Stormbreaker

Stormbreaker was an excellent film full of action, comedy and mystery. A lot of fans were worried that all the fuss over it was too much and that the film itself would be a let down, but it wasn't. There were a few differences in the film to the book, but that still made the film great as it did follow the book's story line but made watching the film even more exciting. The story line too isn't hard to follow so anyone can understand instead of asking questions every minute. The actors and actresses were very good and they acted their characters just as Athony Horowitz had described them in the books. Alex Pettyfer was a lot alike how I had pictured Alex Rider in the books and so was Alicia Silverstone, who was playing Jack Starbright. A very good film indeed!

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source: Stormbreaker

I love this film. The gorgeous Alex Pettyfer stars as Alex Rider, the 14 year old schoolboy whose uncle dies in a mission for MI6. Alex Rider must take his place and find out what's wrong with the new Stormbreaker computers, that are being distributed to every school in the country. Alex must endure army training, intimidation and near death experiences to discover the truth about the sneaky billionaire who wants to kill every kid in the country because of his bad childhood. The starry cast includes Ewan McGregor, Bill Nighy and Alicia Silverstone. Watch Alex Pettyfer's name, I've been a fan since Tom Brown's Schooldays and expect great things. I'd give this 10/10 any day.

OK.. in my opinion,the review above is misleading,i mean maybe the person who saw this movie really liked it,but 2 look at it from a overall view,this is a movie that should never have hit the cinema,it should just have been released straight to DVD/WHS.for starters the acting is awful,Ewan McGregor delivers as usual good acting,but he ain't in the movie for that long.Alicia Silverstone delivers an OK performance,but it seems like shes been away from acting for way 2 long.Alex Pettyfer delivers quite good performance,and i would agree that he could have a decent shot of becoming a good actor in the future.Mickey Rourke is old... hes old but still one of the coolest actors,i do believe that no one could play the bad guy as he does in this movie,but that doesn't save this movie sadly.when you look at this movie from a standard now a days,the animations are awful they don't feel realistic,i know this is a family movie,but at least they could have made the effects better,it ain't that dam expensive 2 do.if you have seen the Harry Potter movies,and loved em like i did,from an adult view,don't bother wasting you money on the cinema for this movie,your just gonna feel disappointed,an think "was that it??" wait for the next harry potter or Point Blanc! and hope they have gotten a better cast,and have learned from they first mistake. i cant really stop thinking "was the person who wrote the first review,payed for saying such good things about this movie??,this movie almost is just as shitty,as the Keanu Reeves movie The Watcher". witch reminds me,newer 2 buy a DVD before actually have seen the movie.

This will probably do well with its target audience and it certainly passes 90 minutes relatively painlessly. However if you don't do Referential then it may not be for you. Bill Goldman, a far better writer than the author of this series, created in Marathon Man a fairly bland, mild character who idolised his older brother and was sublimely unaware of said brother's involvement with the CIA until, inevitably, the brother got killed in the line of duty. Here the older brother becomes an uncle, similarly idolised and similarly killed in the line of duty; 007 references also abound not least in the final reel when an Oriental guy hitherto never seen is charged by the heavy with guarding the premises and, confronted by our hero and seemingly for no apparent reason other than the cause of the 'in' joke, throws his hat away; Stephen Fry weighs in as the local 'Q' headquartered in a concealed room in Hamley's; elsewhere there are several what may be best described as James Bond-lite one-liners and let's not forget the millionaire madman and his plan to destroy and/or dominate. The director could use some serious lessons in shooting action and Damien Lewis seems bent on flaunting the Honors Degree he secured at the Dick Van Dyke School of Accents in fact I can't recall the last time I heard such a pathetic attempt at a foreign accent ... wait, I tell a lie, it was Van Dyke himself in Mary Poppins lo those many moons ago. Bill Nighy acts like he has a fig up his ass but chances are these were his instructions from the director. As I said above the ninety minutes or so pass fairly painlessly and I suppose that's all you could ask of a summer movie.

This terrible script was very badly handled in every way way except for the action sequences which were quite nicely done. Its a shame really because they've obviously spent some cash on the film. The casting was appalling, especially Mickey Rourke and Jimmy Carr who was a complete woodentop. The costume design the worst I've ever seen. So, who is the audience for this. Adults ? Certainly not, yet it pandered to them with some silly jokes and nods and winks. Kids ? Could be of interest to those keen on the 'boys own' adventure films. But because it was trying to be jokey and self aware it wouldn't come across as a serious attempt. The acting was either over the top (Bill Nighy) or downright appalling (Jimmy Carr, Sophie Okonedo) and the bit parts reminded me of those awful Saturday morning flicks in the sixties. Geoff Sax is a nice guy who I've worked with in the past and although he handled the actions sequences nicely (though not as well as Paul Greengrass in The Bourne Supremacy), the rest of it was really, really bad and hopefully he'll move on now and be a bit more picky with his scripts. This was the worst thing he's probably ever done.

I was amazed by the high quality of this movie, and by how much I genuinely enjoyed it. I don't know anything about the Stormbreaker comic books, video games, or other geek, dork, nerd or teenage fetishes. Thus, I was a bit hesitant to go, after reading so many reader posts on the IMDb message boards regarding such topics. Because I like and respect Bill Nighy and Steven Fry and Alicia Silverstone so much, I decided to chance it. I was a bit shocked, not just that I endured it, nor even that it was somehow 'OK', but rather by the absolute top-notch and 'Speilberg-esque' high quality it was! I'd only say that because of the bubble-gummer advance buzz, though. Without that, I'd have just said it was excellent and stupendous, etc. True, the male lead is a kid. He plays a 14 year-old. Just now, after having seen it, I checked online, and that kid really was only 15 when the movie was filmed. Dang! Kid seemed more like 20. But whatever. I had expected a bit of smugness--- like a 'Cody Banks' teenie-bopper thing. There wasn't any. This movie had a great sense of humor--- Bill Nighy was hilarious! Steven Fry was dry and droll and delightful as ever. And Alicia Silverstone was feminine AND strong at the same time. She was at her charming best. I note this because at times she has been asked to portray some really--- let's say, to be polite--- 'cranky' ladies. Not this time. What a babe! Missy Pyle--- whom we first saw in the wonderful 'Galaxy Quest', was also a hoot. The overall tone wasn't a spoof, but did have a satisfying sense of wonder, which is a near neighbor to whimsy. I will state now that I do NOT like James Bond movies, and I find the Mission Impossible series tedious and terribly smug and dull. The gadgets and spy stuff here was clever and engaging, in contrast. Dunno how they did that, exactly. Note the subtle humor in 'Spy Kids', and the 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' and 'The Last Crusade'. That type of humor totally respects the audience, as does 'Stormbreaker'. That type of a real sense of 'fun', without resorting to the annoying narcissism that can characterize so many 'concept' movies, or movies with kids who think they are TOOOOO cool. You know, the Tragically Hip. So--- 'Stormbreaker' was thrilling, truly. It was delightful--- Micky O-Rouke hasn't been this good in... forever? All the other great actors doing their bits, however small, merely added to it. The actual kids (sorry if you're 14 or 15 yourself, but hey, by definition, that's a 'kid') were in NO way annoying. They just seemed to be likable, talented, and gutsy. It was funny, it was exciting... but I repeat myself. Bottom line: a great and worthwhile piece of movie mastery for ALL audiences! I gave it a well deserved 10 out of 10. Go see it--- you'll have a great time.

I have to admit that my hopes were high before seeing this movie. I had just read the book and had been "wowed" by Anthony Horowitz's skillful writing and unbeatably creative imagination, and so my expectations were almost too high to meet. In fact, on first viewing I thought the film was good, but that in between the action sequences the pace was too slow and the acting not quite up-to-scratch. However, when seeing the film for a second time, on a bigger screen and in the evening (meaning I felt more relaxed and was able to "get into" the film more easily!) I realised just how fantastic this movie is! There are a couple of awkward moments, for example at the funeral at the beginning; and Bill Nighy hams it up as Mr Blunt, with his sometimes cringe-worthy lines; however, over-all, the action is mind-blowing, the humour hilarious and the acting superb. Alex Pettyfer is definitely NOT just a pretty face; there is a deep intelligence in his eyes, and he is able to portray a range of emotions with expert realism. Despite many changes being made in the page-to-screen process, the film does not disappoint.. at least not on second-viewing! I recommend seeing it more than once to truly appreciate it. And I challenge any discontented viewers to justify their dislike - I cannot find a single worthy fault in this fantastic - and, I am proud to say, British - movie. Standing ovation for Mr Horowitz, Mr Samuelson, Mr Sax, and the entire cast and crew. Looking forward to Point Blanc!

The trailer was an excellent teaser, but oh dear the actual film was a 2-dimensional stinker, I can't remember a film in recent years that disappointed me so much despite me wanting it to be winner. For the amount of top acting talent on show here: McGregor, Coltrane, Serkis, Rourke, Nighy, Fry etc., their input was completely wasted on this SpyKids/AgentCody-wannabe clichéd film. Shot on the Isle of Man (for you Yanks, that's a little island between Northern Ireland and the English mainland where the TT motorbike Road Races take place) and in London, it was trying so hard to be at the level of James Bond or even a Harry Potter epic, but after the first ten minutes I just kept thinking, "when is this going to start"? I've never seen such cartoonish, two-dimensional characterisation as in this film. Damien Lewis, with what little he had to do was the only actor with any screen presence whatsoever, playing a Russian agent. When Mickey Rourke was on screen all I could think of was how bad his plastic surgery was. Missi Pyle's role as Moose & Squirrel's "Nastasha" rip-off, Agent Vole was just plain ridiculous although teenage boys will no doubt have her in fantasy heaven being their equivalent of the Matrix' Trinity to the Goths, as far as black & tight leather trousers goes. Can't really say much about Pettyfer in the lead role as he no doubt had a blast making this film and it wasn't bad for a first effort, but I left the cinema thinking that was £25million and 90 minutes wasted, when one episode of a TV show like Stargate: Atlantis (as an example... I'm not a Stargate geek just so you know) could absolute smoke a feature like this on 1/25th of the budget, and in telling a compelling story in half the time with just one episode. Feature producers take note... look at what your peers are doing on television with a fraction of your budget and resources. Even the BBC's new Doctor Who series is more compelling and that's saying something. Bitterly disappointed!