d_man1890

Police Story 2013 follows Jackie's character in a Die Hard scenario. A bunch of cage fighting criminals have taken hostages in a fortified building, one of them is JC's daughter and he must find a way to save them all by himself.

The premise itself is pretty interesting but the execution is sloppy. The movie takes forever to begin and spends way too much time on introducing unimportant characters instead of building on Jackie's relationship with his daughter. Then it relies on flashbacks which seems at first as an interesting plot device until you realize that they're there just for show and don't contribute to the plot itself. When finally we discover what the bad guys were after, it seems highly unlikely and ridiculous.

Low production values and lack of action turn this movie into more of a drama, but with Jackie being the only credible actor the result is cringeworthy. This movie, just like last year's CZ 2013 are a sad reminder that Jackie has aged, long gone are the days of crazy stunts and wild fights. Jackie's fights are short, over edited, CGI'd and even it's apparent that he uses stunt doubles. I know that he's not young anymore, but it's apparent that he's still in great shape and could've done a lot more if the crew knew what to do with him.

Overall, an interesting premise that is ruined by a lack of direction and relying too much on cheap tricks as flashbacks, CGI, Slo-Mo and fast cutting. Watch this only if you're a big fan of JC.

This raunchy sex comedy seems to have all the right ingredients: An interesting premise, Chuck was cursed to be the last guy a girl will sleep with before meeting her soul mate what leads to him becoming very popular with the ladies, but what happens when he meets the girl of his dreams and is scared of losing her? A solid leading cast, Dane Cook and Jessica Alba who looks hot as always. And an R rating that has a lot of female nudity and even Dane's cheek shots. What this movie lacks is direction, the talented cast is wasted with a half baked script that goes all over the place, relying on too many clichés while completely forgetting about character development or a coherent plot. The supporting cast is a one dimensional joke, Chuck's friend is a perv with a boob fetish, Cam's (Alba's character) brother is a stoner and that's about all you can say about them, seriously. What's so bad about this movie is that it could have been so much better with a polished script and a more competent director. In the end I'd say it's a waste of time and unless you're looking to see Jessica Alba in underwear, don't bother with this one. **** of of 10

The new Unisol film is a surprisingly fresh take on an old franchise. The tone of the movie is completely different from the previous entries that it's hard to compare to its predecessors.

Our hero, john (Scott Adkins), awakes to find intruders in his home who kill his wife and daughter. After spending several months in a coma John awakes with a memory loss, only remembering the man who murdered his family, Luc Devreux (Van Damme). The storyline then becomes less comprehensive as we tag along John as he tries to piece everything. The main problem is that nothing is answered, the back story remains hidden and the characters motivations are left unexplained. The movie also suffers from bad pacing, the first half being painstakingly slow with no action happening for the first half of the movie.

The good news are that the second half features some badass action sequences and the R rating is used fully, it's a gory movie as it should be. Even though the frequent use of slo-mo is tiring, it doesn't ruin the experience. Too bad all of it is packed in the final scenes of the movie.

The movie draws inspiration from different places, from video games to horror movies to Apocalypse Now (you won't miss it), the unique style sets this movie apart from the others but it doesn't help the thin plot or anemic characters.

Universal Soldier 4: Day of Reckoning is unique and fresh and I applaud the director for taking a different approach. Adkins does a great job and proves his more than a stuntman. JVCD and Lundgren's roles are smaller than you would expect, but it's a treat to see them on screen again. The lack of a comprehensive plot and or continuity to other films of the series is what hinders this movie from getting a higher rating.

Final score: 6 out of 10