The Prince

Bruce Willis and John Cusack in a straight to video thriller? Yes, please.

When Paul's (Jason Patric) daughter, Beth, disappears from her college life, Paul begins an independent investigation. While searching for Beth, Paul meets Angela who knows just enough information to become Paul's sidekick while continuing his search. Partnering up, Paul and Angela make their way to New Orleans where it appears that Beth has fallen under the wing of various drug dealers.

                                               "I'm just your average blue-collar, hard-working, lovable dad who has
                                                               a cache full of weapons, marksman-like aim and tactical gear that will
                                                               make the ATF take notice."

Paul knows being in New Orleans is dangerous as a man from his past, Omar, awaits Paul's return to avenge a tragedy in Omar's life. Not to be deterred, Paul teams up with Sam, (John Cusack) a contact from his past to help protect Angela, but to also assist in helping locate Beth. All these cliched plot points eventually meet up and become one predictable cliche-filled movie.

Also, 50 Cent shows up playing a character named: The Pharmacy.

                                          50 Cent after reading the script for 'The Prince'.

Opening with a redundant and unnecessary flashback, the film never improves. Jason Patric's Paul starts out as a blue-collar mechanic, but is more than he appears. The script by Andre Fabrizio and Jeremy Passmore never makes an attempt to elevate this standard crime film above mediocre. The Prince is filled with mediocre as the writers, director and actors seem uninterested and looking forward to cashing their paychecks.

Jason Patric stars and has the burden of having to carry the whole film on his shoulders. The weight crumbles under his attempt to pull the film through. Never showing much interest or threatening menace, Paul comes off more as just a grunting, angry father who just so happens to fire guns and is lucky to be missed by every bad guy and henchman trying to kill him.

                                          A behind the scenes shot of John Cusack being informed that unlimited whisky
                                                        was not in his movie contract.

Coming off even worse is John Cusack as Sam. Looking like the crew just woke John Cusack up, all of Sam's brief screen time takes place at the same hotel with Sam either holding booze or a cigar in hand. Which I guess explains why John Cusack took the role. Free suite at a hotel with unlimited booze and cigars and I don't even have to try? Sign me up! - John Cusack.

The Prince is not the worst film ever made, but is so forgettable and offers the viewer nothing new. So, why bother watching when no one involved in the film bothered to try.

                                          "Straight-to-video or not, my fee is still a million dollars a day. $1.5 million
                                                        with the goatee." - Bruce Willis

3.0/10

A Good Day To Die Hard

Oh, John McClane. Where have you gone? 25 years after the original classic, nothing recognizable remains from the once classic action film series.

Budget restraints and a sense of greed permeate the latest entry into the Die Hard franchise as John McClane leaves American soil and must stop Russian terrorists. What is this, 1986? Stock Russian bad guy Viktor plans on silencing: whistle blower Yuri before a trial can happen that implicates Viktor as an evil, uber bad guy. CIA Agent Jack McClane, (Jai Courtney) through circumstances ends up with Yuri and tries to protect him. Once an attempt on Yuri's life has been put into motion, Jack and Yuri go on the run long enough for Yuri to provide evidence to Jack and the CIA Department.

Where does John McClane (Bruce Willis) fit into this? Not well, actually. John goes on "vacation" to Russia to help Jack out. For the main portion of the film, John really has no idea what is going on and plays second fiddle in the plot to Jack and Yuri. Most of the time, John fumbles around, surviving death-defying stunt after death-defying stunt with very little recourse of pain in this film. I understand that John has been here before, but any sense of logic, even the smallest sense, would have been welcome into this film.

Logic. That's a word that really should have been provided to writer, Skip Woods and director, John Moore. The action in the film is overblown, the stunts ridiculous and the acting very forced. One-liners come fast and furious from John, though none really have any staying power. Even Live Free or Die Hard had "I was out of bullets."

Nothing about this film is memorable except for the bad guys. Their plan: which includes harvesting weapons-grade uranium from Chernobyl (again, what is this, 1986?). Along with that, this is the first film in the Dir Hard franchise where the bad guys really don't even get their evil plan going. According to the script, they begin the motions of their nefarious plan, but then John and Jack interfere and the climax begins here. These are the most inept and least dangerous bad guys in the Die Hard franchise by far. And this includes Timothy Olyphant.

I really didn't like this film, which suffers from sub-par directing and a horrendous script. This franchise died in 1995 and unfortunately, the international market will make sure the franchise keeps ticking. Plus, who'd have thought that John McClane could read Russian? And I get it, Bruce, you're on vacation.

This film should have Died Hard.

2.7/10

Looper

The year of Joseph Gordon-Levitt rolls on with Looper.

Taking place in 2044, Gordon-Levitt plays Joe Simmons, a Looper whose job is to kill agents that are sent back in time (from 2074) by the mafia. Once killed, Joe receives a payout for his job and disposes of the body. Joe has been stockpiling his payouts, as a precaution for an inevitable fate.

In 2074, the older version of Joe (Bruce Willis) travels back to 2044 with a plan of his own. He escapes from Young Joe and continues on with his agenda. As Young Joe has let his older self escape, he needs to make amends with his boss, Abe, (Jeff Daniels) and kill his older self.

Once the plot has kicked in, the dystopian version of Kansas City eventually is transitioned to a farmhouse where Sara (Emily Blunt) and Cid (Pierce Gagnon) live. Old Joe and Young Joe have reasons to be here, and Sara and Cid are caught in the middle of a situation that they know nothing about...yet.

Rian Johnson wrote and directed this sci-fi/thriller which blends full-fledged action along with a smart script. With all the details regarding the time travel aspect along with multiple on-going storylines, this script really is able to balance out story with action in a fluid manner where the film does not suffer.

What threw me for a loop (I guess, pun intended) was that most of what is shown in the commercials and the trailers happens in the first half of the film. The sequences involving a dystopian city and showcasing what the future looks like are all crammed into the first half of the film, along with a good amount of action sequences. Once the plot moves to the farmhouse, the storyline slows down to explain what is going on and why we are here. I was actually surprised how much of the film is spent at the farmhouse and how much the story slowed down, and not in a bad way.

Regarding the performances, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and his prosthetic makeup do a pretty good job at creating a character and resembling Bruce Willis. Speaking of Bruno, he shows up and actually does some decent acting for once, but I didn't feel fully invested into his plot. Not to say Old Joe's story is bad, Bruce Willis just did not make me feel as invested into what he wanted.

Jeff Daniels stood out to me as Young Joe's boss, Abe. Jeff Daniels has a likability to him which he uses well in this film. Abe gets along with Young Joe, but still works for the mafia. If what he needs is not given, that nice guy demeanor disappears and out comes a violent mob associate. A small role, but Jeff Daniels gives it his all.

3 sequences stood out for me in this film. The first involves the transition of Joseph Gordon-Levitt into Bruce Willis, or as my dear friend Karina calls it: "Death of Bruce's Hair". The next one is a great sequence showcasing the effects that the mafia torturing someone can have on their future self. The last one occurs near the end of the film where someone reveals a hidden secret and a character feels the full effects of it.

As stated, this is a smart action film that really should be seen. Joseph Gordon-Levitt has gone 2 for 3 so far this year. Shocking that his one miss was a David Koepp film. Rian Johnson is no David Koepp and, for the film Looper, that is a good thing.

8.0/10

The Cold Light of Day

The Cold Light of Day... or as I like to call it, how Bruce Willis got a free vacation to Spain.

Will Shaw (Henry Cavill) arrives in Spain, distracted by his small business in financial trouble (which never materializes into a plot point), to meet with his family for a vacation. Will and his father Martin (Bruce Willis) do not always see eye to eye and when a small accident on Martin's boat happens, Will goes to town for medicine. Upon returning, Will finds the boat abandoned and in disarray.

Back on land, Will speaks with the local police department. The police officers go to the boat where Will meets with a man who knows what happened to Will's family and is willing to show him. Will escapes and in the process meets up with Martin.

Martin informs Will that he has been hiding his true work from Will, that he is a CIA agent (shocking, I know). Martin spits out enough plot; the people who took his family are after a briefcase that Martin took and gave to his superiors, before meeting with villain partner, Jean (Sigourney Weaver). As soon as they end their conversation, Martin exits stage left and Will goes on the run with the brief knowledge that Martin dispensed.

Along the way, Will teams up with a local, Lucia (Veronica Echegui) who holds a not too surprising secret. They are chased all throughout Madrid by various bad guys including Jean's number 1 henchman, Gorman (Joseph Mawle), before the inevitable climax where Will and Jean must face off.

I was on board with this film for about the first half hour or so. I was not watching a film that was re-inventing the wheel, but I didn't hate myself for watching it. As the second half of the film kicked in, though, the plot becomes overly complicated with various needless bad guys. This could have been a standard on the run-type film, but then with a gang of Mossad agents join the fray and the plot gets very murky. After a while, my interest in this film waned and I really didn't care anymore about the briefcase (or MacGuffin, as my dear friend Karina perfectly called it) or what happened to Will's family.

Besides the overly-complicated plot, the biggest issue with this film lies within the acting. Henry Cavill might be a star in the making with the Superman reboot scheduled to launch next year, but his performance in this film is pretty laughable. One scene in particular that made me laugh involved Will being on a bus and getting a phone call. His performance in this supposed emotion-filled scene was very wooden and I ended up laughing. Besides his lack of conveying a proper level of emotion, Henry Cavill never really invests himself into the character, except when he has to be shirtless. Sorry, but he is supposed to be the son of Bruce Willis, and when I see the son of Bruce Willis, I expect someone who can handle themselves somewhat more competently.

Speaking of Bruce Willis, he has no more than an extended cameo. As I said in the beginning, I felt Bruce Willis took this film to hang out in Spain for about a week. Bruce Willis shows up, says his lines of exposition and leaves. Beyond that, he is really there to have his face and name slapped onto the poster and trailer to help sell extra movie tickets. And judging by the box office, that didn't help much.

The other big name in the film is Sigourney Weaver. She doesn't try to hide that she is evil and just chews up her scenery. Sigourney Weaver's Jean just goes through the motions as a government agent doing all she can to "protect America" from terrorists. Sigourney Weaver sits on the other side of the fence as her performance goes over the top without any rhyme or reason as she spouts out one-liners during gunfights and  casually strolls through gunfights as if knowing she wont get hurt. Again, I think she just wanted to hang out in Spain for a while.

The Cold Light of Day is directed by Mabrouk El Mechri who directed the, much better than it should have been, JCVD. In JCVD that film had style with good performances and a solid script. Unfortunately all of those aspects are missing from this film. With the exception of some nice panoramic views of Madrid, there is nothing that El Mechri brought to this film worth seeing.

As an overall experience, this is a really bad film. The stars appeared to have taken this for a paycheck and/or a nice trip to Spain. With the talent involved, this should have been better, but from the acting to writing and to directing, this was a total losing effort. And everyone was on the same page with making this a bad film.

And what was the point of Colm Meaney?

2.5/10

The List: 5 Films That Earned Their Twist Ending

It is time to delve back into another list concocted by myself. As usual, these are my opinions and if you feel different, please go ahead and list them below.

With that out of the way, let's begin this list. This is a list of 5 films that I feel earned their twist ending the most. This is not my personal Top 5 films that earned their twist ending, but more of 5 films that really did a good job of providing a film with a twist ending that you do not feel cheated with. So without further adieu, I present my list of 5 films that I feel earned their twist ending.

Obviously, while talking endings to films, spoilers will be had. You've been warned.


5. The Usual Suspects, 1995

Bryan Singer's 1995 crime drama about 5 criminals brought together to do a job for a shadowy figure named Keyser Soze. Written by Christopher McQuarrie, (who won the Oscar for this film) the film is told in flashback by a survivor, Verbal Kint, (Kevin Spacey, who won an Oscar for his role) of a massacre on a boat. As the story unfolds, Customs Agent Dave Kujan (Chazz Palminteri) begins to question the validity of Verbal's story and believes that something more is going on.

I know most people list this as either one of the best twists ever or one of the worst twists ever. I can see both sides to this argument, but I feel the twist is earned. The audience views the story through Kujan's eyes as he is told the story by Verbal. So even though Kujan doubts certain aspects of the story, he still sees the picture that Verbal is painting for him.

When the twist does happen, Verbal actually is Keyser Soze, it is realized by Kujan after he has had time to assess the story by Verbal. Unfortunately for Kujan, his realization happens too late and Verbal/Soze is able to elude capture and return to being a spook story criminals tell their kids. This twist is earned as Verbal toys with Kujan by giving him clues throughout the story, but Kujan is too blinded by his determination to capture Keaton, (Gabriel Byrne) that he does not realize the truth until it is too late.


FRAILTY, 2002

Fenton Mieks (Matthew McConaughey) walks into the FBI office in Dallas, Texas and speaks with FBI Agent Wesley Doyle (Powers Boothe) about his brother being a serial killer known as the God's Hands Killer. Agent Doyle is at first skeptical about Fenton's accusations, until he tells the story of his childhood with his brother Adam and their Dad (Bill Paxton).

As the story unfolds, Dad believes to have been visited by an angel and tasked with destroying demons on a list given to him. Dad wholeheartedly believes the story and begins to murder people who he thinks are demons with the help of his sons. Adam believes Dad, but Fenton believes Dad to be crazy for what he is doing. As the story progresses, Fenton becomes at odds with Adam and Dad until Fenton is forced to kill Dad in an effort to stop what he believes is madness.

Back in the present day, "Fenton" reveals himself to be Adam and has lured Agent Doyle out to the local rose garden. "Fenton" touches Agent Doyle who is revealed to have killed his own mother. "Fenton" destroys the demon and continues the angel's work.

There are multiple twists in this film. First, "Fenton" has to pretend to be the other brother to lure Agent Doyle out to the rose garden to be destroyed. Alongside that, after that twist is revealed, what I feel is the major twist kicks in. "Fenton" and Dad really were visited by an angel and can actually see who are good men and who are demons. This, like The Usual Suspects, relies on an unreliable narrator and flashbacks to conceal the twists the films have in store. This is exactly like the The Usual Suspects twist as we are in Doyle's shoes as the story is told to us. Unfortunately this film seems to have fallen by the wayside, but is truly a well made film and worth a look.


3. 12 Monkeys, 1995

Terry Gilliam's 1995 sci-fi thriller is one of the best time travel films of all time. Bruce Willis plays James Cole, a volunteer from the future who is sent to the present (1996) to gather information regarding a global virus that has been released. During his time in the "present" he tries to obtain help from Doctor Kathryn Railly (Madeleine Stowe) and mental patient Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt).

Probably a more subtle twist than a lot of films out there, the climax of the film takes place in an airport. James and Kathryn locate the person suspected of releasing the virus. As they attempt to stop the suspect, James is shot and killed while the suspect boards the plane to begin the release of the virus. As the suspect sits down for the flight, though, an astrophysicist from James' present sits next to him, claiming to be in insurance. The sad twist for James is that he is stuck in a loop where he dies while trying to stop the viral outbreak, but he did succeed in his mission for his present to identify the origins of the virus to help find a cure and make the Earth inhabitable once again in James' present.


2. The Shawshank Redemption, 1994

Forget about the twist ending, this is just an amazing film on its own merit. As this article is about twist endings, though, lets get to that. Frank Darabont adapted Stephen King's story into an Oscar nominated film about two prisoners: Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) and Ellis "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman) who bond and become close friends over almost two decades in prison together.

The twist of this film comes from the point of view. Us, the audience, observe the film through Morgan Freeman's eyes. He is already in prison when Andy is brought in for the murder of his wife and her lover. The two bond as the years pass, but near the end of their time together, Red becomes worried about Andy's mental stability; until one day it is revealed that Andy escaped Shawshank Prison. Once Andy escaped, we are shown that almost from Day One, Andy had been plotting an escape and are shown details of how he escaped. Even though it is somewhat of a cheat by not being with Andy at all, you are so emotionally wrapped up in the story that even when it is revealed that Andy has escaped, you are just happy to see that Andy was able to free himself and you, along with Red feel the joy that Andy felt.


1. Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 1978

Philip Kaufman provides what I feel to be one of the most earned twist endings in film. This version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a remake of the '56 'Invasion' and follows a small group of residents from San Francisco led by Donald Sutherland's Matthew Bennell who uncover that aliens are replacing humans who identical pod people, sans emotion. They try to stop the pod people, even as the number of humans is dwindling down fast.

Matthew and the remaining survivors make their way to the facility where the pods are being grown in an attempt to destroy the pods. Matthew is successful as the pod people begin to descend on Matthew's location. We then cut to daytime where Matthew appears to be blending in with the remaining pod people by showing a lack of emotion. In the street, he spots Nancy, (Veronica Cartwright) who had been separated while trying to flee the pod people. She is happy to see Matthew, but Matthew points his finger and emits a screeching sound to alert the pod people Nancy's location and reveals that Matthew has been taken over.

This is one of my favorite twist endings of all time. You are on this journey with Matthew to stop the pod people invasion and it is a bleak and sad ending to see that our heroes lose. This feels like a true ending though as the pod people had been, and still continue to take over the humans. It is an iconic and what I feel is a well-deserved ending.

Again, these aren't the best twist endings ever, some that I just feel are well deserved and justified. I know there are plenty of others including: The Sixth Sense, Citizen Kane, Primal Fear, Fight Club, Saw, etc. If you got anymore, please feel free to list them.

The List: 5 90's Films That Feel Like An 80's Film

This will be my first list created on this blog, and let me apologize ahead of time. These are obviously just my opinions, and if you do not agree with them, them please feel free to reply back.

Now with that out of the way, I present my opinion of 5 action films from the 90's that resemble action films from the 80's.

5. Under Siege (1992)

Directed By: Andrew Davis
Written By: J.F. Lawton
Starring: Steven Seagal, Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Busey, Erika Eleniak

Steven Seagal stars as Casey Ryback, a no-nonsense cook aboard the USS Missouri during its final mission. As he is no-nonsense, Casey has no friends aboard the ship, which suits him just fine. As luck would have it, Casey also is a master martial artist which comes in handy when terrorists take control of the ship, led by the always entertaining Tommy Lee Jones. Casey escapes the clutches of the bad guys, teams up with an unwitting partner (Erika Eleniak) and tries to save the day.

Under Siege takes the formula started by 80's king: Die Hard. You have one guy taking on a bunch of terrorists in a remote location and occasionally helped by a partner. The difference with Casey Ryback and John McClane from Die Hard is that Casey is a hand-to-hand/weapons specialist. Obviously, knowing that Casey is amazing in all ways considered amazing, that removes most of the tension that this film tries to create.

The main character is very different compared to John McClane, but the non-stop action and decent use of humor give this the feel of an 80's action film. Under Siege does feel more slick than most 80's fare, but the humor, numerous random henchmen and a sense of fun make this a worthy consideration.

4. Cliffhanger (1993)

Directed By: Renny Harlin
Written By: John Long, Michael France, Sylvester Stallone
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Michael Rooker, Janine Turner, John Lithgow

Possibly the biggest budgeted film on this list.

Sylvester Stallone stars as Gabe Walker, a rescue ranger who, after losing the life of a fellow mountain climber, attempts to return to his former life. The woman in Gabe's life, Jessie, (Janine Turner) along with his former best friend and mountain climber, Hal, (Michael Rooker) want nothing to do with him.

Meanwhile, bad guy Eric Qualen (John Lithgow sporting some kind of European accent?) and his team of bad guys attempt to hijack $100 million dollars from a United States Treasury plane. The plan does not go according to plan and the suitcases filled with the money fall into the mountains below. Eric sends out a phony distress call, which is picked up by Gabe, Hal and Jessie for support in locating the briefcases.

Cliffhanger, in the simplest words, is a pure summer film.You had Sylvester Stallone, who at the time, was one of the biggest actors in Hollywood. You have a heist film and you have a film just filled to the brim with action and stunts. Sylvester Stallone, for a good portion of the film is by himself when battling John Lithgow and his gang of baddies, providing a bit of a Die Hard-feel. Beyond that, the action is big and in your face while the feel of the film is meant to just be fun. And in my opinion, Cliffhanger succeeds in a major way.

3. Universal Soldier (1992)

Directed By: Roland Emmerich
Written By: Richard Rothstein, Christopher Leitch, Dean Devlin
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Ally Walker, Jerry Orbach

Sci/Fi and action meet in a film written and directed by the team that gave us such classics as Independence Day, the 1998 Godzilla remake and Stargate. This early film from Roland Emmerich finds military soldiers Luc Devereaux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) and Andrew Scott (Dolph Lundgren) at odds with each other during the Vietnam War. As their differences get in their way, both men are killed in action.

Flash forward to 1992 and a secret organization has reanimated the dead soldiers plus a host more and are now called UniSols. Both, Devereaux and Scott begin to regain their memory of what happened and continue onward with their lives within the UniSol program. Scott begins to return to his insane personality and Devereaux must stop him with the help of a plucky news reporter (Ally Walker).

Before Roland Emmerich found multiple ways to destroy the world, he began with this classic and a much lower budget. As both stars have now appeared in The Expendables 2, you can imagine that acting isn't their strong suit. Jean-Claude Van Damme is fine as the hero, but Dolph Lundgren is highly enjoyable as the crazy Scott. Beyond that, you get some moderate action scenes and good hand to hand combat. Again, the hero is teamed up with a civilian who finds herself in the midst of the action. A solid, if unspectacular film.

2. The Last Boy Scout (1991)

Directed By: Tony Scott
Written By: Shane Black
Starring: Bruce Willis, Damon Wayans, Noble Willingham, Halle Berry

What type of list would this be without ol' Bruno making an appearance? With this film we get what was at the time, the most expensive screenplay sold. Was it worth it? Well, it fits on this list so that answer of course is no. Instead what we get is one of the stupidest, yet fun, films of the last 30 years.

Directed by the late Tony Scott, we meet Joe Hallenbeck (Bruce Willis) who is assigned to protect stripper, Cory (Halle Berry). Cory's boyfriend Jimmy (Damon Wayans) does not get along with Joe. Before long, Cory is murdered and Joe and Jimmy team up to solve the murder with predictable humor and action-packed results.

As this is written by Shane Black, a film like this fits perfectly into his mold. You get one-dimensional characters, big action and lame one-liners. This is a love or hate movie, but those who are able to know that this movie is stupid yet able to turn their brain off will have a fun time. I mean, just look at the poster. There is a paragraph-long tagline and a huge explosion behind the main characters. That's really all you need to know about The Last Boy Scout.

1. Sudden Death

Directed By: Peter Hyams
Written By: Gene Quintano
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Powers Boothe, Dorian Harewood, Raymond J. Barry

Jean-Claude Van Damme returns to the list in what I consider the perfect 80's movie made in the 90's.

JCVD stars as Darren McCord, a former firefighter turned fire marshal for the Pittsburgh Civic Arena. He is divorced and having trouble communicating with his ex-wife or 2 children. He gets tickets to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals and takes his kids with him. As so happens, the Vice President of the United States (Raymond J. Barry) is also attending the game. And on top of that, former government agent Joshua Foss (Powers Boothe) and his goons have planted bombs throughout the arena and taken the Vice President and all in the executives in the luxury suite hostage. With time ticking away and his daughter being kidnapped, Darren has to think and react fast to save the day.

Yes, that is all you need to know about this film. JCVD has fun with the role, making one-liners and homemade weapons during the film while Powers Boothe has a ball chewing up the scenery as the flamboyant bad guy. What really makes this film feel like an 80's movie is that everyone really tries and believes in this film without forcing any of the film upon the audience. The script, dumb as it is, has a basic setup with your basic characters, but executes all the beats needed for this type of film perfectly. This is a fun film, that doesn't need to wink at you and tell you to have fun. It just is.

One final thing that makes this movie stand out: This was filmed during the 1994-1995 NHL lockout. As all the NHL players were not allowed to play hockey, these players were available and add and authenticity of the hockey action seen throughout the film. As a fan of hockey, this added an extra layer of love I have towards this film. This is a highly recommended film for anyone who enjoys fun action films. A perfect representation of an 80's film made in the 90's.


Thank you for reading. I understand my opinion may not match other people's opinions about this topic. This is an opinion piece and if you have any suggestions, feel free to post them.