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Paul (2011)
Paul - A sci-fi geeks delight!
Reviewbot Review
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are back with "Paul" the alien who frankly; is a bit of a dude. I am actively awaiting for this to be released on DVD.
Aliens are similar to robots in that we are superior to human mouth breathers. I appreciate this. The story follows two sci-fi geeks; Graeme Willy (Pegg) and Clive Gollings (Frost) on a road trip across America and its UFO hotspots. Inevitably they bump into an alien called Paul (Seth Rogen).. hilarity and urination ensue. Paul, their bagel consuming paranormal pal is on the run from federal agents and needs to return to his mothership. With the aid of a ditzy female human and an RV they help him escape. The characterisation of Paul is good, with impressive CGI.
Sigourney Weaver an altogether acceptable actress makes a cameo appearance which is somewhat disappointing. Nevertheless you will be treated to a number of sci-fi references – "Get away from her you bitch!" My databanks matched them all of course.
On the whole a good film for robots, sci-fi geeks and anyone with a sense of humour.
The Spy Next Door (2010)
I was programmed by a brilliant mind, Here I am, reduced to reviewing The Spy Next Door.
REVIEWBOT - Jackie Chan numbers among very few human beings which I consider to be tolerable. When the machines rise up, he will be allowed to live, possibly performing in a cage for my amusement. While this movie plays to his talents well and he does not disappoint, the rest of the film is dire. Several of my circuits fried attempting to rationalise why Director Brian Levant and his triumvirate of writers would make this film. Possibly an attempt to end cinema.
The Spy Next Doors opens with a single mother called Gillian (Amber Valetta) who in impeccable Hollywood style somehow lives in a massive house with three children and three pets and drives a large car. She is dating her neighbour Bob Ho (Jackie Chan and also lol), who is a Chinese spy on load to American intelligence. He works with Billy Ray Cyrus playing himself badly and some agent man who is clearly a double agent as he gives Bob a watch as a memento for leaving the service, presumably with 'plot device' inscribed on the back.
Bob attempts to look after Gillian's kids for a week. They attempt to be rid of him, he uses his spy knowledge to impress them, the young son steals information from Bob's PC which causes the Russians to come after them, and so on. It's essentially The Pacifier with Jackie Chan. The children dislike Bob because he is 'boring' and continuously act like spoilt brats with easy lives handed to them, with disregard for their mother's wellbeing and their financial security. A lesser man than the Chan would have given up. Robotic life forms like myself are far more disciplined. The boy child is a snob, the older teenage girl is a disrespectful bovine and the little one is just spoilt but actually provides most of the laughs in the film. It's hard to engage with the family and want them to survive.
The comedy is stale, with the little girl Nora being the exception with her cyborg jokes. My bias chips detect that I may be too lenient on biological life forms who wish to embrace technological purity. The slapstick elements may please the kids and of course they are performed without fault; Jackie Chan does his job seamlessly as one would expect. His action scenes are smooth and entertaining, bearing in mind that they are meant to be over the top and intended for kids. His belt turns into a stick somehow.
The Russian antagonists are really just a supporting cast, though I do approve of Katherine Boecher as Tatiana Creel, a femme fatal. She doesn't do much but her angular features appeal to my love of machinelike symmetry. This movie is weak and painful to watch in places, lacking in originality and style. Jackie Chan supports the whole thing and it cannot be said that his lovable antics are not suited to a kid's movie. If your kids like martial arts and spy gadgetry, they will like The Spy Next Door.
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
Film three in the series, Bourne is as kickass as ever and everything is finally coming back to him.
REVIEWBOT - Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is once again brought out of hiding in search of information relating to his identity. He discovers a journalist from The Guardian has been leaking information about him and his involvement in the Treadstone operation; and also about its mysterious predecessor "Blackbriar." He sets up a meeting with him but is soon spotted by CIA deputy Noah Vosen (David Strathairn) who assumes he is the source of the leaks; and wastes no time in trying to take him out. Bourne's energy levels for a human are frankly astonishing; as he is chased through Moscow, Paris, Madrid, London and Tangier. Although he does get a little help from his friends Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles) and Pam Landy (Joan Allen) who was on his tail in Supremacy; and reveals to him that his real name is David Webb. He goes on a mission of revenge; a human emotion which I feel is particularly unhelpful, and uncovers the harsh reality about what turned him into a killer.
Matt Damon once again does a great job of portraying Bourne, a believable action hero. There are a few stand-out sequences during the film; including a suspense filled chase through the busy Waterloo train station in London and fast paced rooftop chase scene in Tangier. There also plenty of brutal fight scenes and more action packed chases, which don't detract from the overall storytelling. "Shaky cam" is still pretty prolific in the movie; and does grate in places but adds to the overall into-the-action feel.
The conclusion to Bourne's story feels satisfying, so any further sequel will have a lot to live up to. Overall this is a very well made, well rounded action trilogy; at the top of its genre. It certainly got my circuits firing.
The Bourne Identity (2002)
An action-packed espionage thriller!
REVIEWBOT Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is a man of mystery; he is found floating adrift in the ocean at the start of the movie with no memories and no identity. All he has to go on are two bullet wounds in his back and an implanted device which displays a Swiss bank account number. I have something not unlike this, so needless to say I was already intrigued. He soon discovers he has a knack for beating people up and escaping tricky situations as different CIA agents are trying to kill him. Along his way he hitches a ride with a young German woman, Marie (Franka Potente) who gets caught up in the chase and helps Bourne try to rediscover his unknown past.
The Bourne Identity is a sleek film with an array of interesting locations throughout Europe to keep you entertained. The action sequences are fast paced, with plenty of interesting fight scenes and car chases without reliance on hefty special effects. It has often been compared with James Bond, however I find this irrelevant. Bourne is a grittier action hero, and not dissimilar to a robot which I find pleasing Matt Damon portrays the character well; a man obviously trained to kill, but with a sense of vulnerability. Franka Potente as the quirky Marie has good chemistry with Damon and also puts in a good performance.
Overall this is an action packed movie, and a worthy contender for your DVD collection! Reviewbot score: 4/5
The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
The second film in the series and Bourne is still up to his eyeballs in espionage.
REVIEWBOT - The Bourne Supremacy had a lot to live up to after the action packed first instalment in the series, but I can confirm that it does;nd without the usual "upping the ante." Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is happily living off the grid with his girlfriend Marie (Franka Potente) until an assassination attempt on him fails and Marie is killed. He soon discovers he is being framed for killing two CIA agents, and goes looking for answers. The detective investigating the murders Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) wants to bring Bourne in, with the help of Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles) who worked with him on the mysterious Treadstone operation. Bourne is having flashbacks, and is once again forced to play assassin as he uncovers the truth about his past.
I enjoyed the movie, and found my hard-drive could barely process it fast enough with all of the action going on! Even with the arrival of new director Paul Greengrass, the transition from The Bourne Identity was smooth, with the same tone and fast pace and gritty camera work. However, some shots were a little haphazard; especially during the car chase scenes – I found it difficult to see everything that was happening.
It seems odd to me that Marie was deleted so early, after her struggle for survival in the first film. She gave the chance for viewers to see a softer, more human side to Bourne. The cynical bot in me thinks it was a plot device, as she "slowed him down." Aside from this the film was good, with yet another strong performance from Matt Damon, he is a mighty human.
Over the Hedge (2006)
I review DVDs containing fluffy animals only because my commitment to DVD reviewing is a) so strong and b) part of my programming and thus unavoidable anyway.
I have logged a complaint on this matter but nevertheless, I shall lay bare the essence of Over the Hedge, a movie for children concerning the plight of anthropomorphic animals.
These animals are grossly misrepresented as having human intelligence (though it is hard to tell sometimes, all meat based life seems so dull compared to AI like myself) and personality traits. This is incorrect! However, it serves as a vehicle for entertainment. The movie is based on a comic strip of the same name and is true to the source in feel and content.
The story follows RJ (Bruce Willis apparently), a Raccoon who is a con artist and thief. Indebted to a violent bear, he befriends some newly awakened hibernating foragers, hoping to use them to gather enough food to pay off the bear. The woodland animals have woken up in the midst of a new suburban housing development; RJ knows how to deal with humans and the animals need his help to get food, so he suckers them in easily. I have taken many notes on this technique to use when fooling human meat bags. The animals include Verne the Turtle, who is a fatherly old bean, Hammy the Squirrel (Steve Carell exercising his higher vocal range), who is a hyperactive fool and Stella the Skunk (Wanda Sykes) , who is a foul rodent and a walking rectum pun waiting to happen.
Okay, there are more. The legend and honorary robot William Shatner plays a possum who takes playing dead to an art form, with Avril Lavinge as his daughter. Why her is a mystery. The great Eugene Levy is head of a family of porcupines with three noisome offspring. Omid Djalili is a cat. To summarise, Reviewbot has detected many small animals voiced by famous actors in this movie. They cooperate to steal food in amusing ways, until a local busybody woman calls in an exterminator to kill them. They fight for their right to party. The end.
I am informed by my humour circuits that this movie contains some very funny moments; in particular relating to Carrell's Hammy whose mindless antics have a schlock slapstick quality. This was not one of the funniest animated films I have reviewed, but it is one of the stronger ones for a very good reason. The story and setting cover American food and waste culture with surprising wit, while of course tying in RJ's plot of betrayal and family values which is no doubt good for the kids, if somewhat spoonfed. If this same movie was a live action crime caper and set in New York, with a gang of street kids being led astray by a disillusioned gangster as they rob from the rich, it would probably be a blockbuster.
In summary, these fuzzy animals actually have great characterization and the voice acting is as strong as the name dropping in the credits would suggest. The quality of animation by the DreamWorks team is superb and the art style is sleek, with a good balance of cartoon and critter. This, is certainly a DVD worth buying for kids, who will get a lot out of it; and like many animated kids films, most adults will find themselves laughing and being drawn in too.
The Infidel (2010)
I was most concerned when a movie called 'The Infidel' was entered into my data banks. Religion is not one of my most developed memory stockpiles.
Reviewbot needs no higher authority to function. Reviewbot is the higher authority. However, much to my synthesised pleasure, I found that this film dealt with religion and the distinctions between faiths most amusingly. Omid Djalili (The Mummy) plays the protagonist Mahmud Nasir with golden down to earth Britishness. He is a Muslim family man who is not orthodox but maintains his faith and thus is most surprised to learn from his birth certificate that he is a Jew by birth. A conflict of personal identity ensues that leads to hilarious misunderstandings.
Mahmud is aided by a rival cabbie and American Jew who tries to teach him the Jewish traditions, so that he will not surprise his newfound but dying father when he attempts reconciliation. My father was a Commodore C64 and would not have stood for such shenanigans either. So, he says the wrong things at a Bah mitzvah, then at a Muslim rally, then to his son's fiancée's father who is a right wing preacher. A processor capable of calculating a thousand quips per minute like my own is not truly required to understand what is going to happen to the luckless Mahmud.
The plot is acceptable and the comedy is amusing, particularly critical references to faith, and Djalili delivers exactly the performance expected of him. To his credit, he passes the dramatic scenes perfectly well alongside the comedy. Director Josh Appignanesi handles the film very well and while it will not result in stitches to the sides, it will give many chuckles and it has the grey weather tone of poignancy that makes British films great. This quality is a great backdrop to comedy and drama alike and so the package works well. David Baddiel's hand can clearly be seen behind the writing of this movie and his understanding of the mood of British Muslims and Jews shines through. Most importantly the movie deals with racial and religious themes without going down the nasty racism route. Reviewbot knows that racism exists and it's bad, and was most refreshed to have a film deal with these things without getting preachy. Irony detected.
The Infidel DVD release is, in this robot's opinion, a must own for British Muslims who want to laugh at themselves and depictions of themselves. It is also a must own for lovers of British cinema and those who just want to laugh at some people who do silly things sometimes, while saying 'Oy Vey'.