my brief thoughts on.... 'Operation: Endgame'

once again.... a couple of quick notes about this poster.... 1) the movie should be called 'Project: Endgame' as that's the way it's referred to in the movie.... not 'Operation: Endgame'.... 2) there are a LOT of guns in this movie poster.... and let me say that only one gun is fired in the movie and it's nothing like any of the ones featured in the poster.... this is hugely misleading or false advertsing.... as i was expecting something like 'The Tournament' and got nothing like that.... all the weapons used are improvised.... anyway.... that being said.... that was a major gripe with this movie.... the poster.

this movie has a huge cast of comedians and a few action stars.... (as you can see from the poster).... Rob Corddry being the coolest of the bunch.... he should make an actual action flick.... i'd pay to see it.... his character is by and large the most likable character in the movie.... this movie is enjoyable to watch, but kind of falls short on overall plot.... i mean, the plot is interesting enough, however i just don't know how much i care about it overall as there are so many characters to follow and a lot of plot to shove into a small amount of time.... i mean the movie has a less than 1 and a half hour running time.... this really needed 2 hours to make it work.... i really wanted to get into some of the other characters.... as there was some good strong bases to build on.... just too damn short.
the plot centers around two groups of government agents who aren't really friendly.... both are overseen by a man by the name of the 'Devil'.... and all of their codenames are based on tarot cards.... nobody uses their own names.... it's the first day for an agent named the 'Fool'.... and during his first day the 'Devil' is killed and soon the two groups realize that the 'Project: Endgame' program had been started.... which meant that the entire complex was going to be vaporized.... so the two groups team up with each other and soon it's dog eat dog.... as they slowly began killing each other.... so you never want to get to attached to any main character, because they may not last long.... and during all of this, they're trying to find a way out....

this movie had so much potential.... but it was all wasted on a short running time.... i don't know if money was an issue or just bad screenwriting.... but it ruined what could have been something pretty kick ass.... i just left the whole experience wanting more.... and it wasn't there.... not too mention the ending was a let down.... enough of it was interesting enough to give it 3 out of 5 stars.... but it was just barely 3 stars.... i can't say i would push you to run out and watch it.... however, i suppose it's a Saturday movie to kill time with.... maybe on cable or if it ever comes OnDemand.... other than that.... watch 'The Tournament' again....

the only other movie that i can relate this too is: 'The Tournament'

my thoughts on.... 'The Tournament'

i've said this before, but it's always a pleasure when you find a gem of a movie in the wasteland of straight to DVD junk.... and when this recommendation came along from a friend of mine, i decided to check it out.... i was not disappointed.... as a matter of fact, i watched it twice before i returned it.... that's saying something.... yes, i thought it was that good.... in my opinion, it had really high production values.... almost on par with your theatrical releases.... the action was kick ass.... the story was original.... the acting was fun.... overall a good way to spend an hour and a half....

the storyline goes that every 7 years there's a competition held to find out who's the best hired killer in the world.... they pit 30 hitmen against each other and rich onlookers bet on who they think will win.... sounds pretty simple....? everything is going to plan, when a priest accidentally becomes involved and everyone thinks he's one of the killers too.... it just gets bloody and action packed from there.... actually the whole movie is action packed and the blood is over the top.... lots of blood splatter and explosions, including people.... the whole movie oozes excess.
well, it's pretty obvious that i enjoyed this flick.... i'd love to add it to the DVD collection, as i'd like to watch it again.... Ving Rhames is at his bad ass best.... Kelly Hu (a very underrated action star) is in top form.... and Robert Carlysle plays the drunken priest to the hilt.... the rest of the cast is fairly unknown, but everyone works really well in their roles....

4 out of 5 stars.... well worth the rental from Netflix.... or wherever you can get it from.... i'm sure at some point it'll be OnDemand, but for now.... go and rent it....! if you like bloody over the top action films, this one is for you.... i wish that there were more movies out like this.... a great stress relief and good to the last drop. (of blood).

if you like this, check out: 'Starship Troopers', 'Hard Boiled' and 'Rambo' (2008)

my thoughts on.... 'Hard Revenge Milly' and 'Hard Revenge Milly: Bloody Battle'

i stumbled across this set of movies while searching out recent Asian action movies.... they're very much in the vein of the 'Gun Crazy' movie series, where they target a VERY specific audience.... in the case of 'Gun Crazy': good looking women with two guns blowing away all of the bad guys.... in extreme ways.... and 'Gun Crazy' spawned 3 sequels after the first one and each one only runs about an hour or so.... and so it goes with 'Hard Revenge Milly'.... the first one clocks in at only 43 minutes.... not much longer than your average sitcome episode, but with a lot more blood, guts and gore.... along with some kick ass sword fights, gun battles and kung fu action.... they jam a lot into the short period of time they're given.... granted the story is simple and the plot of the movie is just as simple.... that's not why they made these movies.... they seem to be part of almost a b-grade action sub-genre.... where they slap together a fairly good action movie and target specific audiences and then throw it out there and see what sticks.... it's not that different than porn.... and not something that you see much of in America.... a fascinating trend to say the least....

the basic plot is that a gang called the Jack Brothers murder Milly's husband and baby in horrific ways and stab her to the point where she should have died.... i mean she was nothing but a big hunk of meat by the time they were through with her.... she takes two years to train in weapons, martial arts and a little suprise you don't see until the end.... then she sets out to exact her revenge.... and as you can guess.... since there is a sequel, she doesn't die and the end of the movie show that someone has survived and wants her dead now.... thus part 2....

i wouldn't go any higher than 3 out of 5 stars on this one.... it's a fun little time waster but no real substance to it.... and i don't think they ever planned on it having any.... i think it was just to spawn sequels and break even.... and they did just that.... so if you have a little time and Netflix OnDemand and don't mind a tad silly ending.... check this out.... see what i mean.... now onto part 2.....

okay.... so they took a slightly different angle on this one.... they slowed the pace down a bit and took more time with building up the storyline.... this one clocked in at an hour and 14 mins.... so you can tell they wanted to step up their game a bit.... i think that between the two movies, this was a step in the right direction and i would watch a 3rd in the series, if they make it.... (which they set it up for another one.).... the action was just as good.... the weapons were new.... they took out a tad bit of the silliness at the end of the first one.... they introduced a lot more bad guys to kill.... and overall just increased the stakes for this movie.... you learn a lot more about the future that Milly is living in.... the Japan of the future.... and it expands the world into a much more interesting place, a place you want to know more about.... a dark future....

cohorts of Jack are after Milly, who has built herself a bunker to hide out from all those who want to kill her.... a woman wanders into the warehouse where it's located looking for her help.... it seems that the womans lover was killed and now she wants revenge and was pointed in Milly's direction.... soon the bad guys come a calling and all hell breaks loose.... it just builds the tension from there as Milly and the woman become entangled in the final battle with those who want to kill Milly for her rampage on Jack and his gang....

3 out of 5 stars again.... it does what it sets out to do.... to entertain and get you pumped up with all of the action.... it also introduces cool new gadgets to get excited about.... all around it's evolution in the series and helps to create the possability of a franchise.... i don't know how far this series is going to go.... 'Gun Crazy' only seemed to make it through 4 movies total, but none of them got a rating as high as Milly did.... so i think she has a better chance at a longer possible run.... but what happens after everyone tied to Jack and his gang are dead....? Milly's only pupose for living is to get her revenge.... after that, there's nothing left.... will that leave anything left for us the viewer....? only time will tell.

if you like this movie, check out: 'Gun Crazy', 'Tokyo Gore Police' and 'Machine Girl'