Reviews

It's with mixed feelings that I approach this review. Fresh in my mind from last night's screening, who would have thought that a Fast and Furious movie would be making such deep waves amongst the movie-going world. I am of course referring to the fact that this is Paul Walker's last movie.

I never really liked the series until they left the whole boy racer attitude behind and embraced full-blown all out action as their genre of choice in Fast 5. It was a turning point for the series and made people once again stand up and take note of the franchise.

It was obviously never intended to have come this far but I think most people are happy it has. Weaving into the mix the seemingly off kilter events of Tokyo Drift, fans had their interests piqued, curious to know how everything would fit in.

Fast and Furious 6 further embraced the action genre and really hit things out of the park. The Rock was now an established and loved member of the family; bringing some much needed charisma to the franchise. The scale of the action was brought up to level 11 out of 10 and with a sneaky after credits scene, fans were ready for the next installment.

So here we are, Furious 7.

Dare I say that this movie is actually not as strong as either 5 or 6?

Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), the big bad brother of the Fast and Furious 6 villain, is out to take down the team that took down his brother.

A former black ops assassin gone rogue, Deckard starts to come after the Fast & Furious team one by one. His first stop, The Rock! Something that turns out to be one of the best fight scenes in the movie (yes, even better than those involving Tony Jaa).

If this was the set-up plain and simple, the movie probably would have been better. But then it wouldn't have been possible for them to introduce Mission Impossible style craziness.

So cue the unnecessary plot twist of having Diesel and his team go on a wild goose chase for some super-computer hacker to allow Diesel's team to find and eliminate Statham, which seems even more ridiculous given that Statham is there at almost every turn trying to kill them all.

But as mentioned above, this convoluted plot allows the director to introduce some pretty amazing and nail biting action set pieces in exotic locations.

I have no idea if there are really bikini-clad women prancing around in Abu Dhabi, but Furious 7 makes us believe there are.

By the time we reach the last half an hour or so, it's all out action and it's pretty impressive.

Invariably with so many actors involved, some characters get thrown to the wayside. There should have been way more of The Rock, there should have been more Tony Jaa doing what he does best, and what on earth were they playing at with Kurt Russell's character? It's a crime to under-utilize the amazing Russell in this way, but admittedly having him in there is better than not having him in there at all.

Statham's character suffers the most from having so many people in the mix. He goes from being a mysterious cloak and dagger style super threat to being something of a cartoonish over the top villain by the end.

Overall, there are just too many unbelievable and cheesy scenes for my liking.

So why then do I recommend everyone to go and see this?

Because of Paul Walker.

Paul's passing is handled with dignity and respect. The special effects used to allow Paul's brothers to stand in for him could have been distasteful and distracting but director James Wan ensures that this is never the case.

In all honesty, I don't think I've ever seen a movie that's choked me up and brought me to tears in the way Furious 7 did. It doesn't matter whether you're some gangster tough guy or whatever, you need to bring your man-sized box of tissues with you if you're gonna watch this movie. A certain moment just really got to me and the image has stayed with me until now.

I was never really a fan of Paul's but by the end of the movie, it's obvious that he was loved by all the cast.

We've all read how Diesel cried when he visited Paul's mother after Paul died. It's this real life brotherhood between Diesel and Paul that makes certain scenes so much more powerful. It's not Dominic Toretto's last words to Brian O'Connor, it's Vin Diesel's last words to Paul Walker.

A touching, respectful and powerful farewell.

Well worth checking out.

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Maximum Extreme was invited to the gala premiere of Afterimages, a Singapore made horror flick featuring 5 short stories based on various local folktales and superstitions. Five of our lucky readers were also able to attend the premiere thanks to our awesome ticket giveaway.

The premise is that a bunch of friends burn paper effigies as offerings to the dead during the local Hungry Ghost festival. You can send the deceased pretty much anything by burning a paper version of the item, iPhone, house, TV, car.

The friends burn a paper camera but in a strange twist of fate, they get something back from the other side.

Each day after the students burn their offerings, they find a movie reel in the ashes. Invariably these curious cats decide to go ahead and watch whatever is on these movie reels. What they discover is 5 spooky tales that intertwine with their own fate.

Do they make it out alive or does curiosity kill these cats?? You'll have to watch to find out. This of course leads to the burning question, is this movie worth your money and time?

Well, it's a decent effort. The tales are pretty creepy and the movie plods along at a good pace leaving little time to get bored.

I quite liked the premise behind the various tales but while they may be creepy, they never actually become scary.

What I didn't like about the movie was the sub-standard special effects and more importantly, the poor acting that was frequently on display. To be honest, some of the acting really is terrible which makes me wonder how those actors ever got past the audition stages??

These poor performances really push the movie into comedy territory at times.

The best performance comes from veteran actor Vincent Tee whose chicken rice tale is probably one of the better short stories on offer. We were fortunate to have had the chance to chat with Vincent after the screening and he's clearly a really decent bloke.

Bottom line is that this movie will pass a couple of hours, you will be entertained, but it's ultimately very forgettable and if you're looking for a pre-Halloween scare then this is definitely not gonna do the job.

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Rightfully so, this movie has been getting a lot of buzz and I was fortunate enough to be able to get my hands on the Hong Kong Blu-ray release of the movie prior to its formal release in the west.

For once, here is a movie that really lives up to the hype and expectations. It's easy to see why it's earned a super high 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie, made on a paltry $39million budget, has already grossed $80million worldwide and it hasn't even been released yet in most territories!

The premise may sound far-fetched but it makes for some compelling cinema. In 2014 (yes 2014) scientists attempt to combat global warming via a special weather experiment. Inadvertently the world is plummeted into an ice age and all life on the planet is brought to the brink of extinction.

The only human survivors are on board a special train called the Snowpiercer. A huge train designed to survive the harsh environments of the frozen world. Running on a perpetual-motion engine, the train has to keep moving otherwise it risks freezing and killing everyone on board. The train track goes around the entire world with one complete revolution of the track taking a full year.

On board the train is a full self-sustaining eco-system with food, water, fish and animals. Sounds nice if not for the most extreme class system divide you will have ever heard of. The rich elite enjoy an opulent lifestyle at the front while the poor go hungry and live in squalor in the rear of the train.

We are given a glimpse of the hell they have lived in for 17 years and the oppression is extreme. No real food, dirty, dark, damp, rusted and cramped quarters. It's a suffocating hell with no obvious way out.

But the poor have not lost hope, they dream of a revolution, of over powering the bad guys, reaching the front of the train and taking over control. The rebels are lead by Curtis Everett (Chris Evans) and elderly mentor Gilliam (John Hurt) as they go after Wilford, the train's creator living at the front of the train.

Additional help comes in the form of Namgoong Minsu (Song Kang-ho), who helped to design the train, and his daughter Yona (Go Ah-sung). Interestingly, they also played father and daughter in the director's break out movie The Host.

But this isn't going to be an easy ride, no previous revolution attempts have succeeded and in addition to the numerous carriages that separate the front from the rear, there are hundreds of guards and soldiers.

Can the good guys prevail?? Watch to find out!!!

From the director who brought us the fantastic Korean monster flick The Host; Joon- ho Bong now brings us a mighty fine thriller in Snowpiercer. Based on Jean-Marc Rochette's French graphic novel series Le Transperceneige.

Reports are that Bong read the entire comic cover to cover while stood in one of his favourite comic book shops in 2005. Did he buy the comic?? Who knows! What we do know is that he was fascinated by the social class system on board the train and the unique dystopian tale of confined, extreme social stratification. Needless to say, he wanted to turn it into a movie and here it finally is!

Korean movies can be pretty great. There are classics like Old Boy, My Sassy Girl, The Host, A Bittersweet Life and even hit TV shows like My Love From Another Star (stay tuned for my review). Snowpiercer is the first to successfully bridge the Asia / West divide; it's a successful intercontinental collaboration, featuring notable actors from both sides of the globe.

The film is a tense gripping thriller from start to finish with powerful performances throughout. Captain America in particular, once again proves his acting chops in a powerful scene at the movies finale.

The unique setting of the film gives everything a very tense, claustrophobic quality. It is undeniably Korean in flavor but should still be readily accessible to western audiences. Think of the movie as a superior version of Hunger Games made specifically for adults.

Agreed special effects of the frozen world could perhaps have been slightly better but this should not detract from your overall enjoyment of the movie, especially as most of the scenes are in the train's interior.

Also worth noting is that this is not an action movie per se, it's not Captain America 3. Think of it more as a damn good thriller with a few cool action set pieces.

Snowpiercer is well worth your time and money. Get your hands on it, find it on the big screen, get the Blu-ray, and watch it any way you can – you'll thank me for it later!

Enjoy!

Rating 8 out of 10

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I've probably mentioned this before, I don't mind seeing a chick flick once in a while!!! Not at all! In fact they can be unusually relaxing after a tense week. Notting Hill, Love Actually, Hitch, Sophie's Revenge and South Korea's My Sassy Girl are just a few faves that come to mind. I even own all seasons of Sex and The City and Gossip Girl on DVD! I think that gives me enough chick flick street cred to say I know what I'm talking about when I say this is a pretty rubbish movie!

That's right, this ranks up there amongst crappiness such as Mel Gibson's What Women Want – how could he not know that they don't want to see him prancing around, stereotyping and insulting women everywhere? Okay, perhaps The Other Woman is not quite that bad but it's pretty bad.

The premise is simple enough. Kate King (Leslie Mann) realizes her husband, Mark King (the accomplished Danish actor Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau of Headhunters and Game of Thrones fame – with a darn good American accent), has been cheating on her with Cameron Diaz. Rather than go ballistic on Diaz's butt, Kate goes to Diaz for solace and the two eventually realize there is even a third woman in the picture. The ladies join forces to seek revenge.

When I put it like that, it sounds like it could be a pretty funny and amusing movie. Unfortunately the execution and generic performances fail to live up to the potential. There are so many funny things they could do but don't, so many missed opportunities, that I found myself feeling more and more frustrated as the movie went on.

The friendship between Mann and Diaz feels fake and contrived right from the get go and Kate Upton is essentially a token character as the third woman who adds absolutely nothing to what's going on.

There are only a handful of funny moments which really don't save this movie from failing miserably.

The only redeeming moment is something that reportedly happened off screen. Upton was reportedly very anxious and self conscious about her beach running scene, but Diaz and Mann are so awesome in real life that they went out there on the beach, leaving their lunch breaks, to run by her side and give her the moral support she needed. Unfortunately, the on screen shenanigans are nowhere near as awesome.

I'm sad to say this is a movie you should all try to avoid. A by the numbers chick flick which probably only serves to given Diaz and Mann some extra pocket money for their next shopping spree.

Avoid..

Rating 3 out of 10

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So arrives yet another much anticipated Marvel movie, the surprising thing is that most of these movies actually manage to live up to the hype. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is no exception.

To give away anything is to risk spoiling the experience for you, so I must tread carefully.

Winter Soldier is more a sequel to the original rather than to the Avengers but if you haven't seen the original there is still plenty to enjoy here.

Set in the modern day, Cap is now part of a SHIELD covert ops team which includes Black Widow, all under the helm of Nick Fury. A nice intro sets the scene as a reminder that Cap is pretty badass. However, things turn very sour soon after returning to base leaving Cap seemingly alone to save the day and not knowing who he can trust.

Action set pieces are tight and well choreographed and although it never approaches the spectacle of Avengers, Iron Man or Thor, the stakes are seemingly much higher and it is made clear from the outset that no one is safe, these are characters that can bleed and die!

The bad guys have their own super soldier dubbed the Winter Soldier who is seemingly stronger, faster and more badass than Cap. Can Cap win this one? Watch to find out!

This is a solid action thriller. The 2 hour plus run time goes past fast and the action scenes are nicely interspersed with interesting espionage twists and turns that stop you from disconnecting from the movie or feeling bored. There is a satisfying finale which leaves the future for Cap and his team surprisingly open ended. It will be interesting to see where things go from here for Cap 3.

Seeing Cap in action is really cool, regardless of whether he's taking down people stealth style in near silence or whether he's taking down huge fighter jets single handedly. For once it's actually believable that someone can be a one man army!

Black Widow is even more impressive this time round and there is an undeniable chemistry between the two which helps to really engage the audience. She has quite a few action scenes of her own and Johansson is now clearly far more comfortable in the role than she ever was before. Black Widow was a mediocre side character in Iron Man 2, pretty damn cool in Avengers and now an essential character frequently stealing the lime light from our protagonist.

I know I have kept this review pretty vague but rest assured this is a pretty awesome movie and a worthy addition to Marvel's movie catalogue.

Check it out and don't forget to stay behind for TWO, yes like Thor: The Dark World there are TWO post-credit scenes!!!

Enjoy!

Rating 9 out of 10

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This is one rocking movie and Liam Neeson once again proves why when it comes to tense, gritty, grounded action, he's the best man for the job. With a resume including Oscar winning material such as Schindler's List and not to forget the fact that he's trained Batman, Obi Wan, The A-Team, Darth Vader and he is both Aslan and Zeus, in short, Liam Neeson is just one awesome dude!

Unlike Jason Statham, Arnie, Stallone and the other usual action suspects, Neeson brings a certain vulnerable quality to his roles, makes them human, believable, which of course just pulls you in as the viewer. His first real foray into the world of action was Taken. A one-man army type story we've seen from Luc Besson many a time before (The Transporter series, the much underrated Kiss of The Dragon etc). The movie was a huge success thanks to Neeson's poignant performance. I saw the movie shortly after the passing of Neeson's wife, Natasha Richardson, which made his desperation in the movie seem all the more real. It was a huge success and is still one of my favourite action movies. Neeson followed up Taken with the pretty great Unknown, Taken 2, The Grey and now Non-Stop.

Non-Stop may even be better than Taken. It's a close call, but it's at least as good as Taken was.

Neeson plays Bill Marks, a troubled U.S. federal air marshal on board what should be a normal flight like any other. He soon starts receiving sinister messages on his phones encrypted air marshal instant messaging service with demands that 150 million dollars be transferred to an offshore account or a passenger will be killed every 20 minutes until the demands are met. The threat proves to be a real one and it becomes a race against time for Bill to try and identify the killer. 149 passengers, 149 suspects!

This is a fantastic film. The tension grips you from the moment the text messages start rolling in and it doesn't relent until the movie reaches its satisfying close. A super tense, edge of your seat, whodunit thriller, which keeps you guessing right to the end.

The action is tight and well choreographed but it's the drama which keeps you hooked. I especially loved how besides Neeson's character, there are several other fleshed out and important characters which made proceedings that much more real. Julianne Moore is of course pretty great as always. My only gripe was that I wish the fantastic Lupita Nyong'o from 12 Years a Slave had a more substantial role.

The film ends with a bang on a very satisfying note and left me wanting to watch it again. There were no lulls or slow moments, once the momentum picks up, the movie just keeps going.

Wristwatch fans should also be kept happy, look out for a nice close up shot of a Patek Philippe. If you know what model it is, please write in to us!

I can't wait for this to come out on Blu-ray!

Highly recommended, an excellent thriller, catch it on the big screen while you can!

Rating 10 out of 10

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Okay folks, sorry for the ridiculous delay between posts. Things have been a little bit crazy with Christmas and now Chinese New Year just around the corner. So a lot of movies to review and very little time to do it in. Hope you enjoyed our year-end podcast special. Now let's get on with this review.

Unless you've been enslaved yourself over the last few months, chances are that you've heard of this movie. Winning the Golden Globe for best motion picture drama and now nominated for best motion picture Oscar 2014, it's not hard to see why.

Chiwetel Ejiofor (don't ask me how that's pronounced) stars as Solomon Northup. A true story based on the memoirs of the real Solomon Northup set in 1841 when there was a very unusual dichotomy between different American states. Black people could be born free in New York, as indeed Solomon Northup was.

A respected, skilled carpenter and fiddle player, he was given an opportunity to make some good money performing with a circus while his wife and children were away. Drugged and double-crossed, he wakes to find him self in chains. It soon becomes apparent that he has been sold into slavery. We join Solomon Northup as he endures a living hell, made all the more unbearable given that he was once a free man. Many of the slaves he meets along the way know no better, they are born into a life of slavery. Having once known freedom to then have it taken away from you; Solomon's experience must have been all the more devastating.

Forced to work on cotton fields, under the permanent threat of violence and death, Solomon's soul is crushed repeatedly to a point where most men would have just given up and died.

His ownership changes hands several times during the course of the 12 years, Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch); the reluctant slave keeper is the first. It's obvious he is torn between his duty as a slave keeper and his moral compass of what is right and wrong. Things reach their lowest under the ownership of Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender). An evil man who believes it is his god given right to keep slaves. Epps finds himself developing a perverted attraction one of his female slaves, Patsey played by the magnificent Lupita Nyong'O.

Will Solomon ever be reunited with his family, or will his memoires and story be all that manages to find its way out to the masses? Watch to find out.

Enjoyed is not the right word to use when talking about this movie. What I should say is that this is a good movie, compelling cinema about a time in history that we would rather forget. But don't forget, the beast that was slavery spanned a more than significant 400 years in the history of America.

I had heard all manner of things before I saw this movie. That audiences were sickened by the brutal displays of violence, even if they were toned down from the descriptions in Solomon's book. With a powerful story and reports of outstanding performances, of course I had high expectations. Were those expectations met? More or less I would say.

Don't get me wrong, this is a very good film and I would fully recommend it to anyone that is a fan of serious powerful cinema. But for whatever reason, it just fell shy of my expectations as did the impact it had on me. I tried to explore why this might be so. I think the answer lies in the fact that the movie depicts true events, not events manufactured and strategically crafted by Hollywood to evoke an emotional response, something which Hollywood is a true expert at.

I did wonder why Solomon never really tried to escape, would it be that hard? Over 12 years, was there really never an opportunity to escape? Watching 12 Years a Slave, you have to remind yourself that what you are watching is not just cinema but also history. Only then can you begin to comprehend the horror. This is also why Solomon never turns into Rambo, kills all the bad guys and fights his way to freedom.

I found the movie to be less affecting and haunting than Django Unchained or The Shawshank Redemption, two other movies about the limits of human suffering, perseverance and triumph against the odds. Whereas 12 Years is powerful because it's true, Django and Shawshank were powerful because of how they were written and directed. Django left me thinking for days. Some of the imagery that Tarantino managed to direct and capture, especially one specific scene towards the end featuring Christoph Waltz, really affected me and lingered on my mind uncomfortably for days. Shawshank also managed to more effectively portray the duration of suffering the lead protagonist had to endure. In 12 Years I never felt like 12 years had actually passed, it felt more like a terrible one year.

Django for me is a more haunting and affecting tale of slavery, with 12 Years a Slave coming in a close second. Shawshank, however, remains the ultimate tale of human endurance.

This is an excellent and powerful lesson in history, perhaps not the absolute best in terms of similarly themed movies, but essential cinema nonetheless.

Highly recommended despite Brad Pitt's presence. Almost forgot to mention him. Yes his character is a good one, but his performance is still wooden and by the numbers.

Rating 9 out of 10

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Jackie Chan is back in what I would consider his best serious role to date.

New Police Story (2004) was a disappointment for many. It did not feature the same character nor have any continuity to the previous Police Story movies and left people wondering why it even carried the Police Story name. In hindsight, however, I think it wasn't actually that bad. It's on TV fairly frequently over here in Singapore and regardless of how many times I've seen it, I still find myself watching it to the end. Of course it pales in comparison to the gold standard set by the first 2 Police Story movies, but those 2 classics put most action movies to shame. But what New Police Story does deserve credit for is that it set the ground and expectations for subsequent Police Story movies. I went into Police Story 2013 not expecting Police Story 1 or 2 but something darker, grittier and more serious and that's exactly what I got.

Jackie has been hit and miss with his serious roles. Shinjuku Incident was just not that good a movie and although Little Big Soldier was good, it was not here nor there in terms of its dramatic tone – it still felt part serious and part comedy but never really embraced either genre completely. Police Story 2013, from Ding Sheng, the director of Little Big Soldier, hits the proverbial nail on the head and destroys it! This movie is badass!!

The movie starts with Jackie, a decorated police veteran, on his way to meet his estranged daughter in a nightclub in China (that's right – not Hong Kong). Ever since the loss of his wife, things have clearly been turbulent between the pair and his daughter (Tian Jing) appears to have become quite rebellious against the father she felt was never there for her.

Things take a quick and unexpected turn for the worst when the nightclub is locked down and Jackie, as well as other patrons in the club, are taken hostage.

Henceforth, the movie turns into a gritty cop thriller as we join Jackie in his efforts to try and figure out who the bad guys are and what their motives are. The plot is twisted and turned and intertwined, making for some pretty good and dramatic cinema. This is definitely not the Police Story we have come to know and love. It is, however, a darn good story about police.

Those expecting Jackie's trademark brand of ultra fast perfectly choreographed fighting will be left disappointed. This is definitely not a kung fu / martial arts movie. There are only a handful of fights and they are kept very real and visceral. Jackie, possibly for the first time in ages, looks like he can do serious damage. A cage fight in particular is very brutal but fits the tone of the movie perfectly.

Remember, first and foremost this is a cop thriller and it's a tense one at that, especially as the story turns into a 'who done it' sort of detective movie.

I enjoyed this movie a lot. A great story, a fine thriller and characters we grow to really care about as the story unfolds. Sure it's not for everyone. If you're an action junkie or have traits of ADHD then you should probably look elsewhere. Also noted that replay value is probably not that great.

But those looking for a tense thriller to sink their teeth into, something that will keep you thinking and on the edge of your seat, then you need not look any further.

A great night at the movies and Jackie's best performance in a serious role to date! Highly recommended! Check it out!

Rating 8 out of 10

Jackie is back!

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Did you like the original Hunger Games movie last year? I really didn't.

Kids on an island fighting to the death – that's Battle Royale isn't it? Okok, I was still willing to give it a shot but then came the silly story about how the government used the games to remind people of the government's power and control, to prevent any uprisings and rebellions. Not really believable that a bunch of kids fighting on an island would somehow stop adults in the real world from revolting if they wanted to, don't really see how the two are connected at all. To compound things, there was a random love triangle and then the movie finally anti-climaxed in the actual Hunger Game action sequence at the end. It was just a highly forgettable experience and never really seemed believable.

So here we are yet again. Jennifer Lawrence returns as Katniss Everdeen with Josh Hutcherson as fellow Hunger Game winner Peeta Mellark. We are reintroduced to the cold grey world of the future and the iron fist with which it's ruled. Katniss and Peeta are doing the rounds as a celebrity couple; a façade that they had hoped would have ended after they won their Hunger Game. To the contrary, their defiance has drawn the eyes of the nation onto them, including those of President Snow.

Through the fear that their defiance would give the people enough hope and courage to revolt, and to put an end to past winners thinking they are above reproach, President Snow decides to hold a special Hunger Game in celebration of the events 75th anniversary. He decrees that for this special Hunger Game, the contestants would be all previous Hunger Game winners.

And so Katniss and Peeta once again find themselves in battle. Can they survive a second time round? You'll have to find out!

So how does this sequel live up to the lackluster original? Well I'm happy to say that Catching Fire is a superior movie on every level.

Everything is fleshed out more, characters are developed and we are shown more of the consequences the Hunger Games have on the society and population at large. I found myself suddenly caring for characters that I couldn't care less for in the last movie. I found myself starting to get engrossed in the unusual dystopia depicted in the movie and feeling genuine concern for the survival of the good guys. I made the connection that I tried but could not find in the previous installment, helped no end by a pretty great action finale. This is by no means a perfect movie. The love story still feels unnecessary and the socio-political significance of having the Hunger Games still remains highly questionable. Additionally, the semi-twist ending is quite obvious and easy to see coming. None of this, however, made the film any less enjoyable.

I never thought I'd say this but I'm already looking forward to the next movie in the series.

An enjoyable movie even for those who did not like the original. Catching Fire finally makes Hunger Games something more than just a Battle Royale rip-off.

Check it out!

Rating 8 out of 10

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Does anyone remember Dragnet, Big, Turner & Hooch, Splash, The 'Burbs??? All the silly but great movies I used to watch Tom Hanks in as a kid. That's who he was in the 80s, a comedy actor, doing quirky light-hearted movies. I guess there's no way we'll be seeing a sequel to the awesome Dragnet with him now being a celebrated thespian and all.

Somewhere along the lines of Apollo 13 and Saving Private Ryan (1998), his career shifted gear and he's been producing acting powerhouses pretty much ever since. We can't really complain when they come as good as Captain Phillips.

I'm not going to do a comparison of the movie and what happened in real life, there are plenty of other sites out there doing that. All I can say is that this is an excellent movie with enough reality and Hollywood magic to keep any movie fan happy.

The story sounds almost like a sequel to Under Siege but thankfully there is no Steven Seagal anywhere in sight.

Captain Phillips (Tom Hanks) is tasked with guiding the cargo ship MV Maersk Alabama to Mombasa around the horn of Africa, a known pirate hotspot. It soon becomes clear that Phillips was right to be apprehensive. Despite their best efforts, the ship is attacked and boarded by a band of Somali pirates.

Although the pirates are few in number, they are armed and deadly, intent on getting a large payout. Under the expert guidance of Captain Phillips, the crew hide in the ship's engine room but things take a turn for the worst when Phillips himself is taken hostage in the ship's lifeboat.

The Navy as well as a SEAL team are soon in pursuit but whether they can save Captain Phillips or not is a different matter altogether.

This is another excellent movie and is easily up there with the likes of Gravity as one of the best movies I've seen this year.

It's damn tense with Hanks turning in yet another outstanding performance which really has to be seen. It's testament to his skill as an actor and dedication to his craft. The research he did into the character obviously payed off big time. This of course would be nothing if not for the great performances of his supporting cast, including Barkhad Abdi as the leader of the pirates and of course expert direction from Paul Greengrass who ensures that the action is tight and on point. Thankfully, there's no shaky-cam rubbish here for which Greengrass was previously infamous for.

There are no lulls, no laggy moments, just a tense, emotion and heart driven thrill ride from start to finish. It makes you appreciate your loved ones and value the time you have with them, much in the same way Gravity did for me.

People complain about the US meddling in other peoples affairs, acting like they are the police of the world, but for what it's worth, when crap like this goes down, I'm glad they're out there trying, not always succeeding, but still trying to do the right thing. When the Navy and SEAL team arrive on the scene, even though I'm not American, I felt grateful that there is someone that can come to the rescue when stuff like this happens.

I've been intentionally vague about the story to avoid spoiling the experience for you, but let there be no doubt, this really is a great film which I highly recommend to everyone.

Don't expect Under Siege 3, or your typical one-man-army action hero type flick. This is as close to reality as most of us will ever want to get.

Rating 9 out of 10

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Tony, Tony, Tony… What have you been up to? First you entice us with your crazy stunts in Ong Bak and follow up with knockout Tom Yum Goong but then you've really fallen off the radar. The guy literally blasted onto the screen from nowhere and became an instant star in the martial arts world. With Jackie Chan and Jet Li aging and Donnie Yen producing material of inconsistent quality, action fans were hungry for a worthy successor. We thought that person may have been Tony Jaa and it still might be.

Fans of Jaa will know that he had been previously tied into the worst 10-year movie contract ever heard of by Sahamongkol Film International. The contract prevented him from doing any film other than the ones they wanted. Jaa had something of a breakdown and there were even stories that Jaa left the sets of the Ong Bak sequels to go and become a monk in a monastery. The 10 years expired and the guy is now back on the big screen – but wait! He signed on again with the same damn production company and they are once again being complete morons! Following recent news that Jaa had signed on to star in the next Fast & Furious movie, Sahamongkol Film once again threatened legal action against Jaa stating that he'd broken his contract by taking on work without their permission. For us lucky movie fans, it looks like Jaa is going ahead with Fast 7 despite this, as well as Hong Kong movie SPL 2 with Wu Jing! Excellent news indeed!

Jaa's movies have always been simple movies reminiscent of Van Damme movies from yesteryear. They have a lot of heart and a lot of ass kicking. In the original Tom Yum Goong (AKA The Protector), Jaa's elephants get kidnapped and brought over to Australia. Jaa goes over and gets them back. Simple! The movie was pretty badass, featuring an amazing one take sequence as Jaa makes his way to the top of a building, taking down loads of bad guys on the way.

There was also a crazy Jaa vs. 50 bad guys sequence towards the end of the movie. It was pretty cool stuff for martial arts fans, especially as Jaa has always looked like he could really do the stuff we see him do in his movies.

In Tom Yum Goong 2, Jaa finds himself in a predicament as his elephant is kidnapped once again, but the agenda is not so simple this time round. Big bad guy Mr. LC (RZA), a martial arts fan, wishes to use the kidnapped elephant to leverage Jaa to do his evil bidding. Jaa must find a way to stop RZA and save his elephant, all while being hunted by what appears to be almost everyone in Thailand.

The premise sounds like the prefect setup for loads of ass kicking and mad stunts just like the original. Unfortunately, despite all the good intentions, the end product just doesn't deliver.

We don't really need a story but some essence of interconnecting events would be nice. The first half of the movie seems to be dominated by a random and ridiculously long drawn out motorbike chase scene, featuring some really terrible CGI. Gone are the real chases and stunts that we saw Jaa performing in Ong Bak, instead we have third-rate special effects and extreme ridiculousness. It doesn't even make any sense why this whole portion of the movie exists but it does.

Surprisingly, Petchtai Wongkamlao as cop sidekick Mark, was probably the best thing in this film. He provided timely comic relief whereas JeeJa Yanin, from Chocolate and Raging Phoenix fame, is shamefully underused and portrayed to be almost useless next to our hero. Rhatha Phongam is also underused, present only to serve as eye candy.

The single worst, most unforgivable element of this movie is RZA (though the other American actors come close). He has absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever. No on-screen presence, no charisma, terrible acting, terrible fighting, just terrible terrible terrible. I pray that no one ever allows him on a film set ever again or perhaps he should try method acting and really die at the end of his next movie.

So far things are not sounding too good. So how was the fighting? To be honest, it wasn't that great either. After the first half of the movie was dominated by the silly motorbike chase sequence, we would hope the latter half would focus more on the fights. But once the fights begin, we are not given anything that even comes close to spectacle that was seeing Jaa take down 50 guys back to back. There was nothing new and the over use of CGI ultimately reduced everything to a farce. The first fight with Maresse Crump showed potential which was just never fully realized.

It would also have been nice to see Jaa go up against several worthy adversaries instead of a handful of not so great bad guys who just don't seem to be able to die.

All I was hoping for was a competent martial arts movie and at the end of the day, that isn't what we got. Even in the absence of Jaa's original movies, I would not recommend this.

A disappointment from start to finish, I suggest you check out Jaa's earlier efforts and keep your fingers crossed that his US debut will deliver what Tom Yum Goong 2 couldn't.

One to miss and no, I didn't watch it in 3D and can't imagine it would do anything other than make the experience even worse.

Rating 5 out of 10.

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What a cracking little movie this is. A nice twisty action thriller from start to finish. With shades of Tango & Cash as well as Face / Off you can't really go wrong. To be honest, I'm surprised we're not getting loads more of these movies collaborating our favourite action heroes of yesteryear. How hard could it be to come up with a story around these guys? I've always wanted to see a reboot of Jackie Chan's Dragons Forever – replacing Jackie, Sammo & Yuen with Stallone, Schwarzenegger and Van Damme! That would be awesome!

Anyhow, lets get back on track. Stallone plays Ray Breslin, an expert at breaking out of prisons; he's hired to test the security of so-called maximum-security institutions. After a small demo of his skills, we jump into the main meat of this movie.

Offered twice his normal fee to test out a new super prison, touted as the perfect prison, he finds the opportunity hard to resist, despite concerns from his team.

The plan is simple. He goes in, breaks out, only him and his team know his real identity as well as the warden of the prison and if the heat gets too strong he has an evacuation code which he can give the warden at any time to forfeit the mission and be released. The only catch being that, unlike previous missions, this time even his team can't be told the whereabouts of the top secret detention facility. What could possibly go wrong? Everything!!

As soon as he's on the inside, it becomes pretty clear that the whole thing was a set up. The warden he was expecting is not there, he has no idea where he is, his team has no idea where he is. The only thing that is clear is that he's intended to die in there.

Unlike any other prison he's ever been in, this place is a modern high tech super fortress run by mostly faceless masked guards, with the only exceptions being hard ass guard Drake (Vinnie Jones) and head honcho Warden Hobbes (Jim Caviezel). Stallone is forced to forgo his usual methods, to think out of the box, to try and break out from the unbreakable.

Thankfully, he forms an alliance with one of the other prisoners, a very worn and weathered Schwarzenegger. But can they both make the break? Will one of them die? Will their escape plan be foiled?? You'll have to see for yourselves.

I enjoyed seeing Arnie back in the fray with an actual character and some acting to do. He was very rusty in both Expendables as well as The Last Stand, so it really was cool to see Arnie back to form, doing some things that even Arnie fans are likely to have not seen before. I also liked the fact that this isn't a straight up action movie. If that's what you expect then you may actually be left disappointed. There's a hell of a lot of logic, brainpower and planning that has to go into trying to break out of the perfect prison and it's really engaging to watch how Stallone and Arnie try to figure out their escape plan. A great balance of brain and brawn, the characters help to sell the story and pull you in, making you wonder if you would ever be able to escape if that was you in there.

What didn't I like about this movie? 50 Cent. He wasn't terrible but he just seemed kind of awkward and mostly unbelievable in most of his scenes. Thankfully, his scenes were few and far between. The only real thing I would mention is that you do need to pay attention to keep track of who's who initially, but as the plot really gets rolling, that's very much a non-issue.

This was a surprise gem of a movie for me. It's not a huge blockbuster, it's not a CGI extravaganza, it's just a solid action thriller sold on a really cool premise featuring some really cool characters.

Catch it on the big screen while you can.

Rating 8 out of 10.

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I may be late watching this but boy am I glad I did!

It really is a rare phenomenon when a sequel outshines its predecessor but I strongly feel that this is one of those occasions.

The original Detective Dee, starring Andy Lau as the uber detective in ye olde China (Tang Dynasty), was a love hate affair for me. I liked the premise of watching a genius Sherlock Holmes style detective in ancient China, incredibly smart, adept at martial arts; it had all the ingredients for a brilliant character. The outcome, although not bad, just felt underwhelming and never quite lived up to my expectations. There was very little super intelligent crime-solving going on; the crime itself was not that interesting and the end result was just another Andy Lau movie.

It looks like director extraordinaire, Tsui Hark, has since then really perfected the character. He's taken all the best elements from the original and fine-tuned them to produce this excellent movie.

The story opens with an impressive attack on a royal fleet of ships by a mysterious sea monster, the eponymous beast of the title. This of course leads to high alert and panic in the city as towns-folk worry they have upset the gods. In a bid to make the gods happy, the simple towns folk plan to sacrifice the beautiful courtesan Yin (Angelababy). Meanwhile, detective Yuchi (Feng Shaofeng) is given a mandate and time limit within which to find out what is really going on by Empress Wu (Carina Lau). Failure to break the case within the allotted time will mean his death.

Our hero, Dee Renjie (Mark Chao), arrives in the capital of Imperial China with a special commendation to be enlisted as part of the cities special police force. Before our young hero can even formally introduce himself to head Detective Yuchi, he stumbles on a plot to kidnap Angelababy by not only a group of thugs but also by a swamp monster man.

Dee's superior intellect is apparent right from the outset, he can see things others can't, sees connections and figures out puzzles quicker than anyone else. This of course does not go unnoticed by Empress Wu.

Much to detective Yuchi's annoyance, Dee is soon appointed head detective in charge of the case. But the humble detective Dee makes it clear he is not in the Imperial city for power, he simply wants to help people and uphold the law. He makes it clear that they must work together. Can Dee's intellect, Yuchi's fighting skills and help from their trustworthy assistant Dr. Watson Dr. Shatuo Zhong (Lin Gengxin), break the case??

I really enjoyed this movie. At first I was concerned that a younger cast may make the on-goings less believable, but quite to the contrary, they got the age skew of the cast just right. The cast was fresh and, in the absence of baggage associated with big name leads, allowed for the characters to be realized and fleshed out much better. There is excellent chemistry between our lead, his doctor assistant and rival lead detective Yuchi. It's great watching them work together to break the case. Angelababy is great as eye candy but that's all she really is this time round, much less proactive than her character in Tai Chi Zero and much more the classic damsel in distress.

Special mention needs to be made of the special effects, especially in the end sequence. I believe Tsui Hark enlisted the help of South Korean special affects maestros and the outcome is really pretty great.

The movie may be a tad long, but I never felt it was lagging or getting boring in the way I did with the 2010 movie. In fact, I really didn't want the movie to end! I really enjoyed watching the story unfold, watching the trio investigate and piece together the puzzle. The excellent direction and acting ensured I was right there with them as the mystery unfolded. Some moments of perfectly timed humour (make sure you stay for the post-credits scenes) helped to further ensure I was hooked from start to finish.

Dee is a great character, ultra smart, righteous and street savvy. He may be excellent at fighting but he's not the best. This just served to make the character more believable than the Andy Lau incarnation who was just too good at everything.

A great movie and a really great character, this movie managed to hit all the points the original missed. I can't wait for the next Detective Dee movie!

The only thing that would be better is a Sherlock Holmes and Detective Dee team up movie, but I guess I should keep dreaming.

Highly recommended!

Rating 9 out of 10

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Thor returns in yet another triumphant adventure. When the original aired in 2011 it was perhaps the Marvel property that people were most skeptical about. The God of Thunder, wearing a red cape, Norse mythology and all, it sounded really silly.

It was perhaps this low level of expectation, which I also had for Iron Man, which helped to make it such a success. It was fun and loud with a good heart at its core, not to mention introducing Chris Hemsworth and the outstanding Tom Hiddleston. Their chemistry helped to seal the deal and this continued with their adventures in Avengers.

I think over the years, many of us have become quite endeared to all of the Avengers characters, they are almost household names and each new Marvel entry is welcomed with considerable fanfare. Thor: The Dark World is no exception.

The story begins by introducing us to the Dark Elves led by Malekith in a time before Thor and Odin. Bor, father of Odin, managed to stop Malekith from using an energy known as the Aether to return the universe to the darkness it once knew before there was creation. The Aether was hidden and the story fell into legend and fable.

However, as the alignment of the planets approaches once again, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), now residing in London, inadvertently makes a discovery that is going to draw her straight into the heart of Thor's latest adventure. Thor is forced to return to Earth and even bring Jane back to Asgard where the Asgardians are given something of a rude awakening. They soon realize that the Dark Elves they remember from their bedtime stories are very real and have once again returned to try and throw the universe back into darkness.

This is a great adventure with real consequence. We are reminded that although perceived to be gods by people on Earth during the time of Vikings, Asgardians can be hurt, can be injured, and they frequently do. Thor has to muster more than just physical strength to try and defeat the Dark Elves and it is not without some dire consequences. More than once I found myself wiping away a manly tear from my eye. Thankfully, Thor has the assistance of all his friends from the original movie and they play no small part in helping him try and restore order to the nine realms.

I enjoyed once again seeing these characters that I've grown to love and I was happy to see that this movie can be enjoyed as a complete story in its own right, not serving to be just a set up for the next Avengers movie.

There is a healthy dose of well-timed humour, which helps to balance the otherwise dark overtones of the story. Performances are great all round, continuing the old world Shakespearean style of banter we have come to expect from Asgardians.

I particularly loved some of the imagery seen on Asgard, seeing their world, how they live, watching Thor and Jane meander around the charming streets of this beautiful alien world.

I felt Thor seemed somewhat underpowered in this outing, especially after seeing him topple cities with his hammer Mjolnir previously, but this may simply be a reflection of how powerful his adversaries are this time.

What I did feel was weak were the 3D effects, so save yourself a buck or two and just watch it in a standard 2D digital screening unless you really want to see the extended Captain America Winter Soldier trailer which is attached to the 3D screening.

Another homerun for Marvel, I strongly recommend you catch this on the big screen and, it goes almost without saying, stay right to the end of the credits as there may be more than one golden egg waiting for you.

Check it out!

Rating 8 out of 10

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Oh dear, this is really sad. Following something of a career revival with the outstanding Sha Po Lang, Ip Man and Wu Xia, Donnie Yen has really been unable to maintain the quality of his efforts. I fear he is slowly falling back to the ranks of cheesy unrespected action movies with which he had been associated for most of his career. With The Last Bladesman, The Return of Chen Zhen, 14 Blades and now Special ID, he's been having more misses than hits.

When teasers for Special ID started to appear, Internet excitement started to mount that this could be the sequel to SPL that we had all hoped Flash Point would have been. Alas, that is not the case.

Yen plays undercover cop Dragon Chan, doing the usual bad guy routine to get into the good books of the triad bosses. When trouble starts to brew in China with connections to one of his former underlings, his boss, Captain Cheung (Ronald Cheng), sends Yen out to work with Mainland Chinese police to crack the case. One last case before he can return to being a normal beat cop. Sounds good on paper but the execution is a sad state of affairs.

In China, Yen uses his usual unorthodox methods to meet up and reacquaint with his old buddy turned crime boss, Sunny (Andy On). Yen, predictable for a movie, is an unpredictable and reckless cop, which rubs his China police partner Fang Jing (Tian Jing) the wrong way. This is intended to introduce some spark and chemistry between the two but sadly falls flat, mostly due to the fact that Tian Jing looks like she's about 12 years old besides Donnie.

Of course while out in China, some rather unnecessary twists are introduced to keep things exciting, but they just didn't work and really didn't make a lot of sense.

In the end, what we have is an extremely forgettable action movie and another strike out for Yen.

What I liked about this movie was Tian Jing, with some of the best stunts in the movie and a memorable car chase sequence; she stole the best scene in the movie. Agreed she appears too small and frail to pose any real danger. She is, however, surprisingly quite convincing as a martial artist, exhibiting some pretty fancy and gutsy moves.

I look forward to seeing her in Jackie Chan's upcoming Police Story 2013.

What I didn't like was Donnie Yen's character. It is repeatedly reiterated that Yen's character is stupid but he can fight. We're no longer in the 80s where an action hero can get by just on brawn. No one wants to root for a stupid character but unfortunately that's how Yen's character is written. This is a far cry from Yen's character in SPL, a smart, super cool detective who wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty. Yen's character in this is just a silly caricature, like something out of a kid's movie. Also worthy of note is the criminal underuse of Collin Chou. Nope, no Donnie vs Collin this time.

Andy On is pretty good as the bad guy and did a decent job of making his fights against Yen believable. Though what was not believable was why he would be doing all the dirty work himself if he was such an up and coming big-time crime boss, surely he would have sent some of his lackeys to take care of business.

Agreed, no one comes to a Donnie Yen movie expecting Shakespeare, they want to see some ass kicking. So how are the action scenes? Again, mediocre at best. The earlier fights were sloppy, likely in an attempt to make our protagonist appear human and vulnerable. Later fights improve somewhat but could have been cut and pasted from so many other generic action movies. The final fight is good but a lot of us would have already seen it in the most recent extended trailer.

Special ID is a pretty solid disappointment on all levels. What I loved about both SPL and Wu Xia is that they were both powerful dramas, the fighting was restrained and there were actually only a few fight sequences. This served to make the movies more believable and actually made the action sequences more memorable and impactful.

I can't bring myself to recommend this. Rather I recommend, if you haven't seen SPL – go and get it now!

Rating 5 out of 10.

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