Smokin' Aces Review

“Trigger happy romp with Afleck. What’s not to love?”

Smokin’ Aces, when I first previewed the trailer, looked like the most fucked up, crazy movie that I’ve seen grace the screen in quite some time…with Ben Afleck.  I was in at Afleck.  So I waited and waited and  lo and behold the day comes and I’m there watching Smokin’ Aces waiting to see the next Tarantino-knock off(That’s ironic since he knock’s-off things as well, thus making it a knock-off of a knock-off…but that’s neither here nor there) and then I remember a few things:,

1. Joe Carnahan, the dude behind the very underrated NARC, helmed, penned and shot this sucker.

2.Ben Afleck was in it.

3. It’s been awhile since someones tried to make an ambitious crazy action film.

4. Ben Afleck was in it.

I was in at Afleck and the movie was enjoyable, if not a tad over-hyped.  I felt like I was on pure adrenaline during the action scenes and enjoyed the build up.  It definetely has a very cool flair and some of the craziest action scenes I’d seen in quite some time.  The music, most of it done by Clint Mansell, was definetely cool, and the all-star cast was particularly well cast.

Action wise and story wise, this movie delivers.  I was impressed with the visual style Carnahan chose to tackle.  The character’s personalities were all so different that it made watching the collision amicable.  The overall story arc is where I found the issue.  The resolution is kind of weak and the twist or mystery is weak as well.  I found myself too busy wanting to see more gun fights and cool stuff, including sub plots and relationships in the sub plots, than to care about the over arcing storyline.  I guess that’s something that didn’t work for it, but it is enjoyable and kind of like a cab ride with a complete stranger to the middle of nowhere.  Oh and Afleck was in it. 8 out of 10 Bones kiddies, for the fun action and a somewhat triumphant return to twisted action.

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