BlackJacks

For 75 minutes a group of attractive people allow themselves to be filmed. That's pretty much all there is to this not-quite movie. You're supposed to believe sabotage at a research facility in Kazakhstan released a monster and only a collection of pretty people from the US could stop it. You won't believe that for a second.

The acting peaks - and I can't believe I'm saying this - with Eric Roberts. It's all downhill from there. The majority of these folks aren't even actors by profession; they're former special forces soldiers.

The camera work is an abomination. Dutch angles, weird close ups, off center distance shots. All inappropriate, none of it works. It's as if the extent of the cameraman's training was skimming through a cinematography textbook written in a foreign language.

The editing, likewise, is an affront to the senses. Scenes flicker, shift focus, spin around, and lack any sense of continuity. I don't know much footage ended up in the cutting room floor, but they should have spliced that together and realized it instead of this mess. It can't make less sense.

Four stars for seventy five minutes of pretty people chatting, playing army, and taking showers. No stars for the director who neglected to tell anyone he was making a movie. Four stars.

Well.....this was completely different from Predator. It had creatures of the four legged variety not the two legged.

It was still good n full of action tension n suspense but took a while to kick in.

The story was good but the plot was lacking. Still a good watch though.

Decent special effects on the creatures.

The ending was done well but pretty much predictable.

I would recommend this movie especially if you like creature features n plenty of soldier action. A really good watch but don't mistake it for Predator.

Not bad at all if you don't expect blockbuster production. Characters mostly make logical decisions, it doesn't insult your brain. Nice military tactics, with lots of spec ops equipment. Special effects could be better, and there is very little character development, but movie is overall pleasant surprise.

I was expecting low budget horror movie, but decided to give this one a chance. I liked how special team members mostly follow almost all that you can see about close quarters combat in other documentary shows. Acting is not great but watchable.

And there are some very nice looking ladies in the movie...

This movie is very similar to the original Predator and Resident Evil movies but it lacks their quality. The strongest side of the movie is the military action, which is on par with the best of the genre. The team is well equipped and the tactical element is well handled except maybe the use of scope indoors. However, the story is somewhat weak (goes with the genre) and the special effects quite cheap so when it comes to the sci-fi stuff and explosions, this movie feels 10 years old.

Generally, if you are a fan of either Predator or Resident Evil, this movie will not disappoint. If not, stay away from this one.

I just watched this recent flick with a friend. We wanted something to accompany our corn chips and cream cheese, and various forms of libation. We thought the joke would be that the movie would go well with the "cheese." We were both pleased to find that the movie, an action/military/science fiction film, was actually well done. The opening scene was a rather cleverly done shooting range/simulation test where a new recruit of the "BlackJacks" seeks to qualify. The BlackJacks are an elite, highly trained, ex-military, blah blah blah... ala the Navy SEALs. You get the idea, although no actual SEAL seems represented. From there, we were hooked.

There are no big stars in this movie, a couple I know I have seen here or there, and some who have done voices for action/military genre video games. They all do their parts credibly to provide an enjoyable view. Eric Roberts is the only one with a household name. And he does his usual good job adding some class and sophistication to his role. He is a CEO who sends the 'Jacks into Afghanistan to his super-secret but malfunctioning lab to recover the genius in charge of some experimental energy research.

The action is fairly constant but not overdone. Hardware and tactics seem authentic and believable. It has the look and feel of one of those action/military video games like Call of Duty, with good cinematography instead of expensive special effects. The science fiction comes in when stuff goes wrong and it becomes clear why the lab is off-line. There is also some gore here, but it's not overdone either. That and some brief nudity get it an R rating.

All in all, this movie held our interest and was fun to watch. If you like action movies with a military flavor, I recommend this movie to you.