The Next Three Days

Ratings: 7.0/10

Film Class: B

Genre: Suspense Drama

2 hours is a little long for this movie, since there aren't many climaxes and the dull film color gives a rather low-budget and depressing feel to it. Acting wise pretty impressive and convincing. And in terms of realism, it's almost there because I was able to experience an average man's desperation to commit a crime.

A happily married man's wife was accused of murder and their lives were turned upside down. On the verge of despair, his wife attempted suicide due to a lack of evidence to clear her name. Scarred by his wife's wrongful accusation and powered with blind faith on his wife's innocent, he committed himself to break his wife out of prison.

It's not your typical Hollywood movie, it doens't have explosive car chases and there's no such state-of-the-art equipment to aid in the protagonist's cause. Instead, the realism which I mentioned was how the director was able to tone-down the explosive level of the movie and at the same time keeping it seat-gripping at times. This movie was much more than a re-enactment of a prison break, it raises the possibilities of how far one will go for the person he/she loves.

In a society where "evidence" predominates justice, the only way to really distinguish right and wrong is to follow one's heart and faith. *spoilers ahead* The ending threw the film's direction a little off track and it almost created a gigantic loophole in the movie, only to throw it back on track at the very last minute and reminded us that there was rarely such a thing as a "happily ever after" in real life. Haven't seen Russell Crowe that vulnerable in any movie but it sure was a heartening experience. To quote another's observation, there's possibly only a few actors in Hollywood who would pull off potraying a thousand emotions with just his facial expression, and Russell Crowe was able to do it brilliantly.

I Saw the Devil

Ratings: 8.7/10

Film Class: B

Genre: Slasher Drama

Don't let the misleading movie title turn you off, especially if you're not a horror fan because this isn't one. When I first heard of this movie, I thought it was just another korean horror movie, but after viewing the trailer and realised it was a slasher movie, it rebounded from a definite no-go movie to a must-watch movie for me. I was taken in by the storyline, and after sitting through 141mins of movie runtime, it left me speechless.

It's not your average slasher movie. That was why I added "drama" to its genre, signifying a deeper meaning in its seemingly thoughtless plot. One of the best korean and slasher movies in my library of watched-movies, and I mean that as a separate comparison. There isn't many korean slasher movies out there, not sure if Oldboy's categorised as one but apart from that, any other was either non-existent or non-memorable.

When special investigation officer Kim Soo-hyeon's wife was raped and brutally murdered by psychotic killer Kyung-Chul, he vowed to inflict 10,000 times the pain to the killer. It becomes a "game" of cat and mouse for both parties and the last quarter of the movie will leave any normal soul utterly disturbed.

*major spoilers ahead* Though it had a fairly predictable storyline during the first 3/4s of the movie, the last quarter of the movie veered towards an unexpected direction. Shortlived, but it was a crucial moment to create that sense of utter disgust which enhanced the emotional engagement into the different characters. I must majorly disagree with how the line between right and wrong turned grey, because throughout the entire movie, never once did I ever pity that s** ** * b****.

If I were the male protagonist, I wouldn't have done it any other way. The last 1/4 of the movie simply reinforced that sentiment. Even the ending was packed with more than just bloody gore, it brought out the most important element of what the movie was trying to portray... the mental psyche of a psychotic killer. The killer was truly the devil, but somehow, at the very end, he became human. Nope, not repentance, but fear.

Though Kyung-Chul (killer) claimed he doesnt know what pain or fear is, right at the very end, when he screamed out for his parents and son not to open that door, he felt it... he felt fear. And that was what reminded us that no matter how vicious a person may be, he isn't indomitable. Even Hilter felt fear when he hid in his bunker during the last few minutes of his life.

The gore wasn't that explicit, either I have been sensitized or have a strong stomach for it since movie gores just seemed acceptable as long as I don't pay too much attention to them. The scenes are highly forgettable, mainly the plot is what that lingers. Brief scenes of nudity weren't even erotic in this movie because of its sadistic nature but they did add some "color" to the perpetually gloomy screen. The villian in this movie reminds me of those 3 in the Devil's Reject, one cannot help but scorn at them with adhorrence. But the main difference is that there's someone to cheer for in this movie.

There's really no such thing as justice in the world, and even though right and wrong may be ambiguous at times, we won't go wrong, if we pursue "justice" in its own right. An apt melancholy score to greet you at the start and bid you farewell at the end, and backed with 2 outstanding male leads, this movie is one that may never fall to the back of your head.

The Adjustment Bureau

Ratings: 6.2/10

Film Class: B

Genre: Romantic Suspense

This movie should never be be marketed as a suspense sci-fi thriller because it's not... it's actually more of a romantic movie and about defying all odds to "create" fate. Politician David Norris met with a ballerina in a men's toilet just before his political speech and fell in love with her at first sight.

The romance was hardhitting and happened a little too fast, but I guess when love comes, it comes. From the trailers, the adjustment bureau is a group of men in suits and hats which ensures everyone acts according to "plan", according to what they are fated to do. If they go off track, it's their business to correct them and lead them back onto their path.

I guess when one dabbles in such intricate and abstract concepts, it's a difficult task to stay reasonable and realistic. This movie seemed to spiral out of epic proportions and things just went a little too far-fetched and "illogically confusing". The inconsistencies just kept piling up and the motives and abilities of the adjustment bureau went from grey to between black and white.

There was almost zero suspense in the movie... since most of the plot was disclosed in the trailer and somehow the adjustment bureau just didn't feel mysterious enough. There were too openly introduced at the start and despite their "powers", they were outsmarted in the end. The idea behind the movie was simple yet made complex by the directing and the story development.

Too much ideology was accumulated and by the time the movie was about to end, it felt like piles and piles of concepts were just thrown in from all over the place. In brief, a very messy film. The simple concept was vague... basically I guess what they're trying to put across is that fate is not pre-determined and lies in our own hands. *spoilers ahead* But looking back at one point of the movie where the adjustment bureau mentioned their fates were already altered before, just puts a thousand inconsistency questionmarks to my head.

Was disappointed with the storyline and the plot development. The only comfort I found was seeing Matt Damon and Emily Blunt together for the first time as a couple in the movie and there were some pretty convincing chemistry between the both of them. While I might not have been able to live without watching this movie, I will definitely live without ever giving this movie a second viewing.

Unknown

Ratings: 9.0/10

Film Class: B+

Genre: Action Thriller

I wouldn't do this movie justice if I were to let its review pass just because of my busy schedule. That's because it's THAT good. I love suspense thrillers, and with a good load of action, it makes the perfect combi for a movie treat. On top of that, any movie with unpredictable twists naturally wins popcorn votes from me... and in terms of plot twists, Unknown is one of the reigning champs.

The husband of a happily married couple is involved in an accident and wakes up to find his identity being stolen. Teaming with a lady acquaintance, he sets out to uncover the puzzling predicament of his stolen identity. Great care has been exercised not just from my side but from imdb's and the movie's tagline's sides to preserve the ingenuity of the storyline and the plot development.

I shall break my own rules about not disclosing any spoilers in this movie, even though all these while I've always added spoiler alerts for high rating movies so that I could account for the ratings. I believe that there are certainly readers out there who would rather just spend 2 mins reading this review as opposed to using up 2 hours of his/her time to really appreciate this movie. Trust me, it's worth it.

Easily one of the best movie twists in all the movies I've watched and it's ingenuity was astounding. I didn't expect that much from this movie since everyone prolly sterotyped Unknown to be another Taken, and all that talk about Liam Neeson being defensive insead of offensive in this movie seems so insignificant now that I've caught the movie. It's true to some extend, but this movie beats Taken hands down in terms of storyline.

Action wise prolly not, since he isn't invincible in this movie, but keeping his cool flair as always, he was able to bring out the more defenceless and humane side of him. I kept playing back the movie in my mind over and over again, hoping to find major loopholes but was finally convinced that the director had all of them covered. While not entirely realistic, everything just fell perfectly, yes let me repeat that, PERFECTLY into place towards the end of the movie.

If you've had great respect for movies with unpredictable twists such as The Others, than you'll appreciate Unknown just as much. It makes Salt look amateurish, refreshing with the twist in a twist in a twist concept but Unknown has made it clear to all that it's not the quantity, but the quality that truly makes a movie. Easily one of the best movies of all time for me.