: 7.1/10, it is not very good at actually making you feel emotions except suspense.

Realism: 7.1/10, not highly realistic, many implausible moments.

Ending: 8.7/10, expected, but satisfying and not overly cliche.

Final rating: 84.89%, so Olympus has fallen is better. But not by much.

RED 2 (2013)

"Leave Mickey out of this..."

[8/10 · 5 March 2024]

I find this to be a highly underrated movie. I actually found it better than RED (the original), I found that everything was exactly the same as RED but better. The plot was much more original, in my opinion. Stopping a nuclear bomb from happening, maybe it is not the most original in the world, but it remains much more original than RED. Even the acting was better, especially from Malkovich, his performance was incredible. I have to say that I found Catherine Zeta Jones to be quite...pointless. I don't think she was necessary, but everything else made sense. No one ever wanted this movie, it was indeed useless. But it was good. Very good, and much better than the original. It was more entertaining. Funnier and more suspenseful. And I must say, it was very suspenseful. More than any other action comedy I have seen. The cinematography was far better, I think this director did better. The music was there *slightly* too often, but it was not there for 90% of the movie. The action scenes were very well-made. It was slightly sadder and darker in tone. Overall, I really enjoyed it. If they make a RED 3, it might be horrific, but 2 is perfect.

Side note: Anthony Hopkins's character was fantastic as well.

In conclusion: Plot: 8.9/10, much more original and well done than the original.

Acting: 9.4/10, very good acting, and again, Malkovich's performance was on point.

Characters: 8.6/10, a few pointless characters I wish were not there but apart from that it was all right.

Emotional impact: 8.0/10, as I said, darker, and more suspenseful.

Entertainment level: 9.9/10, highly more entertaining, just shy of 10/10, only because there was one scene that was dragged and slightly boring.

Realism: 7.0/10.

Ending: 8.9/10.

Cinematography: 8.8/10, much better in the sequel.

Pacing: 7.3/10, slightly too fast.

Final rating: 85.8% (RED got 83%, this is better.)

RED (2010)

"I am getting the pig..."

[8/10 · 5 March 2024]

I have seen this movie about 4 times already, and it really does not get old. It is an absurd, and entertaining movie that is very fun to watch. The movie is about an ex CIA agent who is a victim of a threat from an assassin, and he needs to find out who it is and why he is a victim. Along the way, he meets a woman whom he loves and....she is also a victim. He brings back his gang and pretty much kicks ass the whole movie. Now, the plot has been seen thousands of times before, except it has been seen in more serious action movies. This is a comedy. So, it is at least semi-original. The movie definitely has some flaws, and it is far from being flawless, it is not supposed to be an Oscar winning classic. The performances from the ensemble were all fantastic, and the supporting actors also did a very good performance. The pacing was perfect, and was not at all too fast or too slow, but the cinematography was not great in my opinion. It felt like the entire movie was a trailer. There was hard rock playing practically the entire time, and the cinematic views for very....movie trailery (I know that is not a word, you know what I mean). The fight scenes however were very well done, they felt real, and the sound effects were great. I just wish that there was not music playing for 90% of the whole movie. But besides that, it has a decent ending, and it is hilarious. Especially in the beginning. And believe it or not, unlike many action comedies, it is actually quite suspenseful. I found myself in suspense throughout. So it is funny, thrilling, and entertaining. It has flaws, yes, but it is a good comedy.

In conclusion: Plot: 8.6/10, semi-original, but also semi-unoriginal.

Acting: 9.2/10, excellent performances.

Pacing: 9.5/10, perfectly timed and paced.

Cinematography: 6.2/10, not very good at all. Except the action sequences, and all that.

Characters: 8.4/10.

Entertainment level: 9.7/10, highly, highly entertaining.

Emotional impact: 8.5/10, emotional does not only mean sad, it can be every emotion, and this movie makes you go through some for sure, plus there is one sad part.

Realism: 7.3/10, I forgot to talk about this, but there are several things that do not add up. So, that is a flaw, but it is not completely surreal either.

Ending: 7.3/10, kind of expected, but satisfying nonetheless.

Final rating: 83%

Escape Plan (2013)

"You hit like a vegetarian..."

[8/10 · 5 March 2024]

I really enjoyed this movie, I am changing the format for my reviews now, I will no longer do the pros and cons, I will now do a whole paragraph of review, and I will keep the "in conclusion" part. So here I go with my review:

Escape plan in my opinion is a very good movie, it offers a lot more than you would expect. Stallone and Schwarzenegger team up to escape an inescapable (if that is a word) prison. The prison seems to be in the middle of nowhere and seems to be....very, very brutal. Stallone plays a guy who breaks out of prisons for a living in order to test the security level and flaws in the prison, and then he gets sent to this prison and...it is certainly harder to escape. The acting from Stallone and Schwarzenegger were great in my opinion, and I found that Caviezel's performance was great as well. The plot is very original, I have seen many prison break out movies, but this one is different than that, this is not any prison break movie. What they are in is not a prison....it is worse than that, calling it simply a truly brutal prison would be an understatement. As I said, you see prison break movies everyday, but you do not see it as a living in movies everyday. So the plot is truly original, the part where this movie loses points for me is the realism level. It is....rather low. Without spoiling anything, there are many plot holes and the prison that they are in is very unrealistic, and it seems to include sci-fi elements. Now, if this film were labelled as a semi-sci-fi, I would not have an issue with that. But it isn't. And there are several extremely implausible moments in this film. But apart from the realism, it truly is a smart action movie. The cinematography is phenomenal, great sound effects, audio, graphics, soundtrack is good, and overall the cinematography is almost perfect. The pacing is perfect as well. And before I get to the ending, I would like to add that throughout the film there are several moments where it shows characters trying to save Stallone's character when they are not in the prison with him, we do not care about these characters in the slightest and it feels like it shows them working on a plan to break him out to make the movie longer. It does not serve any purpose. And now I get to the ending.....the ending was...corny....and it was decieving to everything we just watched. Without spoiling, it is what tries to be a plot twist in relationship. Escaping the prison was great (yes they escape the prison, that is not a spoiler, if I told you how, then it would be), but then it gets to the plot twist which is completely useless. It would have been better without a plot twist.

In conclusion: Plot: 9.4/10, very original I loved the plot idea and how it progressed.

Acting: 9.2/10, great acting from the main characters, and good acting from the supporting actors.

Directing: 10/10, perfect pacing and directing.

Cinematography: 9.6/10, really good except sometimes in the action scenes you can tell that they are not really fighting, it is nice when you forge that, no big deal.

Ending: 7.0/10, not a great ending because of the "plot twist", but everything leading up to it was good.

Entertainment value: 9.3/10, the scenes where it cuts away from the prison suck, apart from that, very fun to watch.

Emotional impact: 7.2/10, there is one supposed emotional scene that does not do the job fantastically, but it should do it just fine if you are sensitive.

Characters: 8.4/10, well developed.

Realism: 6.8/10, as I said, not very realistic.

Final rating: 85.4%

The Office (2005–2013)

"I'm not superstitious, I'm a little stitious..."

[10/10 · 4 March 2024]

Season 1: The show is definitely starting off well for me, The best episode in my opinion is "Diversity Day", very controversial and it was good. The worst episode in my opinion, is Basketball, don't get me wrong, I still laughed a lot, but I just found it dragged out a few times, Diversity Day was on all levels offensive, that is probably why I enjoyed it so much. The acting is impeccable, and the whole setting is wonderful as well. And I only watched season 1. The way this show makes every day life absurd and ridiculous is truly admirable. It is off to a very good start, and I look forward to seeing more, I watched it in one day and I don't binge watch very often. Hilarious and absurd. Great.

Season 2: Better than the first season for sure. Season 2 is where the drama starts a little, the story arc between Pamela and Jim get a little more dramatic. But mostly, the show maintains its hilarious quality to it. The best episode in season 2 in my opinion is Casino Night, the episode ends on a complete cliff-hanger, which was a pleasant surprise, and we finally see what we want to see between Jim and Pam. And it is also, very funny, it is about a private casino opening for one night in the warehouse of the office. So, it is an original plot and the performances in this episode, and throughout the whole season were phenomenal. The worst episode in my opinion is "Boys and Girls". And again, I loved it, but compared to the other episodes in this season, it did not really live up to the rest. But the show remains incredible. I love the comedy, the drama the mild suspense like at the end. Great show. It is the Breaking Bad of sitcoms.

Season 3: Season 3 in my opinion is not as good as season 2, but better than season 1. I adore this show to an incredible extent. I am still waiting for Pamela and Jim to become a couple, seems like it is happening since I saw the season finale to s3, but I thought that with the finale of s2. 2 new main characters enter the show in this season. Karen and Andy. Karen is a character you love to hate. And the only real reason we hate her is because she is Jim's girlfriend in this season. Even though Jim is kind of a horrible person to Pam in this season... Andy is an annoying character. But he is a great addition to the show. We all love him, the guy with the anger issues. Season 3 is not much worse than season 3. It is still a fantastic season. I don't think there will be a bad season in this show. But so far season 2 is definitely the best. The best episode in season 3 in my opinion is a hard choice, but it is likely "Cocktails", so much comedy and so much drama in that one. If I had to choose another one it would be obviously the season finale, which leaves us on a major cliffhanger, with Pam and Jim, and Ryan getting the job it seems he did not interview for. The worst in my opinion is Benihana Christmas. Which is a fantastic episode. But again, it does not live up to the rest of the episodes of the season. In conclusion, I love season 3, I love Cocktails which features Roy going crazy after Pam told him what happened on Casino Night. Wonderful show, and wonderful season.

Season 4: I can not express with words my love for this show. Still no bad episodes, and no decline in quality. Better than season 3, 1, and even 2 in my opinion despite its short episode count. So far season 4 is the best. It introduces Holly's character, we say goodbye to Toby, and we finally get to see Pam and Jim as a couple, which we have been waiting for. There are many great episodes in this season such as Dinner party, Fun run, and more but my favorite in this season is the season finale: Goodbye Toby. This episode both introduces Holly and says goodbye to Toby, it features Andy proposing to Angela at a really bad time, and more. It was also super entertaining, and not one unfunny joke. The worst episode in my opinion is Dunder Mifflin Infinity, and to be honest this was the first episode in the whole show that I did not really find myself enjoying, first off, for what this episode is, it is too long and there are many fillers. Plus, the whole web site story arc just seemed kind of forced and not pertinent to the show. Don't get me wrong, there were a few hilarious scenes in this episode, but it just did not really grasp my attention that much. Overall, I love this season a lot, and I have very high hopes for season 5. (P. S: I felt it unnecessary to have the first 4 episodes of the season to be each 42 minutes long, it is ok, they were mostly fantastic, it just seemed slightly unnecessary, sure there are some episodes that need that runtime, just not most of the 4 first ones, still loved them though).

Season 5: No doubt, season 5 is not as good as s4, it is still great. It introduces Erin, we find out that Pam is pregnant, Michael starts his own paper company and Dwight starts a fire, on purpose. And a lot more happens. The best episode in my opinion is obviously Stress Relief, and I believe many people agree with that. I mean, it is truly hilarious. So many scenes in that episode that never fail to get a lot of laughs. It is a great episode. The worst episode in my opinion is Cafe Disco, sure there were a few good laughs, but overall it seemed like a big part of it was....people dancing to music and Michael trying to convince Angela to do the same. That is my opinion, and I know I am the minority because the episode got an 8.7/10. But every other episode in this season is genius. I heavily praise this show. And the dramedy is still there and balanced.

Season 6: Season 6 now beats every other season so far. Better than s1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Hilarity is at its most in my opinion, the opening of s6 in itself had me dying of laughter. The best episode in this season in my opinion is Niagara, and again, many people agree with me on that one. It is equally as emotional as it is funny. Because there are so many comedic scenes that are so effective, but at the same time, it is Pam and Jim's marriage. It is phenomenal. And the worst episode in this season is by far "The Banker". Which is essentially a bunch of clips. It has 5 minutes of new footage, making it a simple filler that I was hoping to not see in this show. I really did not like this episode, and it only made me laugh because the clips were funny, but we see the clips before, and at the end, Michael rapped the entire Electric City song. Which was hard to watch. Other than the Banker, s6 has so many new things happening. Andy and Erin's relationship form, we say goodbye to Dunder Mifflin and hello to Sabre, Jim becomes a co-manager with Michael, and a lot more. I see no decline in this show what so ever so far. And I don't see it happening.

Season 7: What a season. Eventful, hilarious, very, very sad, and great. This is the season where we say goodbye to a favorite. Michael Scott. Before his departure, the season was equally as good as season 6 in my opinion. And of course during and after his departure, it was still as good as season 6. Now don't get me wrong, Michael's departure was easily the best episode of the season and easily one of the best of the whole show (from what I watched). The episode was very, very emotional. Tearjerker episode....in a sitcom. And it managed to stay relatively funny, no real laugh out loud moments, but a few chuckles. Which in this case is not a bad thing. Because that is not the point of the episode, at all. If we are talking more about the funniest episode in the season, I would go with Classy Christmas, but frankly, as great as that episode is, Goodbye Michael is still better. As for the worst of the season, I would go with Christening, it was not as terrible many people make it out to be, but it was....not great. A few hilarious laugh out loud scenes, other than that it seemed kind of out of place with the whole show. And slightly unnecessary, not that it was bad, I would not skip it in a rewatch, but I still think it was not the best....at all. After Michael leaves, the show actually remains great. And this is an unpopular opinion, I am aware, but to be honest the show does not get worse by much. Sure, there are a few scenes with longing, but you forget about it. Deangelo is not that bad, and Robert California, is fantastic. I think the show will still be great, and not that bad. I predict that even without Michael, the show will go on with its hilarity. Also, Holly comes back, and she leaves again.....and also, her and Michael get married!

Season 8: Approaching the end, Andy becomes regional manager, then Nellie becomes regional manager, Robert California is the C. E. O...until he's not, and this is the first season without Michael. Season 1 is worse, and I love season 8. It definitely is not the best season, but neither is season 3, which has Michael, it is still great though. The only thing about this season is that it is nowhere near as eventful as I wanted it to be. There were not that many important scenes, but an episode does not have to be important to be good. The lowest rated episode where Andy goes to Tallahassee to get Erin back, is not bad at all. Another bad thing about this season is that Cathy, really sucks. I really hate her, and she is useless, she seems to just completely disappear. My favorite episode in this season is Angry Andy (despite its low score), and my least favorite is Lotto, Lotto does not really have a very high purpose to me. I love this season, can't wait for the finale. The show is still almost if not as good as it was.

Season 9: And the series ends....this is not a very funny season, there are some hilarious scenes (Asian Jim being one of them). But I think that since it is the final season, it focuses more on the drama. And I have no problem with that. It is a great season that is underappreciated. The finale episode is heart-breaking. Especially the last 20 minutes. I am so sad that the office is over, it will forever have a place in my heart (the farm sucked though, no doubt).

Safe (I) (2012)

"One day at a time..."

[7/10 · 3 March 2024]

Not bad at all, nothing extremely phenomenal, but nothing too bad either. It is a fun watch.

Pros: 1. Good acting from Statham and the cops.

2. The sound effects are very "real-sounding", the soundtrack is reasonable.

3. Good graphics.

4. The plot is good, though it is not original in the slightest, it is good.

5. Very entertaining, highly entertaining and fun to watch.

6. The ending is fairly satisfying.

Cons: 1. The rest of the acting is not good in the slightest.

2. Very cliche plot.

3. The action sequences are visually horrific, all the cuts and frames can get annoying.

4. It feels dragged out, it can be boring at times, and it is far too slow, and that is a con since the movie is only about an hour and a half.

5. It is not realistic, there are many plot holes and the characters are not well developed.

Conclusion: Plot: 8.1/10, good plot for sure, but certainly not original anymore.

Acting: 7.2/10, terrible acting form some actors, and great acting from others.

Entertainment level: 8.7/10, highly entertaining except for a few boring scenes.

Emotional impact: 7.6/10, it can be emotional at times, like most action thrillers, they have added drama, but it is reasonable in this one.

Realism: 6.8/10, not very realistic.

Directing: 7.5/10, a little slow, as I said.

Characters: 6.9/10, not greatly developed, but not horrifically developed either.

Cinematography: 8.6/10, good cinematography, the action sequence cuts piss me off, but the audio is good, the soundtrack is reasonable, and other than the cuts, it is good.

Ending: 8.4/10, satisfying ending that is a good way to end it.

Final rating: 77.5%

Homefront (I) (2013)

"Whatever you're think....rethink it...."

[9/10 · 2 March 2024]

Heavily underrated, highly enjoyed it. I may go as far as using the word spectacular.

Pros: 1. Highly original plot, it all started with two kids starting a mini-fight, and escalated into a whole criminal empire.

2. Great acting from everyone here, felt very real.

3. The realism level is very high, despite a few minor plot holes, it is very realistic and it is certainly believable.

4. Cinematography is good in every way here, the audio, the soundtrack, the graphics, and the cuts.

5. Brilliant action scenes, though there are not many, they are very thrilling to watch.

6. Highly entertaining.

7. Excellent character development.

8. Wonderful ending, not cliche, actually very original, and good.

9. Perfect pacing/directing.

Cons: 1. There are a few obvious fillers in the movie, for example, the whole semi-romantic relationship think between Susan and Phil, that seemed pointless, and the birthday party, seemed quite useless as well.

2. The emotional scenes seem a bit forced.

In conclusion: Plot: 9.5/10, a really strong and solid plot. Not anything you see very often.

Acting: 9.3/10, wonderful acting.

Characters: 8.7/10, there are a few questions that are left, what happened with the bully afterwards, what happened with Susan and Phil?

Directing: 10/10, perfect pacing, 100%. Not too fast, not too slow.

Realism: 9.3/10, highly realistic, obviously this doesn't happen everyday, but it could happen, it is plausible.

Entertainment level: 9.8/10, no boring scenes here, the only reason it does not get a 10 is because not all entertaining scenes are a 10....but most are.

Emotional impact: 7.5/10, they feel a bit forced, but if you are sensitive to emotions in films, maybe it might affect you.

Cinematography: 10/10, perfection on every level, I have absolutely zero complaints.

Ending: 9.6/10, suspenseful, and original.

Final rating: 93%

The Next Three Days (2010)

"No matter what you say...or how you say it, I will never believe you..."

[10/10 · 26 February 2024]

3 of my favorite genres in one, I enjoy it even more than the foreigner.

Pros: 1. Extremely emotional and dramatic, but not in a soapy "Grey's Anatomy" way, in a real emotional way, you feel like these are real people.

2. Plausible and realistic.

3. Entertaining, and intense. There is one fight scene that adds to the intensity, but I like that it is not only fight scenes that make it intense.

4. The acting is absolutely impeccable, perfection in every word and move.

5. The graphics, audio, cuts and shots are perfect. In the cinematography there is one thing that I do not like and I will share it in "cons".

6. Phenomenal plot, original, not something you see in the next 3 movies you watch (no pun intended).

7. I love the ending, I wish it never ended, but it did and the ending was a damn good one.

8. The characters are very well-developed, especially the protagonist (John), he goes from simply grieving to a full-on bad-ass trying to help his wife escape.

9. The pacing is perfect.

Cons: 1. The only aspect in cinematography that I don't like is the soundtrack, I find the electronic music annoying and completely unfitted with everything happening in the movie.

Conclusion: Plot: 10/10, no issues with the plot, perfection in my opinion, I did not notice any plot holes.

Acting: 10/10, perfect acting from everyone.

Characters: 9.9/10, I don't know, maybe more about the family's history, but that would not have been extremely necessary. With or without it, it is as good.

Directing: 10/10, perfect pacing.

Cinematography: 9.1/10, everything but the soundtrack is perfect, but the soundtrack is indeed very annoying.

Realism: 9.9/10, almost completely realistic, and nothing is completely realistic, so, 9.9/10, because 10/10 can't happen, and if I marked 10/10 for a certain review (in the realism section), then I was wrong to do so, it was 9.9/10.

Emotional impact: 9.8/10, very sad when you think about it. Just imagine being in John's place.

Entertainment value: 10/10, highly entertaining.

Ending: 9.6/10, absolutely wonderful ending.

Final rating: 98.111% (Anything higher than 98%, I rate 100%, because I love them so much).

The Foreigner (I) (2017)

"You will change your mind...."

[9/10 · 25 February 2024]

Truly incredible movie. Highly underrated. Despite a few minor flaws, this movie with several genres, this is a realistic, and wonderful film.

Pros: 1. Incredible acting which makes an already believable movie all the more believable.

2. Impeccable plot, as well as an original plot.

3. Very well developed characters, the evolution of Quan, Hennessy and of secondary characters are very well done.

4. The graphics aspect of the cinematography is perfect.

5. The action scenes are extremely well done, though there are few, they are all fantastically intense, you sometimes wonder who's side you should be on, that is something this movie is good with, it is not 100% clear who "the good guy is", it adds extra complexity to the movie (I rooted for Quan, but it would be understandable to root for Liam).

6. Highly emotional movie.

7. Very entertaining, and realistic at the same time.

8. A wonderful ending, very satisfying, and I like the fact that it wasn't a simple cliche: Every bad guy is killed, no, in fact Liam (the villain), was actually kept alive, however he had even worse fate than death, a man with a good reputation, ended up having his reputation destroyed.

Cons: 1. The movie is certainly not what you would expect it to be (I will let you figure out what I mean by that).

2. Everything about the audio aspect of the cinematography is not good. The soundtrack is very annoying, the electronic music just does not fit, and it is one of those movies where you have to annoyingly put the volume up and down (you get used to that though).

3. The movie is a little *too* fast, it could have been a little slower.

4. A few implausible parts.

Conclusion: Plot: 9.4/10, wonderful plot, very emotional, dark, entertaining, and original.

Characters: 9.7/10, almost perfect character development, more about the past of Liam, and maybe even Quan.

Directing: 7.5/10, a little too fast as previously mentioned, but not horrific either.

Ending: 9.8/10, a bad-ass line would have been nice when Quan was killing the man with the tattoo on his right hand.

Realism: 9.6/10, very plausible most of the time, however an example for one implausible part is when Quan just kicks a guy extremely far out of the little attic, it does not make much sense.

Emotional impact: 9.2/10, very emotional most of the time, especially the beginning and the end.

Entertainment value: 9.4/10, very entertaining and realistic which is rare in most modern action/thriller movies.

Cinematography: 6.3/10, the audio is not good, graphics are good.

Acting: 10/10, perfection in the acting, I have no complaints.

Final rating: 89.88% (But, since I love this movie so much, I will put it up to a 90.88%.)

Olympus Has Fallen (2013)

"Now ask me a real question....."

[8/10 · 24 February 2024]

One of my favorite movies in the presidential thriller genre. It is comparable to White House Down (2013), and I love that movie but I like this one better.

Pros: 1. Very entertaining, and very suspenseful. This movie is highly underrated.

2. The acting is very good and very believable, the secretary has a slightly, darkly comical character, as dark and not comical the movie is.

3. Most of the cinematography is great, the graphics, and the soundtrack is not overdone (in my opinion).

4. The plot is simple, and solid, despite not being the most original, there is *Some* originality to it.

5. Adrenaline-rushing ending, despite being slightly cliche.

6. Some very good action scenes.

Cons: 1. A highly cliche movie.

2. Sometimes the cuts during very few fight scenes are not ideal.

3. The CGI is not good, and looks visibly fake.

4. Not the most realistic, flaws are certainly there.

Conclusion: Plot: 8.3/10, great plot, however having this movie made in 2013, not very original anymore.

Acting: 8.7/10, the actors chosen fit their role perfectly, and they act almost perfectly.

Realism: 7.4/10, while certainly possible, many things don't add up that make some things not make any sense, for instance, why does Mike Banning still have his badge despite no longer being an agent (just a potential flaw I noticed, correct me if I am wrong)?

Entertainment value: 9.6/10, very fun to watch, and very "rewatchable".

Emotional impact: 6.5/10, some scenes that are meant to be emotional do not do a great job.

Characters: 8.7/10, well-developed characters, maybe a little more knowledge about the past would have been nice.

Ending: 7.9/10, well-made, cliche, and satisfying.

Directing: 8.9/10, the pacing is great, despite some directing flaws.

Cinematography: 9.0/10, CGI is horrific, cuts can be annoying, other than that, perfection.

Final rating: 85.655%

Taken 3 (2014)

"I will find you, and we both know what's gonna happen...."

[6/10 · 23 February 2024]

This movie was.....not good, it is one of those movies that is not good at all, but that is very fun and very entertaining.

Pros: 1. The graphics are good.

2. Entertaining, dark and thrilling.

3. A fun movie.

4. Somewhat satisfying ending.

5. Liam Neeson is the one magnificent actor in this movie.

Cons: 1. There are far too many cuts, you can barely understand.

2. Very unnecessary, nobody needed or even wanted this movie.

3. It is significantly inferior to the first two movies.

4. Other than Liam Neeson, the acting....feels like acting. Even Forest Whitaker was not great in this movie.

5. The soundtrack is terrible.

6. The plot is basic, everyone has seen it before.

7. The pacing is bad, very bad.

8. Low realism level, and basically complete nonsense.

Conclusion: Plot: 6.4/10

Acting: 7.0/10.

Characters: 5.0 (neutral opinion)

Emotional impact: 6.1/10

Entertainment value: 8.1/10

Directing: 4.8/10

Cinematography: 5.6/10

Realism: 4.3/10

Ending: 7.2/10.

Final rating: 60.5%

Of course it was bad, Taken 2 and Taken 3 are not even the same director as Taken 1.

Taken 2 (2012)

"I am tired of it...."

[7/10 · 23 February 2024]

Not bad. The headline was not because it was bad, I was simply quoting a line from the movie (as I do in all my reviews). It is not as good as the original, of course, and it is not as realistic. However it is not as bad as people make it out to be, and it is not completely unrealistic either.

Pros: 1. The acting is as good as always, and since Peter is not in part 2, it might just get a 10 on the acting category.

2. It is still very entertaining, and still dark and thrilling.

3. The cinematography is on point, in fact I find that the soundtrack is better than taken 1, even though being an inferior movie.

4. The plot is good, even if it is unoriginal and unrealistic.

5. The ending is satisfying, even if it is predictable.

6. Emotional at times.

Cons:

1. As mentioned in the pros, the plot is unoriginal and unrealistic.

2. We still do not know about Lenore and Bryan's past, and it remains unclear about their relationship status.

3. It seems as though there are a few fillers.

4. It does not live up to the original in the slightest, and is even slightly unnecessary and it feels like it was made because the first one did well.

5. Plot holes are very present.

6. Pacing is not perfect.

7. The ending is a little predictable.

Conclusion:

Plot: 7.3/10, it is a good plot, however it is not very realistic and completely unoriginal.

Acting: 10/10, the acting truly is on point in this movie.

Cinematography: 9.8/10, equally as good as the first for the cinematography.

Characters: 7.1/10, a few fillers and still flawed.

Ending: 7.8/10, satisfying, nothing more.

Entertainment value: 9.5/10, very entertaining, that is undeniable.

Emotional impact: 7.2/10, emotional at the beginning and at the end, nowhere in between though.

Directing: 7.9/10, a little slow, just a little, but a little is still there.

Realism: 7.4/10, not highly realistic, not highly unrealistic either.

Final rating: 76.125%