The story surrounds Jason Tripitikas played by Michael Angarano(24, Will and Grace) being bullied by a gang, and his love of Kung fu movies, which he rents from an elderly Old Hop(Jackie Chang), during one particular night, Old Hop is robbed, and in the event of trying to protect Old Hop, he gets hold of an old staff, which transports him into the realm of the magical Forbidden Kingdom, where an evil Jade Warlord played by well known Kung fu Star Collin Chou. The Jade Warlord has taken over the Forbidden Kingdom while the King of Heaven is away.

This magical kingdom has a select number of Immortals, who cannot be killed except by a jade poison dart. It turns out that there was an immortal a Monkey King(also played by Jet Li), who had been challenged to a duel by the evil Jade Warlord, who was growing increasingly bitter over the favouritism shown to the Monkey King by the King of Heaven, as the King of Heaven left the Forbidden Kingdom into the hands of the Jade Warlord until his return, the Jade Warlord saw the opportunity to end the Monkey King once and for all, by attempting to kill him during the duel, just in time before he is killed the Monkey King freezes into stone, and sends out his magical staff out of the Forbidden Kingdom, and a prophecy was born that one will come that will return the Monkey King’s staff to the rightful owner.

Our young protagonist suddenly finds himself in the Forbidden Kingdom, where he, Lu Yan, his associate Golden Sparrow played by the lovely Yifei Liu and a monk known as The Silent Monk (also played by Jet Li) have to get the staff to the Monkey King, however he is still immortalised in stone, in the lair of the Jade King.

The cinematography gives the impression of being in a fantasy world, where everything is possible.

It has some classic funny moments, especially where Lu Yan is trying to summon rain while the stern faced Silent Monk makes a mockery of his attempt.

This is a great action movie with fantastic comedy moments, and the fans are no doubt clamouring for a sequel.

It again stars Keanu Reeves(Point Break, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure) as Neo, Laurence Fishburne(Apocalypse Now) as Morpheus, Carrie Ann Moss(Memento) as Trinity

The war with the A.I. is reaching it’s climax, the last human fortress Zion is under attack by the machines, and unless our protagonists can do something, their life and civilisation will be wiped out.

The antagonist, Agent Smith played by Hugo Weaving(Lord of the rings: The Fellowship of the ring) has somehow managed to get his personality out into the real world, while in the Matrix like a malevolent virus he has taken over everyone, and is waiting for Neo to turn up for their final encounter.

We learn a little about the unfolding in the life of the real world for Morpheus, Neo and Trinity, with people constantly wanting something from Neo in the real world, keeping him away from Trinity more than he would like, to send messages to their loved ones, whose minds haven’t been “unplugged” yet, to constantly protecting his friends and companions from Agents, who like regular software have been given upgrades to combat the threat of Neo. The complicated relationship between Morpheus and his lost love Niobe played by the wife of Will Smith (who was the original choice to play Neo by the Wachowski brothers) Jada-Pinkett Smith is developed a little further.

Less time is given to the other A.I. as was done in the previous sequel, and instead focuses on the main thrust of the story, the war between civilisation and the A.I. and if Neo, Morpheus and Trinity have any say on how it will all end.

The suspense that has been building up for a few years since the original Matrix is well played upon, and the conclusion is a fitting end to the roller coaster of cinematic vision and innovation that hasn’t captured the minds of many movie goers since.

Many saw this final sequel as redeeming some of the disappointments some of the fans saw in the second sequel, and it is not an underestimation to say the Matrix trilogy is to the current I.T. and Internet savvy generation what Star Wars was, to the generation of the late 70′s and 80′s.

The directors Andy and Larry Wachowski better known as the Wachowski brothers have reportedly refused to do any interviews about The Matrix or it’s sequels, possibly to continue and preserve it’s cult status.

As with many sequels, there are never as critically acclaimed or well received by the fans as the originals, and this is no exception. That said for cult fan status it was a long wait, with a superb teaser trailer broadcast during the Super Bowl, that had many fans salivating. This sequel did reveal a little bit more about the composition of the real world our protagonists lived in and the Matrix world the frequented.

In this sequel we are introduced to a whole other A.I. living in the Matrix, Persephone played by the beautiful Monica Bellucci(The brothers Grimm) and her husband Merovingian played by Lambert Wilson(The Lazarus Project, Babylon A.D.), and The Oracle was also revealed as another system of control, unfortunately the original actress Gloria Foster who played The Oracle, died soon after completing her scenes.

Morpheus believing a prophecy told to him by the Oracle, that getting Neo to the source will end the war and set them free from the A.I., along with Trinity try to get Neo to the location of the source, battling some nifty Programs along the way, a pair of them having the ability to move through objects and other people(which is plausible as no one in the Matrix is really flesh and bone, but a kind of simulation).

The Wachowski brothers on the few times they did talk about The Matrix, said they always wanted to make a movie that combined their love of Kung-Fu and the Martial Arts with Science Fiction, and The Matrix captures this beautifully.

The interesting thing about the Matrix and it’s sequels is the hidden meanings littered throughout every scene, going back to look at various scenes again, and reading up about it, the hidden religious references combining key aspects of the world’s major religions is quite interesting, from the “Know thyself” writing when Neo first meets The Oracle to his first encounter with The Oracle’s protector Seraph played by Collin Chou(The Forbidden Kingdom, DOA: Dead or Alive) (apparently The Wachowski brothers tried to get Kung-Fu legend and three times Chinese high kick champion Jet Li to play _ but he declined indicating he didn’t want people to ignore the storyline and focus that he is in the movie)telling Neo “you never truly know anyone until you fight them“.

It stars Keanu Reeves(Point Break, Bill and Ted Excellent Adventure) as Neo/Mr Anderson(apparently Will Smith(Independence Day, I. Robot) was asked by the Wachowski brothers to play Neo, but he declined the role saying he wasn’t mature enough as an actor to carry out the role), an I.T. guy seemingly bored with his existence, he is contacted by the mysterious Morpheus played by Laurence Fishburne(Apocalypse Now), wanted by many for alledgedly terrorist activities.

It turns out that Neo isn’t really living in the real world at all, but under slavery, as he and the rest of humanity are under, being hooked up to a machine, providing life source for A.I(Artificial intelligence) that has taken over the planet over a war with humanity, leaving only a few renegades to continue the war against the A.I.

As Morpheus succinctly puts it “What if you were in a dream you couldn’t wake up from, how would you know what is real and what is not?”.

This all makes sense at this point, because as a prelude to this mind boggling discovery, there was an action sequence, where Trinity played by Carrie-Anne Moss(Memento) runs away from a couple of agents, into a phone box, and whilst she has the ear-piece of the phone to her ears, one of the agents runs down the phone box with a truck, with Trinity’s body nowhere to be found in or around the phone box after this encounter(apparently after showing that ten-minute action sequence to their executive producers, they signed up immediately).

Morpheus has been told a prophecy by the Oracle played by Gloria Foster that he will find The One that will put an end to the slavery and set humanity free from A.I., and he believes Neo is that one, however Neo needs some convincing, especially as Morpheus, Trinity and a host of others take him to see the Oracle, to see what predictions she has in store for him.

During this scene an interesting occurrence takes place, that just separates The Matrix from just another science fiction movie, Neo sees a black cat, and sees the cat again, he mutters to himself “deja vu”, immediately everybody in the entourage tenses up and he is asked what he saw, he relays what he saw, and everyone finds a hiding place, weapons at the ready, with Trinity explaining to Neo that deja vu happens when the A.I. change something in the Matrix, and sure enough the antagonist Agent Smith played magnificently by Hugo Heaving(Lord of the rings: The fellowship of the ring), is just around the corner.

It is a ground-breaking story line coupled with some superb action sequences, with great twists along the way makes for a classic science fiction movie.

It is based on a short story “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” by Stephen King, and focuses on the life of a young banker Andy Dufresne played by Tim Robbins(The Player), after being found guilty of the murder of his wife and her male companion.

He protests his innocence, but the judge seeing his demeanour paraphrased, says “you strike me as a particularly cold and remorseless individual… ” and sentences him to two life sentences.

Whilst in prison he befriends the local prison smuggler, Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding played magnificently(who was nominated and many felt deserved the Oscar for Best Actor in a leading role) by Morgan Freeman. There is a scene that might leave many a little befuddled, as Andy askes Red if he can smuggle in Rita Hayworth, Red replies no problem, narrating that whenever anyone needed anything they came to him, and you are left in two minds on what exactly this means.

It captures the torment of prison, and the prisoners struggles as their humanity is eroded. There is a particular poignant scene played by the late James Whitmore(Give ‘em hell Harry) as Brooks Hatlen who has been released into a modern world after fifty years in prison, writing a letter to his friends back in jail, whilst his voice narrates the letter we are shown him struggling to get to grips with the modern world, such as crossing the road to avoid the many motor cars, he hardly ever saw when he was a kid.

Along with having to serve time for a crime he didn’t commit Andy also has to help the corrupt warden, Warden Norton played wonderfully by Bob Gunton(The Lazarus Project) siphon money obtained from using the prisoners as cheap workers into private accounts, as well as the Warden’s enforcer Captain Hadley played by Clancy Brown(Highlander, Kelvin Inman in Lost) prevent the government from taking huge chunk of tax from his inheritance. While in prison Andy tries to take his mind over the wrongful conviction by focusing on projects such as a prison library, carving out chess pieces, and helping Tommy played by a young Gil Bellows(Ally McBeal) pass his school exams.

This is a well directed movie, with superb performances from all and it is truly a wonderful case of the “indomitable human spirit“.

Isla Fisher plays Rebecca Bloomwood of the title, whose childhood desires has given want to spending more than she really should in adulthood to the desperation of her flatmate and best friend Suze, played by the lovely Krysten Ritter(What happens in Vegas) .

Matters come a pivotal moment for Rebecca when she applies for her dream job at a fashion magazine headed by Alette Naylor played by the brilliant Kristin Scott Thomas(The English Patient) unrecognisable with her French accent, but in the process ends up working as a financial journalist headed by Edgar West played by John Lithgow(3rd Rock from the sun) and run by Luke Brandon played by Hugh Dancy(Blood and Chocolate), the initial first bad impressions aside, Luke gives her a chance, and she proves a hit with her column “The Girl with the green scarf” giving tidbits and common sense approach to spending for all who can’t help but use their plastic.

Her column becomes so popular that it is featured on television, and in the midst of all this, a debt collection man has been after Rebecca for some time for obviously some unpaid credit card debt, he happens to turn up at her work place, where Rebecca tells her boss that he is a stalker, he promptly has him thrown out, but the more popular she becomes the closer her gets to confronting her about the unpaid debt, which Suze, and her parents Jane and Graham played by Joan Cusack(Arlington Road, something about her smile just brightens up any scene) and John Goodman(Roseanne, Evan Almighty) have been advising her to do.

Realising that she has to do something about her escalating debts, cheered on by her best friend and flatmate who is soon to be hitched, she joins the equivalent of Alcoholic Anonymous for Shopaholics, but will it be too late before the debt collector exposes her in front of her boss and the media?

It stars the superb Kate Beckinsale(Underworld) as Rachel Armstrong, a high flying journalist that has revealed the identity of a CIA agent Erica Van Doren played by Vera Farmiga(Running Scared), the government are none too happy about this, and have a federal prosecutor Patton Dubois played by Matt Dillon(absolutely brilliant in Traffic) in on the case, to get Rachel and her newspaper to reveal their source, he is at first charming to Rachel in a Southern manner, but then begins to place governmental pressure on Rachel and her employers on every area to get them or her to reveal her source, or else face federal indictments that could land her in prison.

As not being able to divulge their sources is key to the openness many journalists are able to benefit with regarding their potential sources, she refuses, backed by her boss Bonnie Benjamin played by AngelaBassett(What’s love got to do with it, Malcolm X), and her top notch lawyer Alan Burnside played by Alan Alda(What women want).

Matters come to a crescendo as the CIA operative whose cover had been blown confronts Rachel on a number of occasions to reveal her source, and the strain on her life at work and home is beginning to tell especially with her husband Ray played by David Schwimmer(Friends).

It is brilliant acting all through, and you are never quite ready with the what has been laid out for the finale.
Beckinsale) with left, her lawyer Alan Burnside(Alan Alda) and the prosecutor Patton Dubois(Matt Dillon)”>

Cristofuoro has made Eric his “pet project” partly because he has nothing else of interest in his life, his wife is terminally ill, and stopping Eric is all he looks forward to.

On his release Cristofuoro meets him telling him, he is a psychopath, and will kill again, and they both know this, and he(Cristofuoro) will be watching him to make sure it doesn’t happen.

Prior to this meeting we are introduced to the young, often effervescent, typical teenager Lori(Sophie Traub), who is having some problems at home opening up with her mother and her new boyfriend, she finds escape with what seems romantic notions about Eric, and soon after his release makes the trip to go and see him, hiding in his car, as he goes on a road trip, telling his aunt Teresa(Laua Dern, Jurassic Park), he is off to view some colleges.

During the road trip we find out that Lori had met Eric before although he is having problems remembering, there are some well acted tense moments, when you wonder what on earth Lori has got herself into, as Detective Cristofuoro paraphrased would say “he will kill again it is only a matter of time“, but the alarming reality for Lori is she knows all about Eric with an angst ridden typical teenager, innocent manner “loves” him, much to his confusion.

We also get an insight on how Eric views people, notable Detective Cristofuoro who he regards “as a small beans cop with a vegetable for a wife“, he tells Lori he only has to ask about his wife to “shut him up“, she replies that isn’t this how people generally are, the look of nonchalance on Eric’s visage speaks volumes.

This is a brilliant suspense thriller, and a solid performance from all, the star of the movie notably without a doubt is Sophie Traub and she is sure to be a rising star.

I heard Mickey Rourke due to his extremely realistic performance is to be invited to one of the key invents from WWE where he will wrestle, and I must say the performance is mesmerising, you instantly believe from his visage alone he has led a life where the world has pounded non-stop on his body, from the steroid injections to maintain his performance, to trying to make amends with his daughter Stephanie played superbly by Evan Rachel Wood, and trying his luck with a local stripper, who only sees him as a customer at first, but his lovable heart makes her realise he is one soft hearted ram. Marisa Tomei plays the love interest, and I am not alone wondering how she has the body of a teenager even though she is approaching middle age.

Mickey Rourke does a superb performance capturing the mannerisms and attitudes of many a wrestler, if you are a fan of WWF through the early 80′s through the 90′s you will recognise a few of the cameos and their references.

You will find yourself rooting for “The Ram” throughout, and you will literally be pleading with him not to get in the ring that inevitable one more time.

It is a superb movie that does a little justice behind the scenes of many wrestlers from a by gone era, the haunting score and lyrics of Bruce Springsteen’s “The Wrestler” brings it home.