FFAxDAVID Reviews

Outpost: Black Sun (2012)

cool follow up to original,but lost the edge that made original so good.

[7/10 · 15 May 2012]

Although i enjoyed this film, i must admit it does not have the spirit of the original and am hoping the 3rd in series will make up for it. In the original outpost, the Nazi's were intimidating without needing to be on screen much. They appeared when least expected or if expected appeared in glimpses out of corner of eye or in reflections until they ripped your head off suddenly and with menace (can you rip off someones head in an un-menacing way?)

Much as the follow ups to Jaws franchise, outpost 2 seemed to assume that now the viewers have seen the killer, they will not be happy unless they see it a lot more, and although the suspense and limited viewing of the shark with occasional jump out of seat moments as the film progressed is what made it such a hit, follow up films ignored this fact completely and made no suspense and showed the shark so often that there were no jump out of seat bits, and unfortunately outpost two producers like many decent horror sequels have fallen into the same trap. The Nazi zombie army seem to be just that, an army rather than spiritual entities, patrolling their bunker rather than haunting it, attacking rather than just appearing out of nowhere and killing before disappearing again, totally ignoring what made the first film a surprise hit and not trying to scare at all.

I have given it a score of 7 mainly for keeping same character base and attempting to follow up on the original, but in fairness to reality it probably should have been a 6. I really enjoyed the 1st oupost, and much as I liked the idea of a follow up it was not as enjoyable as anticipated. I can only hope that the producers of the currently in production outpost 3 look back at the original, realize what made it so enjoyable and work again along those lines rather than as anticipated make same mistake they did with the follow up and make just another Nazi zombie film with an OK story and no scares.

Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985)

Excellent introduction to the books,highly recommended

[6 November 2011]

Like any book turned into a film,this does not do the books credit. That said,it is very faithful to both the repartee between the master and student as well as the excitement and skills obtained during training by Remo. Sure its fictional,a lot of the moves taught are impossible,but a lot are also plausible, and that along with the humorous banter between master and student as the wisdom and skills are passed on to the latter are what made me so addicted to Remo in book form, and what also makes this film so much fun to watch.

Being addicted to the books before the film was made, usually a hindrance to enjoying the film when made as gets your hopes up too high, did not deter me from enjoying Fred Wards performance as the Destroyer to be, and i find it almost unfathomable that a follow up film never became a reality-but i will live in hope of it happening, and if they made another film half as close as this one was to the books i will die happy i will die happy.

Setup (I) (2011)

As bad as the Trailer that tried to hide that fact

[15 September 2011]

You know a film is in tolerable when even the trailer for it cannot hide the fact that its not very watchable,and thats the best bits to play with... I could happily watch this on TV if i had started to watch it anticipating a made for TV film, its got some good actors in it, is the sort of plot and over top cannot be bothered much attitude script you would expect from a TV film, and although watchable since your not expecting much from it you may be pleasantly surprised. To pay extra to watch it though, its a major disappointment, especially considering the cast. Overall the trailer says it all. It looks like it has potential, but like the trailer indicates there is not much going on, the stars are there for name alone, and i like many are going to be very disappointed.

Hanna (2011)

cool action flick with heart

[9/10 · 5 June 2011]

Am not sure why it appeals to see a young teen beating up professional thugs twice their size, but it does.

The DNA explanation as to how she does it leaves a bit to be desired, but ignoring that the story is well told, the music playing as it follows the action is excellent, and apart from the goofs mention on IMDb i loved this film and highly recommend it.

Classic villains, exciting action, excellent acting, great score-you wont be disappointed if see this movie even if you do manage to find holes in the plot as its just very well made and fun to watch from beginning to end, and leaves itself open for a sequel without making itself necessary should they wish to make one.

Rampage (2009)

cool film , nice to see on big screen, but at least worth a rent at worst

[8/10 · 4 June 2010]

If this film was made by someone with a bigger budget and better actors,i would probably have given it a 7 out of 10,however the shaky cams and more realistic looking actors along with the true to life dialog instead of the Hollywood designer wearing stars and 15 screenwriters dialog makes this more like a documentary camera crew following the main star rather than a make believe made for entertainment film - and that made me give it an 8 for realism and convincingness.

Yes it starts alittle slow, and yes it has abit of a happy ending (sort of,depending on point of view lol) but it looks and feels like its happening rather than a film made after the event, so it held my attention and had enough action to make me both like and recommend it. Do not take my word for it though,watch it yourself,force self past the to some boring but necessary character intro beginning, and i will be surprised if like me you do not find yourself liking this Gem of a film.

Miracle at St. Anna (2008)

interesting action flick

[8/10 · 19 January 2009]

I must admit i was majorly put off by the reviews on IMDb, but i watched it anyway as looked like it had promise and i was'nt disappointed. The start although slow initially soon sped up and i was drawn into the characters and story till the end (which i readily admit came as no great surprise,but then i knew how titanic was going to end,doesn't mean it spoilt the story heh).

Granted some of the characters appearing in this seemed a little bit of a waste of talent, but that is just pedantic nit picking-its a good film,plenty of action,depth to main characters,and highly enjoyable.Any other comments are irrelevant in my opinion and should be ignored.

Overall decent film,interesting storyline,very watchable-Recommended

Igor (2008)

watchable but not good as could be

[6/10 · 8 January 2009]

Graphically pleasing,with well known personalities doing the voices,this should have been a good film. The story though burtonesque does not come across as polished as if done by him,and although the characters are OK i did not feel the actors chosen to play them endeared me to them as much as could have if different actors were chosen. (i actually really like the actors themselves,i just don't think either they were right for the parts,or if were that they did as good as job as should have).

The story itself is not i felt something kids would relate to very well,but overall it was enjoyable enough,i just wouldn't go out of way to recommend it like i would, say, Tim Burtons nightmare before xmas. 6 outa 10 from me for at least making it look a polished effort even if didn't work well as hoped.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Highly Enjoyable Fantasy

[9/10 · 29 December 2008]

This is an enjoyable fantasy of a man born in his 80's who gets younger rather than older.The makeup and special effects that make the lead character decrease in age are subtle and realistic, and although it is the story rather than the effects that shine in this, they do make you think damn but brad pitt looks good in this-which is annoying to me as i really want to hate him for his good looks, but this film just makes them better than before lol

I expected it to be a tad too long and therefore get boring, but at no time did i feel this the case, and I would thoroughly recommend this to anyone. Even though it is abit far fetched it doesn't come across as unbelievable.(Granted a 5ft something human skeleton shrinking to a child's size but perfectly formed is not the most feasible thing in the world,but like anything that happens gradually over time you do tend to ignore this while watching it slowly take place during the course of this movie).

I have not far as aware given any film a rating above 8, however the subject matter/story in this is well told, the acting spot on, and i left feeling i had my moneys worth in every respect-and that's got to deserve a 9 in anyone's book.

The Way of War (2009)

Boring

[3/10 · 16 November 2008]

Saw an early version of this and must admit was pretty boring. I had high hopes from trailers and Cuba being in the lead role, but after 40 mins of almost walking out on it i managed to stick it to the end,then wish i had followed my instincts and actually had walked out on it when it finally had ended.

The acting is OK,the plot had potential, but the end result was just a tedious waste of space that i cannot really recommend even to die hard fans of Cuba Gooding Jr.

I would like to say that with a few tweaks in the plot it still maybe watchable, but it needs a major plot change to even be that good, so am not hopeful at all and have given it a generous rating of 3

Heckler (2007)

not my sorta thing

[3/10 · 6 November 2008]

Admittedly i watched this because i was expecting from the reviews a funny movie/documentary,so is probably my own fault for expecting something its (presumably) not trying to be.

From what i can tell it is in fact a documentary made to somehow make us feel sorry for comedians etc for the heckles they get,and i went into it expecting it to be more about showing how comedians handle the hecklers and turn a heckle into the funniest part of their shows (which if handled correctly is often the case),but alas its not.

If you want to sit through an hour n half of Jamie Kennedy moaning about fact that a lot of people don't find him funny and getting others to moan about hecklers then sure,pay to see it,but if (like i was),your looking for a few laffs this is not for you.(this is NOT by the way a criticism of the movie,its just a comment in the hope that someone else does not assume like i did that its intentionally supposed to be funny-least i hope its not,because it is'nt lol)

Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)

pleasantly surprised

[7/10 · 1 September 2008]

Annoying as the central character would probably be to me in real life,i did recognize in her similarities to at least a few girls i have known, which probably helped me feel more attached to the character she played. (Not to mention the driving instructor,which am sure we have all met his sort before heh)

There is not exactly a plot to this movie,but it does suck you into the lives of the characters all same and you could do a lot worse than to sit watching it on a quiet afternoon when nothing better to do. There are many amusing instances,the characters are believable,and i was pleasantly surprised at how much i enjoyed it so gave it 7 out of 10 just for not making me wish i had'nt seen it if nothing else,recommended.

Tropic Thunder (2008)

9 outa 10

[9/10 · 19 August 2008]

Usually a comedy full of so many top names comes across as a ton of in-jokes totally unfunny to anyone not in the business,like a home movie for movie stars rather than a worldwide audience-this film is not like that at all.

The casting was cool,the storyline funny,and the characters were hilarious,more so due to the at times uncharacteristic star that played the parts. (tom cruise for example was a cool choice for the small tho scene stealing exec he played.)

Yes there are a few potential retard jokes etc that may offend people,but seriously you'd have to be one not to see that they are aimed at the movie business and at actors who portray them,not at the inflicted themselves so i would'nt worry about it. I would rate this highly recommended

Mutant Chronicles (2008)

B movie style,but cool none the less

[7/10 · 4 August 2008]

Calling this a B-movie is not exactly accurate.Yes its full of CGI backdrops,yes sometimes a lot of the dialog and storyline are clichéd,and yes most certainly its not a professionally done Hollywood film,but even so it is better than a B-movie...

There are a quite a few well known and definitely not B-movie actors in this not least being Ron Perlman (Hellboy) and Sean Pertwee (dog soldiers)who you would expect to see in a more prestigious film which make up a lot for the average script,and the CGI sequences although obvious are very well done even if it does at times make the film seem like it is based on a graphic adventure computer game rather than a standalone film in its own right.

Admittedly i am abit of a sci fi geek when comes to films,but i am also easily bored by a film if its not interesting or has decent action sequences, and this film does hold the attention and sparse as they can be at times,has some very cool action sequences. Its not going to be everyones cup of tea,but if like your films on the non fiction side and appreciate abit of gratuitous violence shot in a cool manner, i highly recommend this to you.

Southland Tales (2006)

a classic it is not

[4/10 · 2 August 2008]

From the cast and storyline i was expecting this to be a surreal and interesting film,alas if it was, it was over my head.

Tempted as i was to give up and not watch the second half,i persevered,and wished i had not. Apart from wondering what could possibly have induced such a cast to appear in such drivel,I did not find it interesting at all.

I appreciate the effort to make a film out of the usual Hollywood mold,but am afraid in my and many others eyes it failed to live up to any expectations,and indeed apart from a fews parks of potential brilliance which failed miserably,this film is definitely not recommended to anyone other than to see how important it is to read a script before agreeing to play a part in a film.

Outpost (2008)

excellent war/horror /sci-fi flick

[9/10 · 17 July 2008]

Must admit did not have high expectations of this film,but as turns out is very good. The storyline is abit tried and tested,seen a few similar,but where this film is better than others is it doesn't try to be over the top in the horror or gore effects (although there are a few gory scenes.)

Instead of making the scares action packed or very visual,it relies on trying to make the viewer see what the men see and hear and makes you wonder how you would react in their situation-i can only compare it to the feeling of anticipation got when you saw jaws for the 1st time compared to how sequels of jaws made you feel,i.e. in jaws little was seen of the shark,but the threat of danger seemed real enough to scare,where as in the sequels it relied on the visuals which were good,but had no where near the desired effect. Am sure this film will appeal to both action and horror fans alike,and if you like the odd sci-fi thrown in you will be in heaven...9 outa 10 in my opinion.

Hero Wanted (2008)

better than the review i read,not as good as hoped

[6/10 · 24 April 2008]

There are no great surprises in this,but i did overall enjoy it non-the-less.

Before i watched it i had read a review on here referring to it as nothing more than a B movie,and that cuba should never have agreed to do it,but it is better than that-not a great deal admittedly,but definitely better. The story is told in flashbacks a lot,which is over used these days,but it does have the effect its supposed to without being confusing.(however because its so linear in its style it doesn't leave any great surprises. Its a watchable film with OK acting and OK script,which is a lot better than a lot of the stuff around these days so i was happy with it and gave a reasonable 6 out of 10,missing 7 only because it was reasonable rather than actually good.

REC (2007)

Excellent Film

[8/10 · 2 April 2008]

As previously commented, this is a hand held camera ala Blair witch type film made in a convincingly realistic style and gives the impression is real life rather than actors in a film.

Without spoiling too much,it is a classic Zombie film in an up-to date setting that although gory in parts aims more for the realism of its characters than on the more usual Hollywood special effects and settings that most try to emulate (but fail miserably at usually,especially when have a budget anywhere near the one obviously used in this film).

Do not get me wrong,low budget or not its excellently acted by its participants, not one seemed fake or out of place in their environment,and the script did not at any time seem contrived or out of place for the circumstances. The viewer can easily identify both with the characters and their re-actions to whats going on around them.

I have nothing bad to say of this film considering the restraints of the budget which may have been improved by better lighting etc, and i highly recommend any scare fans to watch this,as although there are only a few set pieces those that are in it are ideally filmed and timed,bit like when the head came out of the sunken boat in jaws-you know its going to happen if seen it before (or just listen to the music heh),but even so it still makes you jump due to its perfect timing-and the set pieces in this film have the same effect. (And there are plenty of gore effects between the big scares to keep you interested too)

All in all a well made and terrifying film set in a situation that,if happened to you,you could easily see your own potential reactions portrayed by one or more of the characters-which just makes it all the more realistic and scary.

Vantage Point (2008)

Excellent film

[9/10 · 27 March 2008]

Although many aspects of the film are formulaic in their portrayal of flashbacks to explain the plot rather than to show in a more linear fashion, both the action and story are well written and filmed and at no time was i bored or wondering when they would get to the point.

The film works both as an action/adventure and as a whodunnit and I was pleasantly surprised by both the action sequences and the overall quality of direction and story,and as such i would highly recommend it to anyone.

Maybe its because i have seen such drivel recently that i was so impressed by this film, as it is unusual for me to award anything above a 7 generally, but i gave this a 9 out of ten as i cannot really think of anything negative to say about it-go watch and decide for yourselves ;)

Last Hour (2008)

too embarrassing to watch

[1/10 · 23 March 2008]

never have i seen so many decent actors together in such a bad film! i know sometimes a decent actor may take a bad film for the money or from poor advice etc,but was very surprised that so many made the same mistake of doing the same poor film at the same time.

i will admit it had potential,but the editing/story and even a lot of the time the acting was pathetic imo,and am embarrassed on behalf of any actors who starred in this as they must surely not have the sense to be embarrassed themselves to have signed up for it....

without going into details there's a few decent action scenes,but the film is such a hash of a storyline with such bad acting that i cannot recommend it regardless how bored you are.

What Love Is (2007)

couldn't sit through this at all

[3/10 · 16 March 2008]

i started to watch this expecting it to be mildly amusing but overall watchable, and ended up not being able to force self to watch to its end.

within 5 minutes it grated on my nerves from a non stop barrage of unrealistic dialogue between supposed friends which just didn't let up,and far from being a witty and interesting take on male/female perspectives it just seemed trite and annoying with 'maybe' the occasional observation that would have been funny if i wasn't already so far gone as to not care.

if it wasn't so full-on in your face trying to force the characters views on you it may have worked,but am sad to say it is full on and doesn't work at all in my opinion,only giving it a 3 rating and thats because there's a small possibility it improved after i gave up watching it( which i doubt).

The Mist (2007)

A decent horror done well

[9/10 · 8 March 2008]

Unlike similar plot lines,i found this a very enjoyable and at times scary take on an old format. Mixing horror with a sci-fi storyline and a convincing dialogue without being camp or overly trying to add comic value is not a feat most manage to pull off, but this film does and was very surprised and happy it did.

My biggest surprise,and which was most impressive to me,was that the ending both left me wanting to see a sequel, but at the same time gave me closure that was both realistic and poignant. True some of the special effects could have been done abit more realistically, putting humanesque facial features on creatures can never look realistic regardless how well done,and although this is probably just a personal complaint i for one hate the bible preaching fanatics that pop up in such times of doom and take whatever catastrophe is at hand to be the work of God (and then spend ages preaching about it when something more interesting could have been added to the film instead,)but that apart was well impressed and very happy i had the opportunity to see it.

worth a good 8 out of 10 for effort,7 out of 10 if i dock a point for being annoyed and bored during bible quotations, but actually gave it 9 out of 10 due to fact that much as hate preachers in films,its probably realistic in such settings and besides which i was too happy i'd seen it to give a bad mark heh

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

watchable,nothing more,nothing less

[5/10 · 23 January 2008]

i so wanted to give this a high score and say things like stunning,a visual feast,most memorable etc,but alas was not to be. partially am sure i succumbed to the hype and over zealous reviews by people less honest than i,(or at best more easily pleased),but i cannot in all honesty say i enjoyed this film-i would go as far as to say i actually had to force self to watch it all rather than wanting to it was so mundane.

yes visually it was well done and i cannot deny there was more than a fair share of blood and disturbing deaths to feast the eyes upon, and the actual story although pretty much conforming to the format of the subject matter was well done and interesting,but to say it was anything more than a watchable adaption would be to give it too much merit.

i actually like depp related films,and burton generally i love his style and storytelling techniques musical or otherwise, but even those two and all they can offer could not,in my opinion,bring this film to anything more than a 5 vote rating. (don't even get me started on the musical side of it,again i don't mind musicals,but only if the songs are memorable,and none in my opinion were in this film.

my advice,watch it if like to see blood spurting all over the place or like me tend to watch anything with depp in it,but don't get your hopes up too much as you will most likely be disappointed...

Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild (2005 Video)

back to basics on the animation front

[4/10 · 10 December 2005]

as kids story's go,this ones no different-something happens,hero has to fix it(save/find/insert relevant problem here),has abit of trouble on way but alls OK in end-that much am pretty sure can give away without being accused of mentioning spoilers,in fact that could probably describe any child orientated film.If your kids like animated movies,this will make them happy regardless what i think.On other hand though,if they expect anything different on the animation front,they will be disappointed-most of the animation could have been done just as decent(or badly,depending on point of view,) in the 50's,in fact it looks like they may even have had that in mind intentionally when they made it for all i know.

To summarize its an OK film for kids but i think they forgot what made Stewart Little films liked in the 1st place,and thats decent animated characters in a real world environment,and since this is all animated i cannot see the same appeal being prevalent.

Fever Pitch (2005)

watchable, though not totally unpredictable

[7/10 · 4 November 2005]

I went to see this half expecting to be disappointed by a cliché'd remake of a stupid idea seen half dozen times before,(yes i was bored that week-lol) but if anything i was abit disappointed by the fact that it wasn't as bad as anticipated,if not actually good.(I hate when am all set to have a good moan thinking i know it all and would easily pick fault with a film then rant on here about it...)

Its not a laugh a minute or a major tear jerker,but then it doesn't aim to be.What it does aim for is being an amusing light hearted look at a relationship begging to go wrong that actually turns out to have a happy ending,and if i wasn't so stuck on the idea that if i watched it longer i'd find a definitive fault with the film i am sure i would have enjoyed it a lot more than i did,which was quite a bit to be honest. Its a nice,watchable film that does what it aims to do and i enjoyed it,so chances are you will too :)

Harlequin (1980)

dated now but excellent all same

[9/10 · 10 September 2005]

seen a lot of stuff with robert powel in,but this has always been the one that stands out as his best to me.

Naturaly being 1980 its now an old and well used format but at time it was excellent,and even now i find it an enjoyable film.

The story is bought in gradualy but at a steady pace,the acting is enjoyable over all,and considering the lack of blood and guts it still holds its own as a decent spooky movie that when i was younger made me jump a few times and stayed in my mind for a good few months afterwards,not least because it was the sort of film everyone in my school talked about when saw it,and made other kids not having seen it want to!