Takers took me baby!

And I happily went along for that ride, trust me.

The hubby & I went to seeTakers today and I gotta say, it not only exceeded my expectations, it BLEW them out of the water.

I’ve had this movie on my radar since last year.  And I’ll admit it, I was drawn to it more so for the cast than the actual plotline.

And no, not just because I find 5 of the 6 stars to be quite the epitome of hotness in their own way. (I’ll let you guess as to the one that didn’t make the cut); but I was really very interested in how this cast of actors (none really known as the ”Leading Man”–I know some may note Paul Walker has been cast in leading roles several times, but Paul’s  acting in said movies is real borderline IMO in those earlier movies) could/would pull off the feat of carrying this movie.

Well, they did an excellent job IMO.

The story is good and compelling for the characters, the action is hot (the chase scene involving Chris Brown’s character was truely some unique, acrobatic stuff for the genre), the acting is more than decent all around (that darn T.I. played his character to the hilt.  Ghost is a baaaaaad man, I’m telling ya); and the actual direction is pretty good.  There is one scene in particular (I won’t ruin it for those that have not scene it yet) that was quite beautifully done.  For those that have seen the movie, I will only say it involved Michael Ealy and Chris Brown. 

Now, was it the more original and best written story ever? No, but it was  good and I enjoyed it.

Was I able to call a few of the plot twists well in advance? Yes, but I never could figure out exactly how it was going to in.  In fact, I called one within the first 5 mins.  Of course, the hubby gave me the side eye, but I was right.   

Could there have been more character development? Yes. I, for one, would have loved a bit more about Hayden’s character.  They only scratched the surface with him and I needed more.  I would have also like a bit more on the history of the crew,  where they came from and how they came to be. 

Overall, I have to give it 5 stars (which is predominately inspired by all the pure male hotness contained within this film), or 4.75 at the very least.  I hope the actors involved are able to parlay their performances in Takers into bigger roles in the future. Michael Ealy and Idris Elba really shined in this one.  I also enjoyed  what Jay Hernandez  brought to the table.  He was a good balance to Matt Dillon’s character.

I heard the creators have a prequel in mind.  I hope they get it done.

Tags: fun, Movie, review

Go Joe!

The fam & I just got back from seeing G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.  Now, I was never into G.I. Joe as a kid, so I went in with low expectations,  mediocre at best.   And the fact the movie started over 30 mins late (with no acknowledge of technical difficulties from the staff, by the way), certainly didn’t help my expectations any.  Then to top it off,  the film stopped about 30 mins in for at least 5 mins (again, with no word from the staff as to what was going on), only to start back up  and run close to 4 mins with no sound…

I was not a happy camper by this time.

But in spite of all that, the movie, while not great, was much better than I thought it would be.  I didn’t like  Channing Tatum’s acting here,  he came across as 2D the majority of the movie, I never really developed any real empathy for his character Hawk.  But I guess it’s not entirely his fault, he wasn’t given the best lines in the world…   However, surprising, Marlon Wayans did a good job in his role.  I was bit leery of him being cast in an action/adventure role initially, but he pulls it off well considering he’s bringing a bit of comic relief also– but not in the over the top way as he usually does (thank goodness).

Snake Eyes, played by Ray Park (of Darth Maul and Toad fame) made this movie for me,  he stole the show.  Even without uttering a single word throughout the entire movie, he commanded attention every time he was on screen.   I enjoyed the subplot between him and his nemesis Storm Shadow (who was no slouch himself).

The more I think about it, the more I’ve beginning to think his performance was easily the best of all the actors due to the fact that he didn’t speak  (did I mention the writing was not the best…)   :-)

All in all, I’ll give G.I. Joe: the Rise of Cobra a 3.  The acting was not the greatest by any stretch, and the dialogue left a lot to be desired in some cases; but the visuals and special effects were good, the action was good, and the story at least made sense.  If not for Snake Eyes, it would have been a 2.

Tags: Movie, review