Sam Cox (DaJokersReviews)

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift PG-13

I'm all for big and stupid action movies and that's why I love the Fast and Furious franchise; but, when a movie is as dumb and stupid as The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift you can definitely count me out. Justin Lin's first attempt at directing a Fast and Furious movie just didn't work for, I don't necessarily blame him for this film being as bad as it is because I mostly blame the writing and acting. The two things I enjoyed most about this movie was the well filmed chases/races and Sung Kang's performance. The action in this movie were actually very good due to Lin's decent directing and the movie's incredible stunts. I also enjoyed Sung Kang's performance because it was actually somewhat decent and there's something about him that just makes him likeable. Other than those two things this movie was actually pretty awful. Chris Morgan's script for this movie was just absolutely dreadful. The story is basically The Karate Kid with cars except the story was a bad and the dialogue was appalling. In the previous two Fast and Furious movies I actually liked all the actors and the characters they played but when it comes to Tokyo Drift I don't like any of them except Kang. Lucas Black Nathalie Kelley, and Bow Wow all gave some crappy performances. Overall Tokyo Drift is a poorly made Fast and Furious movie, I still think if you a fan of the series you should see it even though many people will be split on liking it or hating it.

2 Fast 2 Furious PG-13

The Fast and The Furious franchise continues with John Singleton's sequel 2 Fast 2 Furious. Even though I don't think this movie is as good as it's predecessor I still think that it's a decent and entertaining sequel. I don't expect fantastic writing from these movies but I think the writing is the reason why I didn't like it as much as the original. The script is still somewhat decent but the story just wasn't as interesting as The Fast and The Furious and at times the dialogue could be pretty awful. I guess in every Fast and Furious movie there is some pretty bad dialogue but in this movie I just thought some of it was pretty damn bad. Paul Walker returns for this sequel and he's still very good as Brian O'Conner but this time he is joined by Tyrese Gibson, Eva Mendes, and Ludacris. I thought Tyrese Gibson was a very good addition to the franchise because he and Paul Walker had some good chemistry, Eva Mendes and Ludacris give good performances as well. Director John Singleton does a good job at directing all the action sequences and the stunt work is all done very well making the action scenes very entertaining. Overall 2 Fast 2 Furious is a decent sequel and would recommend to anyone who enjoyed the previous Fast and Furious film.

The Dark Knight PG-13

In 2005 Christopher Nolan brought us his version of Batman in Batman Begins. Batman Begins turned out to be a success and certainly made up for the two horrible Joel Schumacher Batman movies. At the time Batman Begins was the best movie out of the comic book genre because it was way more than a comic book movie, it had a fantastic story that made Batman very dark and gritty. Batman Begins was an excellent film and personally one of my all time favorites because of how realistic it was. Once you think it couldn't get any better than this it does because then The Dark Knight comes out. I remember a few years back when the hype for The Dark Knight was unbearable and when it came out. I remember hanging out at my friend's house and he showed me the trailer to The Dark Knight and I just amazed. Soon, opening night came and when I walked out of that theater I was absolutely amazed, later on I would go to see it a couple more times the theater. Now Batman Begins was excellent but The Dark Knight in my mind is a masterpiece. Everything in this movie is just absolutely stunning weather it's the story telling, the acting, or the action; it's all amazing in this film. One thing that I really liked about this movie is that it at least got some recognition at the Oscars, even though it should have been nominated for Best Picture. This right here is the greatest comic book movie ever made right now and definitely one of the greatest movies ever made, Christopher Nolan has just done so much with his take on Batman and it's all wonderful. Christopher Nolan is one of the greatest directors put there right now and knowing him he'll be a legend soon. It's been awhile since Bruce Wayne (played by Christian Bale) first became the Batman. When he became Batman he made it his mission to go out there and get rid of all the scum on the streets and put them behind bars and it's been going very well with the help of Lt. Jim Gordon (played by Gary Oldman). Batman and Gordon's alliance is working very well but a new hero is out there putting criminals away and he doesn't need to wear a mask, this man is District Attorney Harvey Dent (played by Aaron Eckhart), who is also currently dating Rachel Dawes (played by Maggie Gyllenhaal) who is Bruce's oldest friend. All three of these men are keeping all the criminals off the street and are so close to putting Gotham's mob away, until a new criminal comes to town who is ready to burn Gotham City to the ground, the Joker (played by Heath Ledger, RIP). The Joker is just a psychotic maniac who is just destroying Gotham City, Batman and his allies have never faced anyone like this and they don't even know if they can stop him. The Joker has plenty tricks up his sleeve and is really pushing Batman to the limits. God there is way too much greatness in this film. Right from the opening scene you know your going to be in for one hell of a ride. Now the opening scene is a group of Joker thugs who are robbing a bank, now in cinema history there have been some great heist but in my mind this is the best heist I've seen in a movie and it's only about six minutes long. What makes this scene so awesome is that it's so clever and you get to see what the Joker is all about, you get to see that this guy is not messing around what so ever. Yeah he's a clown but he takes his work very seriously. Right after you get the opening scene were it introduces the Joker you get an awesome scene were you first see the Batman, just like the opening Joker scene you get this electrifying action scene that keeps you at the edge of your seat. Those two scenes kept me at the edge of my seat and after those two scenes I remained at the edge of my seat because everything in this movie is just so interesting. This movie's screenplay was just written beautifully by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan. They make every scene thrilling or interesting, even the conversations that just Bruce Wayne has with other people are interesting. In this movie you are just so into everything that is going on and the people in it. The story is just absolutely fantastic and has many memorable scenes because they were written perfectly, especially the interrogation scene between the Batman and Joker. This movie also has a brilliant finale. Because of how much I'm into this movie I got a bit teary eyed because of the ending, it was just so spectacular and it just leaves you waiting for the next movie. Not only was the story written beautifully, but the characters as well. Bruce Wayne/Batman is still fantastic in this movie. In this movie he still has that playboy in him and still has that thirst for vengeance but you also get to see jealousy in him to. You also get to see him trying to find out if the Joker is even stoppable. The written character in this movie is no doubt the Joker, he's not just a maniac who just wants to be evil to be evil but a maniac that's proving a point. The screenplay is one of the many things in this movie that makes it a masterpiece. Also in this movie you get to see better directing and bigger action. The directing in this movie is just phenomenal because this time around Christopher Nolan was using IMAX cameras and the scenes shot in IMAX were just stunning. The action in this movie was just amazing and a blast to watch because some of the scenes in this movie are just so memorable. The big chase that goes on half way through the movie is just stunning to watch and puts IMAX to great use and one of the most memorable action scenes I've ever watched. Even the shots of buildings that were in IMAX are just stunning to look at. One quick little thing that I should mention is that the Blu-Ray to this movie is just stunning. The picture is amazing and it the scenes that were shot in IMAX still looks as it did in theaters, definitely pick this up if you have a Blu-Ray player. The one thing that just makes this movie is the acting, without these actors this movie would not be the masterpiece it is. Once again returning as Bruce Wayne/Batman is Christian Bale who gives another phenomenal performance. Once again he is Bruce Wayne and he is that Batman. Not only is he just a millionaire and a crime fighter but you can also see that he's just a normal guy when he get's jealous of Harvey Dent since he's dating Rachel. Also say what you say about Bale's Batman voice but I think it's perfect. Overall Bale gives another strong performance. No doubt the best performance of this whole movie is Heath Ledger. The death of Heath Ledger was just so tragic and so unexpected but before he passed away he gave the greatest performance of his career and also the greatest villain performance. Ledger just becomes this Joker in this movie and the character of the Joker was just stunning in this movie. He's not doing what he's doing just to do it, he's doing all this stuff to prove a point and Ledger does it perfectly. Heath Ledger is also the first Joker or even the first villain to scare the crap out of me. Heath is just so menacing in this movie and is definitely the greatest villain performance and also one of the greatest performances in cinema history. He's probably the only villain that I wanted to see more of than the actual hero. One thing that I have to mention is because of the strong performances by Bale and Ledger they just made the interrogation what it was. Like I said earlier the interrogation scene is one of the most memorable scenes in movie history and the performance combined with the writing is just absolutely spectacular. Heath Ledger deserved the Oscar he won for Best Supporting Actor as the Joker 100% and may he rest in peace. Another great addition to the Batman franchise is Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent. Harvey Dent is just like the Batman because he wants justice but he's not a superhero, and if you're a huge Batman fan you know what happens to Dent and Aaron Eckhart just captures the role. I just loved watching Eckhart on screen because his character's story was so interesting and he just became Harvey Dent so it made it even more interesting to watch. Replacing Katie Holmes we got Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes and she does a great job. Katie Holmes did give a great performance in Batman Begins but I thought Gyllenhaal did a way better job and for what was going on in this movie I felt she was the right choice. Returning in this movie is Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon, Michael Caine as Alfred, and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox and they're all fantastic actors so of course they give great performance in this movie. Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard return to do the score once again and it's still fantastic and one of the best scores ever. This movie is a masterpiece in every single way. Me and many others felt that this movie should have been nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars but it's very easy to get past that fact that it didn't since Ledger won Best Supporting Actor and it only matters on out opinions. This is definitely one of my all time favorites and is probably in my top five films ever made. What makes Nolan's movies so awesome is that he makes feel as this can happen and proves that comic book movies can be way more. If you love Batman you'll love this movie, if you don't like this movie you will still think this movie is great, if you love movies you'll love this movie. The Dark Knight is one of the best films ever made and if people dislike this movie, well I just wouldn't know what to think.

Pulp Fiction R

After Quentin Tarantino's success with Reservoir Dogs he would go on to make one of cinemas greatest films of all time, Pulp Fiction. Pulp Fiction is a magnificent film that is very clever and has an all-star cast. Pulp Fiction has three different stories, Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's Wife, The Gold Watch, and The Bonnie Situation. Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's wife is about hitman Vincent Vega (who has just returned from Amsterdam) who has to take his bosses wife out for a good time while he is on a business trip. They end up having a good night but soon it turns for worse. The Gold Watch is about boxer Butch Coolidge who broke a deal that he and Marsellus Wallace made and is now trying to get out of the state but his girlfriend left his family watch at their old apartment which is dangerous since Mr. Wallace has men out looking for Butch, but that's not the only thing he should worry about in this story. The Bonnie Situation is about Vincent again and his partner Jules after they killed someone on accident and now they have to clean the car at Jules's friends house before she comes home. This movie also has a prologue and an epilogue. Reservoir Dogs was magnificent and Quentin Tarantino become a great director and you knew he would have a great future. After the success of Reservoir Dogs he would go on to make Pulp Fiction which turned out to be one of the greatest movies of all time. This movie is just brilliant and one of my favorite movies. This is movie is just so original and that's what makes this movie so good. Of course the story to this movie is original because nothing like it has ever happened before this. I thought the story to this movie was terrific because of it's originality and because every story in this movie was just so fun to watch. Another thing that made this story so good is the dialogue. The dialogue in this movie was just great just like it was in Reservoir Dogs and just really clever. Everything about this movie's story was just amazing. This movie can get really dark and gritty at times but this movie can also be pretty funny at times as well. This movie also has an all-star cast and everyone in this movie gives a magnificent performance. John Travolta was magnificent in this movie and probably his best performance he's ever given. Samuel L. Jackson also gives a magnificent performance and every time he and Travolta were on screen was just great because these two were perfect and their dialogue together was just great. Same with Travolta and Uma Thurman (who gives a great performance), when they were on screen it was just amazing. This movie also has magnificent performances by Harvey Keitel, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, and Ving Rhames. Overall Pulp Fiction is a classic and one of cinema's greatest and one of my favorites.