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The Matrix Revolutions - rent the DVD

This DVD review was written 1 year, 8 months ago.

The first time I watched the Matrix Revolutions I thought it was excellent. I have to say I was astounded, however, every time I watched it afterwards I noticed small things that just ruined the experience, like in the final fight scene with agent Smith and Neo - Smith would punch Neo so Hard it created a shock wave but Neo wouldn’t even flinch.

I wanted it to be undeniably the greatest film ever made and as I said, I felt it was the first time around but then I think it became a runner up.

Yet again in the cast we have Keanu Reeves as Neo, Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus, Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity, Hugo Weaving as the Agent Smiths, and Mary Alice as the Oracle, Helmat Bakaitis is the Architect, and Collin Chou as Seraph. But I feel they could have done more with the last film.

Now the plot, Neo is stuck in a coma but his brain signals are like someone in the Matrix. And that just Baffles everyone, but Neo isn’t in the matrix he’s in a place called the train station which is a place between the real world and the Matrix. This is where he meets a program in the form a man, his wife and daughter who say that they are waiting for a program called the trainman who will take the daughter to the oracle and the others to the real world.

Meanwhile Trinity and Morpheus meet the oracle who sends them and Seraph to get the Trainman. The Trainman Escapes, so they go to the Frenchman and there is a great fight scene with people running upside down and they have got Morpheus using two MP5’s. I have to say he made the weapons look heavier than they are. When they get to the Frenchman they threaten him enough to get Neo back.

Throughout the rest of the film there are many fights but they get worse over time. I’m still convinced that the Corridor Scene in the first Matrix alone, I think outdoes this whole film. Unfortunately they ruined agent Smith - Hugo acted superbly but the script made him just terrible. He was cool, but I didn’t believe it at first but he got scared he freaked out and it was just awful , he built up to be the best part of the films but I can’t express just how disappointing that part was.

Overall it was excellent but as I said at the start it gets worse. So I would recommend rent it for a short time and watch it once, then you should probably wait a long time until you’ve forgotten most of it, then watch it again if you want to.


Full cast list for Matrix Revolutions: Anthony Wong, Anthony Zerbe, Bernard White, Bruce Spence, Carrie-Anne Moss, Che Timmins, Christopher Kirby, Clayton Watson, Collin Chou, Cornel West, Craig Walker, David Bowers, David Roberts, Dion Horstmans, Essie Davis, Francine Bell, Genevieve O’Reilly, Gina Torres, Harold Perrineau, Harry Lennix, Helmut Bakaitis, Henry Blasingame, Hugo Weaving, Ian Bliss, Jada Pinkett Smith, Joe Manning, Kate Beahan, Keanu Reeves, Kevin Michael Richardson, Kittrick Redmond, Lachy Hulme, Lambert Wilson, Laurence Fishburne, Mary Alice, Maurice Morgan, Monica Bellucci, Nathaniel Lees, Nona Gaye, Peter Lamb, Rachel Blackman, Rene Naufahu, Richard Sydenham, Robert Mammone, Robyn Nevin, Rupert Reid, Tanveer K. Atwal, Tharini Mudaliar, Zeke Castelli.

Article categories: DVD

DVD Reviews

Matrix Reloaded DVD review

This DVD review was written 1 year, 8 months ago.

Randall Duk Kim as the Keymaker and Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity in Matrix Reloaded

This undeniably is an almost impossible follow-up to the pure brilliance of The Matrix and its running along the corridor scene, and while I was waiting to see it for the first time I nervously waited to see if Reloaded met the heady heights of the original. Unfortunately I don’t think it’s as good as The Matrix.

What it does have is so many great moments that it match any film ever for coolness! We have in the cast Keanu reeves as Neo, Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus, Carrie Anne-Moss as Trinity, Gloria Foster as the Oracle and the brilliant Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith - still I think the best actor in the film.

It starts with a meeting in the Matrix where a group of captains with their crew are discussing a huge threat of 250,000 sentinels that will reach Zion in 72 hours. Shortly afterwards Neo meets Agent Smith with two other agents that he promptly beats up, and Smith says some strange things about Neo setting him free.

Afterwards Morpheus’ group return to Zion where that afternoon there is a huge dance with brief scenes of semi-nudity and great music. The next morning Neo is invited to see the Oracle and gets some much needed answers, but with the traditional dollop of confusion thrown in. Afterwards Neo gets in a huge fight with Agent Smith who has copied himself a couple of hundred times.

The film is less talkie more killie than the last, involving a much needed car chase for about twenty minutes. The CGI is great but they just don’t attain their previous standards when they filmed Neo beating up the army of Smiths, however in every scene when they don’t have a CGI Neo it is as good as you might hope. The sets in my opinion were far better funded then those in the original Matrix film, with no more of the cardboard and polystyrene set nonsense (at least, that’s what it often looked like to me).

They have some brilliant punch lines in Matrix Reloaded, like “we are getting aggravated” and “Yes we are”. It was just funny for no proper reason at all. This all adds up to an absolutely brilliant film that just outperforms the first Matrix film in many ways

The general storyline is that the prophecy should be fulfilled soon, so the twenty five thousand sentinels should never make it to Zion, but Neo hasn’t got a single idea what he needs to do to stop them. Also he is having a recurring dream about Trinity, jumping out of a building firing two mini Uzis at an agent chasing her with a Desert Eagle pistol. In the dream she is then shot in the heart and she hits a car below. Is this really going to happen, and if so can Neo save her?


Full cast list for the Matrix reloaded: Adrian Rayment, Alima Ashton-Sheibu, Andrew Valli, Andy Arness, Anthony Wong, Anthony Zerbe, Attila Davidhazy, Austin Galuppo, Bernard White, Carrie-Anne Moss, Chris Mitchell, Christine Anu, Christopher Kirby, Clayton Watson, Collin Chou, Cornel West, Daniel Bernhardt, Daryl Heath, David Franklin, David Kilde, David No, David Roberts, Don Battee, Essie Davis, Frankie Stevens, Genevieve O’Reilly, Gina Torres, Gloria Foster, Harold Perrineau, Harry Lennix, Helmut Bakaitis, Hugo Weaving, Ian Bliss, Jada Pinkett Smith, John Walton, Josephine Byrnes, Joshua Mbakwe, Keanu Reeves, Kelly Butler, Kevin Scott, Lambert Wilson, Laurence Fishburne, Leigh Whannell, Liliana Bogatko, Malcolm Kennard, Marlene Cummins, Matt McColm, Michael Budd, Monica Bellucci, Montaño Rain, Nash Edgerton, Nathaniel Lees, Neil Rayment, Nicandro Thomas, Nick Scoggin, Nona Gaye, Noris Campos, Paul Cotter, Peter Lamb, Randall Duk Kim, Ray Anthony, Rene Naufahu, Robert Mammone, Robyn Nevin, Roy Jones Jr., Rupert Reid, Scott McLean, Shane C. Rodrigo, Socratis Otto, Steve Bastoni, Steve Morris, Steve Vella, Stoney Burke, Tahei Simpson, Terrell Dixon, Tony Lynch, Tory Mussett, Valerie Berry.

Article categories: DVD

DVD Reviews

Resident Evil DVD rental

This DVD review was written 1 year, 8 months ago.

Resident Evil is my first Zombie/Horror/Action movie I’ve seen so I wasn’t sure what to expect. A secret underground base, a team of black-clad commandos, a smoking hot lady and a homicidal AI - it sounds like a recipe of success.

It starts off like a clone of a film about memory loss with a girl waking up naked in the shower and exploring what appears to be her house. However, this is soon shattered as a team of commandos dressed head to toe in black wearing gas masks and a ton of guns. They accept the girl as one of their own and take a unknown man prisoner.

It soon transpires the girl is part of a security team guarding a secret laboratory. However we soon find out that it seems to be deserted thanks to a homicidal AI name Red Queen, who proceeds to cut down a good portion of the commandos who are investigating the apparently empty laboratory complex in a very grisly trap.

But just as the commandos complete their mission it turns out that the now terminated homicidal AI was the lesser of two evils, as the dead laboratory employees have a virus that was released into the facility. The virus brings the dead back and gives them a hungry appetite.

From then it turns into a gun blazing fight for survival and search for the truth.

To be honest the story is predictable in certain areas, but once all the predictable plot turns are over it becomes very original with zombies bursting out of every hole in the facility and with barely enough bullets to commit suicide it becomes brutal martial arts-style fighting

The action sequences are very intense with matrix style moves and plenty of explosions and gunfire. The suspense though is what makes it brilliant since you know the hero lady is going to survive but nobody else is safe, and with lots of ventilation shafts and dark corridors, people can’t expect to survive for long. Although it is rated 15 some of the implied violence and sudden shocks are terrifying so I would not recommend this to the easily scared or squeamish.

To be honest the acting doesn’t really mater to me since most of the cast die before you get to know them and the rest don’t need to show much emotion, but in the rare moments when emotions matter it is believable.

On the whole I would give it an 8 out of 10 for DVD rental and a 7 out of 10 if you are thinking about buying it since it is amazing the first time but it would have less of an impact the next few times.


Full cast list for Resident Evil: Anna Bolt, Barry Best, Colin Salmon, Eric Mabius, Fiona Glascott, Heike Makatsch, Indra Ové, James Purefoy, Jamie Harding, Jason Isaacs, Jaymes Butler, Jeremy Bolt, Joseph May, Liz May Brice, Marc Logan-Black, Martin Crewes, Michaela Dicker, Michelle Rodriguez, Milla Jovovich, Oscar Pearce, Pasquale Aleardi, Robert Tannion, Ryan McCluskey, Stephen Billington, Torsten Jerabek.

Article categories: DVD

DVD Reviews

Hellboy II on DVD

This DVD review was written 1 year, 8 months ago.

To be honest after seeing Hellboy I wasn’t so sure about seeing number 2 and it seemed my fears were well founded in the first five minutes when the background story is given in a shadow puppet style. However after the titles I was soon corrected, with a great piece of timing comedy that you will not see coming.

After that the story boils down to three different story lines - bad person wants power and needs completed artefact (and tries to complete it while good guys try to stop him), love-story lines, and a “dealing with the brand new boss” story line.

Selma Blair as Liz ShermanThe main idea of good vs bad is very thin with very little depth just a whole lot of jumping around, punching things and witty one liners.

The love story lines however are a lot more interesting with some pretty good comedy and moments that you can just cringe at.

However by far the most comedic story line is the breaking in of the new German boss which will have you sniggering for a good part of the film, containing by far the most funny and original bits.

The characters are a mixed bag, Hellboy; the hero is by far the stand out with great and unpredictable one liners - he’s pure original. Abraham, Hellboy’s best friend and book smart amphibian, is struck with his first crush and gets his first hangover when Hellboy gets involved.

Princess Nuada is your stereotypical relative of the psycho bad guy, who doesn’t know whether to stop, help or leave alone. However with a quite original piece of writing it turns out that they are linked and that they take the same damage as each other and know exactly the same things as each other.

Prince Nuala is your psycho ninja, martial arts, sword-toting ass kicking angry man. With very little surprises coming from just a whole lots of slicing, dicing, stabbing and jumping his character is paper thin, but he’s sure easy to hate and fear.

Liz Sherman is basically like the human torches only she can’t fly around but can shoot loads of fire balls, plus she’s pretty cute, however she is Hellboy’s girlfriend and does a moderate performance although she doesn’t really stand out for me.

Johann Krauss, what can I say? He is without a doubt fantastic, with only Hellboy managing to equal him in a love hate relationship. He is the new boss with strictness for the rules and he just has a great German accent and the fact the he is a psychic being in a suit full of gas that can control other things, he provides an awful lot of comedy and manages to do all sorts of wonderful things - the Swiss army knife of paranormal freaks!

On the whole it’s a fairly enjoyable film, a definite rent and possible own.  I would give it a 7 since it’s good but not as astounding as other films out.


Full cast list for Hellboy II: Aidan Cook, Alex McSweeney, Andrew Hefler, Anna Walton, Beatrice Zentai, Belinda Henley, Blake Perlman, Brian Herring, Brian Steele, Clive Llewellyn, Colin Ford, Doug Jones, Ferenc Elek, Gavin McKenzie, Ivan Kamaras, James Dodd, Jamie Wilson, Jeanne Mockford, Jeffrey Tambor, Jeremy Zimmerman, Jimmy Kimmel, John Alexander, John Hurt, Judit Viktor, Justin Pierre, Kevin Hudson, Luke Goss, Matt Rippy, Matthew O’Toole, Michael Mehlmann, Mike Kelly, Montse Ribe, Palma Pasztor, Péter Horkay, Richard Rifkin, Ron Perlman, Roy Dotrice, Sandor Svigelj, Santiago Segura, Selma Blair, Seth MacFarlane, Szonja Oroszlan, Tim Flavin, Tim Larsen, Todd Williams.

Article categories: DVD

DVD Reviews

The Matrix - on DVD!

This DVD review was written 1 year, 9 months ago.

I’ve watched the matrix about half a dozen times and every time I thought “Wow that is just the coolest thing ever!” seeing a guy in a black trench coat running along a wall with two Uzis and a woman in a black shirt running along another wall ready to kick a man in the face in slow-mo, and a tone of cool scenes like that.

Carrie Anne-Moss - Dodge This!Keanu reeves as Neo, Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus, Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity, Joe Pantoliano as Cipher, and my favourite character Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith. It’s the first of the three films and could not have gone better.

It starts with Neo being told by his computer to follow a “white rabbit” which leads him briefly to trinity. The next day he goes to work where he is chased by some agents and he is eventually caught. With the agents he enters a world of horror and his mouth seals itself shut and a small robot climbs into his belly button - he then wakes up back to normal, or so he thinks.

He then is phoned and meets Morpheus’ team under a bridge in a car where they suck the robot out of his bellybutton. Afterwards they drive to a large tattered building where he meets Morpheus who offers to let him know the truth about the matrix and be freed, he then has to face that he has to save the planet from the robot’s rule.

This film is full of action and strange ideas. The CGI was futuristic for its time, the sets I have to say sometimes looked like cardboard and polystyrene but overall they were good, they chose perfect music for the situations including Rage Against The Machine for the credits!

Some of the acting wasn’t the best, like the point when Trinity is kicking ass with a shotgun she seems like it’s too heavy for her to hold. However the quick punch lines like “dodge this” will last forever in media history.

The story itself is based around the Matrix which is a computer simulation made by robots with AI that is our world, they grow humans plugging them into the Matrix and use their bio-electricity to power themselves. This means that the world isn’t real and they can bend the system’s rules such as gravity, Letting them fly, jump further and run on walls!


The full cast is: Keanu reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Joe Pantoliano, Julian Arahanga, Anthony Ray Parker, Marcus Chong, Matt Doran, Gloria Foster, Belinda McClory, Paul Goddard, Robert Taylor.

Article categories: DVD

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