Latest Reviews: The Art of War, Urban Legend: Final Cut & Red Planet

Three of the hottest and newest films reviewed, so you know what to go and see at the cinema.

The Art of War @ UGC, Ipswich

STARRING: Wesley Snipes, Donald Sutherland, Anne Archer, Michael Biehn, Marie Matiko

LINE ON THE POSTER:: Do you know who your enemy is?

WHAT HAPPENS: Shaw (Snipes) is a United Nations special agent, who uses tactics that you could say...ahem...were in conflict with the U.N's reputation. Basically he 'kicks butt' to get what the U.N want and they smile, keep quiet and take all the praise. However things go all 'Pete Tong' when a ship full of dead Vietnamese refugees turns up in New York and the Chinese ambassador is 'gunned down' before he can sign the impotant trade agreement with the U.S, and Shaw is the number one  suspect. So he must prove his innocence and find out who's at fault while evading the FBI and Triad gangsters...it's all go in his job, isn't it.

ANY GOOD?: Decidely average, if you've seen any action blockbuster in the last few years you would know exactly what to expect with this. A hard and brutal hero, on the edge of the law, discovers something he shouldn't, cue much gun play an also the additional Kung-Fu with bonus slow-mo effects, nicked from The Matrix. Snipes is great as the (anti) hero and some of the action set pieces are quite spectacular, especially the opening sequence, but the plot falls to pieces and the last twenty minutes are just plain ridiculous. An action film shouldn't make you bored but this did...I...however it's simply not good enough with action having been taken up a notch by The Matrix, the new Bond and Charlies's Angels.

INTERESTING FACT: Anne Archer has played the wife of both Harrison Ford and Micheal Douglas in the movies Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger (with Ford) and Fatal Attraction (with Douglas).

LIKED IT, TRY: The Matrix, The Fugitive or Face/Off.

RATING:

Urban Legend: Final Cut @ UGC, Ipswich

STARRING: Jennifer Morrison, Matthew Davis, Hart Bochner, Loretta Devine, Eva Mendes, Joey Lawrence

LINE ON THE POSTER: Legends Never Die

WHAT HAPPENS: This follow up, to lame slasher move Urban Legend, follows Amy Mayfield (Morrison), a film student at Alpine University who decides to uses the concept of Urban Legends (supposedly true horror stories) as the basis for her exam film. However, one by one, her crew members are being killed and the bodies disappear in mysterious 'accidents'. So Amy investigates (yes walking down dark alleys on her own and all that) so she can unmask (yep, scary mask is in place) the killer before she becomes an 'Urban Legend'.

ANY GOOD?: Trash, depending on yor state of mind, though, it could be enjoyable or simple crappy unwatchable trash. Scary Movie excellently 'took the piss' out of theses 'slasher' movies and if you've seen it, you'll be in stitches during this. There's one scene where the cute and innocent lead actress gets chased in a sound studio (a la Scream 2) through to a creepy forest (Blair Witch anyone?) and then into a seedy boiler room (Nightmare on Elm Street, blatantly). It'll make you laugh and probably won't scare you and the killer revelation is absolutely ridiculous. So only worth a watch if you love the teen slasher movie and even then you still hate it.

INTERESTING FACT: Rebecca Gayhart, from the original film, pops for an uncredited cameo as an asylum nurse, at the end of the movie.

LIKED IT, TRY: Scream, Final Destination or Halloween

RATING:

Red Planet @ UGC, Ipswich

STARRING: Val Kilmer, Carrie Ann Moss, Tom Sizemore, Terence Stamp, Simon baker, Benjamin Bratt

LINE ON THE POSTER: Not a sound. Not a warning. Not a chance. Not alone.

WHAT HAPPENS: It's the future and the Earth has become uninhabitable, due to us humans being filthy and naughty, by dumping our waste and killing everything. So the only hope is...a colony on Mars of course... and a  team of American Astronauts to make sure everything is OK on the 'Red Planet'. This isn't going to be easy and that's the case when a freak solar flare damages the ship and seperates the crew between the ship and on the surface of Mars. Throw in a very angry and brutal robot plus strange occurrences on Mars and you'll see why they probably wished they'd stayed on that 'rubbish tip' Earth.

ANY GOOD?: Very mediocre, which is really infuriating. The opening was actually good, with the journey to Mars and the interaction between the frustrated crew providing amusement. However, as it progressed the action waned and what was initially engaging became brain and arse numbing plus the 'twist' was complete bobbins. What with the Mars film already being 'mucked up' the wall by the god awful Mission to Mars, earlier this year, the 'Red Planet' hasn't had a decent film , which is really hard to understand when it's so fascinating.

INTERESTING FACT: Simon Baker was an Aussie soap stalwart, appearing in Heartbreak High and Home & Away before hitting Hollywood.

LIKED IT, TRY: 2001: A Space Odyssey, Capricorn One or Total Recall.

RATING:

by ChrisM