The Expendables 3 (2014)

If you don't want to read it all:
Score: 7/10
Verdict: It's an action parody and knows it. If you like the first two, you will like this one as well. Otherwise, stay away

 
I loved the first two Expendables. They were made with the clear intent of making a joke of an action movie with exaggerated action sequences and destruction. With no "good guys" getting injured at all. A 6 max squad would go into a heavily fortified enemy base, kill two hundred armed-to-teeth mercenaries and soldiers, destroy a few tanks and machine gun nests and come out unharmed. And they own an airplane too! The Expendables 3 is no different, although it lacks Chuck Norris this time. No Chuck Norris!

The story of the movie is absolutely unimportant. They could be rescuing an endangered elephant from an Indian mobster, tracking down the arms dealer or hunting a traitor agent. It doesn't matter at all. The Expendables is all about seeing the familiar actors from (mostly) action movies all grouped together in a bloody action show for the masses. This time, the new faces are Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, Antonio Banderas and Wesley Snipes. No Chuck Norris. No Chuck, but a few less famous, mostly MMA fighters/actors who are supposed to bring in some fresh blood, technology and, well, younger audience I guess. The action is so absurd that even the main bad guy says at some point: "How hard can it be to kill ten men?  Do you think maybe you could just wound a couple?" Love it!

To fully enjoy this movie, you will need to put your brain to sleep, completely forget about reality (or realism, whichever), sit back, relax and have fun. I know I did! Even without Chuck Norris.

Gone Girl (2014)

If you don't want to read it all:
Score: 9/10
Verdict: If I tell you anything at all I will spoil the pleasure of watching this great movie!

 
Seriously, almost anything I may say about Gone Girl will be a spoiler so... this will be REALLY short because I want to keep it spoiler-free.

Gone Girl is a... mystery drama. A man comes home and finds out his wife is missing. There are signs of struggle so he suspects kidnapping and calls the police. And that's where the mystery begins.

What I REALLY like about Gone Girl is the lack of classic cliches present in just about every movie out there. Again, I can't tell you much because it will spoil everything :)

Ben Affleck is seriously awesome in this one, it's definitely one of his best roles ever (right on time, Batman!). He is quite convincing in his role of a lost husband, trying to balance his true feelings with what the public expects of him. Oh, and dealing with a teenage mistress. And his missing wife's parents. And the whole America who happens to be following the case because the missing woman is a celebrity. Two thumbs up for Affleck!

That's all I can write and keep it, yes, spoiler-free. Spoiler free! 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)

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Score: 7/10
Verdict: A truly great kids' movie! But remember, it is KIDS' MOVIE!


I've been a fan since... well, forever. Actually since 1989 or so when they were airing in my country. I loved the four reptiles from the very first episode and I couldn't wait for next Sunday and the newest episode. I was 9 years old back then and it was easy to impress me, but these guys were really special. And they still are, even though the newest cartoons that my son watches now (and loves!) are a bit different (I often watch them with him and I love every minute of it). Love, love, love. I used that word a lot in just a few sentences, but that is what this really is - I love these guys!

Over the past few months I've heard a lot of bad talk about this movie. Michael Bay this, Michael Bay that, he ruined everyone's favorite childhood heroes, blah blah blah. So I was quite reserved when I pressed PLAY on my remote. I really didn't expect much, but I just had to see Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael again. And I loved it! Again! I don't care what the critics are saying, I loved the movie! Yes, the story is shallow (it's a KIDS' movie), their origination story is laughable and 100% of action sequences are impossible (come on, mutant turtles and rats... why mention the impossible?), but I really enjoyed it. The spirit of the Ninja Turtles is perfectly captured, I enjoyed their conversations and the scene in the elevator is simply perfect. And THAT is what this really is about - fun and joy for the little guys. To "prove" my theory, I let my son watch the movie the day after (my son is nearly 6 years old) and he was delighted. Should I ask him about the shallow story or Megan's bad acting? As if he cares, he loved the turtles! The "test" was also performed on a 9 and 13 year old and they both had the same impression - they are impersonating the scenes from the movie for days. That was more than enough for me to give this one a green rating.

Seriously, people need to stop trying to... understand something that was not meant for them. I see that happening all the time and this movie is the perfect example of it. A person liked Ninja Turtles 25 years ago and now expects a movie aimed at him/her. That is impossible and people should accept it already. 

Megan Fox aka April O'Neil

Now, from an adult perspective. Megan Fox is a horrible actress, but I still want to see her in as many movies as possible. Come on, she needs practice, she needs more roles to get better! :) William Fichtner is a walking spoiler, but in a different way from Sean Bean. There's no way ANYONE believed him to be a good guy, he just cannot be one with that face. Even my son knew he was bad (he asked me if he was Shredder in the very first appearance he had on the screen) and, as I already said, he is not even 6 years old yet! And that name. Eric Sacks. SACKS. Why is that so bad? Pronounce it. Now pronounce it out loud at a Christmas dinner with your parents and grandparents. Then explain it's just a name. That's what I mean. Why would you name someone like that in a kids' movie? What's wrong with... Williams or Hudson or a generic German or Polish last name that is quite popular among the bad guys in Hollywood?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will not win an academy award, but it will put a smile on your little one's face. There's absolutely no reason for you not to enjoy it as well.

Stonehearst Asylum (2014)

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Score: 6/10
Verdict: It's got a good idea, but it fails to surprise after all


Honestly, I never heard of this one being made at all. I decided to watch it just because I saw Kate Beckinsale was in it. Honest! Then I saw some other big European names (namely Ben Kingsley and Michael Caine, who seems to be everywhere lately) and decided to give it a shot. Here are my thoughts (short and mostly spoiler free).

Stonehearst Asylum is based on "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether", a short story written by the magnificent Edgar Allan Poe. The story and the movie share a lot, but they are not the same. If you are familiar with the story you might get the idea about the movie itself, and if you are not... Well, I won't spoil it for you.

It's 1899 and mental illness is being treated in monstrous ways. The movie begins with the scene at Oxford university where a local professor demonstrates madness on a sedated woman in front of senior students. It continues with a young doctor arriving at the Asylum a few days before the new year. He meets with the doctors and staff at the asylum and asks for permission to study the patients at their hospital. He also finds their methods a bit... unusual, but the real "threat" uncovers itself a little bit later.

I can't shake off the feeling that this movie is about 25-30 years too late. If it was made in the late 80's it would have been an instant classic (with a few modifications, of course), but it's just plain average in this era. The story IS good (it's made after a Poe's story after all), but it seems to me as if it was a bit rushed. There was no time to develop a connection with the main character(s) before the story unveiled itself and started a sprint towards the end. And that is kind of weird because the movie takes 110 minutes. As a result, you are left emotionless after the end credits, even though the producers had something else in mind. At least I hope they did - it would prove that they actually cared, but simply failed to create what they initially wanted to.

I would have given it 5 out of 10, but Kate is here so that's a plus one from me. And Kingsley had a brilliant performance, as always. Six it is.

Interstellar (2014)

If you don't want to read it all:
Score: 9/10
Verdict: An epic tale of survival, an instant classic. You cannot afford not to watch this movie

 
A spoiler-free look at the latest blockbuster.

Do you remember my Gravity review? In it, I said I couldn't understand all the hype that surrounded the film - it's not that it isn't any good, it's just not as good as you might expect it to be. That's not the case with Interstellar - I went to the cinema with sky high expectations and got out very satisfied! It's a well written, well performed and simply beautiful film that deals with some things that... you may want to read about first, in case you aren't familiar with them; namely physics in general, wormholes, black holes, theory of relativity and gravity itself. Did I scare you away? :)

Interstellar tells a story of survival. In the near future, Earth is turning into a desert and all the remaining resources are focused on making food for the survivors. All the resources, including humans. There are no armies, no media, education is minimal and everyone is... trying to farm. But the crops are dying as well and there's less and less of oxygen. And no plan for survival, none at all. Matthew McConaughey plays Coop, an ex-pilot, an engineer and a farmer (what else) who's doing his best to survive with his two children and a father in law. As you can imagine (and since this is not a story of farming in the desert), humans never give up and will try to survive in the universe, so... Well, no spoilers.

Although it's almost 3 hours long, I wanted more of Interstellar by the time the credits started rolling. Talk about relativity, eh? It's fun, it's dramatic, you never knew what may be coming next. I am not an expert on physics (although I am rather well educated in the field) but I couldn't see any major errors with what was presented. I am trying to say that Interstellar is not a fantasy, as I am sure some people would like to describe it as. Most of the phenomenons present in the film are theoretical at this time, but are very accurate with what we currently know about them. And that is awesome! Presenting all this "nerd stuff" to the general public in a form of a blockbuster... well done Mr. Nolan! Of course, some things have to be a bit... adjusted for the purpose of the movie, but hey - it's ok, it's allowed in the film making. Right?

The cast is perfect, with the already mentioned Matthew McConaughey in the main role. Anne Hathaway plays Brand, a female scientist and a daughter of Professor Brand, played by Michael Caine. Matt Damon is Dr. Mann, while John Lithgow plays Coop's father in law. Coop's daughter Murph is played by three different actresses.

The only problem I can think of is... well, to fully understand it, Interstellar should be seen more than once. Definitely more than once. But can you afford to watch a 3 hour long movie twice? Or three times? I'd say it depends on if it deserves to be seen and this one does.

Originally, I wanted to make this review a one-liner, but I got carried away. Still, here's that one line: GO WATCH THIS MOVIE!

The Babadook (2014)

If you don't want to read it all:
Score: 7/10
Verdict: It's got a great story, but is not scary at all


Again, I am aware of the fact: it's really hard to make a good horror movie in the 21st century. It's almost impossible to scare the people nowadays, almost as hard as making them laugh so I really appreciate all who dare to try. So I do my best to watch as many horrors as I can, as a token of appreciation for... trying. I've heard of The Babadook from a trailer I saw on TV, which is a bit weird because I don't remember the last time I saw a horror movie trailer on TV. And I don't really watch nor like trailers in general since they never show the real thing. Then I found out it was funded by a Kickstarter campaign, so I really had to see this one.

So... The Babadook. Mister Babadook. The story is actually really good (if you can connect all the dots and realize what it is really about, which I am not going to say here) and it's a shame the movie itself fails to show its full potential. Even the acting is great, the characters are well portrayed and you can understand them pretty well almost right from the start. It's a story of a single mother and her 6 year old son who has big problems socializing with the world in general. He is obsessed with monsters and sees them everywhere, having a hard time fitting into school and making friends. Because of his constant fear, he is often awake at night and wakes up early in the morning, giving his mother a really hard time because she is constantly tired and lacking sleep. One day he brings a "children's" book called Mister Babadook for her to read for him and the book turns out to be... well, anything but children's. Soon, all he could talk about was Mr. Babadook which makes her try to destroy the book. Try.

Again, the story is REALLY good, but the movie's obvious lack of funds and a definite lack of imagination when it comes to scaring people (after all, this IS a horror movie and as such it MUST have scary scenes) makes it so much less enjoyable than it should be. Another problem with it is a somewhat slow start - it takes almost an hour for anything even remotely scary to happen. But if you don't mind the mild horror elements in it and if you like a good story that makes you think - you will like The Babadook. It seems as if the makers of this motion picture could not decide whether to make it a thriller or a horror, so they ended up somewhere in the middle. And that's the worst thing they could do.

As you can see, I am not even decided if I like The Babadook or not. And it seems like I am repeating myself. Well, watch it yourself and decide for yourself :)

Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

If you don't want to read it all:
Score: 8/10
Verdict: Very entertaining, excellent action movie. Good job Mr. Liman!


I will keep it spoiler-free, no worries. And I am guessing you are already familiar with the main thing about this movie.

In short: Europe (so far it's only Europe) has been invaded by aliens and humans have been on retreat ever since. But some new fighting technologies are helping us fight back and there's an offensive planned to invade France from England (somehow this sounds very familiar, doesn't it?). Major Cage (Tom Cruise) is a media officer who somehow ends up on the battlefield. Since he is not really trained for combat he ends up dead pretty soon... only to end up reliving the past 24 hours all over again. And now, every time he dies he resets to the same point in time but keeps all his memories from what's about to come. Why? Well, that's for you to watch and see.

This "time rewind" is almost exactly the same as in the legendary Groundhog Day, but unlike Bill Murray's character, Tom Cruise MUST DIE to reset the time. That's the only difference that I could think of, the rest is exactly the same. I am not complaining here, oh no. It's just the opposite, I am glad they used that same idea in something completely different.

I really enjoyed Edge of Tomorrow and I didn't get bored at all. The action starts really quick and it doesn't end almost at all until the very end. The repeated scenes are handled really good and you will not be annoyed with them. I think this particular "problem" had to be handled carefully and it was tuned to perfection. Sure, some things are repeating and Major Cage is aware of them all, but they don't happen more than twice and they're quickly fast forwarded. Brilliant!

So I will not bore you with any more details, it's enough to know that this movie is well worth your time. It was the fastest 110 minutes I've spent in years and I promise you will have the same. Enjoy!

Godzilla (2014)

If you don't want to read it all:
Score: 4/10
Verdict: Advertised as a clash between Walter White and the biggest lizard ever. But it's actually about a lizard love couple trying to rule the world...


SPOILER WARNING!
Well, it's not that I always wanted to see Heisenberg fighting Godzilla, but that's kind of what they told us this is about. Or no, it was the trailers that kept showing Bryan Cranston in just about all of them, all the time. In reality, Bryan dies after 30 minutes and his movie son takes over. And the world is not endangered by Godzilla, but two unknown huge... somethings codenamed MUTO (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism). They feed on radiation and like to cuddle in nuclear plants. Lovely creatures. Honest Trailer counted the amount of time that Bryan and Godzilla were on screen. It totaled to 11 minutes and 16 seconds out of 122 minutes.

I learned not to believe blockbuster trailers long ago, but who can resist watching those movies at the end? Sure, you end up watching these movies with low expectations, but somehow they still manage to disappoint us. I am not saying that Godzilla is absolutely awful, but it's quite below average. The story has a lot of holes, the main characters are behaving unnaturally (seriously, if my family was living in a city that is about to be crushed by not one but two and possible even three huge monsters, I would at least try and get them out of there or tell them to get the hell out of there) and more than 80% of it happens at night and/or in foggy weather. I don't like to talk about special effects so much (I consider them a distraction from bad stories... see my point here? :)) so I will just say that they are good, but as stated before - most of them show things (monsters) in darkness or fog.

Sadly, it's just another summer blockbuster that will be quickly forgotten.

A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014)

If you don't want to read it all:
Score: 5/10
Verdict: Sometimes funny, but quite... shallow and quite disappointing


I like what Seth MacFarlane is doing with Family Guy, I adore that show! But when it comes to movies, he seems to... just can't make it right. I remember when Ted was announced. I really wanted to like that one and I did my best not to have too high expectations so I could enjoy Seth's politically incorrect humor in something completely new. But I ended up being bored. Yeah, I laughed a few times, I just can't resist Seth's jokes, but overall it was just below average. I know, making a good comedy in this millennium is an impossible job and I really don't envy those who try, but it should be better than Ted was. Unfortunately, A Million Ways to Die in the West isn't any better.

A girl leaves a guy and now he wants her back. Being someone who just doesn't belong on the frontier doesn't help, so winning her back will take something special. And something special is another girl, a girl who makes his ex-girlfriend totally forgettable. Once he realizes that... things get messy since she's married to one of the most wanted criminals on the wild west.

It is obvious that the actual story is absolutely unimportant and the main focus is on characters and their humor. A lot of it is quite good, I laughed often and enjoyed most of it, but there was a bit too much of toilet humor even for my taste. And believe me, I have a rather high tolerance for just about anything. Another good thing are many cameos (one of them is an instant classic!), but I'll let you see them for yourself.

Acting is fine. Seth was ok, but his face simply does not fit the time and place. I am going to guess it was intentional, to make Albert (Seth's character) seem completely unfit for the frontier. Charlize is awesome, she doesn't even have to act! Giovanni Ribisi, Liam Neeson and especially Sarah Silverman did a good job. Neil Patrick Harris was Barney once again and that was definitely intentional. Even his "challenge accepted" was there!

I know some people who were delighted with Ted and I guess those same people will love A Million Ways to Die in the West. I am not one of those people. For me, this was just one of those movies I will forget rather quickly. But then again there's that wonderful cameo that I will remember for a long time... Tease :)

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

If you don't want to read it all:
Score: 8/10
Verdict: If only all Star Trek movies were as good as this one... The best one in series!


The sixth time's the charm! There have been a few OK Star Trek movies so far, but this one is a real gem! It has everything we loved about this show and they had to wait for Gene Roddenberry to die to do it? Planetary explosions, Klingons, assassinations, conspiracies and space combat. What more would you ask for?

Klingon race is facing extinction as their home planet Qo'noS is about to lose its ozone layer. The reason for that is destruction of planet's moon Praxis caused by overmining. Being the galaxy's good guys, the United Federation of Planets proposes peace with the Klingon empire in order to help them survive. USS Enterprise, Captain Kirk and his crew are asked to escort Klingon Chancellor Gorkon to Earth so he could attend the peace conference. Kirk opposes but is forced to accept the order and soon finds out that he is not the only one who really does not want peace with Klingons...

I really liked The Undiscovered Country and its story, especially when its compared to the other Star Trek movies. It's far from boring and it even has some mystery in it, as Spock tries to uncover the conspiracy that threatens to start a full scale war between the Federation and Klingon Empire. Oh, we even get to meet Worf's grandfather (also played by Michael Dorn) during the trial on Qo'noS.

Keeping it short. This is definitely one of the best Star Trek "episodes" in its long history.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

If you don't want to read it all:
Score: 2/10
Verdict: Skip this one if you can. Seriously, it will give you a headache


Oh God... Where do I begin? Let me just say that I fell asleep TWICE while watching The Final Frontier. You see, I watch movies (and TV shows) at night, usually after 10 PM, after my children are asleep. I really don't like to be interrupted while watching and late night is just perfect. Sometimes I stay awake up until well after midnight and I don't even feel sleepy. But if something is just plain boring, I simply end up waking up next to a turned on TV screen with a blue background.

The Final Frontier.

I know that most Star Trek are just not good enough for most non-fans, but this one is just plain terrible. The whole story and execution, the idea and the conclusion... Everything is just wrong. You have to watch this movie only if you are on a Star Trek marathon as I am, otherwise it's a complete waste of time.

What is it about? A rebel Vulcan (you know, one of those that don't embrace logic but prefer emotions instead) in search of God. He captures a settlement in the neutral zone in order to lure a ship so he could capture it and go into the middle of the universe and meet God. (In Forrest Gump voice): "That's all I have to say about that".

And I am really sorry to say that about a Star Trek movie.

P.S. To clear it up: after falling asleep for the first time, I actually went to bed and continued watching The Final Frontier tomorrow morning. I only had 40 minutes left, but even then I fell asleep again, with about 10 minutes left. I watched the remaining 10 minutes after slapping myself to stay awake. So it took me two nights to see the whole thing.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

If you don't want to read it all:
Score: 7/10
Verdict: The Voyage Home is something very different and it is a lot of fun!


In the last Star Trek review, I said that The Search for Spock is the best Star Trek so far (well, out of 3). That is no longer true a The Voyage Home surpasses it by far. And it's really unique in this whole Star Trek universe as it feels almost like a comedy, more than a sci-fi film.

The story is typical - a huge probe of unknown origin is on course to Earth and is threatening to destroy our dear planet. It is emitting a strange sound and is blocking all communications to and from the planet. Meanwhile, Kirk and his merry men are on their way back home, riding a Klingon Bird of Prey they captured in the previous movie. Typically, they reach Earth right on time to determine the probe's mission - it needs to find out what happened with humpback whales and why are they not responding to hails?! Well, the whales are extinct and they cannot respond so... Spock suggests going back in time to late 20th century in order to capture and transport a few whales and let them communicate with the probe. Fortunately, Bird of Prey is capable of a "slingshot effect" (extremely high warp factor speed towards a massive body such as our Sun) so off they go to 1986.

The whole movie feels really strange, but in a good way. It wasn't boring at all, it features familiar settings since most of it is happening in 1986 New York and gives some new insight on many characters. It was particularly entertaining to see Spock on Earth that is unknown to him and his behavior that scares humans who have no idea about his nature. Not to mention his inability to lie...

Overall, I really liked The Voyage Home despite it's silly idea. Actually, the whale part is okay, it kind of makes you wonder about the whole whale song thing, but the concept of indestructible, incredibly powerful space-something that threatens Earth is kind of annoying. It simply happens to often!

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

If you don't want to read it all:
Score: 7/10
Verdict: Just as good as the first one. Very entertaining... and it has Scarlett Johansson in leather. Again :)


Honestly, I disliked the first Thor movie and was quite disappointed with Iron Man 2, so when Captain America: The First Avenger came out, my expectations were as low as the sea level. We might even be talking about submarine depth here. That may be the reason why I actually enjoyed the movie about the very first avenger and his fight against the evil Hydra and Red Skull. That or the fact that I just love stories that happen during World War II. This would be a good time to say that I loved The Avengers... the scene with Loki and Hulk is absolutely legendary and I re-watch it monthly. "Puny god" hahahahahahaha... seriously, that scene is one of the best in the history of movie making!

Back to the more serious matters. Right. The sequel is, in short, on par with the first film. I liked almost all of it... with the exception of Winter Soldier himself. It seems like they included him just so they could show us once again how Captain America (Steve Rogers) is such a good and emotional guy. That's why they chose him, why remind us over and over again? The story is strong enough even without a character with such a pathetic intent. 

Okay so I don't like the character of Winter Soldier, but the rest is just fine. As you can see from the cover image, Rogers is accompanied by Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Falcon (Anthony Mackie), while Director Fury finally has more than 2 minutes of appearance. Their enemy... I will keep it "secret" just in case you haven't heard the latest news in Marvel universe. Also, it collides with the story of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and forces a new course for the TV show. Check out my review and see how it changed Agents for the best!

So yes, it is good. I really don't want to tell you anything about the story itself because I don't want to spoil any of it. This is one of the best, if not the best movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far. Still, the best scene is still this one:

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)

If you don't want to read it all:
Score: 6/10
Verdict: The best Star Trek movie so far, in my humble opinion


I will try to keep it short: The Search for Spock takes place shorty after the last film. USS Enterprise is back on Earth where it is to be decommissioned. It is 20 years old and it just cannot serve the Starfleet as it once did. Kirk meets Sarek, Spock's father and finds out that Spock's spirit may still be alive. They soon discover that Spock's Katra (call it soul if you want) is in McCoy's mind, but for it to rest in peace (hah!) they also need his body. However, the body was left on the newly terraformed planet Genesis and Starfleet won't allow anyone to get near it since the entire plant is classified. Kirk, according to his rebel nature, steals the damaged Enterprise and heads back toward Genesis. What they do not know is that a rogue Klingon captain Kruge (played by Dr. Emmet Brown... erm, Christopher Lloyd) and his Bird of Prey are investigating Genesis as well.

The previous film proved that nothing is sacred to the producers of Star Trek films. And that is great! First of all, they killed Spock (but are bringing him back) and now it's time to destroy Enterprise itself. I really loved that moment and please don't get me wrong - I am not a sadist, I just like to see the unexpected! Enterprise was destroyed again in the later Star Trek movies and TV shows, but this one was certainly special.

Overall, I liked The Search for Spock, but not enough to be delighted by it. It was great to see Klingons in action again as well as the mentioned destruction of everyone's favorite Starfleet vessel. And Kirk's typical reckless yet intelligent behavior that we all loved in the TV show back in sixties.

The "marathon" goes on!

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

If you don't want to read it all:
Score: 5/10
Verdict: Better than the first movie, but still not quite what I expected it to be.


Some say that this is the best Star Trek movie, or at least the one that saved the franchise after the "disaster" that the first movie was. I might agree with the latter, but I hope it's not the best in series or this re-watch of mine is doomed.

I already said that I kinda liked the story (or at least the discovery of what posed the threat to Earth) of the first movie, but it was overly stretched. The Wrath of Khan seems to be the opposite - the story is weaker, but there's enough going on to cover its length. Why is the story weaker? The reason, in my opinion, is Khan himself.

Khan seems to be some kind of a favorite villain to a lot of Trekkies, but he doesn't impress me. He is genetically engineered and is supposed to be superior (both physically and mentally) to other humans, but he somehow manages to get defeated by Kirk... twice. The first time it happened was during the original series, in the very first season. Khan is originally from 20th century: he and his men were in a cryogenic sleep, following an exile from Earth after a war that overthrew them from power. Kirk and Enterprise encountered them in the mentioned episode and after the series of events, Khan and his people were sentenced to yet another exile - this time on planet Ceti Alpha V. In The Wrath of Khan (15 years after the events of the mentioned episode), the crew of USS Reliant beams down to a planet (for which they believed was Ceti Alpha VI) to test a powerful terraforming device called The Genesis. Long story short - Khan takes control of USS Reliant and lures Enterprise and Kirk to the space station Regula I where Genesis is being created.

This is what disappoints me - Khan is supposed to be super intelligent, yet he allowed himself to be defeated by his own thirst for revenge. It's just so... stupid and naive. It was SO obvious that he was about to meet his maker if he was to follow Enterprise into the nebula, but no, he wouldn't use his super intelligent mind to stop himself from doing the stupidest thing ever.

Overall, The Wrath of Khan IS better than The Motion Picture, but it's just extremely naive. The best, or maybe I should say the most shocking moment happens at the very end and increases the movie's value by A LOT, setting in motion a series of events that are about to come in the sequels.

Stay tuned.

Oculus (2013-14)

If you don't want to read it all:
Score: 7/10
Verdict: It really is hard to make a good and memorable horror movie and this one is quite satisfying.

Listen to the dog. Always listen to the dog! Seriously, if you have a dog and it gets hostile towards anything in the world - just listen to the wise animal and stay away from it! They obviously have a superpower to sense evil while humans have their own power... to ignore it and put themselves into grave danger. So just... listen to the dog.

Horror movies are something special. Most of the people actually don't like them in general because they don't like to be scared (I may be wrong though and this might be correct for the country I live in; when I was in United States I found out that scaring little children and horror in general is absolutely normal and even welcome), but those that do are usually BIG fans. I personally like horrors because they are almost always tied to some myths and fantasy and that is something I like by default. In the same time, making a good horror movie is the most futile thing in the movie industry. 50 or 80 years ago it was a piece of cake and people would be scared of just about anything that was not an every day thing, but last 20+ years have been a huge problem. I've seen a total of 4 horrors in last 2 years and this one feels the best, even though it's the worst rated one.

The story follows 21 year old Tim who has just been released from a mental institution. 11 years ago, he and his sister Kaylie survived a bloodshed in their house, a horror that claimed both their parents. They believe it was caused by a demonic entity "living" in an antique mirror that hung on the wall of their father's home office. Anyway, as soon as he leaves the institution, he meets his sister and she asks him to help her prove that it was indeed the mirror that caused all that. She got a hold of the mirror and moved it back to the house (she owns the house now), set up the cameras and is eager to document everything it does. The mirror, of course, has something else on it's "mind".

Even though it starts a bit slow, Oculus is very satisfying psychological thriller. Wait, it's not a horror? Well, some might call it a horror indeed, but I didn't really get scared while watching it. It shifts back and forth between the events that occurred 11 years ago (showing us what really happened back then) and now, with the mirror playing mind tricks on Tim and Kaylie. Oculus does not play the BOO card (accompanied with sudden sound effects) which is a good thing, I really got bored of those. Instead, it frightens you with the mere presence of evil and what it might do next. That is a nice change from today's standards, at least that's how it felt for me.

I mentioned I watched 4 horrors in the past 2 years. The remaining three are Drag Me to Hell (which I found stupid), The Conjuring (it was just so damn loud and overhyped, I didn't really like it. Or maybe I just expected too much) and The Devil (I liked this one!). 

Well that's it, enjoy the movie!

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

If you don't want to read it all:
Score: 4/10
Verdict: It's fine but takes TOO MUCH TIME.


Yeah well... I had a chat with my cousin a few weeks ago and we both realized we don't remember most of the Star Trek movies any more. Such blasphemy for people who call themselves nerds. So I decided to re-watch them all in the upcoming weeks/months, as long as it takes. In correct order of course, since anything else would be illogical. I also want to make it clear: I have seen ALL the movies and ALL the episodes of ALL the Star Trek TV shows!

It's not easy to review a movie that was released 35 years ago, trust me. It is impossible to put yourself in a position of a person going into the cinema back in 1979 and watching a movie that might have been a real wonder of that time. Some things may have been truly magnificent back then, things that seem so normal (or even below average) in a present day. When I first watched Star Trek: The Motion Picture back in late eighties (hey, I was born just a few months after this movie premiered!) it looked great, even when compared to the ongoing The Next Generation. In 2014, it really looks like an old movie and no longer has the benefit of a jaw-dropping looks that it may have had in 1979. Again, I can't really say how this movie may have looked like to the viewers, all I can do is guess. Although... Star Wars was released 2 years before this one and it looks better. But hey, it's Lucas and it really is hard to compete with ol' George.

To the movie itself. It's a story of an unknown and devastating force that is on its way to Earth and USS Enterprise is the only starship that can get to it and investigate before it's too late. Admiral Kirk takes over the control over Enterprise, gathers his old crew and heads to the unknown to save humanity once again. You could say it is a typical story without a lot of imagination, but I liked what they found out once they got to see what was threatening Earth. 

However... ST: The Motion Picture is 130+ minutes long (duration depends on the version you get to see; there seem to be 3 of them and they are 132, 136 and 143 minutes long) and that is just too much. Honestly, it could easily have been a single 45 minutes episode and save a lot of time. There are just too many scenes where we get to see long periods of space, Kirk's travel to Enterprise on a shuttle since transporters are malfunctioning etc. The story IS more or less fine, but it's so stretched it kinda gets watered down. That is my only, but really big complaint on The Motion Picture.

I don't think I ever talked to a Trekkie about this film so I have no idea how they feel about it. Comments would be great so I could hear other opinions of a movie that restarted the whole Star Trek franchise and spawned 10+ movies and 4 TV shows (so far!).

Non-Stop (2014)

If you don't want to read it all:
Score: 6/10
Verdict: It's ok if you want to kill some time.


The latest of Liam Neeson's movies where he seems to be playing the same guy over and over again. It's not necessarily a bad thing, especially if you liked Taken or Unknown (as I did). Taken 2 was a bit of a disappointment though; it was just so obvious it was a money squeeze and not a real, genuine thing. If such movies can be genuine at all. Warning: this review contains massive spoilers!

So Liam is an Air Marshall this time, protecting the innocent air travelers from all kinds of threats, both possible and impossible. Right at the start we learn that he has a problem with alcohol and his job in general, just to spice up his status with both the viewers and his superior officers. Some time later we will learn of his dead daughter and complete the full circle of all the usual background stuff that haunts 90% of all movie heroes. Surprisingly, there is no kid with asthma in Non-stop. A nice refreshment for sure.

Anyway, Bill (Liam's character) is facing an unknown threat in an airborne passenger aircraft. The terrorist is contacting Bill via special, "security" network and warns him that a single passenger will die every 20 minutes unless a huge amount of money is paid onto a secure account. Bill contacts his superiors and tries to contain the threat, but gets into trouble himself - the mentioned account was open on his name and now his bosses don't trust him. Things get spiced up after Bill kills a colleague Marshall (whom he suspected to be the terrorist or in league with him/her) and marks the 20 minute spot with a murder, just as the mysterious terrorist promised.

To be honest, the story is kinda intriguing and thrilling. It makes you wonder who will die next and how, if poor Bill will be manipulated again into killing another person and so on. Even if it seems impossible to time everything so perfectly, it just adds to the thriller and excitement as we try to find the actual terrorist ourselves. The movie itself does not really offer you a lot of potential suspects and is not even trying to lure you towards anyone in particular. If you have ever seen a movie like this before (and I am sure you have, unless you are 6 years old), you just KNOW that Bill will win and everything will be fine, but you will be trying to "beat the movie and guess the bad guy correctly before it's revealed". And it wasn't the Muslim guy (thank you Hollywood!).

Overall, Non-stop is an OK movie. It's not a complete waste of time and is a good way to spend an hour and forty five minutes of your life. Liam put up his usual performance and so did Julianne Moore who plays a woman who just happened to be sitting next to Liam on an airplane. So if you are wondering what to watch next, but you don't have 3 hours for... lets say Django Unchained or The Wolf of Wall Street - watch Non-stop.

Ender's Game (2013)

If you don't want to read it all:
Score: 6/10
Verdict: Would have been better as TV series since it could explain some things better.


I've heard of this movie just because Harrison Ford was in it. That and futuristic space combat were enough to watch it. After watching it I read a bit about its origins and found out it was made after a book. Series of books actually. And that explained a lot because there was so much compressed into just two hours...

Ender's game takes place on future Earth that recently survived an attack from an alien species known as Formics, highly advanced ant-like creatures. Pure luck and bravery of a single pilot (think of the destruction of the Death Star) ended the war and drove Formics back to their home planet. Now, 50 years later, humanity is preparing for another invasion and is using a brand new tactics - recruiting and training of children with very high IQ and warfaring talent - to lead Earth Fleet and defeat Formics forever. Ender Wiggin is one such child and he is being sent to Combat School on a base in Earth's orbit under the supervision of Colonel Graff and Major Anderson.

Ender's Game seems like a two hour long trailer for a 10 hour movie. With mega spoliers. Well, spoilers that actually show all the major scenes, including the grand finale. Seriously, only after finding out it was made after a book I finally realized why everything was happening so fast. Poor little Ender goes from one school to another, from one combat team to another in a matter of minutes. Just imagine a season of Game of Thrones compressed into 60 minutes only! Some may like such a tempo, but I personally prefer a bit more depth.

Ender's game reminded me of other movies and computer games in many ways. Formic invasion and destruction reminded me of Independence Day and Star Wars. Formic tactics reminded me of... Starcraft and Zerg! Oh yeah, Protoss as well since both sides use carriers with hundreds of drones. Damn, I hated those Protoss carriers in Starcraft multiplayer. Harrison Ford reminded me of Malcolm McDowell in Wing Commander 3. The movie may have been influenced by those, but the book itself is older than all but Star Wars.

Overall, the movie isn't bad, but it's far, far from being a masterpiece. It's great if you like a movie that moves fast and doesn't take time to explain just about anything but those really crucial things (so you know what the hell is going on). Other than that... if they realize the true potential we could expect a reboot and a trilogy (at least) in a few years. Until then, I expect this movie to go by almost unnoticed. 

RoboCop (2014)

If you don't want to read it all:
Score: 3/10
Verdict: It really lacks a story. Only for hardcore fans and/or effects lovers. And worshipers of Samuel L. Jackson!


I don't remember the original RoboCop (1987) much and I don't think I've seen it in the last 20 years or so. It's part of my childhood, and just as 99% of the things we experience as kids - it was awesome! Yeah, as a kid I loved it, I do remember that, but if someone was to ask me about the actual, detailed plot - I cannot really say much. I do remember a dead or near-dead cop, his merge with the machine and the company called OmniCorp; RoboCop's creators turned bad and he had to fight them at the end, but how did they all get to that point and who was the actual bad guy... I guess it was just too long ago. It marked a certain period in cinematography to the point where everyone knew about the movie - not everyone watched it, but everyone knew about it. For some reason I remember the Commodore 64 game a whole lot more than the actual movie. Another rather good memory is the "you're fired" and BAM scene, but I am not sure if that was RoboCop 1 or RoboCop 2.

So here we are in 2014, 27 years after the original. I am not a big fan of remakes (or reboots), but I will never reject a movie based on just that. I've seen the movie last night and... I have mixed feelings. Overall - it's not bad. Whenever I watch a movie at home - it happens late at night and that often means I'd have to fight to stay awake if a movie takes more than 90 or 100 minutes. RoboCop takes 117 and I had no trouble at all. I guess it was fun enough to keep me awake, so that means a lot. However, once it ended I was thinking... what the hell was the actual plot of this movie? There isn't one! Not in a movie kind of way at least. If it was a pilot of a TV show then it would make some sense. As a movie... I am not really satisfied with a 2 hour long film that represents an intro for a possible sequel.

If you are one of those people who watch movies for special effects (shame on you!) then you will be more than satisfied. It's set in the near future (2028 if I am right) where USA is obviously policing the entire world, literally. The scene in Tehran shows excellent CGI in action, while later scenes with RoboCop himself (and his motorcycle) are all well done. I like RoboCop's black armor with red lights, he never looked better! The cast is also extraordinary with one former Batman (Michael Keaton) and one former Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) in main roles. RoboCop himself is played by Swedish actor Joel Kinnaman, mostly known for his role in TV Show The Killing.

To sum it up: RoboCop is fun, but it's missing an important thing - a story! Honestly, a cop becoming a cyborg should not be the main story in this movie, that should be an intro for something bigger. That's why I said that this would be great if it was a pilot for a TV show and there were 9 or 20 more episodes coming in the next 3 or 10 months. This however feels unpolished and rushed. But it was still fun to watch, unlike some other reboots. If you don't mind watching a really long introduction to an unconfirmed trilogy (just guessing!) then you might like this. Oh, I almost forgot - Samuel L. Jackson was awesome. Again. As usual. You just have to love him as a fascist tv host!