Another over the top action flick for the summer and I loved it! – Will
June gets caught up in the life of secret agent Roy when she winds up on the same plane as him while he’s smuggling a new perpetual energy source.
Directed by – James Mangold
Written by – Patrick O’Neill
Starring – Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Peter Sarsgaard, Jordi Malla, Viola Davis, Paul Dano, Falk Hentschel, Marc Blucas, Lennie Loftin, Maggie Grace, Rich Manley, Dale Dye, Celia Weston, Gal Gadot, Jack O’Connell
I’m hoping to be treated to at least a few more of these over the top action flicks this year because what I’ve seen so far is impressive. First it was The A-Team (review here) and now we have Knight and Day. I’ve always been a fan of Cruise in an action role and he delivers again here. It’s a little less funny than The A-Team but it’s jam packed with action sequences and does a good job of making you wonder who the bad guy really is. Is it Cruise as Roy Miller or is it Peter Sarsgaard as Fitzgerald. I’m sure it’s probably obvious to most people but there was still one point in the film where I had to wonder if I was right or not.
It’s kind of an interesting pairing in Cruise and Diaz. Here’s two actors that a lot of people either love or hate, not a lot of in between with those two. I’m not much of a fan of Diaz but she does well as the confused June. She’s quickly caught up in Roy’s world when she manages to get onto his plane. The only passengers on the plane besides Roy and June are some men and women out to kill Roy and obtain a battery he’s carrying. It just happens to be the first perpetual energy source and it seems like Roy has gone rogue and made off with it, hiding the creator in the process. Roy has another story for June, telling her that it’s another agent who is rogue and is attempting to steal the battery. It doesn’t really matter who is the bad guy to June because she just winds up getting shot at over and over again anyway with Roy coming to the rescue every time.
Diaz and Cruise make a pretty good couple but the relationship could have been a bit more believable.
Within the first few minutes of the film you know what you’re going to get. Aboard the airplane, Cruise takes out an entire group of bad guys, throwing off knives, punches and a couple of one-liners like they were nothing. Even the pilots on board the plane are out to get him and when they both wind up dead he calmly lands the plane in a field, escaping with Diaz before the plane explodes behind them. It’s that kind of insane action that fills the movie. All kinds of unbelievable scenes take place, stretching from one point of the globe to another. It’s also the point where some things get a bit annoying.
When Roy and June get off the plane, Roy drugs June and takes her home hoping to keep her out of the madness that has started. This becomes an ongoing thing. An action scene will start to get going and then June is drugged again. When she wakes up they’re out of danger and onto some new location. We end up missing 3 or 4 scenes of action. It was funny the first couple of times as Roy tells June that he keeps doing it because she ‘didn’t seem to be coping well.’ but after that it just becomes annoying. It happens way too many times and seems like a cheap way to finish a scene.
Not the greatest example of CG but with the over the top nature of the film it fits perfectly.
I never bothered to read any reviews on this one. A friend of mine said they had seen it and that it was good so I thought I’d check it out. I think with Cruise and Diaz in the flick it’s going to turn people away. Like I said before, I know lots of people that just can’t stand at least one of them and are avoiding this movie for that simple reason. Since I like Cruise and had heard that the action was good I figured it was a no-brainer for me. Cruise isn’t exactly as much fun as Bradley Cooper in The A-Team but the movie delivers in the action department, being just as over the top as it could be with an interesting story. I love a good action flick and really enjoyed this one and if you don’t hate Cruise or Diaz then you’ll probably enjoy this one as well.
Under the marquee – Will
I can’t stand Diaz but often enough she’s in a film that I can tolerate through. I must note that she was by far the worst part of Gangs Of New York………the only bad part in fact……but
You say you like this, then I probably will too. It was your A-Team review that convinced me it was worth seeing and it was.
I wonder how this movie even did? I can see it being a big flop with Cruise and Diaz in it and you’re just another name to add to the list of people I know that hate Diaz but in the end I really enjoyed it much more than I thought I would.
I really enjoy watch this film… It mixing between action and comedy..
one must love tom cruise & cameron diaz in the knight and day flick