The first look at this title 3 Days to Kill and the image they portrayed I did not think it was something I wanted to see, after all, I'm a little tired of all the guns and the needless killing shows out there. But Sunday afternoon came with nothing really to do, so off I trot through the snow falling to see 3 Days to Kill.
What a surprise. There was a part of me that thought this might be misnamed and I think I was right, but I'm not sure what I would have called it. Yes, there was killing, but it was FUNNY. I laughed so much through this movie, between people being shot dead, which in itself, shame to say was also funny for the most part.
Some scenes are not pleasant to look at, but so many were. The Writer Adi Hasak (and others) did a great job of catching the comedic relief to the tension. The idea of this man who is dying spending time with his daughter, who is in total teenage rebellion, and who actually says to him "We have 3 days to Kill". And kill it they do.
Yes people die, but by killing the bad guys the good guy, Kevin Costner does super great as the old, dried up CIA agent who is dying is given an experimental drug and is saved. Hailee Steinfeld does great as the teenage daughter, who Ethan, Kevin Costner's character has not seen since she was little. She's mad, she's hurt, she's a 'teenager'. Connie Nielsen plays Ethan's wife (they are not divorced) but its Amber Heard as Vivi the person who hires him to get the really bad guy who has nuclear weapons in a suitcase no less who is dramatic. This movie is well casted. I never once thought, wrong person for this part, even right down to the smallest role.
I love plot twists, especially when I figure them out before hand, and I figured this one out. Yes I knew they were all going to end up at the 'party' at the end and the resulting 'get the bad guy' ending.
No matter if there were killings, no matter what...chasing on a purple girls bicycle. I laughed. The juxtaposition of daughter vs the job was well written, well executed and everyone laughed. To see a different type of killing movie, then this is it. 3 Days to Kill is enjoyable - surprisingly.
3 out of 5.
Showing posts with label Hailee Steinfeld. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hailee Steinfeld. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Ender's Game - movie review
After reading Orson Scott Card's book Ender's Game and seeing the shorts for it over and over I was waiting in anticipation for this movie to come to the screen. Yesterday I went to see it in this first screening of the day. I was not disappointed.
What surprised me was how close to the book it was - reminding me of Harry Potter movies who kept close to the book outline. A few things were changed and some of the threads left out made sense. Therefore my first recommendation is read the book, Ender's Game supposedly written for children, but truly I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The story of how children and tested and if pass, taken to 'battle school' and then onto 'command school'. These are children, who because of their fast abilities in thinking (via video games no less) are able to work together in order to overcome a race of 'insect' beings who came to earth and killed many people. Now Earth is taking the fight to them.
The story evolves around the main character, Ender Wiggin, played by Asa Butterfield, a wonderful young English actor, who was able to become Ender as he worked his way through the 'game'. I found knowing the book helped fill in quite a bit, even though the movie definitely stood on its own.
Harrison Ford plays Colonel Graff, his mentor who is with him the whole way. Hailee Steineld plays Petra, one of his fellow students as does Aramis Knight, who is cast as Bean. Ben Kingsley shows up as the last war hero, as Ender's teacher, with a full Maori Moko, as a New Zealander, I was disappointed with the South African accent coming from a supposedly a New Zealander. Guess they did not know the difference of accents.
I always ask myself, is the movie worth seeing? The answer here is yes...especially if you have read the book. Also second thing I ask myself, what was the message, and here it is about war and annihilating a race of people, just because you don't speak the same language. The subtle under story is. Listen, find a way to communicate with the enemy, just because they don't speak your language does not mean they cannot communicate with you. Also, is it worth destroying (in the movies these young children) just to create the end. In other words, does the end justify the means.
Have a few hours to go and enjoy a 'different' movie, then go see this, its different in lots of ways.
4 out of 5.
What surprised me was how close to the book it was - reminding me of Harry Potter movies who kept close to the book outline. A few things were changed and some of the threads left out made sense. Therefore my first recommendation is read the book, Ender's Game supposedly written for children, but truly I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The story of how children and tested and if pass, taken to 'battle school' and then onto 'command school'. These are children, who because of their fast abilities in thinking (via video games no less) are able to work together in order to overcome a race of 'insect' beings who came to earth and killed many people. Now Earth is taking the fight to them.
The story evolves around the main character, Ender Wiggin, played by Asa Butterfield, a wonderful young English actor, who was able to become Ender as he worked his way through the 'game'. I found knowing the book helped fill in quite a bit, even though the movie definitely stood on its own.
Harrison Ford plays Colonel Graff, his mentor who is with him the whole way. Hailee Steineld plays Petra, one of his fellow students as does Aramis Knight, who is cast as Bean. Ben Kingsley shows up as the last war hero, as Ender's teacher, with a full Maori Moko, as a New Zealander, I was disappointed with the South African accent coming from a supposedly a New Zealander. Guess they did not know the difference of accents.
I always ask myself, is the movie worth seeing? The answer here is yes...especially if you have read the book. Also second thing I ask myself, what was the message, and here it is about war and annihilating a race of people, just because you don't speak the same language. The subtle under story is. Listen, find a way to communicate with the enemy, just because they don't speak your language does not mean they cannot communicate with you. Also, is it worth destroying (in the movies these young children) just to create the end. In other words, does the end justify the means.
Have a few hours to go and enjoy a 'different' movie, then go see this, its different in lots of ways.
4 out of 5.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)