Today’s review is Peacemaker

Genre: Action Thriller
Directed by: Mimi Leder
Staring: George Clooney, Nicole Kidman
Released: September 26, 1997

THE GENERAL IDEA

Two trains crash somewhere in Russia, one carrying a nuclear payload. A nuclear explosion follows the crash and the world is on alert… However, White House nuclear expert Dr. Julia Kelly doesn’t think it was an accident… Special Forces Intelligence Officer Colonel Thomas Devoe doesn’t think so either… Together they must unravel a conspiracy that goes from Europe to New York, to stop a terrorist who has no demands.

THE GOOD

This film is filled with awesome suspense, great action and even better character interaction. It’s miliatary strategy, its interpersonal relationships, its intrigue and action. It has it all.

This started my love affair with the Clooney swagger. His cockiness is hard to argue with when he is always right, but its how he delivers it. And Nicole Kidman looks so uniquely beautiful in this that she almost doesn’t look like herself – in a good way. I have never seen Kidman look entirely unattractive (maybe the Hours) and this is one of my favourite films with her in it. Her character deals with the problem of being a woman in power but they don’t dwell on it long.

The real threat of the film is the terrorist, who despite having no demands DOES have a purpose. You sympathize with what he has endured, but still see the evil in his reaction. He presents a real threat and a real villain which makes the suspense that much more real.

What surprised me most is actually a spoiler, so dont read any more of this section if you don’t want to know. Kidman and Clooney build a close working relationship and learn to respect each other but they never cross into that cliche that insists this means they will be romanticly involved. I love this about the film. They do grow closer and learn to respect each other, but that doesn’t mean they have to date.

THE BAD

I have little bad to say about this movie. I love it.

The title didn’t make much sense to me. There was no “peacemaker” as all they did was stop a terrorist. They don’t stop a war, they don’t stop his entire cause. They stop one terrorist act. And the title implies there was A peacemaker, while the film clearly illustrates how the threat is stopped by the organization and co-operation of many departments and individuals. But that’s all I have to complain about, so its not a big deal.

OVERALL

A great action film with heart and smarts. It has it all. The characters are all well fleshed out and the story builds the suspense to a finale worth watching. An absolute must see for fans of political and military thrillers.

I am going to introduce a new rating system for my Forgotten Fridays picks.

TV – If you are at least a little curious, catch it if it comes on TV.
Rent – If it is something you have heard of and forgotten, or just remember enjoying this as much as I did once upon a time, go rent it.
Buy – But if you are like me, and you agree with my review you should go buy it. If its featured here, I already have.

LA Times reports:

Two people close to the picture said the exact gross, which is still being calculated by Summit Entertainment, could be as high as $26 million.

Update (10:45 AM): Summit’s official estimate for midnight ticket sales is $26.27 million. Its official estimate for the gross of the original “Twilight” last night is $1.3 million.

The craze seems to have blossomed since the first film came out, enforcing that even though Twilight novels were already a hit, that the feature film put it on the map dragging in droves of new fans. Fans apparently eager to catch the new installment of the insanely popular franchise.

Reveiws are rolling in positive for the movie, and I expect there will be records set this weekend.

Superhero Hype reports:

Elba will play Heimdall, the guardian of Asgard, who stands on the BiFrost Bridge ready to defend the city from intruders.

He joins a cast that includes Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Jaimie Alexander, Colm Feore, Samuel L. Jackson, Stellan Skarsgard, Stuart Townsend, Ray Stevenson and Tadanobu Asano.

I like this casting. I find Idris to be uniquely intimidating and has a great presence. He will do fine with the role.

How big a role the gatekeeper will play is yet to be seen, but I am sure he will own it.

And the latest film to hop on that bandwagon? Jackass. Because clearly you needed to see that in 3D.

Cinema Blend did their homework:

Bam Margera, one of the more popular and successful members of the group, revealed to the Finish magazine Iltalehti in September that the next film is a go, and will begin shooting in January 2010 (he apparently confirmed this on his own radio station, but there is no source cited.) Even more interesting is the prospect that the movie may filmed in 3D. /Film did some research and uncovered that the domain “jackass3d.com” (curently inaccessible) is owned by Paramount Pictures, the distributor of the film.

I find the Jackass films to be offensive. Not in what they do, because any moron can take a baseball bat to your junk or stick a leech to your eye, or offer you a shotglass full of donkey semen.

I find it offensive that this pathetic display of personal abuse that is below even the mentality of surfing YouTube to find underage girls cam dancing in skimpy outfits. But that this qualifies as a “feature film” event gives me little hope for the future. This is the world my children get to live in. Sigh.

But I can also see how this cash cow needs to be milked and someone is going to get fat on the profits these films make. The production consists of little more than a camcorder and a group of people stupid enough to do stupid shit. Zinger. There’s your multimillion dollar franchise right there.

It costs next to nothing to make. Next to no brain cells to write. And promises big returns as the mindless masses line up to see a man street luge in a shopping cart.

News of a new Vacation film following a grown up Rusty Griswold and his family brought hopes that we might see a cameo from his parents, but this time Clark and Ellen will star in a line of commercials for a Vacation Rentals company that will start with a featured Superbowl Sunday ad.

/Film says:

The Griswolds will be reuniting insead for an advertising campaign to be launched during the 2010 Superbowl. The television spot is for HomeAway vacation rentals (a natural fit) and according to US Weekly, will also feature an exact replica of the film’s iconic Wagon Queen Family Truckster.

I love the Vacation films, and while it will be great to see the Griswolds again, I am more interested in seeing the new generation bring the comedy stylings of Vacation back to the big screen with Rusty’s family.

But it will still be good to see Clark and Ellen again, if only briefly.

Well some news on the Marvel front has come out first via Twitter, starting with news from Jon Favreau that Robert Downey Jr’s Sherlock Holmes might be the place to be to see the first Iron Man 2 Trailer.

And while they are at that, the internal buzz about Thor is reaching a fever pitch with many people involved tweeting their excitement:

First Showing quotes:

The big Thor discussion was kicked off today by Marvel’s editor-in-chief Joe Quesada – @JoeQuesada:

“I could listen to Branagh talk about Thor all day long. Cast is in place, sets are being built and screenplay is brilliant. Marveldom rules!”

Then comic book author Brian Michael Bendis – @BRIANMBENDIS – replied with the following as well:

“Broadcasting live from marvel west. Thor movie meeting with Ken branagh was over the top amazing. Visited the sets! I was in Odin’s chamber!”

“U should get in line for the Thor movie today. Just saying.”

While I expect there to be a certain amount of pumping from executives and studios involved, this lines up with the rest of the news we are hearing. Solid cast, confident filming schedule and nothing but good news that almost sounds like the running start Iron Man had when we couldn’t find fault in that either.

I can’t wait to see how this all comes about.

His newest flick takes Dwayne to the world of Hockey, where traditionally lost teeth are a stereotype and his character is a tough bruiser who has earned the nickname Tooth Fairy. When he crosses the line and violates a child’s innocence he is sentenced to spend time as the real Tooth Fairy.

If this sounds suspiciously like the plot of Tim Allen’s Santa Clause, I thought so too. Well it seems the director of Santa Clause 3 will be in charge of this mythical figure’s job replacement. While I didn’t like the third Santa Clause as much as the first two, there was a certain charm to the series that I hope Michael Lembeck can bring to this one too.

Despite its similarities, it doesn’t look like this will be tied to the Santa Clause franchise but maybe we can pretend that Roy, the Molinator just needed a vacation and Johnson is filling in.

After this I hope that Johnson signs on with something meatier and asskickier.

ScreenCrave quotes Bettany:

“I was on the set of Legion. It was the weekend after Iron Man opened, and some of the crew came in and were like, ‘Hey, I was listening to Iron Man. You’re in Iron Man, right?’ ‘No, I’m not.’ And they said, ‘Well, it sounds like you.’ And then I went, ‘Oh, wait! I am!,’” Bettany recalled with a laugh.”

The reason Bettany forgot about his part in the film was because he was added at the last minute, and the recording was only an hour worth of work.

“I got rung up. The director [Jon Favreau], who I know and have worked with as actors [in Wimbledon], said, ‘Do you wanna do this thing?’ ‘Yeah, sure. F*** it. I’ll do Iron Man.’ I went in. He’s a very funny human being, obviously, and I laughed my ass off for about an hour. Literally said a couple of lines, went downstairs, got in a cab and went home.”

And it looks like history might repeat itself. If Bettany is going to supply his voice for Iron Man 2, it will once again be a last minute.

I’d like to hear him in it again, and there is plenty of time to add his lines. Its a small part, but it is something that would offer consistency.

He is creating life out of nothing. If I am not mistaken Bloodrayne is the only Boll video game film to get a sequel – Because there was a second game. And now where there is no third game to base another film on, Boll is just going to run with it anyways!

The simplest answer is, Uwe Boll. Maybe it’s the fact that the original Rayne, Kristanna Loken is coming back. My question arises again, why? There’s no third game so there’s not a plot, of course you can come up with one, but Boll isn’t just anyone.

While Kirstanna Loken is easy on the eyes and will be returning to the skimpy outfits and gratuitous violence.

The subtitle Warhammer is another game franchise, so the title Bloodrayne 3: Warhammer offers some confusion but it might also have to do with the lack of a plot so we have no clue what Warhammer might mean.

But is it a Video Game adaptation if its not based on an existing game but still has the same character?

Pitt is a great action star, and now he may potentially star in a video game adaptation of Dark Void.

We Are Movie Geeks gives up:

Reliance BIG Entertainment, is going to take on the alien world, as it has attained the feature film rights to Capcom’s third person shooter, DARK VOID. The film is being developed as a possible starring vehicle for Pitt.

The video game centers on a cargo pilot who is transported to an alternate reality after crashing in the Bermuda Triangle. He soon finds himself behind hunted by an alien race. Along with a small band of humans, he tries to fend off the alien threat with a cavalcade of weapons and things that go boom.

I have never played the game, so I am unfamiliar with the gameplay, however the plot does sound delicious for an action flick and Pitt is good at doing action, so why the hell not.

I know the mantra is that all video game movies are bad. But no one took comic book movies seriously either, so its bound to happen one day, so I can hope. Maybe its that I am unfamiliar with the game that makes me hopeful as I am looking at the premise as I would any sci-fi action flick and not reacting knee jerk style and assuming it will suck.

Given a good script, the premise has a ton of potential. I look forward to seeing how this shapes up.