Ed's Review Dot Com

Millennium Films, Gerard Butler Alan Siegel Entertainment, LHF Film,

Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Alon Aboutboul, Angela Bassett, Robert Forster, Melissa Leo, Radha Mitchell, Jackie Earle Haley, Sean O’Bryan, Waleed Zuaiter

President Asher (Aaron Eckhart) is in London along with many other world leaders to attend the funeral of the British Prime Minister who mysteriously died. Suddenly a major terror attack breaks out killing many and destroying most of the cultural landmarks of London. The President has been captured and his only protection is a secret service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) who was with him when he was taken. Terrorists have taken the upper hand and the forces of good have to try to foil their attempt to bring chaos to the world.

I can imagine the thrill the folks had at the close of World War II watching great films about the bravery of the soldiers, sailors, and airmen who defeated the Axis powers in this horrible war. These movies were built around the real events of the great battles of that war. Today, things are much different today. We chip away at the enemies day by day, but we don’t have the great victories to cheer like they did in the past. So today we get fictional accounts of grand events that have not really happened. We don’t have much to celebrate anymore, it seems, and our brave heroes are out there, but we are much more concerned about what’s happening with JayZ and Beyonce or Kim and Kanye, and the rest. This is a grand adventure, very graphic with lots of blood and gore, but with lots of excitement and suspense. The acting of the good and bad guys is very good, and the action is non-stop. It’s got a great soundtrack, and super explosions and special effects. This is a very good film, if you like adventure, and well worth checking out.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Nu Image Films, Millennium Films, Winkler Films,

Robert Forster, Angela Bassett, Dylan McDermott, Frances de la Tour, Pierce Brosnan, Milla Jovovich, James D’Arcy

A government worker, Kate Abbott (Milla Jovovich) is assigned to London to try to stop terrorists from getting to the US, but she finds herself in the middle of a huge plot to kill thousands of people in a major attack. As she struggles to figure out who is responsible and who is trustworthy, she is setup and is on the run from her own people as she is wanted for the murder of one of the other agents. But in the meantime she must try to figure out what the plan is and to thwart a major attack without being caught and arrested.

This is a pretty decent little espionage/terrorism movie with a lot of action and adventure. Once of the interesting aspects of this movie is that Pierce Brosnan gets to play a major bad guy here, and since it’s a very James Bondsian film, it’s ironic to see him as the terrorist trying to kill as many as possible. But he does a terrific job as an evil assassin and he pulls that off perfectly. Great casting decision. The story is pretty tight, and right out of the headlines. It’s highly believable, and is very well assembled. The cat and mouse chase of being wrongly suspected gives Milla a chance to keep us on the edge of our seats as she tries to stay one step ahead of her team, and still keep up with Brosnan and his crew. The action is breathtaking, and very exciting, and it’s a very well put together film. The settings are very interesting, and the final battle scene is very well placed and well timed. I could not find a place to purchase this DVD, but the movie is available on a number of streaming sites, and is well worth adding to your queue. It’s a very suspenseful adventure with loads of action and well worth looking for.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Maven Pictures,

Forest Whitaker, Angela Bassett, Tyrese Gibson, Jacob Latimore, Mary J. Blige, Nas, Jennifer Hudson

Tyson (Tyrese Gibson) is a tough teen, growing up with a single Mom in Baltimore. When she loses her house, she sends Tyson to New York to live with his relatives. But they try to straighten him out and get him back on the right track so he heads back to the streets and learns the hard way about values and the meaning of life. This musical Christmas story is based on a stage play from 1961 by Langston Hughes.

I was not very impressed with this story. It wasn’t very original, nor was there much meat to the story. The music, I felt, took away from the film. Some of the songs come in awkward times that I felt took away from telling the story. In the end, it goes from total chaos to serendipity in a couple minutes and it really felt rushed. I have never been a fan of Jennifer Hudson, an though she screams pretty well, I never thought of her as a very good singer. In fact, when she comes off, I typically change the channel. That’s part of my problem I really enjoy Forest Whitaker, and he’s one of my favorites, and I felt he did a pretty good job in his role as the grandfather figure, a very religious man, and really concerned about his grandson. But he also is a bit flawed, and I felt he pulled that off really well too, and he was really good in this film. It was a Christmas movie, but it really didn’t feel much like it either. To sum it up, I felt let down with this film. I really wanted to catch it during the Christmas theater when it was out, but waited for DVD. I’ve been exited to see what it was all about, but I was sadly disappointed. It is a heartwarming story in the end, and has a place, I suppose, but I can’t widely recommend it because of my disappointment in the end.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Overbrook Entertainment, Robert Simonds Company, The, Robert Simonds Productions,

Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, Tom Hardy, Til Schweiger, Angela Bassett, Chelsea Handler, Laura Vandervoort, Rosemary Harris, Warren Christie, Natassia Malthe, Abigail Spencer, George Touliatos, Leela Savasta, Clint Carleton, John Paul Ruttan

Two CIA agents are best buds. They are not your regular desk jockey CIA guys, these are the front lines, secret assassin type CIA agents, but they’re in a bit of a jam, as their last job didn’t go quite as quietly as it was supposed to, so now FDR (Chris Pine) and Tuck (Tom Hardy) are riding a desk and bored out of their minds. But when they both meet stunning product tester Lauren (Reese Witherspoon) who is tired of being alone and looking for Mr. Right, they decide to make a gentleman’s agreement, and let her decide. But both want to win, and pull all the resources of the agency to get any advantage on the other.

This spring’s romantic comedy is heavily sided toward the comedy side. It’s really got some funny situations in it. They also are involved in some heavy action scenes. Let’s face it, this is not a groundbreaking film, as this has been done over and over again, but this one is very fresh on the gimmicks. When you see FDR’s apartment, you’re going to see something that I’m sure you’ll want for yourself for the rest of your natural life! The action is lighthearted and is more humorous than suspenseful, but it is enough decent action car-chases and smash-up, with stunts to please the guy you’re going to drag to see this. So the good news is that Reese is so darn cute, and with Chelsea Handler as Trish, her mentor, you know she’s bound to get some really BAD advice.

So it’s got plenty of girl stuff with the guys competing for her, and Reese having to pick the one she really wants. At the same time, it’s got lots of guy stuff too. So if you’re looking for something that both the guys and girls can watch together, this is pretty good at it. This could be a date night movie, for sure. Not bad at all. Like I said, nothing groundbreaking, but a nice light film that you can watch together.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

TriStar Pictures, Stage 6 Films, Our Stories Films,

Angela Bassett, Paula Patton, Laz Alonso, Loretta Devine, Meagan Good, Tasha Smith, Julie Bowen, DeRay Davis, Valarie Pettiford

It’s culture war when Jason Taylor (Laz Alonso) invites his mom (Loretta Devine) who are down home poor southern family from very humble settings to his wedding to Sabrina Watson (Paula Patton) at her rich family’s Martha’s Vineyard mansion. Things start off badly when they don’t arrive to meet Mama, but send someone to pick her up. From there it goes bad to worse, as Jason’s mother is offended by the French speaking mixed racial and uppity Watson family, so she does her best to break them up before they start. At first the Watson’s are appalled at Mama’s behavior, but as it turns out, they have a few secrets and problems of their own. In the end, it’s too much for them to take and Jason and Sabrina figure it’s time to call off the wedding.

This is a very funny movie. The characters are well developed. It’s a black movie that isn’t really. As a white person, I can completely understand the problems and issues of these families. It’s easy enough for this old Caucasian to understand, because the same problems face us all. The details may be different, but at some time or another we feel like we’re out of our element, trying to fit in with someone who feel is above us or below us. Either way, it’s comfortable. I didn’t understand the meaning of “Jumping the Broom” and I didn’t know this custom existed. It was nicely explained by Mrs. Taylor, and was a defining moment in the film. We have problems and challenges no matter how high on the horse we think we are.

The whole rest of the characters too are very interesting, and there’s enough meat and potatoes to the storyline to make it interesting all the way through the film, but the bottom line is that it’s very funny. It’s also very PG-13, so there is no nasty stuff in this film. It’s good for all but the very young ones who will probably be bored. Otherwise it’s a really fine film. Very well done, and well worth putting this in your queue!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog