GreyHawkXY Reviews

Firewall (2006)

Nice thriller .. Has its downsides, but is still enjoyable ..

[6/10 · 12 September 2006]

The most important aspect of the movie is that, it never gets boring .. There are lots of events, twists and turns that fill up the one and a half hours of running time .. None of them are meaningless scenes, making you try to remember how the characters arrived at that situation .. The link is always there, you will have no loose ends (at least no major ones) .. The plot is sound, the setting is plausible .. You will find several plot holes if you watch it carefully, and many not-so-believable scenes, but none of them devastates the atmosphere ..

But, casting is not perfect .. I still wonder how Virginia Madsen became the wife of Harrison Ford with 20 years of age difference .. She does not act so convincingly, I expected someone more fitting for the role .. There is no chemistry between them, there is no motherly love in Virginia .. Harrison Ford is his usual self, very similar to the character in Air Force One, trying desperately to save his family / loved ones in dire situation and get rid of the villains .. While he is running under heavy rain, I just wanted to shout 'someone, give him a towel, for God's sake!' .. Despite his old age, he never fails in his acting, although his characters are becoming more similar to each other with every new movie .. Paul Bettany is a great choice for the villain, which makes up for the presence of Virginia Madsen .. The rest of the cast is just 'fillers' ..

No award winning nor unique story here .. It is a common thriller script, with no big surprises .. But that is no failure for the movie, in my opinion .. It is not necessary for every thriller to be unique .. It has a common/good ending, where the hero saves his family and the villains are neutralized (I don't even think saying that it has a 'good ending' would be a spoiler :P).. Nevertheless, this movie gave me enough enjoyment for the night, which is the key point ..

Suicide Kings (1997)

Low-quality crime movie ..

[6/10 · 7 September 2006]

This is certainly not an intelligent movie, that plays with you, tricks you, surprises you .. I found nothing to stimulate my mind .. The villains hence the ending becomes visible before half-an-hour counter elapses .. You are introduced with an interesting plot, but with no other driving factors that will keep you interested till the end ..

The acting is definitely poor .. The only characters that save the movie are the old-crime-king (Walken) and his driver (Leary) .. But, even these two actors are somewhat below their well-known quality, because of the messy and amateurish dialog .. The young actors show no talent at all, even if they have some .. Only the wanna-be-doctor character, T.K., is somewhat interesting, the rest, especially Ira, kept be irritated all the time .. No character study is visible, no motivation, nothing .. The lines are spoken with no mind nor soul .. Without Walken (and Leary) this movie would be in the trash ..

The saving feature of the movie is its plot (not the script, but the general plot) - the reason why my rating is above half-way point .. Several ideas are certainly unique, but the negative aspects corrupt the movie to the roots ..

Bottom Line - Minimal enjoyment for crime/thriller fans .. I found no reason to keep the movie in my movie collection for a second viewing in the future - I don't regret the time I spent for the movie, but I will regret if I (am forced to) watch it again ..

Mindhunters (2004)

Is far from being perfect, but satisfies the viewers who fancy the thriller genre

[6/10 · 4 September 2006]

The setting and plot found here, is a common stereotype of the thriller genre: Several 'people' have to stay at a 'place' which is shut from the outside world; there is a 'killer' among themselves, and they have to find him/her before it is too late (But as you know, it is always too late, so we have only a few (1 or 2) survivors at the end) ..

If you like this particular 'generic' plot, 'Mindhunters' is a movie that you should not pass without looking ..

We witness many innovative murder techniques, till the end credits .. Mostly, there is no escape once a member of the group is selected and the trap is set .. The movie has serious plot holes .. So don't bother thinking 'what is the probability of victims following the EXACT steps that the killer expects from them, hence eventually dying ??' .. It is next to none in several cases .. Most of the viewers would guess the killer right away in the first half an hour of the movie .. So, you fell you are drawn into a dream where you cannot break the sequence, yelling inside 'Why are they going there, why are they waiting here blah blah??' .. But who cares ?? :) ..

The movie provides enough enjoyment that can be expected from such an ordinary plot .. The futility of the team members, the way the murderer analyzes their traits and decides how to kill them, brief background stories about the characters .. You will be treated with nice touches everywhere .. The movie is not mindless but just don't expect something really intelligent ..

I gave the movie a rating of 8 .. -1 for 'lost in a dream sequence, not so intelligent characters' property, -1 for weak ending .. I don't think there is anything wrong in using the generic plot, since the movie was fun to watch .. Is it open for a second time viewing ?? .. Well, definitely yes ..

Silent Hill (2006)

A 'Mystery' movie with 'Horror' as the secondary theme ..

[7/10 · 25 August 2006]

First of all, this is not a horror movie in which evil ones say 'boo' and jump on you when you open doors, the silence is shattered with a sudden high pitched shriek, and in which you never know where the evil lurks .. It is devoid of all those things that scare you suddenly, boost your heart rate to the max, letting it down gradually, making all your body twitch with the short but high impact .. There are no such scenes in this movie .. If you are a movie goer that expect this kind of reaction at a horror movie, pass this one ..

Starting with the end of first half an hour (at most), the movie presents its creepy atmosphere where you fell pinned down till the end .. Constant high heart-beating rate .. You will know what is going to happen a few moments later, you will know when the creatures are coming .. Oh yeah, you *will* know when the characters are in real trouble .. And that is certainly *not* a bad attribute of the movie .. This is actually the standing ground for it .. The story and atmosphere is the important factor here ..

And the story .. This is certainly the best story in any video-game adaptation, bar none .. Well developed, given the 2 hours of runtime, there is a lot going on here .. No rush, 99% of all the questions are explained .. The remaining 1% ?? .. Well .. The ending .. and your imagination .. Another plus ..

Never played any of the Silent Hill games (nor Resident Evil games if they count) .. Nevertheless, you will *know* the settings based on a computer game, when you watch it .. The color tones, the lightning, the view angles etc. .. I would not even be surprised if the game has the EXACT backgrounds with those used in the movie .. Don't be intimidated by my words .. All of the scenes are (eerily) beautiful .. With the complementary sound, this can be the most artistic horror movie ..

My rating is 9 for this great mystery-horror movie (-1 for the unsatisfactory acting of the lead character, below my expectations, with better acting, this movie would be a masterpiece) .. But still, one last word, proceed with caution, since it may not be suitable for your taste if you are looking for sudden scares ..

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)

Sci-fi, but mostly fantasy, animation movie where the viewers should be open-minded for maximum enjoyment

[6/10 · 11 August 2006]

This review is based on my second viewing. During the first viewing, I could only marvel at the CGI quality and could grasp only the general idea of the plot (.. eventually was at a loss by the end), while the second viewing proved to be a more complete experience.

General sci-fi fans may feel that something is not quite right in the picture. The 'Final Fantasy' series of Square (speaking of games) were never good examples of solid and well-established pieces logic. Well, there is no 'logic', the keyword here is 'fantasy'. In the games, we have 'flying sea ships', '2 meter (aprox. 6 feet) long swords', 'every type of creatures you can imagine'. You shouldn't expect anything different than these theme, in this movie. 'The earth is alive and has a spirit', 'We are fighting with ghosts from an alien planet' etc. You have to be open minded, and delve into the 'fantasy world', or you will just throw the plot into the trash, merely enjoy the CGI animation work, and maybe call it crap.

This is not an 'action/sci-fi'. We have drama elements, romance and mystery. There are theories about spirits, long talk sessions, which may be boring for most of the viewers, so you should be prepared. This is an animation, but it is not so different from live movies. It is 'absolutely' not aimed for small children.

The CGI animation is fascinating. I have witnessed CGI clips from Final Fantasy game series, but this is something else. In some scenes you just swear that you are watching a movie with live actors and environment. After 5 years, I still rank it high in my 'Best 3D Animation' list.

I recommend the movie to anyone who are fans of 3D animation, open-minded sci/fi and fantasy fans which are ready to feel contempt with 'Love is the solution for everything and is able to save the earth (literaly)' theme.

Robots (2005)

Funny animation movie for all ages

[7/10 · 22 July 2006]

I expected an average animation movie, since I had not heard any clamor about this one, and most critics gave it not-so-great ratings .. But, in just the first few moments, I was surprised and felt exhilarated for having found a little gem with funny and smart dialog and awe-inspiring moments depicting how a robotic life could be ..

The plot is predictable, somewhat stereo-type one: "The young boy with great ideals arrives at the town; where an evil, money-worshiping company boss makes the life misery for town-folks, sucking every penny they got .. The boy helps them, which infuriates the boss, and later on with the help of towns people, stands up against the evil, wins the day, and everyone becomes happy" But you still cannot expect a "Fight Club" like of plot and ending in a PG rating animation, can you ?? ..

So, the quality here lies in the small events and surprises .. The way the robots have a haircut and massage, eat at a diner, feed toy-like pigeons in the park, transport around the city .. Just watching the environment inspires you .. Not one of the scenes, is unnecessary or dumb in this animation .. Every event related with the story has a purpose and may not be taken from the whole .. Mind you, this is a 90 minutes animation .. There is lot to watch here ..

The movie is for all ages, that's for sure .. That is not a movie that you must force yourself to watch till the end, just to be near your child at the theater .. It has attractive factors for everyone .. The dialog is really smart in several scenes, and I doubt these are intended for 4 year olds (Alas the rating is not G) ..

The animation may not be top-notch .. I must admit, it is a little more straightforward to create 3D animation with vehicles, robots and futuristic cities, rather than human faces and mimics, and organic matter .. But still the quality is there - that's not a low-budget-movie .. I especially liked the sound effects - the cute sounds which the flying invention of Rodney (the Hero) makes ..

The movie may not be memorable as the likes of 'Finding Nemo' or cannot compete with the dialog of the 2D Disney movies of late 90s - early 2Ks in 'wittiness' level .. But this is a movie, that all animation fans and archivers (like me) should watch - and make space for a new DVD ..

Underworld: Evolution (2006)

A fantasy-action movie that is fun to watch .. But don't bother with the story much ..

[5/10 · 28 June 2006]

I liked the movie more than the first one. Underworld has the setting, the characters, and the story. But somewhat slow in execution, scarce in action sequences and varieties. This one uses the same setting, the same (a few more) characters and a parallel story. The movie spends no time with the introductions, just embarks into action sequences that let you no time to look away till the end. The opposite of the first one.

If you haven't watched Underworld, do not bother watching U:Evolution. You have to watch the first one in order to grasp "what is going on", and "who are these people". If you don't follow this advice, the movie will look like a mindless gore-fest.

For gore-fans. This is a movie you will like. There is blood pouring everywhere, body parts flying in the air. I must admit, I found the quality of CGI particularly successful in reflecting the gore to the audience.

As I mentioned before, this movie is intense; full of action. The first movie did not live up to my expectations, but this one made up for it. On the other hand, some of the action is a little meaningless and illogical, although this does not distract you much. As an example, an elite team of marksmen is firing at a werewolf, the werewolf is just standing there for a great deal of time doing nothing but growl at them, but you see bullets reflecting only on the walls, on the furniture, on the ground etc. but no bullets going in or out of the werewolf. At least show some blood on the werewolf, for god's sake. Does not anyone in the FX-team notice such small details? And in one scene the vampire-lady moves really quick, jumping really high, and in other scene she acts like an ordinary school girl, fighting werewolves with futile effort.

As a result, no satisfying story here, no character development, no Oscar-winning acting performance. If you want a nice epic story about vampires look somewhere else. This movie is for fun only, with lots of action and nice-looking CGI. What it does, it does good.

One last remark I should make is that: After watching this movie, I just wanted to watch the first movie again, to grasp the setting and characters more, and to enjoy this one more. I think it deserves it.

Mission to Mars (2000)

SciFi with an interesting plot, but fails in execution due to boring storytelling and stupid characters

[5/10 · 22 June 2006]

The thing that made me watch this movie despite all the bad reviews, was its plot .. I found it interesting, although not surprising .. There are many movies that have similarities with the plot (or parts of it) .. Even a few Japanese anime (Macross - Protoculture, anyone??) mentions about extra-terrestrial life and how life originated on earth .. So, the plot is far from being unique but still has the potential to attract SciFi fans (like me) ..

But why all the bad reviews and ratings ?? ..

There are two main downsides of the movie .. Firstly, the story is dragged too much .. The movie is full of unnecessary scenes, which have no affect on the story direction - scattered here and there, merely to pass time .. You will have a lot of yawns till the end .. The story is never enriched more, the 'reality' stays shrouded behind a semi-transparent curtain .. You know it's there, you know its shape, but you have to wait painfully for 100 minutes, to grab it ..

Secondly, the characters are just plain stupid .. You will scream "Why the hell are they doing that, if they do that way, everything will be just fine" .. You will not understand where the dialog will lead to in most cases, and things just happen, making you wonder when the decision or argument took place .. One minute, a character starts yelling "Say It, Say It!" .. What the hell ?? .. You cannot fell the enthusiasm of his .. Actually, the cast is really good, but the characters are dull and their interaction is really incoherent in this movie ..

And, yes .. The effects were far from good, even pitiful .. But I think, this is a minor problem ..

The only thing that kept me watch till the end was the overall plot (idea) in the movie .. And here is my advise .. Read the plot .. Watch the Sand-Wind-Creature scene .. Listen to the dialog in the last few minutes .. And that's the movie .. The rest deserves to be in the trashcan .. Spend the 100 minutes of your life with something else .. I think I was being too generous with my rating of 6 ..

Waiting... (I) (2005)

A variation of 'Clerks' set at a diner, with more vulgar and disturbing tone

[6/10 · 13 June 2006]

The movie covers a day of events at a diner, seen from the viewpoints of the staff .. The duration does not make the movie uneventful and boring .. In tradition of the 'Clerks', the scenario has its turns and richness .. We see the complaints of the staff regarding the customers, whether they are sound or not, and their 'retaliation'; their problems with the real life and other staff working at the restaurant and relationships among them ..

The characters generally seem 1-Dimensional with no development, given the 1-day segment .. But still we witness problems being solved, new ones arising, and decisions made .. Monty seems cool and self-sufficient in the beginning but we will see he is not, and Dean seems indecisive at first but we will see he only needs some stimuli to decide .. Raddimus is the richest character in the movie, Bishop is the bonus with the 'advisor' role .. The other just add 'spice over the food' ..

The movies does not make you laugh hard but brings many smiles on your faces .. And also some horrified expressions, while you watch the kitchen staff prepare the dishes .. My favorite quote from the movie is "... never f*ck with people who handle your food" .. Seeing the staff paying no attention at all on food-hygiene, on the contrary their ways of 'pre-processing' the food with most disgusting ways, I found myself thinking twice about choosing where to eat out ..

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)

Don't expect too much, and you'll enjoy a great movie ..

[8/10 · 12 June 2006]

Following the tradition of his other movies, Shane Black once more took a large bowl, threw a little thriller, some action, large amount of witty dialog and jokes, and some spicy mystery, and than mixed all the contents and poured the result to the theater .. I liked the movie, I admit .. The movie has everything and not too much of something with a perfect mix .. It is a movie for pure enjoyment .. Not an absolute-comedy with low intelligence, not a pure-action where your head will ache from all the CGI effects, nor a pure crime-conspiracy-mystery where you will think and think and think and sometimes have to watch the movie a second time to grasp the story .. A perfect blend .. But .. :) .. My mistake was that I read too much reviews and comments before I had a chance to watch the movie myself .. In every scene I expected something bigger, funnier, more intelligent, etc. .. During the view I always compared it with Shane's previous movies and that diminished my enjoyment a little till the end .. It is a great movie on its own right, but still I think I liked Last Boy Scout or Lethal Weapon series more than KK,BB (I was younger back than, that may be the reason) .. And there is also one think that bugged me .. It is OK to let a 'voice' to tell the story in certain scenes, his thoughts, his motivation (generally the lead hero) .. But in some scenes, Shane took that idea to the extreme and let the actors really talk to the viewer, let impossible events to happen .. He just tried to remind the user that, that's a movie, and these are actors, and nothing is real here .. Why ?? .. Why did he do that ?? .. I know it is a movie, there is no need for him to remind me, why the whole distraction ?? .. It was just not for my taste and ruined the experience further .. A great movie but my rating is 8, -1 as it failed to answer my expectations, and another -1 for unnecessary movie-viewer interactions ..

Snow Dogs (2002)

Sunday Morning Movie with forgettable characters and story, but wonderful mountain scenes and charming dogs

[3/10 · 7 June 2006]

I have never been a fan of Cuba Gooding Jr., and never will be .. His facial expressions just does not let him be taken seriously, in my opinion .. You may think that, that trait would make him a good cast for the lead role, but his character is just too silly and clumsy that you will never understand how he is the successful and rich dentist in the movie .. He looks and acts like a 12 year old spoiled child, with an even 'smaller' mind age .. The movie feels like a fairy tale, where the scenario can possibly be overlooked by kids, but not by adults .. The story had great potential of being a wonderful family movie .. But both the actors and director and other stuff just does not seem to care thinking about how to formulate the scenes in an intelligent way to make it an all-ages movie .. They just choose the easy way with unimaginative slap-stick jokes, which you see coming from miles away .. No big surprises nor small witty touches in the dialog that would appeal the viewer, but a stereotype ending where the-guy-who-comes-from-the-city and does-not-know-a-single-thing-about-huskies saves the day .. I found the whole idea boring .. The dogs were charming, the small number of mountains scenes were beautiful .. But the whole experience is just forgettable, and probably you will regret the time you spend for it ..

On the other hand .. If you want to show your kids a movie they can enjoy, this IS the movie .. No deep plot, nice doggies, a hero guy, and funny (!?) jokes .. For the adults, I recommend something else, several other Disney movies but not this one .. Rating: 8/10 for kids (some intelligent kids may find it boring :), 2/10 for adults (for brief glimpses of snow covered mountains and the dogs) ..

Mr. Vampire (1985)

A satisfying movie of comedy-horror genre ..

[9/10 · 6 June 2006]

This movie has found its way into my collection, purely by accident, and stayed there for quite a long while till I finally found the chance to watch it .. The plot should be evident by now: the movie is basically about a 'master' specialized in dealing everything super natural and his two 'apprentices', tying to get rid of a powerful vampire .. There is also a nice sub-plot as a bonus, featuring a female ghost seducing its victims .. The movie is satisfying from the first moment till the last, never dragging too much in a certain scene, letting you watch the whole experience in awe .. The master is powerful and knowledgeable, the apprentices seem dumb nevertheless efficient in their work (with minor 'clumsiness/laziness' factor causing most of the accidents filling the whole movie) .. The support characters do their job well adding to the richness - they are mostly stereotypes but good ones at that .. The jokes were amusing and imaginative although most of them are slap-stick .. I can't comment on the fight scenes in particular (never been a fan but never been a hater) but I found them mostly intense with clever choreography .. The visual effects were not great but never failed to satisfy the viewer .. As a summary, I found this movie in the same league with A Chinese Ghost Story series, and to be honest enjoyed it more than that trilogy .. Also enjoyed it more than any of the Jackie Chan movies :) ..