Source Code (2011)

Jake Gyllenhaal is on the up and up at the moment. With the moderately successful Prince of Persia and the recent critically acclaimed Love and Other Drugs with the sweet-on-the-tongue-chewy-in-the-mouth Anne Hathaway, his career is well plotted. And now we have this action thriller; just so we can decide whether he has the action chops of other manly man of Hollywood.

The Skinny: A soldier is sent into the body of a train commuter who was witness to a bombing - only problem is that he has 8 minutes replayed over and over again to find out who is responsible. Action stuff ensues, with hot chick in tow.

The Helmer: Duncan Jones - Moon (2009), Whistler (2002).

Casts: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monoghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright, Russel Peters, James A Woods, Michael Arden, Cos Anvar, Joe Cobden, Craig Thomas.

Tagline: Make Every Second Count

Release Date: 21st April 2011 (Malaysia)

Prediction: This project seems quite water proof - Jake Gyllenhaal the current It dude, and British director Duncan Jones who directed the critically acclaimed Moon (2009) mixing it up in an edge of the seat race against time action thriller.Good to see that time-conscious action films are still alive and kicking as it does effectively leave you on the edge of your seat as seen with The Next Three Days. Anyways, if it looks good, and sounds good, then chances are its probably good. So yeah, knock yourself out.

Wikipedia on Source Code (2011)

Official Website

Trailer

Limitless (2011)

Yet another superhero movie ... or is it? 

The Skinny: A copywriter Eddie Mora (Bradley Cooper) takes special drugs which provides him with superhuman thinking capabilities. However, it comes with a price, as a group of assassins are hot on his trail. Where did the drugs come from and why do they want him dead? 

The Helmer: Neil Burger - The Lucky Ones (2008), The Illusionist (2006), Interview with the Assassin (2002).

The Casts: Bradley Cooper (The Hangover, A-Team), Robert De Niro, Abbie Cornish, Andrew Howard, Anna Friel, Johnny Whitworth, Tomas Arana, Robert John Burk.

Tagline: What if a pill could make you rich and powerful?

Release Date: 18 March 2011 (USA)

Prediction: I like Bradley Cooper - he's the kind of guy you can practically squeeze into any genre of movies: action, comedy, romantic, others. Why? Because he's generic but personable with the right degree of darkness when its called upon (remember The Hangover?). Pit him against De Niro in a superhero-without-costume actioneer, helmed by the guy who handled small gems such as the Illusionist then you may have something going on which is worth seeing. Honestly, I don't like superhero movies, especially costumed ones, or ones with obvious bright light powers coming out from your hands. They're generally lame; a substitute for good acting and good scripting. But this one seems a tad different, the superpowers in this instance is super-intelligence; the ability to super-think super-fast in making super amounts of money. My kind of super powers (apart from instant teleportation). Add to all this superness, a pursuing bunch of killers - which enables you to have brains versus brawns (and guns) face-off. Which should make for good entertainment all around.  

Official Trailer
 Official Site

The Mechanic (2011)

Jason Statham is perfect in this Charlese Bronson remake of a 70s action film with a double plotline that sizzles across the screen like a released fuse.

The Skinny: Elite hit man Arthur Bishop (Stathom) mistakenly assassinates mentor/boss/friend and aspires for atonement by allowing the unbeknowing son (Ben Foster) of the assassinated man to be his protege in the high stakes world of hired killers. Along the way the truth is revealed and the path to vengeance is carved open with a couple automatics and grenades.

The Helmer: Simon West - Con Air (1997), The General's Daughter (1999), Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), Keen Eddie (TV) (2003), Closer to Home (TV) (2005), Under Pressuer (TV) (2006), When A Stranger Calls (2006), Split Decision (TV movie) (2006), The Man (TV movie) 2007), Purple Mountain (2008), Human Target (TV) (2010), The Cape (TV) (2011), The Mechanic (2011). 

The Casts: Jason Statham (Arthur Bishop), Ben Foster (Steve McKenna), Donald Sutherland (Harry McKenna), Tony Goldwyn (Dean), Mini Anden  (Sarah).

The Verdict: This is a great actioneer old school style. I was expecting the typical Transporter type of fare, but was pleasantly surprised that this movie surpassed that franchise by coupla thousand feet. The whole feel of the movie is grainy and golden-hued, strongly reminiscent of 70s spy movies, and to some extent it is. Statham is his silent brooding self, but it is Ben Foster who shines as the reckless and totally unpredictable protege who is very much human in action and reaction. This is a solid film, currently occupying the upper echelons of good action films. Go ahead, enjoy.  

Fast 5 (2011)

Dwayne 'the Rock' Johnson + Vin Diesel + Drug Lords + Fast Muscle Cars + Hot Chicks + Guns + Pyrotechnics = Hell Yeah!

The Skinny: Vin Diesel reprises his role as Dominic from the Fast and the Furious taking on drug lords with his team of raiders and racers, with the Rock as a Federal Agent gunning after him. 

The Helmer: Justin Lin (Community (TV) 2009 - 2010) / Fast Furious (2009) / La Revolucion de Iguodala (2007) / Finishing the Game: The Search for Bruce Lee (2007) / The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) / Annapolis (2006) / Sportlighting (2005) / Better Luck Tomorrow (2002) / Crossover (2000) / Shopping for Fangs (1997)

The Casts: Dwayne Johnson / Vin Diesel / Paul Walker / Gal Gadot / Jordana Brewster / Elsa Pataky / Sung Kang / Tyrese Gibson / Ludacris 

The Prediction: This'll work. How can it not? Nuff said.

Official Trailer

Wiki on Fast Five  

Unkown (2011)

Who would've thought that by the end of the first decade of the millennium Liam Neeson, 58 YEARS OLD, is the new face of action. The mature, remarkably adept man taking care of businesswith swift fatal blows to the head and neck. 

The Skinny: A doctor traveling in Berlin gets involved in an auto accident only to wake up 4 days later to a whole new nightmare: his wife claims to not know him, someone's stolen his identity and living his life, and a group of sinister assassins are unleashed to rub him out. Whats a guy to do but employ some good old fashioned ass-kicking all around?

The Tagline: Take Back Your Life 

Release Date: Somewhere early 2011

The Helmer: Jaume Collet-Serra

Orphan (2009)

Goal II: Living the Dream

House of Wax (2005)

The Casts: 

Liam Neeson

January Jones

Diane Kruger

Frank Langella

The Prediction: You definitely can't go wrong with superstars and their action role. Its not so much the direction, but the actor himself and the screenplay. So if these two items work together well, then you've got a hit. Its also to some extent dependent on the genre employed, which in this case is an action thriller, and deeper still, about a desperate man of action. You know theres going to be ass-kicking, and you know someone somewhere is just waiting to be medievel'd on, with or without pliers and blowtorch. If you check out the trailer its more Bourne Identity than Taken, with the memory loss part, and the sketchy and dubious idea of identity; is he really who he believes he is? The only slight deviation would be the involvement of 'wife' and the 'husband' who has taken over his life completely. Its a nice touch to have it in Berlin, the stage for many explosive espionage action, and the blue-grey hue of the entire movie works well with the theme of greyness.

Official Trailer

Official Site

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)

In the wonderful world of 'what-ifs', also known as movieland, we have a new entrant. What if santa clause was actually a vicious evil creature who fed on the flesh of innocent children? What if his happy helping elves were actually dark soldiers of his evil army? I give you then, ladies and germs... Rare Exports!

The Skinny: Swedish scientists unearth the 'real' santa clause who is not really a rotund bearded ginormous-bellied ho-ho'ing man of mirth, but is instead a violent ruthless evil creature who eats little children, only to have the helper elves go medieval on their asses ... read imdb.com's synopsis:

"In the depths of the Korvatunturi mountains, 486 metres deep, lies the closest ever guarded secret of Christmas. The time has come to dig it up! This Christmas everyone will believe in Santa Claus."

The Helmer: Jalmari Helander, 

 

The Casts: Tommi Korpela,

Per Christian llefsen,

Jorma Tommila,

Jonathan Hutchings 

The Prediction: This is a Finnish movie from Finland. Doesnt exactly scream Hollywood does it? But looking at the trailer, it looks very, very interesting. And promising.

Trailer

Official site

Twith films review

Sanctum (2010)

James Cameron is today, what Steven Spielberg was yesterday and Walt Disney was the day before. Their names alone can draw in the punters like ball bearings to magnet, mice to cheese, mozzies to blood and the average male to playboy bunnies. You just can't go wrong with movies directed, made and produced by these dudes. And its all worth it because their films are pretty much put together; you will be entertained, and you will voluntarily pay money for it. Which brings us to the next movie tagged under Cameron's behemoth-like name. From the outset it looks like a "The Abyss" all over again. And if it is true, then its a good thing because "The Abyss" kicked 90s movie ass back in the day. 

The Skinny: Taken from imd.com: "An underwater cave diving team experiences a life-threatening crisis during an expedition to the unexplored and least accessible cave system in the world."

The Helmer: Alister Grierson

The Casts: Richard Roxburgh, Rhys Wakefield, Alice Parkinson, Dan Wyllie, Christopher Baker, Allison Cratchley, John Garvin

The Prediction: This looks pretty good actually, even though its not directed by Cameron himself it is in fact produced by him. Which good be a better thing, when you think about it. Especially in light of the commencement of Avatar 2 and 3 in the works. So is this going to be another Abyss? It can be, and if it is then we're in for a treat. Plus, its going to be in 3D. Surprise surprise. Not. So yeah, watch it when it comes out because like all bees to honey, we just can say no to Cameron can we?

Trailer

slashfilm's take on Sanctum