Tag Archives: action

Star Trek Into Darkness(2013) ☆☆☆(3/4) : Vigorous calisthenics within its playground

 “Star Trek Into Darkness” does its calisthenics vigorously within its playground. After the decent start with “Star Trek”(2009), J.J. Abrams goes all the way again with crashes and bangs, and it is certainly thrilling to watch, but it remains within … Continue reading

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Fast & Furious 6 (2013) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4) : Outrageous & Preposterous as usual

At the certain point during one of the action sequences in “Fast & Furious 6”, the audiences around me burst into a big laugh because they could not simply believe what happened on the screen. When one character was hurled … Continue reading

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Iron Man 3 (2013) ☆☆☆(3/4) : Iron Man recharged

Unexpectedly, “Iron Man 3” recharges itself with the sense of fun and excitement while being a little more serious than before. We saw Bruce Wayne and James Bond falling and then rising again in last year, and now it is … Continue reading

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Oblivion (2013) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4) : It’s derivative, but it looks good anyway

After grumbling about “Oblivion” to my lab colleagues right after the afternoon screening at the local theater today, I thought about how easily I could rate this derivative SF film. As a matter of fact, it is so derivative that … Continue reading

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Running Man (2013) ☆☆(2/4) : A running man in a hobbling thriller

 Ironically, new South Korean action movie “Running Man” does not run that much. It instead hobbles a lot while letting itself being saddled with many unnecessary story elements which could have been discarded without any problem, and I kept losing … Continue reading

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Jack the Giant Slayer (2013) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4) : I wonder how these big guys reproduce

 To be frank with you, I had no particular expectation on “Jack the Giant Slayer”, the latest offering from the recent trend of ‘re-interpreting’ fairy tales/folklores into Hollywood blockbuster films. The results from this trend have been unsatisfying like “Mirror … Continue reading

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The Last Stand (2013) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4) : An entertaining B-action movie with Arnold

“The Last Stand” is a flawed but entertaining B-action movie which could have been disappeared without notice if it had not been for two notable things. First, the movie is directed by Kim Jee-woon, a South Korean filmmaker who has … Continue reading

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The Berlin File (2013) ☆☆☆(3/4) : A Cold War espionage in the 21th century

“The Berlin File”, a gritty action film from South Korea, is a respectful homage to those cold, gray espionage films made during the 1960-70s. With its melancholic mood reminiscent of John le Carré’s novels(one of his books briefly appears in … Continue reading

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Jack Reacher (2012) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4) : Don’t find him – He’ll find you

While watching “Jack Reacher”, I thought of one tagline very suitable for the movie: “Don’t find him – He’ll find you.” This one is so conventional that it can be used in any other action thriller films featuring tough guy … Continue reading

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Zero Dark Thirty (2012) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4) : Terror, Torture, Soldier, Spy

 As far as we know, Osama(or Usama) bin Laden was officially dead in May 2011. That is a major ‘spoiler’ to Kathryn Bigelow’s “Zero Dark Thirty”, but the movie is a gripping espionage thriller about a long, exhausting journey its … Continue reading

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