Reviews by SJMJ91

This film was a brilliant film based on courage and survival. This was a very enjoyable film but it did have a few flaws. I think the two flaws that it had was that the film made it seem like those two cops were the only victims within the World Trade Center terrorist attack but there were 2,000 others. I got a tiny bit bored in the middle. It was a bit too long for me It is a very tragic tale of an event that made the world saw pure evil that day. It hit the world big time and still affects the world because of the war that's going on now. September 11, 2001 is a day that not only Americans will forget but other people around the world won't forget. At first I was against them for making both World Trade Center and United 93 because both films were released the same year and they would battle against each other but also the actual event only occurred five years ago at the time whereas it's not far from 10 years ago now.


I think the acting was the other flaw of this film. Where it came to the Jimeno's the acting was good from Michael Pena and Maggie Gyllenhaal as Will and Alison Jimeno but I didn't really like Nicolas Cage and Maria Bello as John and Donna McLoughlin. I couldn't really get into Nicolas Cage as John McLoughlin because I don't think he showed the character with very much enthusiasm and believability. All I could hear from Cage was all of these stupid groans "Ohhhh" this and "ohhh" that. Also, when he was talking to Will he was like "yyyyyyeahhhhhh, Wiilllllll" and that was the only thing that annoyed me about this film. Maria Bello didn't make it any better. She isn't a very good actress. Well, she can't be after replacing Rachel Weisz in The Mummy and the third one was bad critically. Michael Pena was the best of the cast as Will Jimeno because he was more of a realistic character and was more desperate to get back to his family than John was. Pena truly did portray Jimeno like he is a real-life person even though he really is whereas Cage didn't. Maggie Gyllenhaal was good as well as Alison Jimeno. I think she was the more heartbroken, gutted and deeply worrying wife than Maria Bello was.


World Trade Center is one of the works that Oliver Stone didn't earn enough credit for. World Trade Center is a beautifully filmed story that perhaps could have had a better director and could have had a better cast but couldn't have been better told regarding the story. Oliver Stone has been a director of creating films that effect America like Kennedy's assassination (JFK), Ron Kovic in Vietnam war (Born On The Fourth Of July) and now this. He is a decent director, well, he was but he needs a breakthrough Oscar film.


Overall, World Trade Center is a flawed but enjoyable film that I would watch again. It could have had a better director and a better cast for this film to make it more believable and realistic. Nicolas Cage needs a breakthrough and he needs one badly because as far as I'm and probably most people are concerned, his acting ability is going down the drain. McLoughlin's weren't very believable whereas the Jimeno's were. Middle part got a little bit boring but came together well in the end. I would have rated this film 4.5 if there weren't any of those flaws. I enjoyed watching this and I would watch again at some point in the future.

When I saw the trailer of this film at the cinema, I thought to myself "I've gotta see this!" and when I saw it on DVD, everything about it totally blew me away! I think everything about this film was absolutely terrific except one thing: the film focused more on the gore and graphic violence more than history. I mean, most people would watch it for the violence rather than it being a history film. Apocalypto is the goriest film that I have ever seen in my life.


Mel Gibson has directed this film so perfectly. At the sacrifice scene, I have absolutely no idea how he directed so many people to do different things within one single scene. I mean, most of the time directors have to use CGI effects for thousands of people to appear in but in Apocalypto, Mel Gibson directed thousands of real people in scenes which is mesmerising. All three of Mel Gibson's films are history epics. I enjoyed this one a lot but not as much as Braveheart. As far as Passion Of The Christ, that is something I won't ever watch. Roland Emmerich's 10,000B.C. is like a spoof as well as a rip off of this great film. The script was very powerfully written! There were some things about the script of the film that made it psychological and can stay on your mind for a while as it did for me when I first saw it.


Overall, Apocalypto is a gruesome yet intense action-packed thrill ride that I loved from start to finish. Another fine Mel Gibson achievement!

I knew I was going to like this film but not half as much as I actually did. It totally surprised me. I absolutely loved it. It kicks some serious ass which is what I love about some films. It is a very violent film with a lot of blood but it is very realistic in a sexual way especially when Slevin caught his girlfriend having sex with another man. It is a film that you get totally gripped with all the way through. I find it to be a totally amazing film that is just a really cool film as well. This film has a really powerful and unexpected twist that left me reeled in shock. This film now has one of the best ensemble cast of all time in my opinion. I really love all 5 actors within it. Two of them are Oscar winners and the other three are really famous actors with different talents.


Josh Hartnett has yet to disappoint me in any film. He probably isn't the perfect actor to portray Slevin but is the closest to that rank. Hartnett is an actor who is really good at playing hard-hitting characters in hard, aggressive films as well as being a heart throb. He is one of the young actors who I could see earning an Oscar or two in the future. Another actor around that age Heath Ledger is another after earning a posthumous Oscar only for the second time in cinema history for acting. Hartnett has been in very dark films and has played characters that are very cool in my mind. Bruce Willis was awesome as Mr. Goodkat. He reminds me a bit of Léon in the 1994 film Léon: The Professional. Both Willis and Hartnett appeared in Sin City together one year before. Lucy Liu was absolutely brilliant as Lindsey who is a doctor and the girlfriend of Slevin. She is an actress of being in action films such as Kill Bill and Charlie's Angels but her role as Lindsey is a new kind of role for her. I don't think I've ever seen her portray a character like Lindsey before. I think it is the first time that Liu has portrayed such a simple and ordinary modern day character. The two Oscar winners Morgan Freeman and Ben Kingsley portray two criminals that enemies. Both of their characters names are like names from Sin City: The Boss (Freeman) and The Rabbi (Kingsley). I love both actors and the films they have been in together but they added a lot of awesome realistic moments between the characters.


The director has created a masterpiece in my mind. It is one of the best cult films of the decade or maybe even of all time. The way the characters were named and in some ways of the way it was filmed reminded me quite a bit of Sin City. I know obviously that Lucky Number Slevin isn't in that same kind of colour as Sin City but those reasons that I said about the characters reminded me of Sin City. I would have suggested that this would have been a good film from directors like Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez or David Fincher.


Lucky Number Slevin is now in my opinion one of the best films of 2006 and one of the most underrated films of that year as well as of all time. It has a very underrated ensemble cast as well. It isn't the best from any of the cast members but they are all solid performances. It is a film of pure entertainment as well as excellent filmmaking. In my mind, Lucky Number Slevin is a film that you would enjoy time and time again.

For some reason I like this one more than the first one because I loved the characters within it. Also, there are more characters involved and is in my opinion more of a deep story than the previous one. To me, this film resembles a lot from Shrek 2 because Manny has a similar sort of personality as Shrek. They both appear grumpy and miserable but once you get to know who they really are they both have a big heart and a very emotional side. I find Sid very funny as usual and at the same time a very irritating character in a good way of course. He is a lot like Donkey because of the sweet and kind attitude and particularly how annoying Sid is with Manny just like Donkey is with Shrek. I think it would be pretty funny to see Sid and Donkey in a film together as it would be for Manny and Shrek. It was really cleverly done as far as the jokes are concerned which was so awesome about this film. I love John Leguizamo's voice because he talks in a duck-like lisp with Sid. His voice connects perfectly with Sid's character. John truly has one of the wierdest voices that I have ever heard.


Ray Romano and Denis Leary make a fantastic return as Mammoth Manny and Sabre-Tooth tiger Diego. New characters Mammoth (self-called) Ellie who is voiced by Queen Latifah typically. Her two menacing possum "brothers" Crash and Eddie who are voiced by Seann William Scott and Josh Peck. I think Crash is a really character for Seann because Crash is a real troublemaker which is what Seann is like in American Pie trilogy and Road Trip. When Crash calls Manny a "pervert" that is something that Seann William Scott would say. The script was good but I did think that it was a very predictable story.


It is like I sort of knew what was going to happen even before I saw the film for the first time and also while I was watching it at the cinema in 2006. It is better than the first film in my opinion even though I do still really like the first one a lot. My second favourite animated film of 2006 after Monster House and it is one of the funniest films of 2006 and one of the funniest animated films of all time too. It is a bit overrated but it is one of the funniest animated film of all time.

The Prestige is an absolutely fantastic film! I was blown away by how extraordinary this film really was. The film is pure magic about magic. Magic + magic = almost perfection. The Prestige looks like a very magical and beautiful film on the cover and looking at the still pics but it isn't as bright and beautiful as it looks. This is one of the darkest films I think I've ever watched. The Prestige is a film that changes its course of plot every 20-30 minutes because there is an unexpected twist. Despite how many twists there are, I don't find it flawed. I was blown away by how many there was and how well worked out they were. It is a beautiful film on love but it is a heartbreaking story that beats down on friendship. There are a lot of different moments in the film that become very severe and drastic consequences. The Prestige is a film that I really do admire for it's artistic design and the way it was filmed. It has absolutely outstanding cinematography and costume design.


Hugh Jackman was absolutely incredible as Robert Angier. Robert Angier is the more experienced magician. Angier is a married man to a beautiful woman called Julia. Something tragically happens which effects him as well as the whole film. That was the very first deeply effective twist. Christian Bale is even better as Alfred Borden. He is a rather sinister, scheming yet rather twisted young man who becomes deeply jealous of Angier because of his talent. They always try and destroy each other by making them fail their tricks or worse by getting in their personal lives. Michael Caine is a fantastic actor who is really good at playing alongside Christian Bale particularly in Nolan films like he does in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Scarlett Johansson was another big star in this masterpiece! Her performance was good but it isn't one of her greatest performances. I think she could have improved a little bit more but she did fine in this film. I really liked Rebecca Hall in this film as Sarah Borden. She was the most emotional character I think because she worries for her husband Alfred and their daughter Jess. Andy Serkis was cool in this film as well as Mr. Alley.


Christopher Nolan is a masterful filmmaker! He proves himself to be once again in another masterpiece that he can add to his outstanding filmography. Despite how many Oscars this film was nominated for I think that it should have been nominated for some more like a script one, a directing one, a costume design or a music Oscar nomination. Nolan is a fantastic director and he always has been. I really like Nolan as a screenwriter too. He writes really well with his brother Jonathan Nolan.


The Prestige is a magical, depressing, heartracing, heartbreaking masterpiece that I was left speechless right at the end of it. This is Nolan's second best film after obviously The Dark Knight. The Prestige is one of the fantastic masterpieces of 2006 and that wasn't a brilliant year in cinema. The Prestige is a film that I think everybody should watch because people would love it for the beautiful filming but also the twists and turns that occur within the dialogue of the story.

This is one of the single most depressing and tensest films ever made. The main thrilling thing about Children Of Men was that it was like a no way out situation for the characters and even for the audience as well. Also, it is the story in general that was so tense. It was the impactful scenes that were often rather terrifying. This is one of those recent thrillers that is probably one of the best. It sort of made me feel a bit sick the first time I saw it but strangely in a good way. There are some thrillers that have and still do disturb me at times but are absolutely fantastic films. There have been quite a lot of recent sci fi thrillers that have been absolutely crap but this is probably one of the best sci fi thrillers of all time. The Star Wars franchise is up with Children Of Men on that list.


Clive Owen didn't earn very much credit for this film because it is a bit of an underrated British film but stars an overrated British actor. Clive took Theo's character very seriously because the story was very dark and emotional so he needed to be good in which he really was. Theo is a middle-aged man who is alone after divorcing his ex-wife Julian and their son dying. Because the human race faces extinction, Theo distracts himself by keeping a bottle of whisky in his pocket. Theo is just an ordinary guy who just wants to live a normal life even though humans are going extinct. He is a real hero by risking his life to save a pregnant woman and the human race itself. Julianne Moore was good but not brilliant as Julian. Julianne Moore irritates me quite a lot because she doesn't really give the character she plays very much power and force and she makes them just plain characters.


Alfonso Caurón's direction should have earned him an Oscar nomination. It was absolutely phenomenal with a dark side to what our future could be like. The script was absolutely awesome that was very interesting with a very powerful script with powerful scenes and with very powerful bonds.


This film isn't my favourite Clive Owen film. I liked him more in Closer, Sin City and Shoot Em Up. It is one of the best of 2006 and one of the top sci fi thrillers ever! Masterpiece!!!

This film made me feel really quite depressed because it was obviously a depressing and very personal storyline. It is a very dark film because it mostly features about obsession, commitment and love. It is like a paedophile story too because a female teacher is having a love affair with a student. He leads her on but she cant resist him so that is where she becomes torn between the young lad and her family. It is a very emotional as well as a disturbing thriller. The acting was absolutely fantastic from the whole cast. They were all very powerful and very emotional which fitted perfectly with the character.


Judi Dench delivers a really powerful performance as Barbara Covett. Judi makes Barbara more of a lonely, bitter and selfish cow than she already is. She makes Barbara quite a destranged and fearful character too. Cate Blanchett delivers an even more powerful performance as young teacher Sheba Hart and is in my opinion, the greatest supporting actress performance of all time. She was truly torn between a young boy she couldnt resist and her family life with her husband, son and daughter. I really liked Cate and Judis partnership together in this film. The scene where Sheba discovers something drastic, that scene was really powerful from Cate and Judi which became my favourite scene of the film. I wasn't that keen on Bill Nighy in this film really but I did like Andrew Simpson as Steven Connolly because he truly did look like an irresistable young man who anyone can fall for as Sheba did.


I thought the direction was excellent from Richard Eyre but mostly was impressed with the script of the film. It was a very powerful script that the lines were said at the correct scenes at the exact right time. This film affects anybody who is torn in a relationship.


This film became one of the best British films of 2006 after Casino Royale. It shows how powerful a lot of British films can be. I was only a little bit disappointed with that I didnt quite feel the love between Sheba and Steven. Apart from that light flaw I thought this film was amazing and is one of the best films of 2006 and maybe even of all time too.

I knew I was going to really like Casino Royale but I had no idea I was going to love it that much. To me, Casino Royale is the best Bond film of all time and I have many reasons for this. It is the most intense one with the best action, it has the best storyline, it has a deeply effective twist which is very rare of a Bond film and also it has that feeling to it that makes us feel that Bond is back after the Die Another Day disappointment but all that dashed all over again when Quantum Of Solace was released. Casino Royale is a very cool James Bond that I loved from start to finish. The best scene is definitely the poker game scene because it was so tense and despite that neither man could touch each other you were really keen to know who was going to be the victorious one between the two. This is also the most violent Bond so far as well. Some Bond films have complex storylines and this is one of them. I understood how the film was structured and who the characters really are. Casino Royale might seem a remake to the previous James Bond 1967 film Casino Royale for two reasons. One: because the 1967 adaptation isn't an official James Bond film. Two: the stories are different.


I really underestimated Daniel Craig as James Bond as probably everybody did before I saw Casino Royale but when I did see it, I wasn't disappointed at all and it turned out to be a performance that is just memorable. He was my favourite Bond until I saw the sequel Quantum Of Solace. Daniel Craig is what some people like to call him James 'Blond' because he is the first and only blonde haired man to portray James Bond. What I loved about James Bond in Casino Royale was that not only did we see the usual typical deadly and cold side to his heroic character but we also saw the vulnerable and sensitive side of things within Bond's personality especially when it comes to women. I do not understand why some people don't like Daniel Craig in this one. He was bloody amazing!! His James Bond is a new Bond regarding looks but personality is exactly the same. Despite of how good Daniel Craig is as James Bond, I do still think the James Bond role should have gone to Clive Owen instead. I think it would have been him if not Craig. Daniel Craig was a good actor before Casino Royale but wasn't as popular before as he is now. None of the 6 actors who have portrayed James Bond have made Bond his own character because they have all given different kinds of Bonds in different varieties of ways. There is one thing that all 6 actors have in common playing James Bond and that is that they all are really charming with women no matter what they look like and also they are really deadly when it comes to action scenes to rescue someone, blow something up, kill anyone etc. I underestimated Eva Green as well as Vesper Lynd. She did actually surprise me with her performance. She is in my opinion one of the ultimate Bond girls. Best Bond girl for me is Elektra King in The World Is Not Enough even though she is actually a villain. Green's role in Casino Royale was almost like a breakthrough performance for her. She did appear in Ridley Scott's Kingdom Of Heaven previously but that wasn't exactly a major role for her. She isn't a bloody amazing actress but she was amazing enough to portray Vesper and I think she is the only actress who would have been good enough or young enough to do so. Vesper is a young woman who is sent by the Treasury to help James Bond beat Le Chiffre in the poker game at Casino Royale. As she gradually gets to know Bond and gets closer to him, they fall in love. That is unlike Bond to do so but it does happen and it does have severe and dramatic consequences in which you would have to see for yourself. Judi Dench pleases me as always as M. M was portrayed by a man when Roger Moore, Sean Connery and George Lazenby were James Bond. I think that Dench is the only person who can portray M. M is strict, rude, determined and can be very serious in a lot of ways but always in her own way. I liked Dench's on-screen partnership with Daniel Craig more than Pierce Brosnan because I could see the frustration and the slight hate in both Craig and Dench's eyes when they are in scenes together. Mads Mikkelsen was good as Le Chiffre. He was a very scary character to watch and I can imagine that the actual actor might be a rather strange actor to meet as well. There was one light flaw about his performance and that was the complete seriousness and determination to win the poker game against Bond. I couldn't really see how serious he was being. It slightly made it feel like he is playing a poker game with fake money and with cheap poker chips but the tension between him and Bond added the spice to his character in another way.


Martin Campbell returns as director of Casino Royale like he did of previous Bond film and first Pierce Brosnan Bond film GoldenEye. Campbell has made Craig's Casino Royale like Brosnan's GoldenEye. Martin Campbell has made Casino Royale the most intense and most action packed Bond film so far. The story is really interesting. Yes, it is rather complex at times but you can't help but get totally gripped by it. What I was gripped with the most about the storyline of this film was like the way the world is today especially when it comes to terrorism. Like in the poker game, if Bond doesn't win the poker game, Le Chiffre will be paying more criminals to perform more terrorist attacks.


This film is a lot better than its sequel Quantum Of Solace which was the biggest disappointment of 2008. I just refer Casino Royale on its own now without Quantum Of Solace involved at all. Casino Royale always has been since it was released Daniel Craig's best acting performance and now it might always be in my case. Eva Green's performance as Vesper Lynd is one of the biggest breakthrough performances of all time without a doubt. Casino Royale is the best James Bond film ever! It is the Goldfinger of this generation and of this century (hopefully). Casino Royale is the action film of 2006 and one of the best of that genre let alone one of the best of 2006. I am now going to pretend like Quantum Of Solace never existed. Casino Royale is to me one of the rare action thriller films that has a long duration and has a lot of deep feelings to it as well as a twist which unfortunately leads to the sequel and in a bad way.

I was going to the cinema in June 2007 expecting a hilarious, witty yet serious family film from a franchise that I will be expecting from every time but when I was watching it, I thought that the story was so flat I almost walked out of the cinema. I was only 10 minutes into it before I just had to say that I am not enjoying it. I watched all of it to see if it made any difference but it made no difference whatsoever. Shrek The Third is a very stupid, ridiculous and awfully written and weak minded film that I think could have been a lot better. Shrek The Third is a boring, flat and poorly structured film that I think was almost a disgrace when comparing Shrek 1, 2 and Shrek The Halls with this one. Shrek The Third was a bit cheesy for my taste. I think that most people find this one disappointing. Despite it is as short as the first two films, it seems like it drags on a bit for some reason which is weird because the story seems short. The only good thing about this film was the absolutely brilliant 3D animation within it.


All of the voice casts Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, John Cleese, Julie Andrews and Rupert Everett reprise their brilliant roles once again. Justin Timberlake portrays the voice of new character Archie. Shrek's life becomes more awkward than it already was especially when Harold names him the heir to the throne of Far, Far Away. When Harold dies, Shrek goes on another quest with Donkey and Puss In Boots to try and find Archie who is the nephew of King Harold and Queen Lillian but just as Shrek is leaving, he recieves an unexpected surprise from Fiona: she's pregnant! Prince Charming vowes revenge on Shrek and Fiona after the death of his mother and wants to take over Far Far Away.


It is a damn shame Andrew Adamson didn't direct this film because this would have been a lot better. Chris Miller makes an absolutely appalling impression of Shrek. I felt so bored in the Merlin scenes. Those scenes in the film were irrelevant in my opinion.


I am glad there was another 2007 Shrek film because it has replaced Shrek The Third as third Shrek film that I like. Shrek Goes Fourth better be better than this major disappointment. If not, the great Shrek franchise that it was will be dead. 2007 had some disappointing threequals like Spider-Man 3 and Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End but neither of those two are as disappointing as Shrek The Third.

I was unsure of what to expect from Ghost Rider because I never read the comic books of it. There were a few things that I were expecting though and they were awesome action and visual effects along with a well acted, well directed and well written film. After seeing this film at the cinema, I came out quite disappointed because its technical qualities were awesome but the acting, directing and screenwriting was pretty lame. I think that is what you get from most films like this. The action was awesome and so were the visual effects. You can probably tell from the title that this film is quite scary and that it was.


Nicolas Cage was the thing that ruined it for me because he was completely miscast for Johnny Blaze. He was far too old to play such a young character. His black hair looked absolutely ridiculous. It didn't suit him at all. Of what happened to Blaze as a child, I couldn't see any drama or emotion at all within Nicolas Cage. Eva Mendes didn't make it any better either. I think that is what we get most of the time with supporting females in superhero films. Others include, Katie Holmes in Batman Begins, Kate Bosworth in Superman Returns, Jennifer Garner in Daredevil and Jennifer Connelly in Hulk. Wes Bentley was pretty scary in this film as the son of the Devil.


The directing of Ghost Rider was good as far as action and visual effects are concerned but wasn't that good as far as actors are concerned. The action scenes are really intense and fun but that didn't completely satisfy me when I walked out of cinema. The script was very flat in my opinion. Ghost Rider focused more on technical qualities rather than acting, directing and writing.


Ghost Rider is an average that is more of a bad film than a good film. It is Nicolas Cage's worst performance that I think made him a bad actor nowadays. Ghost Rider could have been a lot better. There is going to be a sequel. I will see it but I don't be excited about it.