Film of 2012 #29
Spoilers
The Kevin Sorbo attempt to be Conan the Barbarian, it starts with Kull as the barbarian trying to join the army, to then killing the King and being named as the heir. With Tia Carrere resurrected as a witch who wants to reclaim her throne which essentially Kull now has and there is treason and a journey with a riddle to be solved and a love interest to be saved who has a brother you think is a lover.......and the good guys win.
Really this is another silly film the writing team must simply have thrown ideas around and decided to fit them all in but they have all been done before. There is actually nothing new or redeeming about this film, the sword play is nothing special the characters are very light weight and the comedy is not that good, it actually took me a minute after a joke to realise that it was not just bad hammy acting it was actually supposed to be funny. All the film really lacked was the comedy a side kick for Kull who was a beggar and he kept getting caught by the authorities.
This is a 1 star film, made for TV guff that can be ignored and does not need to be seen by anyone.
So I was doing a mini marathon with Arnold and decided to re-watch the James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis venture in to spy comedy that was True Lies. I knew I had seen this and knew some points but could not remember everything that happened so was interested to see if I would like it. With Tom Arnold, Tia Carrere and Bill Paxton in supporting roles you know that the acting is going to be pretty good and an early role for Eliza Dushku as well.
Your premise is that Arnold Schwarzenegger is a spy and Jamie Lee Curtis is his wife and she knows nothing of what he does. The fact that he is saving the world daily and is never home on time is driving a wedge between them and the story unfolds to some interesting points with a terrorist subplot that keeps the action driving on. The premise works quite well you have a transformation performance from Jaimie Lee Curtis and you have Arnold the super spy a role that he fits into but you actually think would never really work as he stands out so much. You have Tom Arnold as the comedy sidekick and Bill Paxton in a role he was born to play the sleazy car salesman. This has James Cameron all over it with the car chase with a helicopter and the fight with the Harrier Jump Jet you can see his love of special effects and fantastical situations. While there are so many levels of unbelievable there is only a little suspension of disbelief required to enjoy the film.
Overall this was a joyous romp of a film that entertained me with the comedy, the acting and the action and effects, I have to say that this is 4 solid stars and several more re-watches along the years, the scene with the lamppost cracks me up.
