SEPTEMBER, 16



HITMAN: SHADOW OF A LEGEND

Action
Cast: Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Ewan McGregor, Ian McKellen, Kiefer Sutherland, Misha Barton, Ben McKenzie, Arnold Vosloo.
The Director: Tony Scott
The Screenwriter and Producer: John Daws

Box Office: 82 mill.
Net Gains: 58 mill.

Stark’s Reaction: Hitman movies always work so well in box office, although not as much as they used to. I think Daws has written a wonderful ending for the troubled life of JJ. Any way you look at it, a great action movie.

BULLET WITCH

Action
Cast: Hillary Swank, Eric Bana, Alan Arkin. Voices of Michael Douglas, Christopher Lee.
Director: McG
Screenwriter: David Makalaster


Box Office: 95 mill.
Net Gains: 56 mill.

Stark’s Reaction: This was a expensive movie to make, but it has been worthy at the end. If Makalaster decides to turn it into the beginning of a new franchise, he can count on me. It looks as a profitable business.

NIGHT CAB

Comedy / Dark
Cast: George Clooney, Sasha Baron Cohen, Christopher Walken, Estella Warren, Oliver Platt
Director: Steven Sorderbergh
Screenwriter: Matt Kubrick


Box Office: 7 mill.
Net Loss: 32 mill.

Stark’s Reaction: Oh, my God… This one is becoming the toughest Season in a long time. Three flops in three weeks. And this one is a hard one. Just can’t understand it. It was an entertaining little movie with an appealing cast. It should have worked better in box office. This is a big disappointment.



HITMAN: SHADOW OF A LEGEND

“The Hitman franchise has gone from worse to better, which is not the usual thing in movie sagas but it is the best way to go. Plots have become more and more intense and solid while characters have grown up in depth and consistency. The franchise has also left two memorable sequences for Movie History: the killing of Keira Knightley’s character, shot by her beloved Farrell to avoid her more suffering – ‘Hitman: Two Ways To Die’ – and the crucifixion of John Hurt in ‘Hitman: Thicker Blood’. This fifth episode, as the fourth one, is less violent than the three previous ones. Also, religious elements are less present than they used to be. But the action set pieces have become more spectacular and the pace of the movie makes it a permanent thrill. In conclusion, the franchise maybe losing its originality but it’s been improved as quality action movies.”
-Charlie Kiggs

“Hitman gets closer to Jason Bourne. Here we have the fifth and maybe the last episode of John Daws’ popular saga. And all the philosophy behind The Brotherhood seems to have disappeared since the death of Father Michaels / Patrick Stewart. Jackson / Farrell has grown up to become a regular action hero, leaving aside all his internal conflicts. So here we have a very entertaining show, maybe a bit superficial, with a great villain played by the always efficient Ewan McGregor and a bitter ending, as the hero finally dies… The only fear? I hope Daws won’t expect us to follow now Ben McKenzie as the new Hitman – it looks like it, I’m afraid – cause I don’t think he has the screen presence enough to make a solid replacement for the gone Farrell.”
-Lily Stevens

“I have always had the feeling that CMP has always mistreated this franchise. I mean, it has nothing to envy to other CMP’s sagas. But it hasn’t got so much attention and the episodes have been released without all the hype around other productions. Personally, I think that ‘Hitman’ and ‘The Last Lawman’ are the two best sagas coming from CMP – way much better than the successful ‘Game Boy’, ‘Wild Cards’ or even ‘Star Wars’. Both offer quality action movies with intelligence. ‘Hitman’ has also offered the Studio five consecutive box office’s hits, which is a great achivement. But I still feel like it is treated as a poor relative of the main sagas from the Studio. Maybe, now that it seems to be over, is the right moment to praise this great series of movies that has made us spent quite a good time on theatres. Long live for Hitman… and rest in peace!”
-Vic Carter

BULLET WITCH

“David Makalaster and Ben Tyler made their debut in CMP almost at the same time. And I very much welcome them as I thought the Studio would have at last two writers interested in a different kind of stories not only looking for nice box offices with empty action shows. Tyler wrote ‘Schroedinger’s Litterbox’ – in my opinion, a comedy masterpiece – and Makalaster wrote the brilliant ‘Little Tin Goddess’. But what has happened since then? Tyler released ‘Captain America’ and Makalaster releases now this ‘Bullet Witch’. And all my hopes are beginning to tumble down. Ok, ok, I know everything does not have to be Shakespeare, you know. But ‘Bullet Witch’ is an embarrassing ‘shoot ‘em up’ movie. One of those empty fireworks shows based on noise, slow motion sequences and an exhausting editing. A movie like this cannot be measured in terms of quality but only in its capacity of moneymaking. And, in that sense, only from that moneymaking perspective, the movie works… although it doesn’t any other way.”
-Alex Smithers

“Hillary Swank has won two Academy Awards. She has also been nominated for the GMA. But let’s be honest: how many of you would remember her if you are asked to make a list of the best actresses of all times (or only of our days)? Swank builds up here a mix between Aeon Flux and Lara Croft. And McG – after his efficient work for CMP in ‘Yeoman’ – returns here to his worst Charlie’s Angels-esque style of direction. Eric Bana and Alan Arkin do the best they can with their poor characters and the digitally generated demons look much better than all of them. There are hard times coming: save the money of the ticket for that instead watching this.”
-Roy Winslow

“And here we go with another console game adaptation… Although the movie has some visually outstanding moments – particularly all the sequence around the airplane crush – this is a product only oriented to the console generation kids. McG, the cheap version of Michael Bay, puts up a big show you can enjoy or hate. Although Makalaster has tried to write a consistent screenplay, designing solid characters and giving the plot a certain entity, McG only seems interested in the action side of the whole thing, ignoring some interesting sci-fi elements of Makalaster’s work that could have upgraded the movie to something more than just a wild non-stop action show.”
-Jackie Callaghan

NIGHT CAB

“Can this feature be considered a spoof movie? Well, usually spoofs make jokes about a bunch of recent releases. This one seems to parody only one movie: ‘Collateral’. But, was that the intention of Matt Kubrick and Steven Sorderbergh? Or did they get to believe at any moment that they were dealing with an original idea? ‘Night Cab’ is based on a premise as similar to ‘Collateral’ – a hitman and a taxi driver from a minority spending the night together – that in fact it looks as a comedy remake of it. This is an entertaining action comedy but it is so difficult to watch it as an independent concept without remembering ‘Collateral’ and, at the end, that doesn’t help the movie but becomes a kind of dead weight for it”
-Chris Burguess

“I had always wondered why Steven Sorderbergh, one of the most versatile and creative directors of our days, had not worked yet for CMP. Like the Cohen Brothers – who have only directed the first ‘Cell Mates’ -, I think it is a shame that these talented guys keep being apart from CMP while movie directors – if they can be called so - like McG keep building up a career in the Studio. But, now that Sorderbergh has finally worked for CMP, I am surprised the movie he has chosen for his debut. An easy action comedy where the most – and maybe I should say ‘the only’ – remarkable moment is the strip dancing sequence by Estella Warren. Here is a movie as entertaining as forgettable. His fans will keep waiting for a good Sorderbergh’s movie for CMP.”
-Tim Reeve

“Harry Stark regularly complains about the excess of pitches based on console or pc games or just action shows the Studio gets from its writers. But the truth is that, as soon as CMP leaves aside action flicks and enters into other territories – historical epics like ‘1066’, thrillers like ‘The Killing Run’ or now a dark comedy – its releases flop in box office. If it wasn’t for those pc games / comics / console games based productions, where would be CMP now? ‘Nigh Cab’ is not a good movie at all. In fact, it is a dispensable production. I can’t understand why Sorderbergh – failing here in his attempt of recovering the ironic sense of humor from the Ocean’s movies – and Clooney have accepted to get involved in this one. And Cohen – who has made very nice comedy works for CMP in ‘The Metal’ and ‘No More Bush! – only makes an excessive acting work recovering elements of his acclaimed creation, Borat. But CMP should have known how to make this good looking project work. Although it is a poor movie, the huge failure at box office is not justified and somebody at CMP should reflect on this fact.”
-Jack Stampton



HITMAN: SHADOW OF A LEGEND

The Hitman series is legendary in the CMP world. Daws may not want to do anymore at some point and the cast probably doesn't want to only be known for the series, but if things go right, Hitman could be CMP's James Bond, done by different writers, directors, casts when the previous ones grow tired of it. I was left with a feeling that it wasn't completely over. Never say never in Hollywood! If this really is the last one, then this story certainly let it go out with a BANG. One of the best in the series and I'm glad that just because it says it's the last one that the effort put into it didn't make it feel like everyone grew tired of doing the series and just wanted it over with like some particular films like the last Pirates, Matrix or X-Men sagas. Two thumbs and two big toes up!

BULLET WITCH

I enjoy the work of Makalaster, but Bullet Witch didn't exactly keep my attention throughout. It feels like what you'd expect from a video game movie. Nothing amazing or groundbreaking, but I've definitely seen worse. You can watch it for a great action show which usually always draws a nice crowd, but take it for what it's worth! Entertaining to watch fight scenes, Hilary Swank looking hot, sweet stunts. Everything you'd want in an action genre movie. two thumbs down, but two big toes up!

NIGHT CAB

It reminded me of Collateral a little bit. Cohen and Clooney's chemistry worked very well though and it kept me intrigued. A much better attempt from Kubrick than the previous horror flick last week! Two thumbs up, but two big toes bent!