Topic: DJ's Short Movie Reviews

[DJ Doena]

The Librarian: Quest for the Spear (2004)

Director: Peter Winther

Noah Wyle   ...    Flynn Carsen
Sonya Walger   ...    Nicole Noone
Bob Newhart   ...    Judson
Kyle MacLachlan   ...    Edward Wilde
Kelly Hu   ...    Lana

Synopsis: Flynn Carsen is what we call in Germany a "Dauerstudent", a student who never leaves the comfort of the university - until he's thrown out. He then gets a mysterious invitation to apply for a job at the library. But not any library, the Library.

The place where they keep the Ark of Covenant, Excalibur, Pandora's Box - and one third of the Spear of Destiny. Unfortunately that piece is stolen shortly after he started working there and now he has to make sure that the other two thirds that are hidden around the world don't fall into the hands of the bad guys.

My Opinion: What I expected to see was a poor man's version of Indiana Jones as a Direct-to-DVD movie. It could have been bad. Luckily for us everyone involved seemed to be aware of the limitations of the budget and the general silliness of the plot so they decided to have fun with it. And that works. I'd qualify this movie in the category of "so bad, it's funny".

What comes as an added bonus is that Noah Wyle's (ER) character is not an Indiana Jones clone, if anything then he's more of the Henry Jones, sr. kind.
Also starring are Sonya Walger (LOST) as the more action-oriented partner in the duo and Kyle MacLachlan (Dune) as the bad guy.

Can't wait to see part two (with Gabrielle Anwar - Burn Notice) and three (with Stana Katic - Castle).

[Dragonfire]

I've seen all these movies and liked them.  They were made for TNT over here.

[MEJHarrison]

I've seen them all too.  Used to own all of them in fact.  They're good for what they are.  I really enjoyed them.

[DJ Doena]

21 Jump Street (2012)

Director: Phil Lord, Chris Miller

Jonah Hill   ...    Schmidt
Channing Tatum   ...    Jenko
Brie Larson   ...    Molly Tracey
Dave Franco   ...    Eric Molson
Rob Riggle   ...    Mr. Walters
DeRay Davis   ...    Domingo
Ice Cube   ...    Captain Dickson

Synopsis: The old 21 Jump Street program was discontinued at some point but someone up there in the hierarchy thought it a good idea to get these old ideas out of the attic.
Schmidt and Jenko went to the same high school but only became friends seven years later when they both joined the police force. And since their first bust goes totally bust and they look the part they get sent to the new 21 Jump Street program.
Back again in high school they learn that a lot has changed since their days and now they have to find the supplier of a new and dangerous drug.

My Opinion: I rarely give up the opportunity to check out a movie remake of a show I loved. And so I had to give this movie at least a chance.
I have to say that I liked it. Knowing one of the main actor's (Jonah Hill) usual works I knew what to expect when going in and I was pleasantly surprised. The characters worked well together and I got the feeling that Jenko felt as uncomfortable in his new role as did Glee's Finn which become especially funny when they blamed Glee on all the changes in high schools.
I also was totally surprised by the cameos of Johnny Depp as Tom Hanson and Peter DeLouise as Doug Penhall. Unfortunately I missed the one of Holly Robinson as Judy Hoffs.

Still, the old intro sung by Holly Robinson still kicks butt:

[DJ Doena]

Outlander (2008)

Director: Howard McCain

Jim Caviezel   ...   Kainan
Sophia Myles   ...   Freya
Jack Huston   ...   Wulfric
John Hurt   ...   Rothgar
Ron Perlman   ...   Gunnar

Synopsis: Earth is actually an abandoned colony by the human race and of not much importance.
In the year 709 by our reckoning a spaceship crashes in the cold of Scandinavia. Aboard is a surviving soldier ... and something else. Soon he's captured by the local Norse warriors who think of him as a member of a rivalling tribe.
But then a beast of myth starts attacking their village except that this "dragon" is real and only the Outlander can help them defeat it.

My Opinion: I've had this movie for a while in my collection but never came around to watch it. But then Jim Caviezel came into my focus thanks to Person of Interest.
I enjoyed this movie very much. I love the supernatural battles of old (the Trojan War, the Odyssey) and in recent times there haven't been many good films about that topic - does someone dare to remember Beowolf or Clash of the Titans (2010)? *shudder*
I also liked that the background of the beast is reasonably explained and not just having it there for the sake of the plot.

[DJ Doena]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

Director: Steve Barron

Josh Pais   ...    Raphael (voice) / Man in Cab
Michelan Sisti   ...    Michaelangelo / Pizza Man
Leif Tilden   ...    Donatello / Foot Messenger
David Forman   ...    Leonardo / Gang Leader
Robbie Rist   ...    Michaelangelo (voice)
Corey Feldman   ...    Donatello (voice)
Brian Tochi   ...    Leonardo (voice)
Judith Hoag   ...    April O'Neil
Elias Koteas   ...    Casey Jones
Michael Turney   ...    Danny Pennington
Kevin Clash   ...    Splinter (voice)
James Saito   ...    The Shredder / Oroko Saki
Toshishiro Obata   ...    Tatsu
David McCharen   ...    The Shredder / Oroko Saki (voice)

Synopsis: A crime wave is spilling into New York city and the police is simply ignoring the possibility that it might be organized instead of single acts. Only TV reporter April O'Neill is making this connection publicly and thus antagonizing the chief of police.
But she has help. A few years ago four baby turtles and a rat came across a radioactive substance in the sewer system - and it changed them. Their bodies and minds evolved. The rat took care of the turtles and taught them the art of Ninjitsu. Now they, April and another ally try to stop the Foot gang to take over the city.

My Opinion: This is one of my many, many guilty pleasure movies I can watch every once in a while. I grew up with the German dubbing which I have to admit made this silly movie even more funny than it already is. But still. If you want 90 minutes of goofy fighting scenes mixed with eastern philosophy, this is your movie. And it's got pizza in it!

[DJ Doena]

U.S. Marshals (1998)

Director: Stuart Baird

Tommy Lee Jones   ...   Chief Deputy Marshal Samuel Gerard
Wesley Snipes   ...   Mark J. Sheridan / Warren / Roberts
Robert Downey Jr.   ...   Special Agent John Royce
Joe Pantoliano   ...   Deputy Marshal Cosmo Renfro
Daniel Roebuck   ...   Deputy Marshal Bobby Biggs
Tom Wood   ...   Deputy Marshal Noah Newman
LaTanya Richardson   ...   Deputy Marshal Savannah Cooper

Synopsis: This is a sort-of sequel to The Fugitive featuring Sam Gerard and his team of the United States Marshal Service. During a prisoner flight one of the inmates tries to kill another prisoner and causes the plane to crash. The almost victim can escape during the evacuation and is now on the run. It's up the U.S. Marshals to get him again.
But there's a mystery surrounding this escapee because the United States Secret Service is interested in his capture and somehow even members of the Chinese embassy to the United Nations are involved. Very few things are what they seem.

My Opinion: I knew that face looked familiar but it took me a while to actually recognise Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man, Sherlock Holmes) because he still looked so young here.
Snipes is being good at being a hunted former special forces who's one a mission of his own and Jones is being Samuel Gerard again.
I felt the death of Newman was unnecessary from the POV of the villain because he had nothing to gain from it in that moment and in the end cost him his life.
But it was an enjoyable action flick.

[samuelrichardscott]

Thanks for the reviews DJ. I have Outlander in my pile so always glad to see something positive on something I own but not yet watched!

Do you know where I can buy the German release of Turtles cheap? I want it for the Steve Barron audio commentary and it's only on the German release... I already own the UK releases of the movies but wouldn't mind double dipping!

[DJ Doena]

Yeah, Turtles was not available for a long time here (which is why I bought it in the UK) and now they want 13€ at Amazon for this old movie!

[DJ Doena]

X2 (2003)

Director: Bryan Singer

Patrick Stewart   ...   Professor Charles Xavier
Hugh Jackman   ...   Logan / Wolverine
Ian McKellen   ...   Eric Lensherr / Magneto
Halle Berry   ...   Ororo Munroe / Storm
Famke Janssen   ...   Jean Grey
James Marsden   ...   Scott Summers / Cyclops
Anna Paquin   ...   Marie / Rogue
Rebecca Romijn   ...   Raven Darkholme / Mystique
Brian Cox   ...   William Stryker
Alan Cumming   ...   Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler
Aaron Stanford   ...    John Allerdyce / Pyro
Shawn Ashmore   ...    Bobby Drake / Iceman
Kelly Hu   ...    Yuriko Oyama / Lady Deathstrike

Synopsis: After an assassination attempt on the president himself he authorizes General William Striker to raid Xavier's School for the Gifted. What he doesn't know is that Striker has an agenda of his own. The X-Men have to work together with Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants to withstand this attack on their very right to exist.

My Opinion: As usual this was the best movie from the trilogy. No - seriously, what is it with comic trilogies and them screwing the pooch with the third part? Spider-Man did it. The X-Men did it. Even this year's Batman did it.
The cast of this movie series was well chosen. Ian McKellen was a great Magneto, I really liked Halle Berry as Storm and Patrick Stewart made a fantastic Professor X. But you can't deny the fact that despite being an ensemble cast movie, it might as well been the second Wolverine movie (not counting the actual X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie. But that doesn't matter, because Hugh Jackman is just so badass.
I never really cared much for Cyclops and Jean Grey but her sacrifice still moved me.

[DJ Doena]

Man on a Ledge (2012)

Director: Asger Leth

Sam Worthington   ...    Nick Cassidy
William Sadler   ...    Valet
Anthony Mackie   ...    Mike Ackerman
Jamie Bell   ...    Joey Cassidy
Genesis Rodriguez   ...    Angie
Edward Burns   ...    Jack Dougherty
Titus Welliver   ...    Dante Marcus
Elizabeth Banks   ...    Lydia Mercer
Kyra Sedgwick   ...    Suzie Morales
Ed Harris   ...    David Englander

Synopsis: Nick Cassidy is a former cop, then prison inmate, now wanted fugitive. When the police finds him next they don't yet know who he is but he's standing on the window ledge of a hotel window on the 21st floor threatening to jump. Everything he does seems only to further one goal: Buying time and hiding what his companions are really doing. Namely braking into the vault of the man who has framed him in the first place.

My Opinion: I planned on watching this movie in the cinema but it didn't work out. So this was a blind buy for me.
I enjoyed it in general but I thought that the actual break-in into the vault was a bit too easy considering the values stored in there. Especially with the heat sensor within the vault which seemed to be too bored to go off when she entered it.
When it comes to recent bank-heist movies I still prefer Inside Man.

[DJ Doena]

Red Dawn (1984 & 2012)

Red Dawn (1984)

Director: John Milius

Patrick Swayze   ...    Jed
C. Thomas Howell   ...    Robert
Lea Thompson   ...    Erica
Charlie Sheen   ...    Matt
Darren Dalton   ...    Daryl
Jennifer Grey   ...    Toni
Brad Savage   ...    Danny
Doug Toby   ...    Aardvark
William Smith   ...    Strelnikov
Ron O'Neal   ...    Colonel Ernesto Bella
Powers Boothe   ...    Lt. Col. Andrew 'Andy' Tanner
Lane Smith   ...    Mayor Bates

Synopsis: The tides have turned against the United States. Most of the world has fallen to the communist advances and Europe is too tired for a third war in the same century. But the US is still free. Until now.
Nicaraguan/Cuban/Russian forces have invaded the US and already taken large parts of the country. Somewhere there still is a Free America. The small town of Calumet, Colorado is not that lucky.
It suddenly finds himself occupied and people are getting arrested or even killed.
A group of high school students manages to escape into the mountains and from there they try to defend their country in good ol' Guerrilla warfare manner.

My Opinion: This film is seriously dated. I've watched it for the first time, so there wasn't any nostalgia that could build up over the years.
But 30 years ago, the world was different and people were actually afraid of an all-ending war that would turn Earth into a nuclear wasteland (Nowadays they're still scared because of a terrorist attack that happened more than 12 years ago and had less than 1/3 of the casualties that traffic accidents caused in the same year, so much so that they're willing to give up essential freedoms for a little bit of safety.).
The cast list is an interesting composition with Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, three years before they had the time of their lives (pardon the pun) on Dirty Dancing, still-bad-boy Charlie Sheen but also Lea Thompson (Back to the Future or more recently Switched at Birth).

Red Dawn (2012)

Director: Dan Bradley

Chris Hemsworth   ...    Jed Eckert
Josh Peck   ...    Matt Eckert
Josh Hutcherson   ...    Robert Kitner
Adrianne Palicki   ...    Toni Walsh
Isabel Lucas   ...    Erica Martin
Connor Cruise   ...    Daryl Jenkins
Edwin Hodge   ...    Danny
Will Yun Lee   ...    Captain Cho
Jeffrey Dean Morgan   ...    Tanner
Michael Beach   ...    Mayor Jenkins

Synopsis: This time the Chinese* North Koreans have invaded the US. But the basic story is the same. They invade, the kids flee into the woods and begin their Wolverine terrorist insurgence resistance group.

My Opinion: Actually, this movie this quite a few things better than the original. Before the invasion the NKs disabled all of America's high-tech, computer-based weaponry, so there were no predator drones, no spy satellites, no communications network. It went back to the basics.
In the 80s this wouldn't have been possible, because there weren't that many computers involved in warfare. So this time around it actually makes a little more sense why this didn't end in a big nuclear shootout.
Also, it wasn't a bad idea to give at least one of the guys a background in military training and having been to Iraq he had the knowledge of how insurgence works.
What I also found noteworthy was his comparison to the Viet Cong and the Mujahideen because it at least acknowledged that the VC and others were only doing what these kids are doing now: Defending their own country.
This movie also wasn't a carbon copy; they deviated from the original material in some ways so it didn't become completely predictable for someone who had seen the original recently.
And they have black kids now! In the year of Beverly Hills Cop the original didn't have any memorable black characters in it, not even the obligatory black-dude-that-dies-first.

*Originally the bad guys were supposed to be Chinese but then they also wanted the Chinese market to show this movie, so the bad guys became North Koreans instead.