00s Movie Review - Man on Fire

Director: Tony Scott  
Genre: Actie/ Drama/ Crime
Runtime: 146 minutes
Year: 2004
Starring: Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, Radha Mitchell, Marc Anthony, Christopher Walken, Mickey Rourke

Description: In Mexico City, a former CIA operative  (Denzel Washington) swears vengeance on those who committed and unspeakable act against the family he was hired to protect.

Review: “Man on Fire” is an intense, stylish action film directed by Tony Scott. It’s one of my favorite films starring Denzel Washington. He plays a traumatized bodyguard who seeks revenge in Mexico City after the kidnapping the young Pita, daughter of the family he has to protect.

My favorite thing about the film is the emotional bond Washington’s John Creasy forms with Pita. When Pita is taken, that makes Creasy’s quest for revenge even more intense. The film has a grim and gritty atmosphere.

Denzel Washington, but also his young counterpart Dakota Fannings are both very strong. The visual style is typical for Tony Scott. It fits the film. The film has a very quiet, emotional build-up and  has a violent, action-packed second half. The film is a tad too long with its 2,5 hours, but “Man on Fire” is a great piece of cinema.

Rating: 4/ 5

00s Movie Review - Sin City

Director: Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller, Quentin Tarantino
Genre: Crime/ Thriller
Runtime: 124 minutes
Year: 2005
Starring: Bruce Willis, Benicio Del Toro, Clive Owen, Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Elijah Wood, Nick Stahl, Jaime King, Josh Hartnett, Carla Cugino, Michael Madsen, Rutger Hauer, Powers Booth, Brittany Murphy, Alexis Bledel

Description: An exploration of the dark and miserable Basin City and three of its residents, all of whom are caught up in violent corruption.

Review: “Sin City” is a film noir-like movie which is very faithful to the graphic novel it’s based on. A perfect job for director Robert Rodriguez, who is accompanied by “Sin City” novel writer Frank Miller and director Quentin Tarantino. 

All these creative minds are a guarantee for an explosive and inventive film. “Sin City” looks breathtaking and is groundbreaking. The graphic novel isn’t just made into film, it looks like the novel actually came to life. De original pictures are used for the story

board and stayed intact. The actors had to film in front of a so-called ‘green screen’.
The presented world and its citizens is shown in black and white. Sometimes things as a red dress, golden blonde hair and blood are highlighted with color. The contrasts look great. 

There are lots of extravagant characters in “Sin City”. Like ‘Yellow Bastard’, a violent pedophile with rubbery skin and unhuman physical forms. And Jackie Boy, a corrupt cop. But most memorable is cannibalistic Kevin, a slick man with a sardonic grin on his face. The anti-hero is Marv, played by Mickey Rourke who you barely recognize. As a storm he rages through the city. For the women, it’s Jessica Alba that catches your eye. As a kid she was rescued by John Hartigan, played by Bruce Willis. Now she is a gorgeous, young woman turned stripper. 

Like I said before, “Sin City” is a groundbreaking film and it amazes me every single time.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

90s Movie Review - The Rainmaker

Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Genre: Drama/ Thriller
Runtime: 135 minutes
Year: 1997
Starring: Matt Damon, Danny DeVito, Jon Voight, Mickey Rourke, Danny Glover, Roy Scheider, Claire Danes, Dean Stockwell, Andrew Shue, Mary Kay Place, Virginia Madsen

Description: An underdog lawyer (Matt Damon) takes on a fraudulent insurance company.  

Review: Writer John Grisham is a star. A film adaptation of one of his legal thrillers guarantees commercial success. That must have been the motivation for Francis Ford Coppola. But with “The Rainmaker” he delivers a pretty standard courtroom drama.
John Grisham’s books have sold millions of copies worldwide, he is a very successful author. And many of his films have been turned into movies, also successfully. Films like “The Firm”, “The Client” and “The Chamber” are all movie I personally enjoyed, just as much as the books.
“The Rainmaker” centers around Rudy Baylor, a nearly graduated lawyer who haas the best interests of the correct person at heart. He is looking for work in Memphis, hoping to become a so-called ‘rainmaker’: a lawyer who makes the money. Both for the client and for himself, because in the U.S.A. a third of the compensation goes to the lawyer. Rudy initially starts at a little law firm ran by a freebooter who doesn’t take the law too seriously. as so-called ‘ambulance-chasers’, they sour hospitals looking for victims who might want to file a lawsuit against the instigators of the harm.
One of them is Mrs. Black, the mother of a young leukemia patient. She files a lawsuit against the insurance company Great Benefit, because it refuses to pay for an operation that could save her son’s life. Meanwhile Rudy decides to set up his own firm, along with colleague Deck Shifflet, a unlicensed lawyer who has failed his court exam several times. a battle ensues between Rudy and Great Benefit.
The film is structured very standard. There are some strong performances, because “The Rainmaker” has a great cast. But overall the film doesn’t have anything special to offer. It’s a solid film, just not the exciting.

Rating: 3/ 5

10s Movie Review - Iron Man 2

Director: Jon Favreau
Genre: Action/ Science Fiction/ Adventure
Runtime: 124 minutes
Year: 2010
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Jon Favreau, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sam Rockwell, Samuel L. Jackson, Mickey Rourke, Leslie bibb, Olivia Munn, Don Cheadle, Kate Mara, Paul Bettany, John Slattery, Clark Gregg, Garry Shandling

Description: With the world now aware of his identity as Iron man, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) must contend with both his declining health and a vengeful mad man with ties to his father’s legacy.

Review: Two years before the sequel was released, “Iron Man” was an unsuspected hit. It was a straight-forward comic book tale that made it special due to its great lead.
Although the first film wasn’t very surprising, the last scene where Tony reveals to the public that he is Iron Man, was. This created the path for a sequel. Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, is nothing like the other superheroes out there. Heroes like Spider-Man or Batman see their task as a burden and try to keep their identity hidden. But Tony is someone living the good life and not being ashamed of it, but simply has an eccentric hobby that he uses to fight bad guys. This is no different in “Iron Man 2”.
Tony makes it seem easy to live as a superhero with his identity out in the open and you wonder why some of them want to keep their identity hidden. Well, the government pressures him to hand over his inventions. And his character reveal draws the attention of a Russian criminal that has some unfinished business with the Stark family. This Ivan Vanko gets, after his first confrontation with Iron Man, help from a guy named Justin Hammer. He is a weapons manufacturer who is always one step behind Tony. An alliance with Vanko could work for both Hammer as Vanko.
Ivan Vanko is played by Mickey Rourke, who got his Hollywood comeback due to “The Wrestler”. But in “Iron Man 2” there is not a lot for him to do. Babbling in a Russian accent, but mainly silent, he is mostly physically present in the action scenes. Another newcomer to the film is Scarlett Johansson, who is Tony’s new assistant. First it seems like a thankless role, until it’s uncovered who she really is. But the best newcomer is Don Cheadle, who takes over the role of James Rhodes from Terrence Howard, who played this role in the first film. A character being played by a different actor than the previous film is a tough job, but Cheadle nails it and we’ve already forgotten about Howard.
The intention of a series is that you see a clear development in characters, in this cast Tony Stark. But at the end of “Iron Man 2” he is just the same guy as the first film. In doesn’t dig deep enough to give Tony the development he needs.
“Iron Man 2” is a fun and very entertainment sequel, that is mainly good because of an excellent performance by Robert Downey Jr.

Rating: 3/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 105: Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

Director: Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller

Genre: Crime/ Thriller

Runtime: 103 minutes

Year: 2014

Starring: Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Josh Brolin, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rosario Dawson, Bruce Willis, Eva Green, Powers Boothe, Dennis Haysbert, Ray Liotta, Christopher Meloni, Jeremy Piven, Christopher Lloyd, Jamie King, Juno Temple, Stacy Keach, Marton Csokas, Jamie Chung

Description: Some of Sin City's most hard-boiled citizens cross paths with a few of its more reviled inhabitants.

Review: “Sin City”(2005), the original adaptation of Frank Miller’s successful graphic novel, was a dark telling of the underworld of the society in the fictive town Basin City. Especially the style of the film caught everyone’s eye. The sequel adds the 3D effect and makes it an experience again.

Like the first movie “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For” is a beautifully made movie. The film noir style is clearly present, the contrast of the black and white and sometimes the color of green eyes, golden blond hair and red lips looks amazing again. The violence is grotesque and the narration feels gloomy and raw, filled with memorable one-liners. Animation and live-action are combined. The 3D effect gives more depth and it really adds something extra to the movie experience. Everything together makes this movie a joy to watch.

Some might feel that the story is much of the same, but to me there was never a moment of boredom. I never expected it to top “Sin City” but it came damn close. Exactly what I expected from “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For”.

Rating: 4,5/ 5

In the Picture: The Characters from "Sin City"

"Sin City" is one of the best movies of its decade. I was blown away by it when I saw it for the first time and there are so many interesting characters in the film. So that's why I decided to take a closer look at them. Here are the characters from "Sin City".

Marv
Played by: Mickey Rourke
Marv is a 7 foot tall, scarfaced man with an incredible level of strenght. He suffers from an unnamed mental condition which causes him to get confused. Marv doesn’t think he has a particular high intellect, but he shows some suprising amount of intellegence when needed.

Dwight McCarthy
Played by: Clive Owen
Dwight has a history of violence, bad tempers, drinking and wild romances. He is known for his chivalry and treats all the woman with the utmost respect and he offers the prostitutes of Old Town his protection. Dwight is a man who simply wants to do the right thing and find his place in this world.

John Hartigan
Played by: Bruce Willis
John is a veteran police detective in Basin City. He is brutal, stoic, cynical and completely selfless. It doesn’t care about his own well-being in order to take care of his fellow citizens. John is willing to risk his own life to save someone elses.

Nancy Callahan
Played by: Jessica Alba
At age 11 Nancy was kidnapped by Roark Jr. and then saved by John Hartigan. He’s Nancy’s hero. She keeps writing him letters when John’s in jail. Now, Nancy is a stripper and in love with John. Because of the age difference, John doesn’t want to give in to his feelings for her, but she is in fact the only person who ever cared for him.

Gail
Played by: Rosario Dawson
Rosario is a prostitute and one of the autorithy figures of Old Town. She has a love-hate relationship with Dwight McCarthy. You don’t want to mess with Gail, because she can handle a machine gun very well.

Jack Rafferty aka Jackie Boy
Played by: Benicio del Toro
Jack is a cop, but ended up being corrupted and worn down from the job. While cops are forbidden to enter Old Town when on duty, Jack is often found there but he’s not loved by the girls. He’s a threat to Dwight McCarthy.

Goldie/ Wendy
Played by: Jaime King
They are the twin prostitutes who are currently in charge of Old Town. Little is revealed about Goldie, but she physically is an exact copy of her sister Wendy. Goldie was murdered after spending the night with Marv, who fell in love with her and is destined to find her killer. Even he is fooled when he mistakens Wendy for the late Goldie.

Kevin
Played by: Elijah Wood
Kevin is a sadist. He sneaks up to people and kills them in all sorts of cruel ways. He likes to torture people, sometimes eats them and he keeps their heads as a souvenir. He was the one who killed Goldie.

Roark Junior aka Yellow Bastard
Played by: Nick Stahl
Roark has the physical appearance of a handsome young playboy but he is in fact a sadistic pedophile and a rapist of young girls. After kidnapping young Nancy Callahan, John Hartigan shoots of his hand, ear and genitals. Due to the surgeries, Roark is left horribly disfigured with yellow skin and a penetrating stench.

The Man
Played by: Josh Hartnett
The Man seems very charming and plain, but he’s a ruthless hitman. He does his job without feeling any remorse.


Favorite Character: John Hartigan