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gertru007
Reviews
Terminator Genisys (2015)
Best Sequel After T:2
I hated the last entry, Salvation, because it was just ridiculous. This one however touched all the points that matter. For the 2nd time we see the legendary John Connor in the real but this time so much more convincing.
Jason Clarke has made his mark on this franchise and he should return for any planned sequels. He is very good in this role. I know some die hard fans unlike me may disagree but just imagine what a mess Christian Bale would have been if he was recast here.
I love the concept although the nexus of events that happen and don't happen is confusing and a bit difficult to digest. One short coming is the human like behavior of Arnie's bot that is somewhat difficult to accept as no other bot is expected to have become self aware. For any sequels this should be addressed and replaced with the flat one liners of T:1.
Ex Machina (2014)
Disturbing but with lots of plot holes
Okay so i am fan of sci-fi movies and appreciate even the disturbing ones. This one was very good overall but left me dumbfounded at the plot holes.
Nathan(Oscar Isaac) is shown as a very aristocratic and obsessed genius who has made a major break through in AI. And Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson)is an employee personally selected for the task of Turing test. Add some manipulation by Nathan and there you have it.
The director might have been confident filming the climax scene when Nathan exposes Caleb's plan and Caleb is shown slouched and depressed. I could not connect to that scene, as for me I was glad the genius was catching up.
I was more concerned about the possibility of a human falling so head over heals for a machine that he would betray his own race.
When the first power failure occurs during session-2 or 3 and the machine confides into Caleb I thought he would report it to Nathan directly however he starts on a one-way path that ends deservingly well for him. How can anyone be so vulnerable?
For a genius to have not foreseen the worst case scenario is the biggest plot hole. Add to that his drinking problem and I can't fathom how he survived those few miserable years that he had been living on that sterile facility. Further how could he have overlooked the connection between latest version of AI and power shutdowns?
Had these points been addressed it would have been more believable. Yeah I accept it disturbed me but in the wrong way. I didn't want to bring it up but it seems necessary to mention here that the only reason for such movies is to indirectly induce and promote Darwinism. Well good try but not good enough.
Generator Rex (2010)
Good Action Packed Adventure
I have always been an action cartoon fan ever since the original Transformers back in 90s. And I really like the humor or should I call it wittiness of the protagonist (Rex). This is complimented well by the arch enemy Van Kleiss who has the best original theme music, go ahead fish it on you-tube.
Our hero is a teen struggling with various moral dilemmas about right and wrong when using his super powers. He has the ability to generate various mechanical stuff from his limbs using the nanites in his body. Actually the whole world is shown to be infected due to an incident but only he has the ability to command and control them. He can also cure others by diffusing their nanites. He is often seen comparing orders with moral consciousness about consequences. I love it all. And to add to it our hero is intelligent enough to take good decisions. He has Agent Six as a father figure to look up to, who looks like Agent Smith from Matrix but never the less, a bad ass mentor the kind not to mess with. He manages to balance Rex's silliness well. The side kick Chimp Bobo is also a likable character and adds to the mix. Doctor Holiday is a motherly figure although too pretty for Rex to accept, so he hits on her regularly. The wittiness is very good especially when it involves Van Kleiss.
I like stories which detour the least from main story line but with Rex even the detours are fun to watch. Overall one of the best action cartoons out there.
Jarhead (2005)
Documentary or Mockumentary
It is by far the worst movie. No I am sorry the worst documentary. No no I am sorry again the worst Mockumentary. I don't know which one was it but it failed in all cases.
I wonder why would anyone make a movie and forget to give it a purpose. I mean when you watch a movie a part stays in your head. One that you think about and wonder about for some time but in this case as soon as the credits roll, no well before that you realize that it was a failed attempt at making a war movie from the documentary of Gulf war.
There was only one thing that I found good which was the theme music but you will forget that well before the credits roll so my advice to all is to stay away.
I would never have written this review but for the lost 2 hours of my life I wanted to help others save that instead for watching their wall paint get dry.
Whisper (2007)
A Beautiful Movie
It is one of those movies that look ordinary and start slow but catch up fast. I admit some of its plots look predictable but that is also the whole point. Human beings are all the same and all have similar weaknesses. I was particularly impressed with Josh Holloway's performance. He has talent and provided the right opportunity he can deliver. I can't say the same about Sarah Wayne Callies, she appeared to be struggling. It seemed a little light on horror for its story but otherwise gives a chilling experience nevertheless. And the ending was also good.
Overall a movie with character.
Push (2009)
Worst time waster
Where do i start? The plot started with so much potential that I could only drool over all the action that was to come only to find out immediately in the next scene that that is where the film takes a nose dive and never recovers from it.
The acting was so poor that I felt sorry for the lead actors to have been casted for these roles. Only Dakota Fanning appears convincing in her role. The story had potential but it has been so stupidly executed that it hurts to even recollect it. I believe production values are to blame for that but still it could have been something so much better even in the same budget.
I don't know why it is rated so high at IMDb. The only people who can truly love it for any thing or every thing have to be new movie goers.
So keep away unless you are 12 years old.
Terminator Salvation (2009)
A major disappointment
Like millions others I am a very big fan of the Terminator series. In my wait for the movie I watched both the seasons of "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" only to watch this movie and regret it.
The first Turn Off was the PG-13 rating that really took away so much potential from the action scenes. The second was Christian Bale trying too hard with no actual conviction. And the third most horrid part was the mere stupidity of carrying pea-shooters when they already knew they can't even scratch cyborgs with it. This is something that i realized in the TV series as well. I kept thinking why has it never crossed their mind to send a team to the past for research and development of weapons that would actually hurt these machines.
Okay I have some reservations for John Connor as well. The legend that he is portrayed to be through out the series require some special skill for the audience to acknowledge his importance. It is the first time that we get the chance to see The John Connor that the machines fear.Yet he's just shown as a paranoid soldier with some hind knowledge of these machines. No special skill like being a genius for making a killer virus that would eventually kill Sky Net or a natural born instinctive soldier with the agility that the machines find hard to match (with at least the T-600/T-800 models) or any other specialty that would ultimately lead to the fall of the machines. But instead he is just a common soldier forced by circumstances to become the leader of the Resistance. In the current scenario i don't see why no one else can replace him as a leader of the Resistance.
One star was my initial rating but for the return of T-800 (Arnold), which was really the best scene of the movie, I am giving it 3 stars.
Saw IV (2007)
A good sequel
I love this series because it really makes me think. And the one simple twist of changing sequence of scenes is so clever that it deserved a 7. But it also frustrated me on logical grounds so i had to give it a 6.
John Kramer is not justified, even with his god forsaken rules, to punish a hardworking police officer for being too ambitious to save others. For God's sake that is his job, this is what he is being paid for. And being ambitious about it is a quality I wish every police officer had. It is really hard for me to get over it. It makes him look desperate and so much not like The Jigsaw.
Other than that it is nicely paced and enjoyable.
Saw V (2008)
The Worst Saw Movie
SAW 1 was and shall remain for a long time the best Horror/Thriller of its genre. Although it did continue to impress with brain teasing twists in sequels, SAW 5 lacked that and so serve more like a copy of SAW movies.
Main problem is its predictability. Actually it should never have taken this route. The person capable of taking over the torch from John should and can never be a normal, regular office going over weight chump. It should have been some twisted freak with an IQ greater than John who had beaten him in his own games by predicting John's mind.
It sounds and looks so silly watching the head of police taking guided tours from John to become John II. As clever and smart as the story has been till SAW 4, SAW 5 has buried its reputation six feet deep.
Traitor (2008)
Successful flirting with a very sensitive topic
OK first things first. This is by far the closest portrayal of a Real Muslim. Samir has moral principals that are based on Islam. And in all the dialogues that he conveys he tries to show what a true Muslim thinks and believes in.
The story revolves around Samir an explosives' expert working with a terrorist group that exploits Muslim's Faith for their interests. It flirts with the grey areas of Muslim Beliefs and tries to separate the black from white.
An excellent film if Muslim Beliefs are seen through the eye of Samir. It however leaves a distaste regarding the ease with which suicide bombers are recruited from every walk of life, which is a bit difficult to believe.
An excellent effort from Jaffery Nachmanoff.