After Bryan saves a flippant singer from a would-be attacker after a live performance, Bryan encounters a situation he finds infinitely more dangerous. Though hesitant, Bryan allows his “teenage” daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) to go to Paris with her friend Amanda (Katie Cassidy) to visit museums though they are really going to be following U2 around Europe. Soon after touching down, men break into where Kim and Amanda are staying and kidnap them.

Kim is on the phone with Bryan during most of the kidnapping, allowing Bryan to give her advice on how to act during this crisis. This a clear illustration of the expertise and seasoning Bryan possesses. Most parents would become hysterical; Bryan is calm and clear-headed. Because of his instruction, Kim is able to give Bryan valuable information about her kidnappers before she is gagged and taken out of the room.

When Bryan arrives in Paris looking for his daughter, no one is safe as he goes on a focused rampage looking for clues and tracking down those involved in the kidnapping. One of Bryan’s old acquaintances; now comfortable behind a desk and wanting to keep it that way, gives what help he can but is more interested in job security than in assisting Bryan. Taken is almost as unforgiving a revenge film as Man on Fire, which has even more brutality than this film and is as harsh as Marvel’s The Punisher films should be.

When Bryan tortures someone, he doesn’t talk about what he is going to do; he just does it then asks his questions. It’s not like on television’s Alias or The Punisher (2004) where they talk, never really do anything (or cut away when they do) or someone miraculously intervenes at the last second. It’s just Bryan, the person he is torturing and pain Marv from Sin City could appreciate.

Taken’s fight scenes aren’t thrown in to spice things up, they are very appropriate to the character and the situation he is in. They also speak to the long career and skills he acquired during it, which were alluded to earlier in the film. I was impressed by some of them but since Luc Besson is a producer for Taken, I should not have been that surprised. I have heard that these fight scenes are reminiscent of those found in The Bourne Identity series. Since I have only seen the first film in that series (the television version staring Richard Chamberlain is more faithful to the book), I can not fairly equate them with that. What I can say is that Bryan is one efficient and quick killer with no compunction for blood work. The wet work and the film’s other favorable attributes notwithstanding, Taken is not without its flaws. We are never shown the Human Trafficking issues and trials that Kim and Amanda had to endure while Byran searched for them. If these elements had been included, it would have broaden the film and made it more than a mere action film but a drama with numerous action segments.

Pierre Morel’s Taken is a great ride, a thriller that thrills and never lets your attention go for a second. Now if only other revenge, action films could take a queue from Taken, the cinema would be a better place.

Rating: 9/10

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When the Daredevil: The Director Cut came out a few years ago on regular DVD and I sat down to watch, I was surprised to find that: some (not all) of the holes were cleared up, the fight scenes are extended and tons of rated R-material was thrown into the mix making for a far more hardcore and enjoyable superhero film. Plus the added Bullseye intro-sequence in the airport is rock star and priceless. The Blu-ray of Daredevil: The Director Cut will be coming out at the end of the month, September 30. If you don’t already own Daredevil: The Director Cut on regular DVD, the Blu-ray edition is probably the way to go.

Daredevil: The Director’s Cut

• The extras from the regular edition
• 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen
• English DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Surround and French Dolby Surround tracks
• New audio commentary by director Mark Steven Johnson and Avi Arad
• Making of the Director’s Cut featurette
• 30 additional minutes of footage

Daredevil: The Director Cut (Blu-ray)

• 2.35:1 Widescreen Transfer (1080p)
• Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Commentary by Mark Steve Johnson and Gary Foster
• Commentary by Mark Steve Johnson and Avi Arad
• Text Commentary
• ‘Beyond Hell’s Kitchen: Making Daredevil’ Featurette
• Daredevil/Kingpin 6 Takes
• Elektra/Bullseye 16 Takes
• Theatrical Farm Trailers
• Daredevil Theatrical Teasers and Trailers
• 28 Days Later Theatrical Trailer
• League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Theatrical Trailer
• Fuel ‘Won’t Back Down’ Music Video
• The Calling ‘For You’ Music Video
• Evanescence ‘Bring Me to Life’ Music Video
• Music Promotion Spot
• Still Galleries: Storyboards; Costumes; Set Design; Production Stills; Props
• The Comic Book
• ‘Men Without Fear: Creating Daredevil’ Featurette
• ‘Shadow World Tour’ Featurette
• ‘Modeling Sheets’ Featurette

Here is a detailed list of all the changes, differences and key points of Daredevil: The Director Cut:

1.) There are way more swear words in this version.

2.) The confessional scenes are gone.

3.) The lame sex scene is gone.

4.) The first addition is when Murddock is talking with his father before the accident.

5.) The sequence of the accident scene is modified and has added footage.

6.) The hospital scene has added footage. He lets his dad know of his new abilities.

7.) The roof top training sequence has additional footage.

8.) The father has additional boxing footage. Blood coming out of his mouth and hard hits. The father has an addition when he’s coming out of the training room, red robed up and Muddock is on the floor. Murdock gets up when his dad passes and follows him out to his last boxing match.

9.) You see Fallon in the car after Murdock’s father is killed.

10.) Murdock wakes up in his sensor dep. tank. There’s a shot of his knee and calves, I guess to show their adjustable strength. You hear they move when he stands.

11.) Murdock and his partner walking out of court.

12.) More brutal and extended night club scene. You can actually see that its a badass biker bar. A girl flashes, bikers spin wheels. Jose defends himself after the bartender makes a comment. Murdock breaks someone’s arm and beats the crap out of three guys with his two staffs. Bullets get deflected back and kill the shooter. Murdock also says “Time to pay the devil his do.” There’s more dialog before Jose is finally killed.

13.) Wincing footage as Murdock takes off his DD jacket. As Murdock gets into his tank, Murdock hears a whore get murdered and does nothing. He gets into his tank and closes the lid.

14.) Playground Elektra/DD fight is extended with footage and dialog.

15.) Rap song playing over Kingpin intro has f*** peppered throughout. Kingpin murders two of his guards with his bare hands for no reason. He cracks the skull of one with his cane and breaks the neck of one with one hand as he holds him against the wall. It was badass and unexcepted. Hardcore.

16.) Bullseye gets an entire airport scene added when he comes to America. It’s so cool and funny. On the escalator, he hold his hands up like he’s ascending to heaven or something. He’s got a paper clip in his mouth and he has to walk through a metal detector. There’s a guitar playing in the back ground making the scene even better. It’s priceless.

17.) Coolio footage is added. It’s weak. Murduck and company investigate the whore’s death. Police think Coolio did it.

18.) Added church scene and scene in the ball at the hotel. Their is also added footage of a nun (Murddock’s mother actually) that’s cool.

19.) In this version, Bullseye says “I want a f***ing costume.”

20.) Lame Coolio trial footage. Lame.

21.) Elektra has extra Training footage.

22.) Extra alley footage.

23.) The Elektra/Daredevil fight is extended.

24.) The Elektra/ Bullseye fight is extended. Too much wire work for me though. Bulleye kisses her after he stabs her.

25.) Murddock says a few dark things to the priest before the Bullseye fight happens.

26.) The DareDevil/Bullseye fight is extended but the computer generated stuff looks bad. Real bad.

27.) WOW scene has been added w/ the detective talking to him about the dead whore at a bar.

28.) Kingpin/Daredevil fight is extended. Its more intense and bloodier. Daredevil punches Kingpin many times in the face, which he barely feels even when blood is drawn.

29. Additional footage of Murdoock walking the city, talking to the priest. You see Kingpin and WOW in prison cells and Bullseye in the hospital.

All in all, still flawed but a better version of DareDevil.

Source: DVD Active

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The extended preview for The Day the Earth Stood Still aired last night in front of the encore presentation of the new Sci-Fi television program Fringe (which I wrote about last week here). I wanted to see the film before after seeing the first trailer for The Day the Earth Stood Still and then watching the original but I really want to see it now. The interview scene is the best part of the extended preview for The Day the Earth Stood Still in my opinion. What’s yours?

Source: youtube

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I been trying not to watch the Max Payne trailer because at some point I might buy the game its based and I don’t want all the surprises ruined for me. The Max Payne game is about seven years old now but still. The trailer sort of reminds me of Constantine. Its too bad MPAA gave the film an R-rating as director, John Moore, wanted Max Payne to be PG-13. The director does have a point though. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Frodo’s bleeding, bitten off finger) and The Dark Knight (Dent’s half burned, mutilated face) get rated PG-13 and his film gets an R. I cant wait to see what is R-rated in Max Payne if the above issues sled by.

The High Definition Trailer.

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It seems that 20th Century Fox has some distribution rights to the upcoming Watchmen flick that were not resolved before the film was produced and a federal judge agrees. I find this absolutely fascinating. With the release of the Watchmen trailer, Fox knows it will be a blockbuster and now that the film has been completed, they want what is legally theirs. Why wouldn’t you sure up all of the legal issues to a film project before moving ahead with it? A lot of people are asking that question of Warner Bros. I think its hilarious. Now Fox may get some or all of the distribution rights to Watchmen, which they didn’t spend a dime producing. Or they’ll get a nice buyout from Warner Bros. Either way, Warner Bros. is getting paid. An in-depth article about it can be found here. Let’s hope this doesn’t effect the release date (March 6, 2009) for Watchmen, which could happen if a judge grants an injunction until the issue of the distribution rights has been settled.

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X-Men Origins: Wolverine trailer looks good. Love that Gambit makes an appearance as well.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine “is a prequel to the X-Men film trilogy, focusing on the mutant Wolverine and his time with Team X, before Wolverine’s skeleton was bonded with the indestructible metal adamantium. Set seventeen years before X-Men, the film will focus on Wolverine’s violent past, his early encounters with William Stryker, the Weapon X program and his interactions with other mutants will be explored, including his complex relationship with Sabretooth / Victor Creed.” Extensive X-Men Origins: Wolverine coverage can be found here.

Source: Wikipedia

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I loved the first teaser trailer for Taken. This Taken trailer gives you more information on Liam Neeson‘s character. “Bryan [Liam Neeson], a former secret agent living in the US, is divorced; he is fond of his 17-year-old daughter Kim [Maggie Grace] who lives with his ex-wife and her new husband. Kim wants to take a vacation in Europe with her friend Amanda [Katie Cassidy], and together follow the Europe tour of U2. Kim’s mother allows this, but Kim also needs permission from Bryan. Since Kim fears that Bryan will not consent because of cautiousness, she pretends that they will only go to Paris.” The fact that Luc Besson produced Taken is another inducement to see this film, especially if you are a fan of The Professional. If you own a Region Free DVD player, Taken is already out on DVD. If not, Taken will be out on Region 1 DVD and Blu-ray soon.

Source: wikipedia, yahoo

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I just finished watching the original The Day The Earth Stood Still. Not a bad film. I’m looking forward to see what this remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still brings to the table.

The High Definition version can be found here.

Source: apple, firstshowing

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This is easily the best trailer for the new CGI animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars film to date. More action, more plot and the best part in my opinion, its darker in tone, like Revenge of the Sith.

The High-Definition versions of this trailer can be found here.

Source: youtube

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The new Red Band trailer for The Happening is out and is the best trailer for the film yet. Now you know what happens to the people and its a bloody affair. The Happening will be released on June 13, 2008.

Source: youtube

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The action in AvP:R is very good and intense but the human element and the setup are weak. The biggest mistake AvP:R made was introducing “waiting to dies” with zero development no one cares about or is made to care about. Screenwriter Shane Salerno should have taken a lesson from Greg McLean and Wolf Creek on that point.

The second mistake AvP:R made was throwing the aliens and predator into the classic horror scenario of: a small town community (Gunnison, Colorado) under siege from a monster (the aliens). Why just have a two minute snippet on the Predator’s home world? After three films evolving Predators, you finally go to their world and you show no aspects of it. Brilliant. Yes, please show us a small town community, its coffee shop, et cetera. We’ve never seen those before. Their much more interesting than an alien planet and its warrior civilization. Why not show the Predators talking to each other on their planet, holding a meeting about the situation, selecting their best hunter from a roster? I would have loved to hear what their language sounds like. The brothers Strause could have showed that selected Predator at home wearing something other than his battle armor when the word comes down and he (or it) received his selection notice.

Then there is the Marine. Why use Reiko Alyesworth, former co-star of television’s 24, give her the pedigree of a military soldier and then not use any of it? Salerno should have just made her a pastry chef. And one point that I found strange: Your wife comes home from a tour of duty, you both haven’t had sex with anyone since she left, you’re alone with her in your room after you put your daughter to bed and you don’t make-out or have sex? When Alyesworth’s daughter in AvP:R, Molly O’Brien (Ariel Gade), screams she saw something outside of her window and both parents, Kelly O’Brien (Reiko Alyesworth) and Mr. O’Brien (whose name I couldn’t locate on IMDb), come rushing into her room moments later, they are both fully clothed, not a hair out of place. I thought that it was very strange that the hormones of the “teen” characters were made omnipresent in an unusually relationship triangle and yet here is a normal couple that has been totally de-sexualized. Why? Their not 65 years old. It didn’t really make sense to me though there are many non-sensical scenes littered throughout AvP:R (the Predator ship is flying away from Earth in the first scene then earth is suddenly in front of it towards the right after a hole is blown in it. How is that possible when the earth was behind it? I have an explanation. Sloppy editing. Good job Mr. Zimmerman. Everything horrible that happens to people in the film is rushed. The horror is never given time to marinate in the audiences’ mind e.g. the hospital scene with the pregnant women. Don’t get me wrong, the tension is kept high because of it. You move from one action sequence to the next but the story and the horror aspects of the film suffer because of the pace. Another issue, Kelly never identifies herself as a soldier to Col. Stevens (Robert Joy) or the other soldiers at the end of the film. The Colonel and the other soldiers might want to know that they are dealing with a brother-in-arms and not a civilian. This type of military logic deficiency also occurred in 28 Weeks Later. Further, why don’t the survivors drive out of Gunnison in the Stryker? Its former occupants drove into town in it.). Anyway, back to the Marine. When Kelly runs out of the house with her daughter, I thought: And your husband whom you love? Hello? Kelly should have been given a soldier’s or better yet, a warrior’s mentality. Kelly could have brought her daughter to her neighbor’s house then ran back to her house to try and save her husband’s life. She could have grabbed a shotgun from the top of the closet near the door. Kelly could have then gone upstairs with the shotgun, checking the angles overhead to make sure she didn’t get ambushed by the alien. A shotgun battle would ensue with the alien once she was upstairs, she would see her dead husband on the floor of her daughter’s room and check his neck to make sure. She would then go back downstairs with the shotgun, out the door and retrieve her daughter from the neighbor. I realize that was long a tangent but that hypothetical scene and its subsequents would have made Alyesworth’s character a part of AvP:R and not just a “waiting to die” that is along for the ride.

There are many alterations and changes, like above, that could have made AvP:R better. You may or may not have noticed that I didn’t talk about any of the characters or their noteworthy personalities (besides my proposed one for Kelly). There are no characters, in the figurative sense, in AvP:R and they were given no personalities besides the generic. It was like watching ten or twelve Eddie Brock Juniors running around. Alien vs. Predator: Requiem is a film that is what it is. Easily digestible, brainless, action popcorn. Yum.

Rating: 6/10

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Space: Above and Beyond is more recognizably military than Battlestar Galactica as well. It was from two of the creators of The X-Files, Glen Morgan and James Wong, and the care they put into the use of military slang, characters and their pasts lives came out within the first six episodes of the series. An entire mythology was built throughout the show around a previous war, A.I., InVitro born humans, racism and drug use and their integration into society. For me, that was one of the most interesting parts of Space: Above and Beyond. The past. The issues dealt with, especially InVitros, are something our present society is dealing with when you consider stem cell research and the religious right. Till this day, twelve years after the show aired, I still think about, especially when I watch Battlestar Galactica.

The ending to the first and only season was well done but most do not know that it was altered, made darker and bleaker than originally intended because the creators knew the show was going to be canceled. It’s one of the best last scenes on a TV Show I have seen.

Other posts in the TV Shows that Deserved Better series: Firefly, My So-Called Life, and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Buy Space: Above and Beyond on DVD and Blu-ray

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What do you think?

Source:Tomorrows-Entertainment

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Doug Liman’s Jumper is not as good of a film as its trailers would lead you to believe. Jumper is a fireworks display of highs and lows. The story starts out following the young life of David Rice (played by Max Thieriot then Hayden Christensen), a high-schooler that has a crush on Millie Harris (played by Anna Sophia Robb then Rachel Bilson). When an accident at a frozen lake endangers David’s life, he teleports to safety, discovering a latent ability he did not know he possessed. With this discovery, he decides to leave the life he knew with his father William Rice (Michael Rooker) behind as his mother Mary Rice (Diane Lane) did when he was five. In the blink of an eye its eight years later and David is now portrayed Hayden Christensen. He has become an IOU-leaving professional bank robber whose modus operandi unfortunately has attracted the attention of the Paladin. The Paladin are a clandestine religious sect who believe a jumper’s ability is a power only God should possess. This group, possibly created by Roman Emperor Constantine the Great at the Scholae Palatinae, has hunted and killed jumpers all over the world for centuries in the name of God.

The Paladin’s lead operative in this film is Roland Cox (Samuel L. Jackson), a man of white hair (denoting purity of soul or mission perhaps) and stern conviction. He poses as a bank robbery specialist from law enforcement upon learning of the unusualness of a recent bank robbery. When Roland finally catches up with David, a confrontation ensues and the action segment of Jumper kicks firmly into gear. Many of the action sequences in Jumper are well done. These sequences soon get to the point where you are simply watching “jump effects” and your emotional attachment to the characters, if it ever existed, lessens and lessens until it is non-existent. In addition, cause and effect, how much voltage and damage the human body can take, basic high school physics, et cetera, seem to go right out of the window by Jumper’s halfway point.

I recently saw Alien versus Predator: Requiem and found that movie to be far more entertaining. Do not get me wrong, Jumper contains thought provoking ideas (Worm holes and so forth) while Alien versus Predator: Requiem brings absolutely none to the table (Alien versus Predator: Requiem is an 80’s action movie thrust into 2008). However, where Alien versus Predator: Requiem kept its momentum (more or less) for the entire film; Jumper squanders it by splicing in a hackneyed romance between Christensen and Bilson, leaving you waiting for the next “jump” or action sequence. The romance is practically worthless and the worst part about it is that the viewer has seen it before. A Walk to Remember was a L.O.U.S.E.Y. adaptation of a great book but at least the romance had a spark mixed with some originality. In Jumper the romance is a flat line from beginning to end. You just do not care about it or its participants. And what you do care about, the mystic built around Jumpers and jumping, is delivered somewhat sloppily in the third act. The promise of this film dwindles by this act and one instance of why involves a Czechian battlefield. Characters in this film jump into an ongoing battle in the Czech Republic, walk around during the conflict and are not shot or even aimed at once. Now that’s realistic. Since this movie is based on a book, a construct of an elongated mental process prone to numerous rewrites and revisions, I expected more. The film’s faults most likely lie with screenwriters David S. Goyer, Jim Uhls and Simon Kinberg and not with Steven Gould.

Jumper is one of those movies where the trailer is better and more entertaining than the film it is advertising. As a concept movie, Jumper succeeds but as an action film, it falls behind the aforementioned Alien versus Predator: Requiem and Rambo. It’s too bad because I had harbored high hopes for this film.

Rating: 6.5/10

Soundtrack Review for Jumper

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USA Today scores the first look at Hugh “Jacked” Jackman in character as Logan a.k.a. Wolverine in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. From Wikipedia: “Set seventeen years before X-Men, the film will focus on Wolverine’s violent past, and his early encounters with William Stryker. The Weapon X program and his interactions with other mutants will be explored, including his complex relationship with Sabretooth/Victor Creed.”

Gavin Hood has been tapped to direct the film. He’s an interesting choice as a director. I liked parts of his Rendition (2007) but not the movie as a whole. Hood can film a great explosion and surrounding sequence so who knows. Hopefully, Wolverine‘s script will be of higher quality than Rendition‘s was. I don’t know about you but I hope we get a Rated-R Wolverine movie and not a PG-13 studio cope out. Let us see the experimentation (the Weapon X program) and Wolverine using his claws on his victims enemies.

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