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Taken, a review by goodguy

Taken (FR 2008) Written by: Luc Besson & Robert Mark Kamen Directed by: Pierre Morel Starring: Liam Neeson DVD: R2-UK Fox (Feb. 9, 2009; Extended Cut) My rating: -

Cover blurb: Liam Neeson stars in this action-packed international thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. When his estranged daughter is kidnapped in Paris, a former spy (Neeson) sets out to find her at any cost. Relying on his special skills, he tracks down the ruthless gang that abducted her and launches a one-man war to bring them to justice and rescue his daughter.

Frankly, it escapes me why everyone seems to think Taken is "Da Shit" and Punisher: War Zone is, well, just shit. Both are pretty violent action movies that can be enjoyed to some degree with the right mindset, or more precisely, the mind checked out at the door for a bowl of popcorn. Yes, one tries to be more gritty and real, the other one more comicbook-like and gory, but they are really not that different.

Except: While PWZ knows it is just trash, Taken is pretentious and manipulative. So it spends half an hour of its short 90min running time to setup its paper-thin characters, and it casts a serious actor as protagonist instead of a B-list one. Well, that doesn't work, because it raises expectations beyond the realm of mindless fun, and the script is unable to meet them.

For a vastly superior and really brilliant take on the "black ops guy rescues girl from sex slavery" scenario, I recommend David Mamet's largely ignored Spartan (2004), starring Val Kilmer.


(From goodguy's Watch Log on June 15th, 2009)

A Kid in Aladdin's Palace, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: A Kid in Aladdin's Palace
Year: 1997
Director: Robert L. Levy
Rating: PG
Length: 89 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Spanish: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: French, Spanish

Stars:
Thomas Ian Nicholas
Rhona Mitra
Nicholas Irons
James Faulkner
Taylor Negron
Aharon Ipale

Plot:
The kid is back!

The unlikely hero of "A Kid in King Arthur's Court" is back to give history a jump start... again!

This time, Calvin Fuller (Thomas Ian Nichals) is mistaken by the wise-cracking, ultra-hip Genie (Taylor Negron), as "The Deliverer". Only "The Deliverer" can save Aladdin and all of Arabia from Aladdin's evil brother, Luxor. Unfortunately, Calvin has never delivered anything more than pizza!

When the Genie takes Calvin back in time to Bagdad, he realizes he's in for another wild ride! Calvin teams up with Ali Baba and the beautiful princess for an adventure full of action, mystery, and magic in this fun-filled movie the whole family will love!

Extras:
Bonus Trailers
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
Next I wanted something lighthearted and fun. This was recently given to me so figured I would check it out. As you can tell by the plot... this is a sequel. I normally prefer to see movies in order... but thought I would make an exception. I did watch the trailer to both the first one and this one before watching the movie though. It is a cute and fun movie... had a few chuckles in it for me. So is definitely worth checking it out. Though the movie is aimed more towards kids in the lower teens.



(From Weekend Movie Marathon: Time Travel on November 14th, 2010)

The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Star Trek



What's the show about?
Captain Kirk and his crew aboard the starhip Enterprise explore the unknown parts of the galaxy and have dealings with the strangest aliens such as the Klingons or Trelane.

"Where No Man Has Gone Before"
During the try of breaking through the galactic border the ships gets heavily damaged and several crewmembers get killed. But one man - Gary Mitchell, an old friend of Kirk's - was somehow altered. The question remains if whether he is now a threat to the ships security.

My Opinion
Kirk was simply a cool guy and the only man known that grows more hairs over the years instead of less. "Star Trek" is a cult classic and most of the episodes are still watchable. But I liked the movies more than the series.

(From The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon on January 5th, 2008)