A Complete Review of Stephen Sommers's work

Cast : Anton Yelchin, Willem Dafoe, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Addison Timlin

What was it about?
In a California desert town, a short-order cook with clairvoyant abilities encounters a mysterious man with a link to dark, threatening forces.

My two cents:
I wasn't really sure what to expect from this flick but since I always had a weak spot for the late Anton Yelchin, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, I was amazed by how disappointing the damned thing actually turned out to be, especially since it has such a solid rating on IMDb (no less than 6.9). Indeed, even though Anton Yelchin did what he could, his character was just rather boring and the other characters were even more tedious to behold. At least, I have to admit that Addison Timlin was pretty cute but I couldn't care less about their boring romance. Basically, it was the biggest issue with the whole thing, the fact that everything was just so boring. I mean, there was really nothing about his gift that was either entertaining or original and the way the main character spent at least half of the movie explaining in voice-over his powers and what was going on was just so lame and lazy. Eventually, even though I didn't really have some really high expectations, it has been a while since I have seen such a disappointing movie.

My rating: 05/10

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Cast : Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Christopher Eccleston, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Karolina Kurkova, Sienna Miller, Rachel Nichols, Ray Park, Jonathan Pryce, Dennis Quaid, Saïd Taghmaoui, Channing Tatum, Marlon Wayans

What was it about?
An elite military unit comprised of special operatives known as G.I. Joe, operating out of The Pit, takes on an evil organization led by a notorious arms dealer.

My two cents:
Well, it was definitely not really good, I’m afraid. The point is that I did watch the cartoon as a kid back then, and of course, the whole thing was terribly cheesy but it could have worked. Unfortunately, the makers just seriously messed up the whole thing. Indeed, there were some rather spectacular action scenes, I’ll give you that, but they really looked so fake. Of course, the story was never really important with this kind of flicks but, come on, they could have done so much better than this. Eventually, the best surprise was Sienna Miller who really looked awesome as the Baroness but that’s seriously the only thing that more or less impressed me. Somehow, they thought they could salvage this failure and they released a sequel and even though they did include Bruce Willis, one of the biggest action stars that ever lived and Dwayne Johnson who has pretty much become some kind of franchise savior, this second installment was pretty much as much underwhelming as this one, I'm afraid.

My rating: 05/10

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Cast : Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale, David Wenham, Elena Anaya, Josie Maran, Robbie Coltrane

What was it about?
The notorious monster hunter is sent to Transylvania to stop Count Dracula who is using Dr. Frankenstein's research and a werewolf for some sinister purpose.

My two cents:
Honestly, I don’t think it was that bad. Indeed, after hearing only bad things about this movie, I had some rather low expectations but, personally, I ended up enjoying most of it. In my opinion, I think most of the viewers missed the point concerning this movie. Indeed, the whole thing is really loud and dumb but it was actually supposed to be that way. Honestly, you are dealing here with a movie about Van Helsing chasing not only Dracula, but also Frankenstein’s Monster and Mr Hyde, I mean, what did you expect then?!? Of course, it was really preposterous, over-the-top and completely campy but I was fine with that. In my opinion, I thought it was rather entertaining and the special effects were pretty neat. I mean, there was definitely an overdose of CGI action stuff but, once again, it fit the tone of the movie itself. Still, don’t misunderstand me, it is not a masterpiece whatsoever, but for a dumb blockbuster, I have seen much worse. I mean, it was one of the first time that I had the feeling that the makers were well aware about how ridiculous the whole thing looked and played nicely with this fact, at least, that’s how I felt while watching this. Anyway, I’m one of the very few who thought so, it was destroyed by the critics and it is quite often considered as one of the worst movies ever made.

My rating: 06/10

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Cast : Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Dwayne Johnson, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

What was it about?
The mummified body of Imhotep is shipped to a museum in London, where he once again wakes and begins his campaign of rage and terror.

My two cents:
Since 'The Mummy' had turned out to be a success at the box-office, it was pretty obvious that a sequel will follow pretty soon. To be honest, I was actually positively surprised by this sequel though. I mean, the whole thing didn't blow me away whatsoever but, at least, it was a decent follow-up and even if it wasn't really better than the first movie, it wasn't worse either. The same cast did return and, once again, Rachel Weisz and John Hannah really stole the show. It did help when you have some good actors who manage to handle such cheesy dialogues. Furthermore, the action scenes were rather neat, well-made and definitely entertaining. On the downside, even though The Rock was displayed prominently on all the promotional material and back then, it was supposed to be his big début, in fact, he was actually for a really short time in the movie. Anyway, all in all, I think it is a decent sequel.

My rating: 06/10

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Cast : Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah

What was it about?
At an archaeological dig in the ancient city of Hamunaptra, an American serving in the French Foreign Legion accidentally awakens a mummy who begins to wreck havoc as he searches for the reincarnation of his long-lost love.

My two cents:
To be honest, I didn't expect much from this flick but I always had a weak spot for adventure movies, especially the Indiana Jones franchise, so I thought I should check it out. To start with, I haven't seen the original version but, from what I have heard, is that, except for the title, there is actually nothing in common between those 2 movies. Anyway, like I said before, I didn't really have some high expectations for this flick but I thought it was not bad at all. Indeed, it is basically a well made and entertaining adventure flick, no more, no less. To be honest, I really don't get the appeal of Brendan Fraser with his goofball face though but I guess he was allright here. Better than him and definitely stealing the show were Rachel Weisz and John Hannah who managed to find the perfect tone for their performances. Furthermore, there were loads of action scenes and the whole thing was rather well made and actually pretty entertaining. Basically, it is of course not a masterpiece but it remains an entertaining blockbuster.

My rating: 06/10

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Cast : Treat Williams, Famke Janssen, Wes Studi, Jason Flemyng, Cliff Curtis, Djimon Hounsou

What was it about?
A group of heavily armed hijackers board a luxury ocean liner in the South Pacific Ocean to loot it, only to do battle with a series of large-sized, tentacled, man-eating sea creatures who had already invaded the ship.

My two cents:
Well, even though I didn't have some really high expectations before watching this flick, the damned thing actually still managed to disappoint me. Indeed, it was a really average B feature which borrowed pretty much everything from tons of other movies such as 'Star Wars', the 'Alien' franchise and even 'Titanic'. The cast was full of B actors and they all gave some very poor performances, except maybe Famke Janssen who was at least bareable. On top of that, the plot was not really entertaining and the special effects looked very cheap and were not really convincing at all. By now, I have all the movies directed by Stephen Sommers but even though none of them was really amazing, this movie was maybe the worst one he has directed so far (in fact, his directing debut 'Catch Me If You Can' turned out be even worse though). I have to admit that it is possible, if you are into this genre, that you may end up enjoying this movie more than I did but I highly doubt it though.

My rating: 05/10

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Cast : Jason Scott Lee, Cary Elwes, Lena Headey, Sam Neill, John Cleese, Jason Flemyng

What was it about?
Rudyard Kipling's classic tale of Mowgli, the orphaned jungle boy raised by wolves, and how he becomes king of the jungle.

My two cents:
We recently got not one but two adaptations of the very famous book written by Rudyard Kipling, one directed by Jon Favreau and one directed by Andy Serkis. Well, in fact, more than 20 years ago, Disney already came up with another live adaptation of this tale and, to be honest, I wonder how I ended up watching it. I guess I watched it mostly because Lena Headey was involved. Anyway, obviously, it never really reached the quality of the animated version but it was still not bad at all and, at least, it was definitely a decent attempt. Indeed, Jason Scott Lee was an interesting choice for the lead character and the directing was rather competent. It is interesting to point out that, just like the famous animated version, this live adaptation didn’t really follow the original story written by Kipling and it would be neat to have something more faithful in the future. Anyway, even though it was nothing really amazing, I thought it was still a decent family feature.

My rating: 06/10

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Cast : Elijah Wood, Robbie Coltrane, Jason Robards, Ron Perlman, Anne Heche, Frances Conroy

What was it about?
In Missouri, during the 1840s, young Huck Finn fearful of his drunkard father and yearning for adventure, leaves his foster family and joins with runaway slave Jim in a voyage down the Mississippi River toward slavery free states.

My two cents:
I have to admit that I haven’t read the book but it is a major classic in American Literature but, to be honest, I took me a while to get into this movie. Still, the material was actually pretty strong. Unfortunately, Disney tried to squeeze this actually rather dark tale into a family feature with a G rating and the end-result was sometimes rather awkward. For example, towards the end, Jim almost got lynched which was obviously an horrible sight but this tragic twist was seriously toned down and it was pretty much played like some kind of joke. In general, Jim, as a character, was rather poorly developed anyway. Indeed, if it made sense that Huckelberry Finn would talk like a young boy, it was just really condescending and even rather annoying to see a grown-up man like Jim talking the same way. Still, the concept remains pretty awesome, having this kid living some adventures with a black man in the racist south of the USA and, if the tone would have been slightly darker and slightly more realistic, it could have been actually really neat. Still, in spite of its flaws, it was not bad though.

My rating: 06/10

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Cast : a bunch of unknown actors

What was it about?
A hotshot car racer persuades the class president of a small Minnesota high school to gamble on illegal car races to raise money for their school facing closure.

My two cents:
Not to be confused with the great movie directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, the only reason I wanted to watch this flick was because it was Stephen Sommers's directing debut but, to be honest, I had some rather low expectations. Well, it turned out of be some kind of mix of a vintage version of 'The Fast and The Furious' and a 80's high school comedy and this mix was as weird and misguided as it sounds. The message was also that gambling is not something to really worry about, at least, as long as you keep winning. In fact, the whole thing was just so daft that it could have actually worked if they had chosen a much darker tone. But, unfortunately, the damned thing was just so cheerful that it became pretty much impossible to swallow all these ridiculous scenes. The ending was a good example. Let me sum it up: the school wins the football game, the main character wins the final race, the school is saved, he wins a scholarship and gets the girl. I mean, seriously?

My rating: 05/10

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