matt-soulliere Reviews

The Expendables (2010)

People get shot with bullets, from guns, and die as a result.

[8/10 · 28 July 2010]

If you aren't sure what to expect going into this think Rambo, only there are five Rambos instead of just one, and two of them know karate.

If you do have high expectations going in (as I did), you will start to wonder if perhaps this movie isn't going to be what you were expecting as you watch it. The first hour gives you the two 'big' cameos, which weren't worth the hype (or any hype for that matter), and an out of place Mickey Rourke emotional moment but not much else.

The real payoff comes in the last half hour or so of the movie which is a beautiful symphony of mindless violence, and more than makes up for the beginning.

Overall the movie seemed a little rushed as far as the story goes and I won't be surprised to see a extended cut when this comes out on DVD but it is a solid action movie and worth the watch. And hats off to Randy Couture who actually steals the movie a little bit during the big action scene at the end.

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (2008)

The only review with a 'This is Spinal Tap' reference

[6/10 · 25 August 2008]

Don't usually write comments but it seems that every one I see for this movie is biased towards one side of the argument or the other which skews their review towards good / bad.

So here is my unbiased (hopefully) opinion.

First off this is not a great documentary. My lasting impression of this movie is how horrible and distracting the horrible camera work is. When asked the question how much more could they have zoomed in on the speaker's face, the answer is none more zoomed. It also, in my opinion, lost its focus at one point and went on an incredibly irrelevant tangent.

The movie focuses on individuals who have been effectively shunned by the scientific community for allowing the possibility of 'Intelligent Design' (ID) into science. The film portrays these individuals as victims of the larger scientific community who is bullying them to keep them from challenging the status quo. To me it raises the question of whether or not science can be applied to a theory that does not seem, to many, to be based on the current understanding of science.

Ultimately the film did a respectable job of not necessarily taking a side in the Evolution vs. ID debate, while still taking the side of the ID supporters who want to be able to present their views as a science and allow for further debate.

In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (2007)

Who is Uwe Boll and what did we do to him to deserve this?

[2/10 · 11 January 2008]

I went into this expecting a bad movie, you could say I was hoping for the best but expecting the worst. I'm a fan of Jason Statham which made me want to see it despite my expectations, plus I work at a theatre and see movies for free which makes me less picky about the movies I watch.

Now I don't typically leave reviews for movies, but after seeing this I felt that I needed to warn people. Up until tonight, I'd never seen a movie directed/produced by this Uwe Boll guy and believe me, as I write this I wish that was still the case. There are no redeeming qualities to this movie and you realize it within the first ten minutes. The cast is brutal, Statham, Liota and Reynolds are all laughable as the main characters. The evil army of 'Krug' reminded me of the dudes in monkey suits in the early Planet of the Apes movies. During action scenes you see the same shot over and over again as if they only had one shot of 'bad guy hit by arrow'. Even the props were bad, Stathams sword looked like something you'd give a six year old on Halloween.

I don't even know if I can accurately put into words how bad this movie is. The best way to describe this pile is to piture you and your friends trying to remake 'lord of the rings' in your backyard, because what you ended up with would be of similar quality.

If you read this review, don't make the same mistake I did. Don't watch it to see if it is as bad as the guy on the IMDb said it was. This movie should only be shown to criminals in jail as further punishment for their crimes.