Fast and Furious 6 Review

I wanted to see this because I like half of the Fast and Furious movies and I was really interested to see how they would do elaborate car chases through the narrow, crowded streets of London.  As it turns out, the best way to solve that problem is to just not do much driving in London.  Right from the get go, this movie is largely a disappointment.  Yes, it has a relatively flimsy story but so do all of the other films in the franchise.  Nobody goes to see these for the story.  We go to see these movies to increase our adrenaline output through watching fast cars and things getting destroyed.  But, when you don't have much of that, the story is all you have to fall back on and that's where this franchise can become boring.

For this one, they tried to go too far with a ridiculous "doppelganger" gimmick and allegedly clever dialogue.  I'm guessing this was an attempt to ramp up the on screen dynamic between Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel that was good in the last film.  However, no matter how well those two can work together, it will all fall apart when the writing relies too much on moronic metaphors and allegedly clever witticisms.  And then having a lot of those lines delivered by Ludacris and Tyrese Gibson is guaranteeing an eye-rolling audience.  This is made even worse by having a flimsy plot that they start and then ignore for almost two hours.  I wouldn't mind if they had filled a lot of that two hours with something happening on the screen.  But this one just goes nowhere.

That being said, when there is action, it is decent.  There are a few spots where they leap over the boundaries of realism (jumping out of cars, comically long runways, etc.) but it's a shallow action franchise and I'm usually willing to let reality slip somewhat for that.  The problem is that the action sequences are too few and far between (especially for a 2.25 hour movie) which makes you notice the numerous plot holes , shake your head, and become bored.

Don't see it.  I'm hoping 7 is better and I would just recommend you read a synopsis to get caught up before going to see the next one.  It can be done.  Right before the movie started Steph asked me, "so what happened between the first one and this that I need to know?"  And she wasn't confused at all.

Gone In 60 Seconds Review

I'm a fan of the remake from 2000.  I know it isn't a great movie but it has a good car movie story and some decent comedic one liners.  It also has good car chase action and I'm a big fan of that.  So i finally decided to watch the original to see how close the remake was.  As it turns out, it isn't that far off.  The remake added a human element to appeal more to the masses.  but the basic mission is the same: these car thieves are given a list of high end cars that they have to steal.

Unlike the remake, there seems to be no consequences if they don't steal the cars in time.  They basically do it to just steal the cars.  There is the white whale of Eleanor and stealing that car seems to motivate the main character to some extent.  But other than that there is no real story or character development throughout the entire film.  At times, it even seems like just raw B-roll footage of guys stealing cars.  Because of that, there are times when it seems very realistic.  If it weren't for the wooden acting from some of the secondary and tertiary actors, you could almost think you were watching the news.

If you are looking for realism in that sense, this may be for you.  Also, if you are looking for some pretty decent car chase scenes, you may like it.  It seemed like (and may be the case) that about 1/3 of the entire movie is a big car chase at the end.  At times, it seemed to drag on a bit but, for the most part, it did keep me engaged thinking, "how is he going to get out of this?"  And that's one of the two main elements of a good car chase.  The other is to have a lot of speed, crashes, and changes in direction which it did too.  From a 2013 perspective, there wasn't a whole lot of innovation.  but this movie is from the mid-70s and, for it's time, I would think it was pretty innovative with the stunt driving and deterioration of the Mustang throughout the chase.

If you like car movies, this is a decent one that is boiled down to the basic element of pure cars.  So see it.  But give it a pass if you need any kind of character development and motivation.  if that is you thing, give the remake a try.

The Cannonball Run Review

The last time I saw this movie I was probably about 10 years old.  So I didn't know any of the actors except Burt Reynolds and Jamie Farr.  And I certainly had no clue who James Bond was.  But it was a delightful movie with fast cars and a little bit of cleavage so I liked it.  I felt a little nostalgic and decided to watch it again.  Now, I can see all of the satire and ironic jokes that they placed in there.  That gives me a much better appreciation for the movie as a whole.  But on the flip side, I can also see the numerous flaws and potential to have made it a better movie.

I should probably stop and acknowledge that this was never intended to be anything deep.  It's main characters are played by Burt Reynolds and Dom Deluise after all.  It's supposed to be an ensemble comedy where everyone is a screwball.  The problem is that they made the ensemble too big.  Rather than focusing on just four or five quirky duos that are rivals in the race, they bump the number up and give each team its own quirks.  While each one had potential to be very funny with its own character, there is simply not enough screen time that can be devoted to any one to really hold the viewers' interest.  There is also very little interaction between the teams thus hurting any conflict that could have been created.  Everything becomes a self-contained one-off gag that has no bearing on the rest of the movie.

That being said, the one-off gags are usually funny.  The best bits come from the doctor that Deluise finds and the guys in the computerized Subaru (I was surprised when I saw that one of them is Jackie Chan).  Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr are also really good when they get to be on screen.  And Roger Moore's satire of himself as James Bond was funny even if it was a bit familiar.  The rest of the quirky teams could have been scrapped altogether.  Well, except for the girls in the Lamborghini.  We do need cleavage in an 80s screwball comedy after all.

If all you want is a few laughs, you may want to see it because you can likely find it for free somewhere.  Because of its nostalgia value for me, it does get a see recommendation.  But just barely.

The Italian Job (1969) Commentary

I'm a big fan of the 2003 remake of the same name.  I like heist movies, Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron and Ed Norton.  I also love Mini Coopers.  So it's pretty obvious that I would like that movie.  But I had never seen the Michael Caine original from 1969.  I decided to get a copy of it and give it a go.  While there are many similarities between the two, they are two very different movies.  And they have to be because they are made 34 years apart.  The original is not what I expected.  It's still a decent movie but it took me a bit to get into it because of how it was made.

First, I was expecting a grittier heist movie that was more like The French Connection in tone.  Rather than that, The Italian Job is very much more comedic and light hearted.  It is really really more of a comic romp that has the suave, womanizing Charlie Croker (Michael Caine) trying to pull of this great heist whilst surrounded by complete buffoons.  While the remake has some very good comic bits in it, it focuses more on the action and heist whereas the original seems to be focused more on the comedy.  I should have keyed into this when I saw that Benny Hill was in the opening credits.  And he plays is own pervy self throughout (a part he plays very well).

Second, this movie is very indicative of the era it was made in.  It is your typical sixties movie where characters aren't developed like they are now and things seem very choppy.  There is little exposition and many blanks left between plot points that the viewers are left to figure out on their own.  The acting is also very over the top just like in most movies made in that time.  The only one that seemed believable was Caine which is good because he's almost constantly on screen.  Finally, it's got that typical, "why the hell would they do that" feel to it.  If you've ever seen movies like Hello Down There or The Party, you'll know that these movies tend to follow a coherent plot for a while and then deviate off into some bizarre happening close to the end almost as if the film makers really didn't know how to wrap it up.  The Italian Job does the same thing with no resolution at all for the film.

But, when all is said and done, I didn't feel like I had wasted my time.  It is entertaining enough through its humour and a great car chase with old Mini Coopers that it is worth while for a rainy Sunday afternoon diversion.  See it but don't make it a priority.

Fast Five Review

I love car chases.  Always have and I always will.  This movie does not disappoint in that.  Then again, if a Fast and Furious movie didn't deliver on the driving scenes, there's no way it would make money.

This movie starts out like it's going to be disappointing.  At the start, the acting is very wooden and the intensity between characters seems very forced.  However, once they get the whole heist portion (the real plot) of the movie started, the comic relief comes in and it seems that the whole cast relaxes.  That's when it gets really good.  There's a lot of jabs between characters and the acting picks up in quality.  It just seems that the timing gets better.

Sadly, we realize two things in this movie.  First, Vin Diesel should never smile.  Wow, he's a funny looking man.  Second, we found the type of character Dwayne Johnson should not play.  He's excellent when he's quiet and brooding or when he can get a bit goofy in an action comedy like he did in Faster, Be Cool and The Rundown.  In this one, he tries to be the intense, take no shit good guy and most of it seems very forced.

There's a lot of good action in this film.  As I said, the big chase is great.  The rest of the action is too.  Especially the big fight scene.  Some of the stuff near the end does not follow the prototypical line for movies like this.  I won't give it away though.

Definitely see it.  And, if you can see it in UltraAVX, do so.  The rumbling bass will actually shake your hair.  Also, I won't tell you why, but make sure you stay until the end of the credits.  Trust me.  And, if you do see it, maybe walk to the theatre or have someone pick you up after.  Your adrenaline will be so amped up that driving might actually be dangerous.