BwSwim Reviews

The Town (2010)

Give Affleck a Chance

[8/10 · 18 September 2010]

Ben Affleck has had many ups and downs in his career. Some people love to hate on the guy because of some of his choices and the crap he has been in (Daredevil and Gigli). The Town however, is an excellent movie. It really does not do anything that we have not seen before in any other heist movies. What does stand out about it are the characters. That is where Affleck sets himself apart from many other mediocre directors. In The Town they made characters that the audience cared about. They made us care about the bad guys when they were getting shot at. It is a tough thing to do to make a bad guy the center of a film and have the audience care about him.

Jeremy Renner is great in this movie just like he was great in the Hurt Locker. The rest of the cast does an admirable job as well. The relationship development and the shot at redemption are what truly set The Town apart. I believed Affleck's performance, and I believed his direction of the movie.

8 out of 10.

Predators (2010)

Always was and always will be badass!

[7/10 · 14 July 2010]

The original Predator is a great action movie. The follow up with Danny Glover was not as good, but still pretty bad-ass. Even though this installment did not follow the Alien vs. Predators offshoot I will still go on record as saying they are both entertaining movies.

The reason for all of those things is because the Predator is just a flat-out badass character. The Predator is a super-hunter that hunts men (and in some instances Aliens) as its most dangerous game. He can cloak, he has a laser gun, he has heat vision, and he has a retractable sword on his arm. That is not to mention a slew of other cool gadgets only meant to aid in killing.

The premise of this movie is that the Predators have abducted the best killers on the planet earth and put them into their own private game preserve planet. Adrian Brody leads a relatively recognizable cast as the mercenary Royce. The band of humans first goal is just to survive, but when they learn what they are into they decide to fight back.

This movie is filled with plenty of action and gore that any action/sci-fi fan can and will enjoy. It is by no means the best movie ever made, but if you are an action fan or a fan of the series it is definitely a must see. 7.5 out of 10.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)

Best of the Series So far

[6/10 · 6 July 2010]

Unfortunately for fans of the book series, and for anyone who managed to watch the first two films, the movie series up until this point has been a letdown. The acting was poor, and the story just did not seem to be working on film. They could not convey all of the emotion that was coming from the book, and the dialogue was just not there.

In saying that I was not really looking forward to this movie, but since I read the series I figured I owed it to the books to give it a watch. I went in with low expectations, that were buoyed a little bit by the fact that this is my favorite of the books.

Eclipse as a stand alone movie is decent at best. I would rate it a 6 out of 10. It has it's entertaining parts with the battle scenes, and it actually integrates some humor onto the screen. The actor is the best of the movies so far, but is still mediocre. When comparing it to the other two films I think that this is definitely a step in the right direction.

I would say it is worth a watch if you are a fan of the series, and if not... maybe redbox it.

Get Him to the Greek (2010)

Completely Ridiculous... and Awesome!

[8/10 · 10 June 2010]

This movie was great. I expected considering how much I enjoyed Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and how much I enjoy Jonah Hill in general. I was not disappointed. The only reason that I did not give this movie a higher rating was because it was so ridiculous and unbelievable. I could not stop laughing out loud in the theater and neither could the rest of the audience (which was decent sized for a mid week night time showing after release). If you do not like drinking, drugs, and sex than I would recommend that you do not even come close to this one. It is above the top in all three of those aspects. You may be offended by some things, but that is the whole point of the movie... enjoy it. See it soon, I foresee this one growing in popularity as word of mouth spreads. 8/10.

Robin Hood (2010)

Not what I was expecting, but not disappointing

[7/10 · 17 May 2010]

Let me start this review off by letting my bias be known. I love Russel Crowe as an actor, and when Russel Crowe and Ridley Scott teamed up for Gladiator they made one of my favorite movies of all time.

With that being said I expected quite a lot from this movie. I also thought I knew the story because of all the other Robin Hood movies that I have seen over the years. This movie was different from any of the other renditions that I have seen. It focuses much more on how Robin Longstride (Crowe) becomes the outlaw Robin Hood, rather than on his life in the forest.

In focusing on the formation of Robin Hood Ridley Scott was able to show a new look to an old story. He was also able to create the epic battle scenes that he had used previously in Gladiator.

The best part of this movie to me though, was Cate Blanchett. She plays Marian Locksley, the recently widowed wife. She is so good that she takes the focus away and steals the thunder from Russel Crowe.

The things that tripped the movie up for me were that the story was a little convoluted and more time could have been spent on developing it. We learn of Robin's past and his father for a short time, and than the idea of that becomes a central factor in the movie. The story develops slowly and than at the end everything happened too fast for my taste.

Overall, I think the movie was a decent effort. I enjoyed the new take on an old story. I loved watching Russel Crowe own people on a battlefield again. I liked Cate Blanchett, as Marian, playing an active role not a damsel. I just wish that the story would have been developed more... 7 out of 10

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Iron Man 2 is Totally Worth it.

[8/10 · 10 May 2010]

For some reason this movie had not been getting the greatest critic reviews. I do not understand that at all. I thought the movie was very enjoyable and a successful sequel in the series.

For anyone who has seen the first Iron Man you can expect much of the same in this movie. Robert Downey Jr. plays Tony Stark like he is meant for the part. He has the same sarcastic wit and self-confidence that is evident in his other movie roles. Gwyeneth Paltrow, as Pepper Potts, has a comes more to the forefront in the sequel. I also personally love that Jon Favreau is the driver for Stark/Potts, and that he gets into the action a little bit. You have to respect the director for that, even though Jon has done plenty of acting himself.

Normally in when they replace someone in a sequel with a different actor/actress I am very upset. However, Don Cheadle replacing Terrence Howard in Iron Man 2 as War Machine/Lt. Rhodes made me happy. This is similar to what happened with Maggie Gylenhal in the Dark Night.

Samuel L. Jackson playing Nick Fury has a bigger role, and it leads all the viewers into wanting The Avengers movie to come out immediately. Scarlett Johansson also showed up with some impressive stunt work, along with her always gorgeous looks.

All in all it was a well done sequel. The plot is not too convoluted to follow. The new villain, played by Mickey Rourke, is very impressive and fun to watch. The action scenes are all entertaining but they do not completely drive the movie. The only thing that I wished for leaving the theater was a longer final fight scene.

Also, make sure to watch after the credits!! It is short, but worth it.

How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

Entertaining For Anyone

[8/10 · 6 May 2010]

I am a twenty two year old male. Animated features are not my usual movie-going preference, but my girlfriend sometimes drags me to them. Some like Up and this movie How to Train your Dragon were very enjoyable for me.

The basic story of this movie is a young boy, Hiccup (Jay Baruchel), lives in a town of Vikings. His father (Gerard Butler) is the town leader. The town is in a constant state of readiness to fend of the attacking dragons. They fear them, train for them, and try to fight them.

Hiccup is different than all the other Vikings, fighting and killing is not his way. In the movie he catches the dreaded Night Fury dragon only to find out how friendly they can be.

The movie is full of action, the 3-D was seamlessly added in, and it is a great story of father-son love and developing friendships that people of all ages can relate to. It is funny and entertaining throughout and I would give a recommendation to anyone to go watch it. 8 out of 10.