Tag Archives: 2010

Movies or shows released in 2010.

TV Show Reviews

24 Review (Season Eight) – Jack Vs Everybody

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Before the half-season, which is 24: Live Another Day (2014), this was the final season of the phenomenon that was 24. And after the mediocre season seven (my review here), I hoped this season would finish in style. And it delivered. Sure, I voiced my opinion before that had this show ended after season four, it would have been remembered as one of the best action shows ever, so it doesn’t deliver “that much” for me. Don’t get me wrong, this season was really messy, but it was at least enjoyable kind of messy.

Jack is finally out and just wants his piece, but of course, he is needed back. Because despite the plethora of people working for the US government, nobody is as indestructible as he is, apparently. So they pulled him back in, and that pretty much destroyed his life. I won’t spoil anything major, but the way this season starts, he is after everything he’s gone through in a happy place. And I don’t think it spoils anything to say after this season ends (and at the time, this show), he is not. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

I think what helped in this season was that there were no more dumb clichés. Nobody came from the dead there was no new surprising family member, just a good old-fashioned (potential) nuclear catastrophe. What also helped was the casting, mainly Anil Kapoor (the producers knew how to cash in on that Slumdog Millionaire (2008) love) and Katee Sackhoff (who is having a bit of a career renaissance thanks to The Mandalorian (2019 – ?)) were great additions to this seasons. And they had crucial roles, even though Katee’s character started to annoy me towards the end (no spoilers, but you probably understand why if you’ve seen it).

This season was also interesting as we could see the moral compass from the last season (Cherry Jones, aka President Taylor) shake and make some questionable decisions. I was split by what the writers have done with her character. On the one hand, I was annoyed by how dumb her decisions were; on the other hand, I could see the point. The ultimate power ultimately corrupts you no matter how “pure” you are; everybody will eventually “cave in”. It just felt that in her particular case, she caves in once, and since she does it in the worst possible moment, there is no way back from it. It was fascinating to see her character fall throughout the season.

Also, this might be the season where Jack felt the most unbeatable. Especially after something (yet again) drastic happens in his life (this guy has been through a lot), he goes off, and when he does, it feels like he has just unlocked a secret power-up. No bullet would harm him no matter how many people were in his way; they would all end up dead… He has killed many people throughout the show (IMDb trivia says Jack killed 267 people!), and I would not be surprised if a large chunk of that number came from this season. Again, once he goes into his full Rambo/Dark Superman mode, he is hard to kill.

And despite that, I had much more fun with this season than the previous two. The end felt appropriate (and almost touching) even though you know there were consequences for everyone. The show even addresses them in the “ninth” season. But with the supporting actors doing their best and Kiefer Sutherland going through hell and back to do “what needs to be done”, this season was enjoyable. Messy and flawed but still enjoyable enough.

Overall, the eighth (and until 2014, the last) season of 24 was a major improvement from the previous season or two. It focused mainly on the core, established people and only brought in some new characters that made sense, and they brought in their A+ game. This (back then) final season delivered as best of an ending as it could have. 24 is an intriguing case study of what happens when you let your show run for a bit too long because it seems like there is no “active” fan base anymore. And I have seen fan bases of other shows that weren’t such a big hit as 24 once was still active today, doing rewatches and discussing new things about their shows. But more about that during my review of the final season.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Movie Reviews

Knight and Day (2010) Review – A Forgotten Gem

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I need to start this review by acknowledging my bias here. I have always loved Cameron Diaz. She has always been one of those actresses who was typecast (pretty, usually dumb blonde). Therefore, she wasn’t given the best roles to prove her talent. But she managed to have a great career, and I miss seeing her on the big screen. What I wouldn’t give to see her in a new movie. Anyway, this has been addressed, we can move on.

Knight and Day is the perfect example of what many action comedies go for, but plenty of them don’t succeed. They mix a great action with humour that’s not awkward or dumb or “proven hit” of the last couple of years – they don’t feel the need to shout jokes at us. While re-watching this movie, I have noticed how surprisingly “calm” both actors are while delivering most of their jokes. It’s a shame that this even needs to be said, but have you see a comedy nowadays? It is pretty clear somebody in Hollywood thinks: “The more loud/shouty we can be, the more laughs we get!” And that ain’t it, chief.

What is also different about this film is that you can’t fully switch your brain off. Because there are a couple of plot points in the movie that keep you interested (who is Tom Cruise watching on his phone, is he a good guy or a bad guy, what side is Viola Davis on…) and guessing. Sure, can you safely guess most of these? Yes. But the movie is at least trying to give us more than yet another “switch your brain off” action-comedy with two big stars.

Here the thing – I like this movie, mainly because it has Tom Cruise. What that means is, it’s not a secret that he does his own stunts. That inspires more people around him to try to do as much of their stunts as possible. And that is when we get an action film that doesn’t have to be cut to death. Yes, Knight and Day might not have the same big stunts/set-pieces as Mission Impossible franchise, but it still has a lot going for it. And when you don’t have to cut around stunt people to mask the fact the actors were on their break, not in front of the camera, your action scenes look better, plain and simple. I have talked about this before – I understand why they do it and how I can’t blame anybody who doesn’t want to do their stunts. After all, we all can’t be Tom Cruise. But all I am saying is, it makes a difference.

Another aspect this film has going for it, Cameron and Tom have chemistry. But not just “the one” chemistry, where you can see them being together, but they are both playing off each other perfectly. For most of the movie, Tom is the level-headed one and Cameron is the “fish out of water” character. But the film manages to turn this around too and give her a few things to do too. And since Cameron isn’t shy about action, it comes naturally to her, and you believe her when it’s her time to kick some ass.

This film also feels big in scale – plenty of different (real life, not just green screen) locations, a bunch of set pieces, so the movie never feels stale or slow. It almost felt like the Energizer Bunny, it just keeps on going and going and going… Who also surprised me (by appearing in this for a few minutes) was Gal Gadot before she became “the Gal Gadot”. In here, she’s got almost a cameo role. It’s funny to think that now, she is a much bigger star than Cameron and on the same level as Tom Cruise, at least when comes to being recognizable.

Overall, Knight and Day is just a simple, fun movie that doesn’t pretend to be anything else. It’s a funny action-comedy with two big stars, who play well off each other, have chemistry between them, so you are on board with their team-up. It also tries to give you something to think about, as it doesn’t want to be just a dumb, fun movie. Which is something I always appreciate. I honestly miss movies like this. I miss movies that realise what they are without going over the top with everything in them, you can still enjoy them. Even though there are things in this film that are unbelievable at times, they always tried to ground them in reality. If you crave a fun summer film with great casting, decent action scenes and some laughs, try this film.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Movie Reviews

Inception (2010) Review – Simply a masterpiece

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This July it’s going to be 10 years since I’ve this movie in the cinema for a very first time. And I still remember being blown away by its ideas, visuals, storytelling, actors… Ever since then, I’ve re-watched this movie about 5 times, which is rare to be honest, as I try to watch new movies, rather than going back to what I’ve already seen. On my last re-watch, just a couple of days ago, I was happy to see it still felt fresh, the visual effects were holding up great (and that’s not something that could be said for every movie, some might not even be 10 years old yet!) and the story is as thrilling as it was back then.

Inception is as high concept as high concept gets – the way Christopher Nolan tells this story, where it’s so complex, yet so entertaining that even if you get lost (which you shouldn’t), you will still find yourself fascinated. The movie is almost 2 and half hours long, but it never felt like it at all, not when I’ve seen it for the very first time, or just couple of days ago – and that’s another thing.

People are afraid of longer movies. Personally, movie runtime sometimes affects what I’m watching, as we all have days we are just not in the mood for a movie we have yet to see, that’s over 2, 2 and half hours long. But we (or at least I) forget that the runtime doesn’t really matter, if the movie is told well. There are plenty of movies that are the “golden” standard of 90/100 minutes, but given how the story is boring/bland/not funny etc., it feels like much more. And then you have movies like Inception, where 2 hours and 28 minutes just flies by and at the end you look at your watch and wonder, where did the time go…?

The biggest thing about this movie (for me) could be said about every single Nolan movie – he treats his audience with respect. He gives them just enough information to make out what’s happening, but also doesn’t go overboard, he always lets you have your own input/interpretation of a scene, or a element of the story.

The following will contain SPOILERS!

In Inception, it’s the much discussed ending – is he still dreaming? Or is he awake? Or was the entire film dream, where nothing we’ve seen is real? Was Mal right after all? I swear to God, sometimes it seems there are more Inception theories on the internet, than porn videos. Well, my two cents on this would be that the ending is reality, he’s not dreaming. Why? Well…

  1. Throughout the movie, we never see his kids faces. Only at the very end, they finally turn around where we can see them clearly, so he’s no longer “remembering”, but actually living in the real moment.
  2. I don’t think Nolan is the type of director, that would pull a stunt like that. Mainly the theories about how the entire movie is somehow “one big dream” where nothing you’ve just seen hasn’t actually happened, don’t make sense to me, as that would cheapen the movie. The way I explain the spinning top at the end? Extend the last shot by 5 seconds and the top falls down, but Nolan doesn’t like definitive answers, so he cuts just before that. I also wonder, if he might be a bit of a “troll” in the best possible way, where it just makes him laugh, every time he imagines people reacting to that ending, cutting to black.

And of course, on IMDb trivia section there are two more things to tell Leo’s character is not dreaming anymore – in a dream, Leo wears a wedding ring, in reality, there is no ring. We also have the answer Michael Caine was given by Nolan:

Sir Michael Caine’s quote:

In August 2018, during his speech at Film 4 Summer Screen at Somerset House, London, Caine stated: “When I got the script of Inception, I was a bit puzzled by it and I said to him (Christopher Nolan) ‘I don’t understand where the dream is’. I said, ‘When is it the dream, and when is it reality?’ He (Nolan) said, ‘Well, when you’re in the scene, it’s reality.’ So get that, if I’m in it, it’s reality. If I’m not in it, it’s a dream.”

But I will ask you a better question – does it matter that much? Not to me, as I believe I understand what happened, and that’s how Nolan meant for this movie to be enjoyed. This is yet another compliment to his intellect – he could’ve easily given us a “definitive” ending, but that wouldn’t spark the discussions, the passions around this and mainly it wouldn’t allow you and me, as viewers, to interpret it differently. Plus, with Nolan movies, it is more often the journey that matters more, than the destination and what a stunning journey this was.

Also, just so we don’t forget this tiny detail – this movie made Tom Hardy and Ken Watanabe into the stars they are today – sure, they both had some movies on their resume (mainly Ken in Japan had pretty successful carrier) but because of this movie, they broke out in Hollywood and (mainly) Hardy became a force of his own, where I’m looking forward to everything he does next.

Overall, Inception is a perfect example of a movie, that ages fantastically, treats its audience with respect by not overfeeding them unnecessary exposition, and lets everybody know, that just because you are “a big summer blockbuster” (and by every definition, Inception was just that) you don’t have to be dumb, with nice flashy colours on the screen that mean nothing. If you make your movie well, people will watch it, they will go and support it in the cinemas and they won’t complain it’s almost two and half hours long.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

That’s all for this one! Did you see Inception? How did you like it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke