Reviews by johanlefourbe

First of all, I have to admit that I always had a weak spot for those thrillers dealing with some virus. In fact, most of the time, I actually enjoy those flicks more than their popular cousins, the zombie movies, because they are in my opinion more realistic. Anyway, even though I didn’t expect much from the damned thing, it turned out to be actually pretty good. Of course, it was still rather generic and it didn't add much to the formula but I thought it was rather well made and, above all, I appreciated the cold blooded logic behind it. Indeed, everytime I thought the whole thing would get soft on me, everytime, the plot would surprise me with its hard logic. I think many viewers didn't like the movie because none of the 4 lead characters was really likeable, especially the one portrayed by Chris Pine who was pretty arrogant on the surface but I thought he gave a good performance. The fact that those characters were flawed made, for me, the whole thing even better and more realistic. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was nothing really original or mind-blowing whatsoever, it was still a solid and well made thriller, I really enjoyed it and it is definitely worth a look.

Since shortly, I have a friend working for a cash transport company so I thought it would be pretty neat to watch a thriller about the subject. First of all, the whole concept was actually pretty interesting. Indeed, what would happen if the guys working for such a company would decide to pretend that they were hijacked and that they would keep the money for themselves? Finally, there was an interesting cast of B actors (Matt Dillon, Laurence Fishburne, Jean Reno, Milo Ventimiglia, Fred Ward, Skeet Ulrich). Unfortunately, even though the damned thing definitely had some potential, this nice concept was not well developed at all. On top of that, there were many characters but none of them was properly developed either. Eventually, the last thing that bothered me was that those guys had just one hour to pull out their plan but it was pretty obvious that what actually happened lasted around 3 hours or at least 2 hours. Sure, it was maybe a smalll detail but it was a good example showing how half-baked the whole thing turned out to be after all. To conclude, it really had some potential but it was still rather disappointing and I don’t  think it is really worth a look.

Nowadays, I have Netflix and Popcorn and not only I have since then an endless selection of movies to choose from but, as a result, I have become slightly more picky regarding the movies I watch. Before, I used to watch pretty much anything as long as it was starring one or two actors I was interested in and, as a result, I would sometimes end up watching some really obscure features. This movie was a perfect example and the only reason I watched it was because Russell Crowe was involved. Indeed, between his usual blockbusters, Russell Crowe did this small thriller. Even though it didn’t turn out to be anything really amazing, it still gave an interesting and original perspective on the serial killer genre. Unfortunately, Crowe's characters was not really well developed but since he did all his scenes in only 9 days, that was not surprising. On the other hand, the two main characters were really intriguing and well played by the two young actors. Still, I had some mixed feelings about the whole thing. Indeed, this two screwed up characters were quite fascinating to watch but, many times, I had the feeling that what they did or said was too much plot-driven. And there was also a huge plot-hole.  Indeed, during the whole movie, Russell Crowe was chasing them but, eventually, as he tried to trap them, he actually knew exactly where they were going. Seriously, it must have been one of most non-sensical twist I have seen lately. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of these flaws, it was still an intriguing thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.