Gerard Butler and Michael C Hall star in this futuristic tale of a Death Row inmate attempting to win his freedom by surviving a deadly video game.
This has all been done better before in the likes of The Running Man and even former wrestler “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s The Condemned is a much more satisfying experience.
There are a few half decent action scenes but the characters are so poorly developed that you don’t really care enough to bother who survives and who doesn’t. I think I was supposed to be shocked by one scene in particular where someone’s head gets blown off but I’m afraid I was just disappointed that they had went for shocks over story.
Michael C Hall, excellent in the TV show Dexter, turns in a dire performance as the main bad guy which even includes a ridiculous song and dance routine.
Redeeming feature – Nice to see Gerard Butler in an action role again following his spate of romantic comedies after 300. He looks like he could have made a decent Snake Plissken after all, pity that didn’t work out.
Rick’s Rating : 29%
This has all been done better before in the likes of The Running Man and even former wrestler “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s The Condemned is a much more satisfying experience.
There are a few half decent action scenes but the characters are so poorly developed that you don’t really care enough to bother who survives and who doesn’t. I think I was supposed to be shocked by one scene in particular where someone’s head gets blown off but I’m afraid I was just disappointed that they had went for shocks over story.
Michael C Hall, excellent in the TV show Dexter, turns in a dire performance as the main bad guy which even includes a ridiculous song and dance routine.
Redeeming feature – Nice to see Gerard Butler in an action role again following his spate of romantic comedies after 300. He looks like he could have made a decent Snake Plissken after all, pity that didn’t work out.
Rick’s Rating : 29%
Ah ricky just like old DVD reviews you did in the electricians cubicles at Anniesland...lol
ReplyDeleteI am so bored with shock films instead of action films as well. Batman begins was that last really enjoyable action flick I've seen.
Jas,
ReplyDeleteThe new Batman films are ok, if a bit over rated.
Thing is, I can't seem to take Christian Bale seriously, the guy puts me off a movie simply by being in it.
I had high hopes for this having seen the trailers and TV ads but I wont bother wasting time and cash going along to see it.And, Hey ! Lay off Bale. Hes a great actor !!!
ReplyDeleteA great actor? No charisma or screen presence, this guy is wooden and constantly typecast, which in it'self doesn't always have to be a bad thing if an actor is particularly good at a certain type of part, it just doesn't apply to Bale.....and whatever you do, don't walk onto his set.....or ask him for money.
ReplyDeleteThe strong silent type is his charisma and one of his strengths but just look at the lengths he goes to to get his character right eg Rescue Dawn, the Machinist, The Prestige and my all time favourite, American Psycho. The guy has been acting since he was a small child in Wales. Gotta give him some credit for his staying power and commitment to his art. Yes ?
ReplyDeleteI haven't saw Rescue Dawn (Bale put me off) but I admit the physical transformation for The Machinist was frightening, it didn't help his acting though.
ReplyDeleteDo yourself a favour and make time to watch Rescue Dawn. There are great performances from the other actors as well as Bale. Its a great movie.
ReplyDeleteThought this wasn't that bad. It was fun at times and some of the action scenes were brutal.
ReplyDeleteAlso we started following via google\blogger.