Action thriller with a bit of comedy between the explosions
357019
Not one of Bruce Willis' best.  He plays a retired "wet ops" CIA man, and for some reason, the CIA is now set o terminate his retirement... and his life.  Why?  And when this affects his love interest and his old partners, it's time to get some payback.

Classic wounded Willis, with some surprising costars making appearances.  It's just the action plot of revenge following a setup is a bit overplayed.
837649
Via the Amazon Vine review program, I selected a copy of the book Crashers by Dana Haynes for review.  This thriller has an element that I haven't encountered in my reading before... the investigation of an aircraft accident by the National Transportation Safety Board, or NTSB for short.  And the fact that the author sets the story in Portland, Oregon (the city I live in) didn't hurt in my decision-making process, either.  What I ended up with in Crashers was a fun thriller that kept me turning pages to see how the technical aspect of the crime was carried out (as well as the why was it done in the first place).

The story revolves around a plane crash that seems to have no root cause.  The cockpit recorder shows that everything was working fine up to the point where the copilot notices a signal for a catastrophic system failure and instantly the plane starts to shake itself to pieces.  A team from the NTSB arrives on the scene, led by Leonard Tomzak, a disgraced team member who failed to find a cause for the prior crash they investigated, leading to second-guessing by other members of the team.  Part of the team wants to write the crash off to pilot error, but Tomzak isn't quite ready to buy that explanation, as the behavior of the pilots doesn't fit for him.  Focus starts to turn to the new generation of flight recorder on the plane, and the technical lead from the company is more than happy to show off the capabilities of the device.  However, it could be that the device does more than just record, and that the tech lead is part of a larger terrorist plot that could have international ramifications.

There was quite a bit to like about Crashers.  The NTSB characters were fleshed out, and they were realistically flawed and believable.  The terrorism thread was also interesting and I enjoyed watching the two storylines converge.  A couple parts were pretty far-fetched (such as the freeway scene), but not enough that it took away from the overall entertainment value of the novel.  Given that this is Haynes' first novel, he's done a nice job, and I hope he decides to evolve this into a series based around crash investigators.

Disclosure:
Obtained From: Amazon Vine Review Program
Payment: Free
4229873
The first 15 minutes are funny. It has quite a few tickling dialogues. The rest is more like any other regular action movie. I mean it contains lots of action, explosion and nonsense.

It's worth watching once.
4526154
In 2010 a crack Special Forces unit was betrayed by their government and set up for a mass murder they didn't commit.  These men promptly (?) escaped their explosive assassination attempt to the Bolivian underground.  Today, still wanted by the CIA and an evil villain named Max, they survive in order to seek revenge and reclaim their lives.  If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, it's too bad; because a mysterious woman has already hooked them up with their ultimate revenge mission, and you CANNOT hire The Losers.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it?  It should; it's very close to the A-Team intro (which is a GOOD thing).  The similarities don't end there, as both are a group of former soldiers led by a charismatic figure with an affinity for unwinnable situations, cool behavior, celebratory smoking.  Each team has a lady's man, with the leader being both in The Losers.  Each team engages in high firepower, explosive situations that involved meticulously planned tactics requiring a peculiar amount of fortune.

The teams differ, however, in their configuration and purpose.  Whereas the A-Team had a lady's man who appeared to be just that, and a leader who appeared to only lead; that is to say, he managed multiple oddball personalities, The Losers shows each person as an integral part of the team, a specialist in his own field.  This was a positive spin on the "mercenary group battles the world"-motif.  Additionally, the Loser's "employer" is given with a bit more purpose and underlying story, as mysterious Aisha funds and organizes their mission while maintaining her own agenda.

This is a hands-off, good time movie.  Explosions, military action, high-tech gadgets, a fairly hot hookup between the film's leads, and fairly awesome special effects make it fun throughout.  Add in a fiery male-female fight scene (ala Mr. and Mrs. Smith), a comically evil villain in Jason Patric (DO NOT drop his umbrella!), a Spanish Justin Long (scar Jaenada), quippy one-liners, and a very short runtime (97 minutes), and the result is an underrated comic book adaptation that entertains yet gets unfairly overlooked.

Jason Elin
3345174
A fun movie with a good mix of action and humor.  Worth watching more than once.
2491567
Theatrical review.  May contain spoilers.

It could be just my imagination but it seems that about this time every year Denzel Washington stars in an action based film with just enough comedy in the mix to warm up to audiences.  This year is no exception.  He teams up with Mark Wahlberg who is no stranger to the genre either.

Bobby (Washington) and Stig (Wahlberg) are seemingly a pair of bank robbing, drug runners doing business in Mexico with one of the feared cartels headed by Papi Greco (Edward James Olmos).  The pair, knowing where $3 million of drug money is held, decide to rob the small bank and clean out the safety deposit box.  Little did they expect that every deposit box had cash in it, totally $43 million.

It is no surprise thanks to the trailers that all is not what it seems.  Bobby is actually an undercover DEA agent and Stig is a Navy specialist also working under cover.  Neither were aware of the other's involvement.  It turns out that their bosses were both in on a complicated subterfuge and neither operative was aware.  To make things even dicier, the money actually belongs to the CIA's dirty man-in-charge (a convincingly despicable Bill Paxton).  If you're not confused enough, Bobby's sometime girlfriend Deb (drop dead gorgeous Paula Patton) is a co-worker who may or may not be involved somehow.

There is one thing for sure.  There is a lot of gun play and plenty of explicit violence, but what makes it all work is the give and take between Stig and Bobby.  It is damn funny stuff.  Washington and Wahlberg have great chemistry and perfect timing.  The film is directed by Iceland's Baltasar Kormakur Samper who is also responsible for "Contraband" also starring Wahlberg.  I give bonus points for a pair of surprises from Ms. Patton.  The film won't be up for any Oscars, but it's a fun time at the movies.
4975424
I would give this 4.5 start. It's an entertaining movie that has it's funny parts. If you like thrillers, you will like this movie.
2056465
Great combination of action and humor. Of course, the action, like in most of these super hero, pseudo-sci-fi fantasy movies is unbelievable but if you can ignore that aspect you can sit back and have a really good time. By "unbelievable" I mean one being having the strength and energy to fight off dozens of well-armed attackers, people miraculously surviving falls or explosions that would rip any real-world being to pieces or leave them hopelessly disabled. But you expect that sort of thing in movies such as this so--what the hey.

The actors do an excellent job of bringing the characters to life. The fast pacing and smart-ass humor keep the action moving so that there is never a dull moment. In fact, there is so much going on in the this movie that it is worth re-watching just to try to pick up things you probably missed the first time around.
3596013
Lots of action, good movie for the thrills, get the popcorn ready
1857726
This is a fun, short novel that is a non-stop ride of action and plot twists. It's a bit like crossing the X-files with X-men and stars, Laura, a freshman in college who keeps falling down the rabbit hole once she sees a Cheerleader on a skateboard, moving way too fast.

The continual plot twists keeps the reader guessing and, overall, I found it to be an enjoyable read.

The characters in the book are college age or higher but there is a YA feel to the book. I think this is mainly because the content of the book is non-explicit in violence, despite all of the action, and the f/f romance is pretty sweet and innocent.

For diversity, Laura comes from a mixed family and she's half Filipina and half white. The Filipino aspect is well depicted and there's some good humor that comes out of it.

The story is a mix of sci-fi, mystery, superhero tale, light f/f romance, action and adventure with sprinkles of humor.

Recommend.
4971709
WWE Films continue to surprise, giving us a string of terrific action thrillers from an unlikely source. Their latest straight to video release is a sequel to 2009s, 12 Rounds. While Randy Orton wasn't nearly as good as John Cena was in the first film, he gives a more than adequate performance as Nick Molloy, a paramedic who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. After failing to save a rich mans wife at the scene of a drunk driving accident, the man decides to punish all those involved, including the paramedic who failed to save her. The story here is pretty solid, especially for an action film, but what bothers me is that this sequel was in no way connected to the first film. Reloaded is a different story in a different city, with an entirely different cast, so how did the bad guy manage to come up with the same game, from four years earlier? As for that game, the rounds weren't as long or as complicated, but what really makes this better than your average action movie is the compelling back story and the depth of the characters involved. Randy Orton, while having very limited film experience was pretty good and that will come as a surprise to many. It's hard to think of WWE Superstars as actors, but that is exactly what they are. Aside from wrestling in their underwear every week, they have to play a charterer and follow a script 52 weeks a year, so is this really such a stretch? For the most part the WWE Superstars have made for some pretty exciting action stars. The supporting cast of this film was also very good, in particular Tom Stevens, formerly of the Diary of A Wimpy Kid series. Stevens plays Tommy, another person caught up in this madman's game, and he is not only thrilling and charismatic, but he's pretty funny too. 12 Rounds 2 won't win any awards, but it is 90 minutes of non-stop action, packaged in a compelling story, which I found to be extremely entertaining.
1996090
The losers is a fairly good film. There is plenty of action and humor. Its a movie that can always make me laugh, the dialog between the characters is priceless at times. However with that said i often found myself expecting more than the film gave. I would often think there has to be more in terms of setting, plot, and characters/personalities. It might have just been me but i for some reason always felt something in the film was missing but never could really put my finger on what exactly. Other than that the film will make you laugh and give you action worth the time.

Overall The Losers is a comical action packed thrill ride that is enjoyable to watch, 3 out of 5 stars.
274966
3.5 out of 5

An evil mastermind terrorist known as the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) is wreaking havoc via a rash of bombings, holding the world in his grip. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) gets on the case and discovers the bombings are initiated by people exposed to the Extremis program, something Stark Industries could've had ties to a long time ago, but chose not to. Turns out those Tony Stark knew back then are neck-deep involved with what's going on now, have re-entered his life, and are making things complicated.

While trying to pinpoint the location of the Mandarin, Iron Man aka Tony is also dealing with the aftermath of the Chitauri invasion of New York in The Avengers. Having trouble sleeping, he's been spending all his time constructing various Iron Man armors to help himself cope. This brings tension to his relationship with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), who he's now living with and is dedicated to.

Upon discovering the location of the Mandarin and his true identity, Iron Man and his almost-sidekick the Iron Patriot aka War Machine aka Col. James "Rhodey" Rhodes (Don Cheadle) head up against a battalion of Extremis-infected warriors and must pull out all the stops to put an end to their reign of terror. The problem is these Extremis soldiers are so powerful that victory doesn't seem likely.

Can Iron Man prevail against an army as strong as he is?

I'm not sure what to make of this movie. Sure, it was entertaining and the storyline was fine. I like the idea of making it a direct follow up to The Avengers, and showing how Tony Stark's world--never mind the rest of the world--had been affected by the Chitauri invasion and the presence of the other Avengers.

This flick was loaded with solid action, tough bad guys, cool tech, guns and everything else that makes an Iron Man movie a lot of fun. I just wasn't sold on the presentation. This might be harsh, but this flick came off as the Batman Forever of the Iron Man movies. I'm all for humor in even the most serious of movies, but it seemed the jokes were either too forced or too slapstick to make me take this flick seriously. And that's the secret with superhero movies: they need to take themselves seriously--even if they're meant to be a comedy--otherwise they'll never work. There was an awful lot of getting in and out of the Iron Man suits in this film, both by Tony and Rhodey, never mind Pepper getting a shot at wearing it, the President, the Extremis guy--there were so many suit changes that the novelty of watching someone don the Iron Man was quickly spent after the first three times.

This film was not directed by Jon Favreau, which might have had something to do with it. Just seems this movie was weighed down with not enough Iron Man and a storyline--which was solid in and of itself--that moved slowly. I realize Tony's aftermath and post-traumatic stress from The Avengers was the focus, but the same goal could've been accomplished had there been more Iron Man. I don't necessarily mean more action--as action-filled movies that are nothing but explosions start to finish get boring after a while--but perhaps him having a love/hate relationship with the suit because being in it nearly killed him at the end of The Avengers, or maybe take the robo-injections to summon the suit to a new level because he's trying to make himself super to be on par with guys like Captain America or Thor and have him deal with that?

The extra scene at the end of the credits with Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) picked up on the bromance from The Avengers. A nice touch. Didn't move the Marvel cinematic universe forward in any way, but was a nice touch.

If you're a Marvel movie completest, then by all means, check it out. Likewise, pick up the Blu-ray when it comes out to complete your set. For me, I think I'm going to have watch it again and perhaps I'll warm up to it a bit more. I felt let down when I watched the first Spider-Man in 2002, but got more into it with subsequent viewings. Iron Man 3 might be one of those movies.

Just think they could've done a lot more with it.
1076389
In America, a serial killer with wolf-dog accomplices is hacking off people's heads, while in Isreal, the fiendishly megalomaniacal Italian ambassador appears set on world domination. Caught in the middle are two FBI agents--Alicia Wagner, a techie who spends her time developing crime-scene gadgets, but who longs to be kicking butt in the field, and Brady Moore, a recently widowed single dad teetering on the edge of alcoholism who works as a criminal profiler and is downright uncomfortable with a gun.

Working as partners, these two are determined to catch the serial killings. But by following an obscure clue to a small church in New York, where an obscure priest researches Near-Death Experiences, they inadvertently call attention to themselves and soon find themselves the targets of determined and skillful assassins--and betrayed by one of their own. On their own, they have no choice but to follow the trail of clues all the way to the Vatican and to Israel ... if they want to live.

Comes A Horseman is an action-packed roller-coaster of a thriller in the style of The DaVinci Code, with sharply drawn characters and a plot almost too clever for its own good. A bit of a mark-down for wildly erratic point-of-view. While the book starts with numerous points of view, all of which the reader becomes invested in, partway through the book we narrow focus to only the FBI agents. I really wanted to know what happened to Pip, and the 12-year-old boy who narrowly escaped beheading. It just seemed like there were a few too many loose threads.

And then there was Coco. Animal lovers won't appreciate his fate.

Overall, COMES A HORSEMAN was a fun and engrossing read with a very satisfying ending. An exciting first-novel.
4753726
This movie a thriller and the characters are amazing when they are in action. This movie has a hilarious laughing moments.
1710565
Excellent action thriller and Nick and Selena kick butt. Glad to see the good relationship of Nick with the lead guy with Shin Bet. Maybe our current administration could learn something from the author about good relations with Israel.
2384210
I sure do love a good shoot em' up and that is pretty much what "2 Guns" is. Although somehow the creators managed to blend and old fashion crime, gun-slinging action flick with a movie like "Ocean's Eleven". It's a heist, action, comedy, western, thriller and espionage movie all rolled into one. You may think that may be a little too much for a movie to try and bite off and chew but with people like Denzel Washington, Bill Paxton, Edward James Olmos and Mark Wahlberg driving the ship. It all seems to work.

Denzel plays Robert `Bobby' Trench and Wahlberg plays Michael `Stig' Stigman. They are partners who have many complicated layers that only the viewer should be saddled with figuring out because that's half the fun. In fact, as the two men start the movie off setting up a scenario for a bank robbery we quickly realize that the chemistry between the two is half the fun. We haven't seen such great chemistry between two on screen partners since the Lethal Weapon movies.

Bill Paxton hasn't played such a phenomenal bad guy since he tortured Wyatt and whacked Gary's girlfriend on the top of the head with the shotgun in "Weird Science". He eats up every situation he has on screen with a twisted sense of humor and a menacing delivery that has you glued to the screen. He may have gone to waste a bit toward the end of the movie but there are so many levels to the film that it is once again, forgiven.

There were a few things that could have made "2 Guns" and even better movie but for anybody who likes a movie that has twists, turns, action and humor, it works. It may get a little ridiculous a handful of times and there was a minor moment toward the end that really bothered me after watching a witty, creative and realistic movie for the most part. Pull the trigger, man. You don't have to explain yourself. It is like you know the camera is on you and you have to release some plot information. No, you don't. That is small potatoes though because "2 Guns" is a whole lot of intelligent and twisty fun.