A Complete Review of Brett Ratner's work

Cast : Dwayne Johnson, Ian McShane, John Hurt, Rufus Sewell, Joseph Fiennes, Rebecca Ferguson, Joe Anderson, Irina Shayk, Barbara Palvin

What was it about?
Having endured his legendary twelve labors, Hercules, the Greek demigod, has his life as a sword-for-hire tested when the King of Thrace and his daughter seek his aid in defeating a tyrannical warlord.

My two cents:
Well, at least, it was slightly better than the really lame 'The Legend of Hercules' which was released a few months before. Indeed, it was apparently a pet project for Dwayne Johnson and I have to admit that the guy was perfect for the title role. There was also a decent supporting cast. Unfortunately, that’s pretty much the only positive things I could find regarding this movie. Indeed, they tried to convince us that they would give a different take on this legendary figure but I didn’t really buy it and I thought it was in fact rather boring. Towards the end, they even added a supposedly clever twist but it was just as underwhelming as the rest. Like most of the work delivered by this director, the damned thing was not awful but it was still terribly forgettable.

My rating: 05/10

Check the full review

Cast : Dennis Quaid, Greg Kinnear, Common, Seth MacFarlane, Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Liev Schreiber, Naomi Watts, Anna Faris, Chris Pratt, Kieran Culkin, Emma Stone, Richard Gere, Kate Bosworth, Justin Long, Jason Sudeikis, Uma Thurman, Bobby Cannavale, Kristen Bell, Leslie Bibb, Katrina Bowden, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloë Grace Moretz, Gerard Butler, Seann William Scott, Johnny Knoxville, Elizabeth Banks, Josh Duhamel, Tony Shalhoub

What was it about?
A series of interconnected short films follows a washed-up producer as he pitches insane story lines featuring some of the biggest stars in Hollywood.

My two cents:
Of course, I had some low expectations before watching this flick but even so I thought it was really awful and easily one of the worst movies I have seen for a while. Indeed, basically, it was a collection of supposedly funny segments but they were just really cringe-inducing and I don't think I can pick up a segment which was actually slightly worth a look. The most bewildering thing about this project was the stunning number of famous and sometimes even really good actors that got involved into this. Apparently, it all started with the segment directed by Peter Farrelly called 'The Catch'. Hugh Jackman was the first one to get on board, then Kate Winslet was next so they shot first their segment that was shown to convince the rest. Anyway, this flick was an utter commercial and creative failure and you might wonder how many decent low budget features could have been made instead with all these talented actors and directors.

My rating: 03/10 (for Brett Ratner's segment and for the whole movie)

Check the full review

Cast : Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Casey Affleck, Alan Alda, Matthew Broderick, Téa Leoni, Michael Peña, Gabourey Sidibe, Kate Upton, Jessica Szohr

What was it about?
When a group of hard-working guys find out they've fallen victim to their wealthy employer's Ponzi scheme, they conspire to rob his high-rise residence.

My two cents:
Even though this movie was a major improvement from Eddie Murphy’s latest work, the damned thing was still underwhelming though. Indeed, maybe we should blame Brett Ratner who is always an easy target but it was just a rather weak story and one of the most tedious heist I have ever seen. Somehow, they gathered a decent cast but none of these characters was remotely interesting. Furthermore, it took forever to take off with an endless introduction and Eddie Murphy came very late to the party. And indeed, when Murphy finally got involved, it started to be a little bit more fun but the plot was just terribly weak. Man, the guy needs another supporting character but, instead, with some really edgy director like Quentin Tarantino for example. Anyway, even though this movie wasn’t really awful, it was still pretty weak.

My rating: 05/10

Check the full review

Cast : Hayden Christensen, Andy Garcia, Rachel Bilson, Natalie Portman, Irrfan Khan, Orlando Bloom, Christina Ricci, Maggie Q, Ethan Hawke, Chris Cooper, Robin Wright, Anton Yelchin, James Caan, Olivia Thirlby, Blake Lively, Drea de Matteo, Bradley Cooper, Julie Christie, John Hurt, Shia LaBeouf, Jacinda Barrett, Qi Shu, Eli Wallach, Eva Amurri

What was it about?
Several love stories set in one of the most loved cities of the world, New York City.

My two cents:
Even though this movie really had some potential, to be honest, the whole thing turned out to be actually rather underwhelming. First of all, I really liked the structure used in 'Paris, je t'aime' with some clear segments taking in some specific parts of the famous city but, here, everything was mixed up and the end-result was much weaker. But the biggest problem was that, except for the segments directed by Yvan Attal, Allen Hughes and Joshua Marston which were pretty good, everything else was neither really entertaining or interesting. The best example would be the segment directed by Shekhar Kapur (in fact, it was supposed to be directed by Anthony Minghella but the guy passed away just before the shooting). Indeed, it was much more ambitious than the rest of the movie, it looked really good, the acting by Julie Christie and Shia LaBeouf was fine and, yet, it felt actually rather pretentious and the whole thing just didn't work. I was also surprised that no famous American directors such as Woody Allen or Martin Scorse who made some of their most famous movies in New York were actually involved in this project.

My rating: 06/10 (for Brett Ratner's segment and for the whole movie)

Check the full review

Cast : Chris Tucker, Jackie Chan, Max von Sydow, Yvan Attal, Noémie Lenoir, Philip Baker Hall, Roman Polanski

What was it about?
After an attempted assassination on Ambassador Han, Lee and Carter head to Paris to protect a French woman with knowledge of the Triads' secret leaders.

My two cents:
First of all, I never really understood the appeal and popularity of this franchise. Indeed, I don't think Chris Tucker was really that funny and honestly, I have never been impressed by Jackie Chan. Eventually, 6 years later, they finally came up with this 3rd installment and, indeed, nobody really cared anymore since this flick was pretty much a flop at the box-office. Personally, I think it did deserve such a fate since it was easily the worst movie of the trilogy and even the fact that it took place in France didn't help much. Basically, it was just a rather average flick and all of the thing about the Asian and black buddy cops was never really funny in the first place. At least, I have to admit it, there was a surprising cameo by Roman Polanski but it was really a minor pleasure.

My rating: 05/10

Check the full review

Cast : Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin, Kelsey Grammer, James Marsden, Rebecca Romijn, Vinnie Jones, Ellen Page, Ben Foster, Dania Ramirez, Eric Dane, Cameron Bright, Olivia Williams

What was it about?
An all-out war looms when the discovery of a cure for mutations draws a line between the followers of Charles Xavier and those of Magneto.

My two cents:
When this 3rd installment was released, there was a big fuss about it because it was unworthy of the previous movies in this franchise. Well, I don't agree. Sure, it was a step back compared to the previous sequel but it was still about the same level in my opinion. I mean, the action scenes were descent, there were some pretty cool mutants (the best addition was probably Ben Foster as Angel) and the plot was entertaining enough. The main issue with this franchise is that they got stuck with the same plot line from the start and every installment was about this subject. It would be interesting if they could manage to do something really different with those characters. Another issue with this movie is that, just like the first installment, the running time (around 100 mins) was just way too short to properly developed the plot or the characters. Anyway, for a Brett Ratner feature, I thought it was decent but you wonder what Bryan Singer or Matthew Vaughn (who both backed out from the project) could have done with this material. Eventually, Vaughn would direct the following installment/reboot with much more critical praise so he apparently made the right choice back then.

My rating: 06/10

Check the full review

Cast : Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek, Woody Harrelson, Don Cheadle, Naomie Harris, Chris Penn, Kate Walsh, Noémie Lenoir

What was it about?
The story of what happens after a master thief achieves his last big score, when the F.B.I. Agent who promised he'd capture him, is about to do just that.

My two cents:
Brett Ratner's movies are sometimes not bad actually but they are usually terribly generic. This movie is a pretty good example but since there was a nice cast, I still wanted to check it out. Honestly, I have to admit it, even though this movie was nothing amazing, I still think it was rather entertaining. Indeed, the cast was really nice and since I always had a weak spot for heist movies, I thought the whole thing was rather entertaining and the characters were actually pretty funny. Unfortunately, like most movies directed by Ratner, the whole thing still feels pretty lazy and remains rather shallow. It is like the casting, even though all the actors involved were pretty good, I still feel like the casting was not really original. I mean, Pierce Brosnan as the suave thief, Salma Hayek as the femme fatale and Woody Harrelson as the corrupt cop, there was nothing here which was really surprising. Since it was supposed to be a fun heist movie without much substance, I think it did reach its goal without going beyond that which should be asking too much from a director like Brett Ratner.

My rating: 06/10

Check the full review

Cast : Anthony Hopkins, Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes, Harvey Keitel, Emily Watson, Mary-Louise Parker, Philip Seymour Hoffman

What was it about?
A retired F.B.I. Agent with psychological gifts, is assigned to help track down "The Tooth Fairy", a mysterious serial killer. Needing some help, he needs to reach out to imprisoned forensic psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter.

My two cents:
To be honest, I thought it was rather hard to judge this movie. Indeed, after waiting 10 longs years,'Hannibal' turned out to be a terribly disappointing sequel but it was still a box-office success and the producers thought they should really rush to make this prequel before Anthony Hopkins got too old so the whole thing felt like a lame cash grab. On top of that, it seems that they wanted to erase the criminally underrated and forgotten 'Manhunter' directed by Michael Mann. Finally, it was directed by Brett Ratner, possibly one of the most underwhelming directors at work at the time and still nowadays. And yet, I have to admit it, the damned thing was not bad at all. At least, it was miles beter than 'Hannibal'. Indeed, first of all, there was a terrific cast, they all delivered some solid performances and the plot was still quite entertaining. Sure, it never reached the level of 'Manhunter' but it was not far behind in my opinion.

My rating: 06/10

Check the full review

Cast :
Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Ziyi Zhang, Roselyn Sanchez, Maggie Q, Jeremy Piven, Don Cheadle

What was it about?
Carter and Lee head to Hong Kong for vacation, but become embroiled in a counterfeit money scam.

My two cents:
Since 'Rush Hour' had some success, they basically repeated exactly the same formula without adding anything original at all. Even though it was rather predictable, they moved the action this time to Hong-Kong, which was actually a good idea, but, for some reasons, only half of it was shot there and, then, they moved back to the US which was rather disappointing. The other thing that bothered me was the fact that there was absolutely no consistency whatsoever concerning the Chinese characters. Indeed, sometimes, they would speak Chinese together (which made more sense) but, then, for some reasons, they would suddenly speak English to one another for no reason. At least, they finally added some nice ladies to the story (Roselyn Sanchez and Ziyi Zhang) and they were both quite charming but their characters were both seriously underwhelming. Eventually, aside from the boring story, I thought that there was also barely any chemistry between Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker this time around and I'm really amazed that this movie was such a box-office success when it was released.

My rating: 05/10

Check the full review

Cast : Nicolas Cage, Téa Leoni, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Piven, Amber Valletta

What was it about?
A fast-lane investment broker, offered the opportunity to see how the other half lives, wakes up to find that his sports car and girlfriend have become a mini-van and wife.

My two cents:
To be honest, Nicolas Cage’s career has become so underwhelming lately that this movie doesn’t seem so bad after all. However, it still doesn’t mean that it was any good either, far from it. Indeed, even though, I have to admit it, the whole thing was rather harmless, I thought it was also terribly predictable and above all really boring. I mean, the whole point with Nicolas Cage, especially back in those days, was to have him playing some weird over-the-top characters so to have him play such a mild-mannered guy seemed to be a waste. It’s like Téa Leoni, I always had a weak for this actress, I think she is so charming, but she has always been stuck playing such underwhelming love interest throughout her whole career. Coming back to Brett Ratner, even though he might not be the worst director in the world, he is certainly one of the least inspiring ones, that’s for sure, and this movie was a perfect example.

My rating: 05/10

Check the full review

Cast : Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Tom Wilkinson, Chris Penn

What was it about?
A loyal and dedicated Hong Kong inspector teams up with a reckless and loudmouthed LAPD detective to rescue the Chinese Consul's kidnapped daughter, while trying to arrest a dangerous crime lord along the way.

My two cents:
After all these years, I still wonder how this movie (and its sequel) became such box-office hits when they were released. Basically, the whole thing is a mix of the formula used in countless Jackie Chan Hong-Kong productions with the traditional US buddy cop genre. Eventually, it was fairly entertaining as the stunts and fights by Jackie Chan were nice (however, if you have seen them once, you have seen them all in my opinion) and Chris Tucker was often pretty funny with his improvised dialogues. Still, there is no denying that the plot was really pedestrian and predictable. Furthermore, most of the humor was often based on some massive racial stereotypes and that was sometimes rather cringe-inducing to behold. Eventually, in the same genre, I actually prefer 'Shanghai Noon' but I have to admit that this movie remains one of the better US productions starring Jackie Chan.

My rating: 06/10

Check the full review

Cast : Chris Tucker, Charlie Sheen, Heather Locklear

What was it about?
Sought by police and criminals, a small-time huckster makes a deal with a TV newsman for protection.

My two cents:
I have to admit it that I was curious to see how Brett Ratner started his directing career so I ended up watching this flick. First all, after watching all those lame Rush Hour movies, I forgot how genuinely funny Chris Tucker actually used to be. This movie was definitely a nice reminder. I mean, I have to admit it, without Tucker, the whole thing was pretty much just another typical buddy movie with the usual chases, shootings and explosions but even if it was nothing really original, I thought it was still entertaining enough. As I mentioned before, just a year later, Brett Ratner and Chris Tucker would work again together and release the first ‘Rush Hour’ film which was decent at best and actually much weaker than this movie but, somehow, it turned out to be a big box-office success. Coming back to our main feature, even though it seems to be completely forgotten, it is actually a decent watch.

My rating: 06/10

Check the full review