Mark Strong

I was expecting a fast-paced action flick. Sadly, the movie is far from it. Following the death of "King Richard the Lionhearted" (Danny Huston) during the Crusades, "Robin Longstride" (Russell Crowe) and four men come upon the aftermath of an ambush, and find a dying British knight who tells "Longstride" of a plot between France and a British collaborator -- a British knight. "Longstride" promises the dying knight that he will return the knight's sword to his father. But, when he returns to his homeland, he poses as the knight, and helps those in need. Based on centuries old legends from Great Britian, Robin Hood is far from the typical depictions we have seen over the years in popular media. In other depections, including a popular BBC television series in 2006, "Hood" is either arriving from his journey home from the Holy Land or he has been back for some time, and already declared an outlaw. This movie is focused more on the events leading to the title character becoming the legendary "Robin Hood". But, unlike other depictions I've seen, this one is not a strong representation of the legendary outlaw. The first 75% of the film is unbearably slow I thought, and I noticed I was paying more attention to my computer (I watched it on HBO this afternoon) than the television. To me, the scenes between any fight scenes just lagged and had poor development for the characters. It appears that those behind the scenes relied on the audience already knowing the characters, and gave them little to no development. They introduced some new twists with the characters, which worked fairly well, but they were just not presented in an interesting way I thought. I felt little to no chemistry between the characters, especially between "Marion" (Cate Blanchett) and "Longstride". All the main players are there, but they were one-dimensional in my opinion. None of them stood out. One thing I noticed is that non-British actors had a terrible time with the British accent. Sometimes they sounded British, while other times, their accents sounded Irish or even Scottish. It was very obvious that the dialect coach hired to help the non-British cast members failed in his or her job. It got quite confusing at times when I heard the wrong accent. Probably because they were working with a well known story, the movie is pretty predictable. The actors in this movie failed at attempting to make their lines believeable, which didn't get them out of the one-dimensional feel I was getting from them. The worse of the characters had to be "King John" (Oscar Isaac), who was absolutely horrible. Isaac's performance was uneven, and came off as trying to be comical when he most likely wasn't trying to be that way. Cinematorgraphy wasn't that great either, but was slightly better during wide angle scenes during battles. There were no bright colors in the scenery, nor wardrobe. It was

This movie was intellegent noone can tell me different, I did not think it was one of Jason Stathams best movies as compared to The Mechanic, Transporter (sereies), and The Bank job but the movie itself was intelligent. It was also different to see Jason with long hair as n to almost ever movie he is almostbald with barely hair, (great look for him!) So th movie had a twist at the end that honestly I did not see coming and I was very impressed!

Detective Sherlock Holmes has been in our memories for centuries, and now he comes to us in this fantastic movie. The film will take you to the ancient times of England. Mystery and fun is the main element. Perfect for everybody with a bit of humor.

I read the book and then the movie came out and the movie was in my head all the time. but now i love this movie way a go leonardo Dicpario

Generally I hate going to see films in theaters due to the cost of the tickets and munchies. Rarely do I feel I've seen a film in theaters once that didn't make me feel like I'd been ripped off, and rarely have I ever seen a film there twice. This is a film I'd go to see again. If you're a fan of comic book or superhero films, or just plain old violent action movies you should in theory love this. Be aware this isn't the typical example of either of those genres. It's rated R for a reason: Hit Girl. An 11 year old killing machine who fights while we listen to Joan Jett in the background. She steals every scene, and for good reason. She's the most over the top character in the film (possibly the most over the top I've seen in some time). Rarely have I heard an audience cheer for someone killing bad guys the way I did for her. I think the guy next to me said he was in love, much like one of the films characters did after watching her kneecap, throat slit, and headshot her way through a pack of bad guys. She is awesome incarnate. There are a few flaws (which admittedly may be intentional given that this is a satirical parody) that prevent me from giving this a 4.0, but they are inconsequential. I?m rating this on whether or not I think you?ll feel robbed if you see it in a theater. And no. I do not believe you will. Comic fans should pay special attention to Nicholas Cage?s brutally satirical parody of Adam West as Batman. It?s his best role in years. Well maybe. His movies have kind of sucked lately so I stopped watching them, but this is the early Nick Cage I liked in films. So it?s the best role I?ve seen him play in years. One of the great conceits of Batman (and other human level comic vigilantes) is that they let opponents live. This film tears that apart showing that basically you can?t afford to do that because in real life the first time you lost a fight you?d be dead or crippled. It?s called Kick #!@%*# because that?s what happens to the main character. A lot. A turning point in the film comes when he meets Hit Girl and Big Daddy (nothing Freudian there?) and realizes he?s in way over his head and has little more to offer the world than good intentions. I do hope the planned sequel materializes.

Despite suffering from some typical action/mystery movie cliches, Sherlock Holmes proves to be a bit more "sophisticated" than the usual popcorn fare, due to its exquisitely clever dialogue, as well as Robery Downey Jr.'s great performance.

Sometimes you go to a movie with high expectations and sometimes not really knowing what to expect. "Stardust" was one of the latter. What a surprise! It built up slowly and delivered on so many levels. So what type of film is "Stardust"? A coming of age, a romance, an epic adventure, a swashbuckler, a comedy, a fantasy, and a (flying, irreverent, cross-dressing) pirate movie; yes it's all of that!! What a way to escape for two hours. Everyone in the cast gave satisfying performances, many were stand out performances: with a wickedly over the top evil Witch by Ms. Pfeiffer and a flying high scene stealing turn by Mr. De Niro as Captain Shakespeare. Treat yourself. See "Stardust", and be surprised.

If you want to read more about ROCKNROLLA, check out the MovieRetriever.com review in the BARKS WITH BITE blog by clicking HERE!

If you want to read more about BODY OF LIES, check out the MovieRetriever.com review in the BARKS WITH BITE blog by clicking HERE!

So, does Babylon A.D. get an "A" or a "D" on its scorecard? Maybe it will depend on which version of the movie you get to see in the years to come. This film got my attention as another one of those movies that shatters auteur theory into jagged little pieces. The French director, Mathieu Kassovitz even hates his own movie now that it has been taken away from him by the studio and bailed out by the production's insurance company after it went over budget and well beyond the film schedule. Maybe Babylon A.D. will get revisited on DVD in its former "glory." Its current "glory" is like an annoying, predictable firework. The movie is a cross between "The Fifth Element" and "Children of Men" without any of the playful fun of the former, and none of the intensity of the latter. Barely any of the movie takes place in New York, as the advertisements would have me believe, which may have something to do with the production going over budget (You can tell this is the New York of the future, though, because there are lots of neon advertisements splattered across the sides of buildings). The action sequences are chaotic, which may have something to do with the production going over budget, or something to do with the close-up, shaky hand-held footage. The embarrassingly tacked-on sequence of a snowmobile chase looks terrible, like it is being streamed on low-bandwidth internet connection, which may have something to do with how cold it was when they were filming. The story is nothing original, but it is possible to engage an audience even with a predictable story depending on how you tell it, and how this story was told may have something to do with the production going over budget, something to do with the studio cutting its costs, and something to do with how long it can take to make some stories work.

a smashing good movie .... made me want to read the book

There are several fun Brit cameos in this movie: Rupert Everett, Peter O'Toole, Jason Flemyng, Ricky Gervais, David Kelly, etc. It's a charming movie and worth the two hours of your life to watch it!