cookcolin1

A very enjoyable detective film. Nice transitions. A good amount of content in a 90 minute movie. Love, family, tragedy, comedy, social politics, etc. Are touched upon. With some good ol' guilt to boot. Some very nice cinematic moments as we see the night views of Dublin. It has some noir to it. A bit of a whodunit. I cherish B-movies at times due to the wide net of appeal, bulging budgets, and cliché storytelling of AAA titles. On most occasions, this style of movie is more in-line of film as art. Great acting by the lead. The rest are good enough. Story could be more playful to the whodunit element but works. Maybe it is too much content with the multiple storylines for the length but, the length is refreshing. Easy to digest. I rated against the totality of films I have seen and rated from City Lights to The Deer Hunter to Anchorman. Maybe it's a 7. Watch it if you like mystery, detective, thriller, suspense, noir. I would like to see at least a sequel. Perhaps a trilogy. After all, character's with their name in the title often get sequels these days.

High production values and good acting do some justice to a Korean film that is muddled by poor editing and an overall lack of coherency. The title is mis-translated to a cliché and generic action title with many a movie before it. The protagonist and antagonist do their jobs, and their is some creativity to the vs. aspect of the two, however, the other characters are easily lost and unrelated to. Only one other character is partially exposed by the camera. The movie goes for a bit of Oceans 11 heist-caper with some action elements. If you've ever watched popular Korean film, the reoccurring vengeance theme is present as well. I think somewhere in the development of this movie, someone was a little too overambitious. The plot drifts around. There's a definite effort to be unique but it end up being way too familiar. The classic scenario of the exchange of goods for the life of a friend is used. The editing at points is so jumpy and confusing it hurts. As I said though, it is not a terrible movie. The main characters are interesting and they have enough distinctness to make them real. If you are looking to watch a better Korean flick, you could watch Wild Card for a strictly cop action movie. For vengeance,director Park Chan Wook's vengeance trilogy would be best (Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, "....Mr. Vengeance", Oldboy. Or, for a slickly produced ,agrivating, get the bad guy movie, check out Chaser.

The Rocky series holds a special nostalgic place in my heart. Seeing a Rocky movie connects me to other favorite movies from growing up, those films you've seen by now countless times, and still can enjoyably watch. Such films Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Terminator. Despite the backlash of some critics for the continuation of such series after so many years have passed, why not continue something that is proved good entertainment. Hollywood is remaking perfectly good and not very old movies these days, so what's wrong with continuing a series after many years. In Rocky Balboa's case it works! Would you have preferred a remake? After watching the original Rocky, and I mean really watching the original Rocky as a film, you can see the essence of what the series continued on as. It was a cool boxing movie yes but, it made us emotional and attached the character. The overcome the odds, underdog tale, about a guy who's a guy and he works his ass off and gets it done. Brilliant right? It's tried and true but not automatic and the first Rocky was something above the other ones. Why? Because the first Rocky could have stood the test of time without the others. The 2,3,4,5, and Balboa could have never existed, and there, on your TV, to your excitement, is Rocky on a cable TV channel at 11pm on a Tuesday. The end of the movie was unique. The end was there was no end. That being said, the trilogy continued on, with some pretty cool fights and a similar underdog theme, each with outstanding characters and new challenges.

Rocky Balboa should have been Rocky 5. If Stallone could have played a 50 some year old fighter who steps into the ring one last time in 1990 then it should have been done. It took these years to close the chapter of Rocky. We learn valuable things with age. The once mixed up, shy and poorly spoken Rocky of old yields to the older, wiser, more independent Rocky of the new. He has proved himself and no longer wonders what it would be like. Instead, he has other challenges. The fight is a physical part of Rocky's life that he must train for. But life itself is what Rocky really battles. A life that is relentless in its challenges. One that always takes and despite who you are or what you have done, you always will have challenges to meet. It just never ends.

So Rocky meets the final challenge that we will most likely see. And it's fitting. The series that is so special to many of us, or exciting, or cool, has finally found its closing chapter. Not only is it another boxing movie, with similar themes of the underdog and the nice regular kinda guy. It also develops the theme of Rcoky further. The movie focuses on one man, and seeing his progression, and the knowledge he has gained, who he has become and what he knows as true is something that surpasses a cheap remake of something we already know. A sigh of relief and some closure.