FILM ACTION TERBAIK 2011

The Green Hornet
Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz, Christoph Waltz, Tom Wilkinson
Director: Michel Gondry
Release Date: 14 January 2011

A newspaper publisher (Seth Rogen) moonlights as a masked crimefighter nicknamed ‘The Green Hornet’ accompanied by his Asian valet, martial arts expert Kato. Despite his heroic intentions, he is considered so disreputable among law enforcement that he is able to talk casually with known criminals and even do business with them. Rogen says the movie’s not a comedy, despite his presence, and with the director being Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Be Kind Rewind) how this’ll turn out is anyone’s guess.
Ong Bak 3
Starring: Tony Jaa, Dan Chupong
Directors: Tony Jaa, Panna Rittikrai
Release Date: 14 January 2011

Guess who’s Bak? Picking up where the last movie left off, Tien (Tony Jass) is captured and almost beaten to death before he is saved and brought back to the mystical village. There he is taught meditation and how to deal with his Karma, but very soon his arch rival returns challenging him to a final duel. Ong Bak 3 actually premiered a month earlier on iTunes, Playstation, Xbox, Vudu, On Demand, and Amazon (as is increasingly the way with distributing smaller movies these days). But here’s your chance to see it on the big screen. Word is it’s a serious step-down from the previous two installments.
The Mechanic
Starring: Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Donald Sutherland, Christa Campbell
Director: Simon West
Release Date: 28 January 2011

Remake of the 1972 Charles Bronson cult classic about a hitman (Jason Statham) on the verge of retiring who agrees to train up a younger man (Ben Foster). But the new guy is the son of one of his handlers and may have more sinister motives. Jason Statham is not known for his versatility so we can already imagine every expression he’ll pull in this. Simon West (Con Air, Tomb Raider) is a so-so action director who’s not too strong on character and depth. Expect something passable.

- FEBRUARY - The Eagle
Starring: Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland, Mark Strong
Director: Kevin Macdonald
Release Date: 11 February 2011

The director of The Last King of Scotland adapts the classic 1954 adventure novel. A young Roman officer (Channing Tatum) sets out to discover the truth behind the disappearance of his father’s legion in the north of Britain. The main theme of the film is the “clash of cultures” between the Romans and the tribes beyond Hadrian’s Wall. All the Romans will be played by Americans. British actor Jamie Bell plays a slave. This is all sounding very political people.
I Am Number Four
Starring: Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Dianna Agron
Director: D.J. Caruso
Release Date: 18 February 2011

Michael Bay is producing a teen-action movie. Nine aliens who (conveniently) closely resemble humans, flee their home planet to hide on Earth. Evil aliens destroy their planet and follow them here to hunt them down, in numerical order. Each of the nine aliens is given a guardian and will develop superhuman powers as they become adults. From the director of Disturbia and Eagle Eye. Think bad guy aliens in long trenchcoats, and alien hunk in high school falling in love and developing X-Men powers. Nothing interesting here.
Drive Angry 3D
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard, William Fichtner, Billy Burke, David Morse, Tom Atkins
Director: Patrick Lussier
Release Date: 25 February 2011

Milton (Cage) has broken out of hell on a mission of revenge, to prevent the cult that murdered his daughter from sacrificing her baby. He’s joined by a waitress (Heard) who steals her ex-boyfriend’s cherry-red muscle car to help him. Soon the Devil has sent his right hand man (Fichtner) to put the breaks on Milton. This is from the writer/director team behind My Bloody Valentine 3D. That movie was well received despite being horribly written. This time they may come unstuck. Cage seems to be taking money advice from his barber and hair advice from his accountant.
World Invasion: Battle LA
Starring: Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Michael Peña, Bridget Moynahan
Director: Jonathan Liebesman
Release Date: 11 March 2011

A Marine platoon faces off against an alien invasion in Los Angeles. The director of Darkness Falls and T’ C’ Massacre: The Beginning is shooting in the Saving Private Ryan handheld style. Hopefully this will be the [Black Hawk Down (plus) Independence Day (minus) Jokes] it promises. Think large alien ships, similar to a Borg cube / Klingon war bird, shooting helicopters out of the sky, and 8 foot bi-ped creatures street-fighting with the army. The Comic-Con footage went down well. The movie’s probably fairly good as it put Liebesman in the running for the Superman job.
Sucker Punch
Starring: Emily Browning, Jon Hamm, Vanessa Hudgens
Director: Zack Snyder
Release Date: 25 March 2011

The first original movie from slow-mo supremo Zack Snyder. The director of the Dawn of the Dead, 300, Watchmen and that owl movie is taking us inside the mind of Babydoll, a young woman committed to to a mental institution who creates a fantastic imaginary world to escape to. Snyder’s visual flair looks intact, and his female ensemble cast looks pretty kick ass hot insane. This is Snyder’s last chance to prove he can do good character work before he directs the Superman reboot.

Haywire
Starring: Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas, Michael Fassbender, Channing Tatum
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Release Date: 22 April 2011

A freelance black ops soldier (played by real life MMA fighter Gina Carano) finds herself double crossed on a mission in Dublin. Now she must use all her skills to escape an international manhunt, make it back to the US and exact revenge on those that have betrayed her. The plot is very standard (a female Bourne Identity at best) but the fresh-faced lead, a terrific supporting cast and Soderbergh directing action could turn this into something worth seeing.
Fast Five (Fast & Furious 5)
Starring: Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson
Director: Justin Lin
Release Date: 29 April 2011

Fast & Furious (4) felt like a last role of the dice for Vin Diesel’s career as a leading man, but it paid off huge at the box office. So now he’s sticking around to be joined by Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and the co-star of 2 Fast 2 Furious, Tyrese Gibson. The plot sees former cop Brian (Walker) and Mia (Brewster) break Dom out of custody and flee to Brazil where they must pull one last job to gain their freedom. But a hard-nosed federal agent (Johnson) is on their trail. The director hand Read More..

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