Transporter 2
Cinderella Man
The Great Raid
Transporter 2
"Transporter 2" shows no fear of being utterly ridiculous. The movie jumps right into the most preposterously far-out action scene possible without any pretension, and, as a result, is a lot more fun than the first installment. Jason Statham is a cool guy. He does his own fighting, and he does it well. The fight choreography is just about as professional and inventive as a Hong Kong movie. Because the film is aiming to be fast-paced, over-the-top and a lot of fun, it's easy to forgive the fact that the CGI is sometimes sloppy. This is a silly feature, but if you can get past the lack of logic and just ride along, "The Transporter 2" offers a good time. This flick never stops to think, and neither should we.
( Julie Vinten )
The laconic Frank Martin (Jason Statham) has taken his incredibly bad American accent off to America for this sequel, where he is now transporting a cute little boy to school every day. Trouble is, this particular cute boy has a very powerful daddy and quickly gets kidnapped by a man with a very villainous plan. Actually, it's not even worth talking about the plot. "The Transporter" managed to strike some sort of amusing balance between being an ironic European parody of a Hollywood style-action film, while cashing in on the market it was mocking. But this time around any such distinction is lost and "The Transporter 2" comes close to setting a new standard for cinematic stupidity. Sledgehammer-style irony just isn't enough to make an awful film okay.
( Laimons Juris G )
Cinderella Man
Ron Howard is the master of less-than-subtle, intensely sentimental movies, and "Cinderella Man" is no exception. This is "Seabiscuit" with boxing - a shamefully formulaic and manipulative Oscar-lure. However, I personally found the movie less aggravating and more convincing than the previous Oscar-winning Howard/Crowe collaboration "A Beautiful Mind." This Depression-era movie works as a period piece, but Howard doesn't add anything new to the man-succeeding-against-all-odds angle. Russell Crowe, once again, shows himself as a compelling actor and the interaction between Paul Giamatti and Crowe is dynamic. Renee Zellweger is her usual annoying self, but the filmmakers haven't, to be fair, made it easy for her. I mean, you just try saying: "You are the champion of my heart, James J. Braddock" without a giggle.
( Julie Vinten )
This entertaining "true" tale of depression-era boxing champion Jim Braddock (Russell Crowe) doesn't pull any punches: it shamelessly tries to pummel and jab and hook your tear ducts wide open. Braddock is a promising boxer and a loving family man in the late 1920s when the Great Depression suddenly strikes. Fast forward a few years and he, his devoted wife Mae (Renee Zellweger) and their brood of children are living down in the slums. After years of hardship and countless lost fights, Braddock is given an unexpected chance to redeem himself in the ring. Crowe gives another strong performance and lends the film some class, but by the time Zellweger says "You are the champion of my heart" you'll either want to throw the towel in, or just throw up.
( Laimons Juris G )
The Great Raid
This wartime action/drama has been collecting dust on the shelves of Miramax since 2003, which is just as well because it just isn't very good. A tribute to American heroism during WWII, the feature begins with an excessively long and boring historical introduction with an irritatingly monotonous voiceover. It's so long you start to wonder if the movie is ever going to begin. Close to the end, with the POW rescue operation, the feature becomes somewhat compelling, but by then we don't care much anymore. "The Great Raid" has a couple of strong scenes, but not a very rewarding narrative structure; it takes overly long for the three separate storylines to intertwine. Ultimately, remarkably few of the many feelings portrayed on screen manage to reach the audience.
1/2( Julie Vinten )
This is a curiously likeable and old-fashioned little film about a daring mission by a small group of U.S. Marines to rescue some 500 U.S. prisoners from a heavily fortified Japanese war camp in the Philippines toward the end of WWII. There are no big names here, just lots of big beefy marine hearts. It may be a bit slow for some people, but "The Great Raid" is certainly a fascinating and little-known piece of U.S. military history. You can almost excuse the shallow script and flag-waving patriotism because the raid was such an ostensibly noble cause when you take the politics out of it. The Japanese soldiers and secret police are unfortunately portrayed as total monsters, but then, as someone once said, it's the victors who get to write history.
( Laimons Juris G )