Predators: Review by The Loser

PREDATORS: REVIEW

Summary: Predators is a 2010 action movie directed by Nimrod Antal. It is the 4th movie he has directed. I won't really explain the plot, only because if you are seeing this movie it is most likely because you have seen the original 1987 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Basically a bunch of people all awake in an unknown jungle and are being hunted by something.

Pros: The cast works suprisingly better than I thought. Of course they can't replace Arnold from the first film, but Adrien Brody (The Pianist, King Kong) is great as the leading jar-headed character and I was really pleased with his performance in this film. Topher Grace (Spiderman 3) starts off likable, but soon becomes pretty annoying and his character seems like it has no other use other than to deliver useless filler dialogue. 

The action in this movie, however, is great! It's definetly the best part of the movie, and everything you would expect from the first movie is here. Remeber that scene in the first film where they fire ammunition blindly into the forest for a good 10 minutes? While not quite as entertaining or long, that scene is here. Not to mention that the Predator aliens look awesome with modern special effects, and I am REALLY happy that the predators in this movie are actually people in costumes and not crappy CGI. Their movements look as organic as ever, and they haven't made any stupid changes to the Predator's looks. The dialouge, while nothing special, is decent enough for this type of film. The film generally moves along at a good pace, and you won't get bored.  Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix) also makes an appearnce, though he doesn't have that much screen time, and has that stupid- really deep to the point where you can't understand him- voice that seems to be all the rage.

Cons: Though some people might disagree with me, I thought this movie was surprisingly tame when it came to blood and gore. Sure, the predator ripped out a guy's spine (once) and stabbed people in the back plenty of times, but it just didn't seem as gory as the first one. For some people, this might be a good thing, but for me, the movie didn't really seem like a Predator movie. I guess I liked it better when all the blood was practical effects and not CGI. Other than that it didn't really feel like a Predator movie, I can't find any major flaws with this.

Bottom Line: Cool action, good cast,  nice to see the predators back in 2010.  A nice summer action flick that will leave you satisfied, but mabye a little dissapointed.

Is it funny?  Yea, and none of the jokes really fall flat. 

Watch in theaters or at home?  I would say at home, as the movie isn't in (good) 3D or anything.

OVERALL RATING: 8/10

Grindhouse: Review by The Loser

GRINDHOUSE
Before I begin the review, I would just like to clarify to those not farmilliar with Grindhouse, that it is 2 movies in 1. See, the movie is basically pretending to be an exploitation film shown in "Grindhouse" theaters during the 70's. These theaters basically were the lower class theaters that often showed cheap gory films or just downright porn. As with modern American movies, sex is considered worse than violence, so don't expect these movies to be fap-tastic or anything. Anyways, these movies were double features, which meant you got 2 movies for the price of one. As you can see above, the two movies in Grindhouse are Planet Terror, and  Death Proof.


This Review will consist of me just sharing my thoughts about both movies, instead of a formal template for the review.


PLANET TERROR:
The plot of this movie consists of some military bio-weapon gone wrong when the poisonous gas it uses is released into the air and starts mutating everyone. A group of survivors are humanities only hope.In the first ten minutes you see a man's testicles cut off and stepped on. This movie isn't for the faint of heart. Gorier than pretty much every movie I've ever seen (I might be wrong, and I have yet to see Dead-Alive) this movie really amps up the shock value and gore factor found in other films. Now, when I first saw the poster and trailer for this, I thought it looked really dumb. I remember that the lady with the gun as her leg made me think the movie was dumb, and that it would be terrible. I was really, really wrong. The trailers don't do this movie justice at all, because obviously they can't show everything that goes on in the movie.  Anyways, I really enjoyed this movie. Sure, the story doesn't make much sense, and the actors spew some REALLY dumb lines later (this is on purpose however), and some people might be turned off by the film-scratch effect. People, it's supposed to be like this! There is a reason the movie looks really low budget, it's because (as I explained at the beginning) it is almost-spoofing grindhouse films. I actually liked the whole look, and thought it brought some authenticity to the movie. This is a very, very minor nitpick, but i was wondering the whole movie why they had smartphones in this movie. To me it kind of clashed with the whole "70's movie" vibe but I didn't really mind it that much and it didn't subtract from the overall experience. I pretty much loved everything else in the movie though, and Rose McGowan and Freddy Rodriguez are AWESOME!!! Especially Rose McGowan. All in all, pure brutal gory action fun that is always entertaing and capapble of multiple re-watches.

DEATH PROOF
This is definitely a slower film, however, I like it just as much, maybe even better, than Planet Terror.  The story consists of an old, lone man, known as Stuntman Mike (excellently played by Kurt Russel.) He is a serial killer who takes teenage girls, charms them into taking a ride with him, and then brutally kills them in his "Death Proof" car. I won't spoil the rest, but basically, he messes with the wrong girls. Now, because this film's first action scene is about, like 20 or 30 minutes into the movie, some people may be turned off by all the chatter between the teenage girls. I myself, found the things they talked about somewhat funny, and also entertaining. But beware, people who don't like a lot of talking, this may be annoying for you. Even after the first action scene, there is still lots of talking to be had. Like I said before though, I liked it, and it really isn't that bad because Stuntman Mike (the bad guy) is in these scenes, and some of the things he says/does are really creepy. However, a good hour and a half into the movie (give or take) the real action starts. Oh my god, I really think this is my favorite car chase in any movie I've ever seen. Well, there really are two car chases, both just as gripping and intense. I'll just finish up by saying the ending is so awesome yet brutal at the same time, that it will make you wish the movie was longer.

All in all both these movies show off the director's key filming style's, and the fake trailers inbetween the two movies are awesome (you will see what I mean once you watch the film)

I give Grindhouse a 10/10

Planet Terror a 9.5/10
Death Proof a 9.8/10

Happy Summer
-The Loser

The First Three Saw Movies

THE FIRST THREE SAW MOVIES

Note: I know The Fail did a review on the first one

SAW 1: This is my favorite out of the first three. It didn't overdo it with the gore, while it is still bloody. But it is bloody in a more economical way than the others. The blood is only here for the story, not just for shock effect. I liked the story the most, and just when you think everything is solved, the movie throws a curveball at you. Awesome ending and cool characters. I also like the music.

SAW 2: While decent,  it definetly is not as good as the first one. It starts right off with one of Jigsaw's death traps, which seems somewhat primitive. If you're really in the mood for gore, just watch the trap scenes in this one online (they aren't even that good) and read the story online. However, if you want more than gore, the movie is still worth a watch, but the ending isin't very good, and didn't make much sense too me.

SAW 3: Better than the second, worse than the first. While it definitely amps up the gore factor, and the story is pretty good, I just did not like it as much as the first one. Pretty close to it though. Awesome ending also.  Definitely the most gruesome of the three.

SCORES


SAW: 9.5
SAW II: 8.0
SAW III: 8.7

The Karate Kid: Review by The Loser

THE KARATE KID
REVIEW BY THE LOSER




PLOT: 12 year old Dre (played by Jaden Smith) is a kid from Detroit who moves to China because of his mom's work. When he arrives, he receives massive culture shock and is bullied from a group of kids in school. He feels like he does not belong and says he hates living in China. One day, he gets back at the bullies by showering them with dirty water. They proceed to chase him through the streets and slums until they finally corner him. Finally, when Dre loses all hope, his apartment's maintenance man, Mr.Han, shows up and easily incapacitates all of the bullies. Dumbfounded that the maintenance worker is also a Kung-Fu master, Dre starts to train with the man for a Kung-Fu tournament coming up.


PROS: In the way this movie was made, I can't imagine anyone else playing Dre other than Jaden Smith. His cocky, conceited attitude is perfect for the role. I also liked how this movie was not an exact remake of the first film. Sure, the basic story template remains pretty much the same, but all the little details are different. Instead of taking place in the U.S, The Karate Kid was filmed completely in China, which I thought was great considering that a lot of movies that take place in other countries usually means being filmed in a random city in the U.S. 
The characters for the most part are likeable, though I felt that Dre's mom (Taraji P. Henson) has a little too much screentime for her own good. Jackie Chan is excellently cast as Mr. Han, and his talent shows. Dre's love interest Mei Ying, is likeable, albeit 1 dimensional. But of course, people see a movie called The Karate Kid for the fight scenes, not the characters or romances.  Those people will be pleased. Very pleased. Not only are the fight scenes in this extremely entertaining; you actually get the feeling that it is a real competition and you are rooting for someone. The sounds of punches and kicks are appropriately brutal, and the film includes some notable things form the original.


CONS: Parents bringing little kids to see this BE WARNED. The movie is surprisingly violent, especially in scenes where Dre is being punched in the gut by the bully. Children may be frightened. Other than that,  I can't think of any real bad things about the movie. 


BOTTOM LINE: A solid film from director  Harald Zwart. After seeing his other movies such as Agent Cody Banks and The Pink Panther 2, this movie seemed like it was from a completely different director. Fun movie that I recommend for everyone.


Is It Funny? Somewhat, though don't expect a laugh riot
Does it live up to the hype? Yes
Wait for DVD? No, watch it in theaters
OVERALL RATING: 9/10