Movie Roundup – August 06

The Transporter 2

Shorter than the first movie, the Transporter 2 has is a very simple movie, and seems to have been made simply to look good. The bad guys all seemed a bit old but Jason Statham was suitably cool looking in the fights. Certainly one of the better martial artists in movies… at least of ones who aren’t Asian. Highly enjoyable and, unlike a lot of films, could have quite easily been 15 – 20 longer.

Underworld Evolution

Not a patch on the original and it appears to know it, since there is a good ten minutes of footage from the first film that’s reused. The story just didn’t sit right with me – should have been straight to dvd… in fact was it even released at the cinema?

Lucky Number Slevin

My favorite of the month. A thriller with a twist that managed to keep me guessing at least for a while. The acting was slick, and the action was fun with some very big names (I really like Morgan Freeman, and Bruce Willis has been growing on me recently).

Crying Fist

Based on the true stories of two of real-life fighters, Crazy Fist is a mesmerizing movie. The story is about two boxers who have been going through a bad time and decide that the only way to prove themselves is to win a boxing tournament. I won’t spoil the end for you but will say I was rooting for the other guy. It stars Choi Min-sik, who was in the wonderful Old Boy (Old Boy reviewed by me here).

Lost in Translation

Wanted to see this for a while and it ended up being pretty much what I expected. The film was interesting with the two leads, Bill Murray and Scarlett Johanson, working wonderfully together. Unfortunately the story didn’t feel entirely complete to, but I’m not sure what was missing.