Kaka

Less blood, more bullets, a more tangled plot, more characters, brutally overwrought and at least two or three classes worse than the first one. A film that falls into the sequel syndrome in a classic way: there’s more of everything, but in the end it’s less. Verhoeven knew why to stay away. Kershner just embarrassed himself. Two points for the fast-paced action and some technically skillful sequences.

As a reconstruction of historical events, it's captivating. From a purely cinematic perspective, it's slightly austere, but still very skillfully executed craftsmanship – Singer pulled off a feat that was somewhat expected of him. The English language might be distracting, but you eventually get used to it. Many scenes are breathtaking, with Hitler's character being particularly interesting. It's worth noting that it's not the actor himself who portrays the demonic aspect, but rather the camera, the chosen music, and the brilliant editing. The rest of the actors are also excellently chosen, there are plenty of stars and a large number of quality performances. It's not exactly entertainment, but with every frame, it showcases intelligent, raw, realistic filmmaking. It's a professional affair and a hundred percent clean work.

After several times, it really doesn't work anymore. Eastwood dusts off his proven plot concept, which remains completely identical with minor modifications. Only this time, instead of an emancipated boxer, he threw in an old good-hearted grump. The melancholic music, minimalist direction, and emotionally packed moments are there, including the interesting finale. I didn’t pay much attention to the several storylines running alongside the main plot. Eastwood is capable, but instead of taking turns in an effective loop he knows what to do, he just drives straight ahead like a heavyweight truck. Some people are pulled along with him, some manage to avoid him, but having three attempts to escape is a somewhat bigger luxury than would be appropriate.

RoboCop is exemplary primarily in its exceptionally well-executed genre colouring. Few succeed in implementing the darkness of the environment and, above all, the emphasis on blood and brutality in high-tech sci-fi as effectively. Cameron partially achieved that in the Terminator series, and Verhoeven precisely accomplishes it here. Technically skillful, decently acted – the villains in quality supporting roles and the atmosphere are top-notch. But what you appreciate the most is the director, his signature can be seen in every one of his films. This applies one hundred percent to RoboCop.

As a prequel, it's not completely bad. Rhona Mitra was a safe bet and the rest of the cast is more or less consistently good. What didn't work as well in the third vampire adventure was the atmosphere and overall visual execution. After all, darkness and booming music work better in a modern city at night, where it's much more appealing and attractive, rather than in a medieval castle surrounded by walls and catapults. The special effects weren't particularly impressive either, but from the first moments, it was clear that they were cutting corners wherever possible. There are a few original scenes (with the wooden spears) and the final quarter of the film surprised me with its unexpected twists, which fit well into the story. If there's a fourth one, I wonder what it will be about. It feels like a closed trilogy that barely meets the standards of quality.

The attempts for a very raw statement did not succeed, they are very obvious and very disjointed. The main positives are Rourke’s captivating performance, the handheld camera and the grainy image, while the unconvincing and uninterestingly presented behind-the-scenes of wrestling and relatively sterile and clichéd content are the main flaws. I was also surprised by the fact that Aronofsky does not have such tight direction as expected and sometimes doesn't even know what the main theme should be, whether personal relationships, devotion to a lifestyle, family, etc. Million Dollar Baby captures this with its honesty and a more delicate main character. Rourke’s character is not as likeable and Aronofsky lacks the sensitivity and mainly the grasp of the experienced Eastwood.

Great fun. Boll is lucky to know that he makes shit movies and can really make fun of himself. Far Cry is significantly above average in this regard, but that's not all by far. Til Schweiger is charismatic to the point where it's not even attractive, Udo Kier is a villain to love, and the action is surprisingly good. When all of this mixes together, we get an interesting exotic flavour where you don’t mind the absence of a higher budget and the awful visual effects and camera filters. I would happily watch it again, I had a blast. It doesn't have much in common with the game, but pine forests have never been so cool.

Narratively dry and cold,, but Van Damme kicks and fights unusually hard in his older years, and the brawls are tough, pumped up, and quite believable. Otherwise, it’s pure routine. There is no point in making up anything anymore. The besieged hero against a superior force is something from the previous millennium, and the B-movie artists behind the camera cannot come up with a more meaningful hero, so they leave everything in the hands of the bloke in front of the camera, who kicks more than decently and finally realizes that the savior dad is no longer fashionable. It would take a proper gem for there to be talk of a comeback.

A similar commercial and narrative romp as True Lies would be one year later, just a class worse entertainment. This film really shows that no expense was spared, it has lavish production design, a great cast, thrilling explosions, fancy locations (the Hyatt) and grand action. But it arrived at the cinemas at the wrong time (competition) and it is not as entertaining, thrilling, and original as it may seem, so it became a relative failure that didn't catch on as expected. Although the director is a master of action films, he always falls a bit short when it comes to intimacy and personal connections among characters, and once the shooting stops, it's quite boring. There are several excellent jokes, quips, and scenes, and a surprisingly good Arnold, but otherwise it’s too long and quite creaky.

Given its miniature budget, it is quite unbelievable and an incomparable piece in today's time. The unique trashy feeling has been forever etched into my memory. In terms of the plot, it is meaningless, and even fans of post-apocalyptic sci-fi, in my opinion, will not be too thrilled, as the film looks truly cheap from the first minute. Van Damme kicks well, but I don't necessarily need to watch an hour and a half film that is completely pointless and ends as quickly as it begins.