Title: War Games
Directed by: Cosimo Alema
Storyline: We're first introduced to two men planning landmines in the wet ground. We're also introduced to them as the villains as they steal dogs from a gas station and shoot them for fun. We are then introduced to a group of people who are going out into the woods to play a game of airsoft. One of the group explains the rules of airsoft to his friends. They start actually playing airsoft, they go around using military hand signals and tactics. Making it looks like a semi believable game of airsoft, it is only semi believable because the people spend more time hitting the water than they do hitting each other, which they do non of until the plot calls for it. Two of the group come across the butchering base of the two hunters who were out killing dogs, it is full of blood and body pieces. The slaughter begins with one of the guys shooting one of the group while their talking, I would be saddened by this if I could remember anything about the character, at this point all I know is that he is the only one with an actual firearm. One of the group runs off by himself and runs over the mine that was planned by the two hunters at the beginning of the movie, yet another character I do not care about. The hunters then smoke out the group to get them to run, and after this it is a basic hunting them down one by one story. The blonde one runs off by herself once they take down one of the hunters, but she is selfish and takes the gun with her as the other 2 surviving ones go to find the sister of one of them who was kidnapped first. The surviving girl is able to smoke out the last hunter and kill him before walking off home with all of her friends dead.
Acting: The acting seems quite stale for the most part, stale but oddly realistic. Even if I couldn't name any of the characters personalities off the top of my head. Or even point out who was suppose to be the main character...
Noticeable Camera work: Within the first 10 minutes you can see why this movie is down rated so much. The audio is not lip synced with the actors so you can see the actors mouthes stop moving before the audio stops. The shots are your standard run of the mill shots for the most part, but you do get some gems of alternative angles and shots such as voyeuristic shots and others such as focus pulls that you would miss if you blink at the wrong moment. During the airsoft fight there is a bit of shaking cam going on which I am not a fan of even when it is done correctly, which it is not in this movie.
Length: 90 minutes
Overall Feel: This movie disappointed me greatly, the concept of the movie could have had great potential, but it makes me watch characters I don't care about debate relationship things I don't care about. The guys in charge of camera and editing seemed to do their jobs OK. This movie surprisingly had a cinematographer and I say surprisingly because the range of shots go from more than standard to less than great. The movie also had 2 people working on sound and some how it was still un-synced. The acting was tolerable, it was at that grey point between decent acting skills and no acting skills, constantly moving up and down the point. Half of the crew looked like they worked hard on this movie, whereas the half looked like they were just doing this to make a bit of money. Disappointing to say the least, especially as the concept and box art made it out to be a great thriller movie. Thriller movies work best when you care about the characters and want them to survive.
Directed by: Cosimo Alema
Storyline: We're first introduced to two men planning landmines in the wet ground. We're also introduced to them as the villains as they steal dogs from a gas station and shoot them for fun. We are then introduced to a group of people who are going out into the woods to play a game of airsoft. One of the group explains the rules of airsoft to his friends. They start actually playing airsoft, they go around using military hand signals and tactics. Making it looks like a semi believable game of airsoft, it is only semi believable because the people spend more time hitting the water than they do hitting each other, which they do non of until the plot calls for it. Two of the group come across the butchering base of the two hunters who were out killing dogs, it is full of blood and body pieces. The slaughter begins with one of the guys shooting one of the group while their talking, I would be saddened by this if I could remember anything about the character, at this point all I know is that he is the only one with an actual firearm. One of the group runs off by himself and runs over the mine that was planned by the two hunters at the beginning of the movie, yet another character I do not care about. The hunters then smoke out the group to get them to run, and after this it is a basic hunting them down one by one story. The blonde one runs off by herself once they take down one of the hunters, but she is selfish and takes the gun with her as the other 2 surviving ones go to find the sister of one of them who was kidnapped first. The surviving girl is able to smoke out the last hunter and kill him before walking off home with all of her friends dead.
Acting: The acting seems quite stale for the most part, stale but oddly realistic. Even if I couldn't name any of the characters personalities off the top of my head. Or even point out who was suppose to be the main character...
Noticeable Camera work: Within the first 10 minutes you can see why this movie is down rated so much. The audio is not lip synced with the actors so you can see the actors mouthes stop moving before the audio stops. The shots are your standard run of the mill shots for the most part, but you do get some gems of alternative angles and shots such as voyeuristic shots and others such as focus pulls that you would miss if you blink at the wrong moment. During the airsoft fight there is a bit of shaking cam going on which I am not a fan of even when it is done correctly, which it is not in this movie.
Length: 90 minutes
Overall Feel: This movie disappointed me greatly, the concept of the movie could have had great potential, but it makes me watch characters I don't care about debate relationship things I don't care about. The guys in charge of camera and editing seemed to do their jobs OK. This movie surprisingly had a cinematographer and I say surprisingly because the range of shots go from more than standard to less than great. The movie also had 2 people working on sound and some how it was still un-synced. The acting was tolerable, it was at that grey point between decent acting skills and no acting skills, constantly moving up and down the point. Half of the crew looked like they worked hard on this movie, whereas the half looked like they were just doing this to make a bit of money. Disappointing to say the least, especially as the concept and box art made it out to be a great thriller movie. Thriller movies work best when you care about the characters and want them to survive.