Contrabando

Directing 6/10- Some unique and intriguing shots, but nothing too rememberable Acting 8.5/10- The acting is the category that without a doubt, stole the show. Solid efforts from the entire cast but the film really benefited from tremendous performances from Ribisi and Landry Jones. Screenplay 4/10- The screenplay is fun no doubt and benefits from decent pacing and a few intense action sequences but the film lacks originality, stealing concepts and at times, lines. Visual effects 5/10- The visual effects were average. I can't completely fault a film for not using unnecessary visuals. Sound effects/Music 5/10- The sound effects were fine, nothing misplaced there. The music was again just OK, sometimes the music was great and mixed well with the action going on but in some the haunting/emotional scenes the music didn't make the scene 'better', which is what it should do. Overall, the film is just another forgettable action film. The film has decent enough story (though cliché), with great acting and some fun action sequences that make the film at least worth a viewing.

If you've seen the trailer, you can already tell that Contraband really doesn't have anything new to offer as a film. It has a typical heist/revenge thriller plot with some thrills and good action sequences. However, Contraband manages to be a slightly better than your typical thriller.

Mark Wahlberg gives a really good performance and Giovanni Ribisi did a really great job as the films over-the-top villain. The film does a great job of getting down the gritty tone and gives the film a realistic feel to it. I also enjoyed how instead of being a straight out action flick, the film actually took time to develop what they had with the plot and show the whole set up of the heist.

For most of it's nearly 2 hour runtime, Contraband kept me entertained for the most part. It still suffers from it's expected flaws. The plot isn't exactly strong and is pretty convoluted and very predictable. I also didn't care for the way the film wrapped up.

Overall, there really isn't a whole lot about to say about Contraband, but I would highly recommend it to someone who is looking for a good rental. If you like Marky Mark, than it's worth a shot.

If you like movies where every principal character is a bad guy, then this movie will definitely be for you. Plausibility is thrown to the wind as the creators of this movie have a field day showing what happens when bad guys are in conflict with even badder guys. The problem with the story is that the "good" guy is really a bad guy who is trying to pass himself off as a good guy, which is so phony that even the other characters in the story don't believe it, and if they don't believe it, then don't expect the audience to believe it either. Mark Wahlberg is a wonderful actor and he proves it again in this movie. But he can't overcome his character's incomprehensible behavior. It's one thing for one brother to want to help out another brother - that is altruistic. However, it's something else entirely when the same brother does exactly the same thing that got the other brother into trouble. Nevertheless, there is some good acting and Kate Beckinsdale is as usual beautiful and probably played the most believable role.

It was a really good movie ... I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The story gets progressively more complicated as the movie continues. Wahlberg does a great job filling the lead role and the bad guy's were good at their roles too.

Great action flick!

Contraband is a paint by numbers action/thriller. It would be easy to pick on everything that this movie wasn't, but can you blame chicken nuggets for being chicken nuggets? With a rookie screenwriter at the helm, the script suffers from a mash-up of cliché's. They start with "One last heist" and end with "If you want to save your family you'll do as you're told". There were many déjà-vu moments of been there and done that.

The star power was strong, but given so very little to work with in the way of character back story. All the characters were two dimensional representations of stereotypes. The locations (New Orleans & Panama) were interesting choices but never really quite fit. While the movie wasn't action packed, it moved at a good pace and kept my interest the whole time. The film work was solid as a whole. There was one particular action sequence that takes place around the halfway mark that was done very well.

If you have a craving that only chicken nuggets will satisfy, then I think you will come away fairly happy. Not a necessity to see on the big screen, but that helps it a little. Leave your thinking cap outside, that's the contraband that will keep you from enjoying this as it was intended.