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This is one of those action movies that suffers from an excess of action. It can't go for 5 minutes without a fight scene where Tony Stark is supposedly in mortal danger. Of course with a movie like this you know the good guys will survive and win in the end, but when it happens every 5 minutes it's simply impossible to get emotionally invested in any given scene. You know there will be some punching, some kicking, some explosions, and RDJ will walk away basically unscathed. It's tedious.

Likewise, instead of only having a handful of Iron Man suits, this movie literally has dozens, and their impressiveness and significance is diminished accordingly. Especially in the final scene where the suits are torn apart like tissue paper.

Which brings me to the bad guys (and the plot). Supposedly the bad guys are taking a drug that gives them the ability to regenerate limbs and heal quickly. And sometimes unintentionally explode. Fine. But it also inexplicably causes them to have super strength, reflexes, and martial arts abilities. (Huh?) And to make their eyeballs glow red/evil. And to make their limbs so phenomenally hot that they can punch through indestructible metal. And basically to have whatever powers are convenient for a particular scene. In one scene, a main bad guy is killed by two blast from Iron Man's palm-guns, but towards the end, the bad guys can't even be killed by being INSIDE a self-destructing Iron Man suit. (But they can be killed by Gwyneth Paltrow doing a backflip?) It's the epitome of lazy storytelling and it's infuriating, especially since we know these movies can be (and have been) done so much better.

This movie is a straight-up combination of Rounders, Diner, and The Color of Money. It is hard to watch for a single minute without thinking in the back of your head that you've seen the same exact thing somewhere else before. The acting leans towards wooden (except for the typically excellent Christopher Walken) and the script thinks it's more clever than it really is (example, the gag "hustle" about the RV salesman's shoes).

As a pool player, it's fun to see pool on film. Two caveats though. First, most of the pool footage is so zoomed-in that the shots are obviously being done by someone else in a different location, and it's jarring and distracting. Of course the actors can't all be expert pool players but it would be nice to see some of the clothing and scenery that you would expect, and not just balls on tables. Second, the characters are almost always playing 9-ball but also almost always trying to pocket all the balls, which is unrealistic. This may be a concession that a general audience will not know the rules of 9-ball but to anyone who does, it makes the pool scenes surreal.

Overall though I appreciate movies about pool and this movie is a solid effort, particularly at its relatively low production cost of $4M, so, a strong 7/10.

The Big Hit is perfect for people with a certain sense of humor. If the idea of Marky Mark doing break-dancing moves to avoid being shot during a gun battle sounds cool or makes you laugh, you will love the rest of the movie. If it sounds lame, you're better off not watching.

The movie is silly, clever, witty, and absurd, and yet it's not just a lighthearted romp: it has enough plot that even after watching it a dozen times there's never a dull moment.

It's a shame there are so many people who don't "get" the movie and give it bad reviews. Its sense of humor reminds me a lot of Arrested Development--as does its frosty reception.

I've seen bad movies before but this one is unique. My best guess is that the plot and dialogue were being written as the movie was being filmed. The actors often seem confused about how to deliver their lines, or even what they are. All the scenes feel like unrehearsed first takes. There is no plot to speak of in the first half (the only half I watched)--just that some characters get chased around by cracks in the ground.

I would LOVE to see a "behind the scenes" documentary to find out how it ended up like this.

Justin Hartley (the husband/dad) stands out as the only actor who seems to be putting in any effort.

I was okay with all the plot and character and scientific weaknesses in this movie. It has stunning visuals and I liked the music and maybe I was distracted with thinking "hey, maybe it'd be cool to live on a spaceship with plants and stuff." What ruined it for me was the crazy guy introduced in the second half. WTF?!?! Okay, so the old captain turned into a religious whacko and sabotaged the mission, fine. But how did he also turn into a majorly sunburnt, super-strong psychopathic serial killing monster with tear-off arms? It's nonsense. And what's also nonsense are the visual effects whenever he's on-screen. I think I saw something similar done with a serial killer in a particularly bad episode of Walker, Texas Ranger. I guess the director wasn't aiming very high.

SPOILER ALERT

If the Americans (and Russians) know exactly where the rebel-controlled missiles are, why can't they be disabled with conventional weapons by almost any country? Why can't somebody (anybody!) fly some planes over the depot and drop some bombs? Isn't a nuclear attack from an American submarine just about the worst, stupidest, most unbelievable way to solve the problem?

It's so stupid that the first two times I saw this movie I literally didn't understand the plot at all. Why were we trying to start a nuclear holocaust just because the rebels were gassing up some missiles?? My dad had to explain to me that the sub was actually supposed to disable the enemy missiles. Uh huh. 5/10 because I enjoyed the acting.

I like this show because it captures male-male friendships so well. The guys are crass to each other (in a clever way) but are still tight. I also like it because, in a lesser show, the characters would be pure clichés, but here the writing is good enough that they're believable. For example, Eric is the "shy" character but he can still stand up for himself, gets girls, etc. And of course it's fun to live vicariously through the guys.

The show does have some flaws that seem to be getting worse with time. One big one is that it's so formulaic. Something seemingly bad happens at the beginning but right at the end of the episode it all works out for some contrived reason. One episode actually had them losing a fortune at blackjack just to win it all back at the end with a crazy-lucky hand. These emotional roller coasters are not subtle or sophisticated.

Another problem that's been getting worse is Ari's schtick. I buy it when he's pitching or negotiating but these sub-plots with his kid's school, Lloyd's boyfriend, etc. and pretty unbelievable.

I find this show engaging enough to watch fairly regularly but have to disagree with all the glowing reviews that have been posted. The plot lines are often simplistic and sensationalist and the long music-driven "emotional" scenes are pandering and boring. The characters are one dimensional and any "development" seems forced. I feel like Lenny on Law & Order is my good buddy even though that show hardly has any character development, whereas the WAT characters seem more like bullet points--"the wise, good hearted leader with family problems", "the tough blonde going through an emotional crisis", etc. The show is okay but it's really a slick presentation of something that could use a few more IQ points.

I think every aspect of this show is terrific. What really makes the difference is the believability of the characters. They all behave like real, intelligent people with real (and different) personalities. With most other TV shows I'm always muttering, "Oh, he'd never say that," but with The Shield, I'm excited to see what each character will do in the positions they're put in.

There were a few times during this movie when I was just dumbstruck by the plot. How is Clint in a position to negotiate his compensation for the "sanctions" when he's being blackmailed to do them in the first place? How did the black girl "use" him? How did a guy with such tremendous health problems from birth get to be in charge of a spy organization? And the biggest question of them all, why did Clint actually have to climb the stupid mountain?? You don't have to climb a mountain to tell if a guy has a limp or not. There are a few other questions I have, but you get the point.

Despite all the problems I had with the plot, I enjoyed watching Clint do his thing and the mountain climbing was pretty inspiring.