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MichaelMercy
Reviews
The Jewel of the Nile (1985)
More of the same and that's a good thing!
Even though most people describe this follow-up to 1984's Romancing the Stone as not as strong as the original, I found both of them to be on par. Same tone, quality and sense of 80's fun and adventure. Watching these two flicks back to back will make a great double-feature date night for 80's lovers. The sum of the 'Romancing' duology is greater than its parts in my opinion. See my full review at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-1tlw7h2qQ
Romancing the Stone (1984)
Fun romantic adventure!
The poster is a little misleading. It's not an all-out action adventure like Indiana Jones but it's definitely a good romantic adventure filled with 80's fun and light-heartedness. What Michael Douglas lacks in action-hero experience that people like Harrison Ford and Tom Cruise have, he makes up for in the quiet, genuine moments between Jack T. Colton and Joan Wilder. Great date flick! See my full review at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Msyn3dAYifA
I Am Number Four (2011)
Awful script leads to awful everything else
Saw an advance screening of this and thought it was terrible. The first two minutes start out great, with a pulse-pounding scene that grabs you by the throat and gets you immediately interested, but it's all downhill from there. Having the revelation that the lead characters are aliens be given away so early in the film, in a terrible voice-over to boot, took most of the wind out of this movie's sails for me. The villains are over-the-top in a bad way, the dialogue is horrible, and is delivered by actors who seem to be trying their best for a while, but eventually seem to stop caring and give terrible performances as a result of the lack of material to work with. It felt like an hour and a half long bad Smallville episode, which seems about right since it's written by a former Smallville writer.
Rambo (2008)
Return of the King: A RAMBO Review
I had the chance to see Rambo last night and it was a Hell of a lot of fun; "Hell" being the operative world. This movie is NOT for the faint at heart. It's a great "guy's action flick" that perfectly captures the 80's action movie feel, but be warned, it's gorier than a Freddy/Jason/Leatherface movie. What I found interesting on a psychological level was that before the movie started, a lot of people in the audience were excited about how gory it was going to be (the marketing campaign depicted people getting beheaded by Rambo's knife and liquefied by a tank-buster gatling gun) . The first few shots of the movie, however, show actual footage of the horrors going on in Burma right now. It was some seriously revolting stuff; rotting corpses, smashed in skulls, and butchered children. A lot of people turned away in disgust, myself included. I couldn't help but remember Russell Crowe in Gladiator, after dispatching a few opponents in gory fashion, screaming into the previously rabid but now silent and horrified audience, "Are you not entertained?!" Interesting statement by Stallone regarding the audience's blood-lust. I'd say he proved his point. I'm shocked that these kinds of atrocities are still going on in the world today, and I applaud Stallone for using this film as a vehicle to shed some light on the situation and try to do some good, rather than just go for another quick money grab. It's a perfect example of a movie being entertainment, but also teaching you something about how lucky you are to have everything you have and not have to live the Hell on Earth that the people of Burma have to.
Rambo himself was awesome. A living legend. It's always great to see the heroes of my youth return for one last hurrah, and I personally don't care how old he is. He still had the intensity, he was in great shape and moved around like a guy half his age (the magic of editing, I know, but perception is reality in movies!) His performance was fantastic and that's all that matters. Same goes for Arnold in T3 a few years ago, same goes for Bruce Willis in last year's Die Hard movie, and the same goes for Indiana Jones in his upcoming movie this summer. The naysayers will moan and complain about these guys being "too old," but honestly, who are any of us decide if a person can no longer do something? If they still have the desire, they can still do it. End of story.
When you see them on screen, you're transported back to your childhood and you can't help but cheer on these iconic figures you grew up on. There were several points in Rambo where the audience erupted into applause, which in my experience is a very rare thing. It's not too often that a movie can get you so emotionally involved that you clap or cheer, but Rambo had a lot of people doing just that. It's a lost art, mainly because the guys who knew how to do it apparently got "too old." Personally, I'm glad Stallone told the naysayers to shove it and went ahead with making Rocky Balboa and Rambo. They're two of the best movies I've seen in a very long time.
I wish some more of these guys would come out of retirement and remind the new generation how it's done!