The movie reviewed here is definitely NOT for children, and probably not for many other people either.
GENRE: Thriller / Action
ACTORS: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, and Alexandra Daddario
RATING: PG-13
LENGTH: 1 hour, 54 minutes
PARENTAL NOTE:Not intended for children. Violence. Lots of implied killing–mostly non-graphic.
INTENDED AUDIENCE:This movie is intended for fans of the genre, and may not be appreciated by others.
GENERAL PLOT: (No spoilers) The San Andreas Fault makes a major split, devastating big parts of urban California. A helicopter pilot rushes to save his daughter and almost ex-wife.
REVIEW: One word for this movie: Ridiculous. OK, two words: Ridiculous, ridiculous. Many movies ask us to suspend the normal rules of heaven and earth. For example, to pretend that zombies or ghosts exist. Such an exercise seems a reasonable tradeoff for watching a fictional story. But this movie suspends the rules of human nature. That is, human being don’t behave (I hope) as suggested. To summarize, with a few spoilers included, Dwayne Johnson’s character apparently abandons his job as a rescue pilot to go in search of his daughter and almost ex-wife. He steals his work helicopter, a truck, and airplane in search of his family. The scenes of earthquake and tsunami disaster look convincing to me. But watching the portrayal of thousands (or maybe millions) of people being killed in a natural disaster isn’t what I consider wholesome entertainment.
RECOMMENDATION:This is a thriller movie. Many people will be highly offended by every movie in this genre because of the violence, and other questionable elements. Good computer generated imagery (CGI). Too good, really.
The movie reviewed here is definitely NOT for children, and probably not for most other people either. Actually, I had strong reservations about even posting this review, for reasons mentioned below. Suffice it to say, this movie has a lot of moral problems. Please see my previous post on why films of this ilk are reviewed on a Christian website like K_Line Christian Online.
Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette
GENRE: Thriller / Action
ACTORS: Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Brad Pitt, James Gandolfini, Christopher Walken, Gary Oldman, Val Kilmer, Dennis Hopper, Saul Rubinek, Bronson Pinchot, Michael Rapaport, Tom Sizemore. Also a brief appearance by the top grossing actor of all time, Samuel L. Jackson.
PARENTAL NOTE:Not intended for children or teenagers. Bad language and questionable situations. Violence. Sex. Gangsters. Prostitution. Drug usage and sale. Brief nudity. If you can think of any other bad element found in movies, it’s probably in TRUE ROMANCE too, and I just forgot to mention it. The overriding message in this film is: Crime Pays!
INTENDED AUDIENCE:This movie is intended for fans of the genre, and will almost certainly not be appreciated by others. I’m sure the film makers think this movie is appropriate for adults. I’m not sure that it is.
GENERAL PLOT: (No spoilers) The two leading characters (played by Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette) meet in a theater, sleep together that night and get married the next day. They end up with a suitcase full of drugs and are on the run, a half step ahead of the gangsters whose drugs they stole, and the cops.
REVIEW: This film has a lot to offer for fans of the genre. Lots of action. Shooting, fights, reckless car driving, etc. The acting is superb. My review standards are much more foregiving than most Christian film critics. I can look past the cursing (almost non-stop in this movie). I can look past the gratuitous violence, which is, again, almost non-stop. I can see past the initial illicit relationship. Whether their marriage the first day after meeting “cures” the immoral relationship, or just compounds it, is debatable. This film has some really evil characters, balanced by some really likable characters. There are even some characters we can both love and hate. The problem presented with this film is that even the really “nice” people are drug dealers. And without giving any spoilers, it’s fair to say that their life of crime definately DID PAY! This is just the sort of film that respectible Christians say Hollywood should not make. For good reason–it’s trash. Yet, even as trash, it is2 completely entertaining.
RECOMMENDATION:This is an “Action” movie. Many people will be highly offended by every movie in this genre because of the violence, bad language and other questionable elements, as mentioned above. Except for the extreme bad moral message that crime does pay, I could easily rate this movie with 4 or 5 stars. As it is, I’m hard pressed to recommend it for your casual viewing at all.
RATING (out of 5 stars):★★★★★
MOVIE RATING SYSTEM:
Start with zero (0) out of five (5) possible STARS
Add one STAR if it looks like the movie was made by professional film makers–not 4 or 5 guys with a camcorder.
Add one STAR if the film has a story, theme or plot (optional for horror and/or zombie movies); or if the movie makes any sense.
Add additional STARS for special effects, acting, good moral message(s), realistic zombies, scariness, interesting theme or plot and the like.
Subtract STARS for extreme bad acting, COMPLETELY awful themes/messages, overall INCREDIBLE trashiness, graphic and persistent lewdness, and the like.
The “Director’s Cut” which I rented from Netflix was UNRATED. ↩
The movie reviewed here is NOT for children, and also not for many other people who are not fans of this genre.
Scarlett Johansson as Jordan Two Delta
GENRE: Action / Science Fiction
ACTORS: Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Djimon Hounsou, Steve Buscemi, Sean Bean, Michael Clarke Duncan, Ethan Phillips, Brian Stepanek, Noa Tishby, Siobhan Flynn
RATING: PG-13
PARENTAL NOTE:Not suitable for children. Lots of violence. Killing and mayhem aplenty, though not really explicit “gore.” The chase scene shows a lot of “bad” guys being killed, and implies collateral deaths by bystanders.
INTENDED AUDIENCE:This movie is suitable for adults, though it may not be appreciated by those who are not fans of the genre.
GENERAL PLOT: (No spoilers) Futuristic look at a colony living underground in a contaminated world. They are waiting for a chance to win a lottery to go to “the Island”–the last unpolluted place left above ground, on Earth
