SYNOPSIS:
When
a small-town girl named June (Diaz) meets a mysterious stranger,
she thinks she's found the man of her dreams. But she soon
discovers he's a fugitive super-spy, who thrusts her into
a thrilling cat-and-mouse chase that spans the globe. As the
bullets and sparks fly, June must decide if her "Knight"
in shining armor is a dangerous traitor or the love of her
life.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Despite all the negativity surrounding him, Tom Cruise in my humble opinion is a consummate actor and a living Hollywood superstar. Forget about his diminishing returns as a box-office draw and indulge in this likeable action comedy which was released to lukewarm response in the summer.
Without further ado or much introduction, the movie opens in Wichita airport where car restorer June Havens (Cameron Diaz) keeps bumping accidentally (or is it?) into a charismatic mysterious man, Ron Miller (Tom Cruise). It turns out that Miller is supposedly a secret agent who went rogue and is now wanted by his superior and fellow agents including Fitzgerald (Peter Saarsgard).
The tone of the opening where we see Miller flirting with June and subsequently taking out a bunch of agents on the plane sets the rest of the movie to come. The body count is high, bullet shots aplenty and Cruise himself engages in a lot of fistfights though hardly a trickle of blood is seen. If you are expecting a la Mission Impossible then you are in for a rude shock of your life. It seems like Cruise is having lots of fun parodying his special agent Ethan Hunt character and in tune to the madness celebrity figure the media is portraying. His character lands out of nowhere on a car roof, bike his way out of a bull rampage unscathed with his lady and his hideout is on an out-of-radar island all this while, Miller is akin on red bull high.
Cameron Diaz reunites with Cruise after their pair up in "Vanilla Sky" which was like almost a decade ago. Both have aged considerably since though Diaz still has that goofy humour presence which reminds us why so many people took a liking for her in the first place. The two stars make a likeable pair as they breezes through countless adventures and exotic countries including Austria, Spain and Jamaica. Comparing to other action rom-com in recent history, this spy thriller definitely runs on stronger legs than Aston Kutcher’s "Killers" and Jennifer Aniston’s "The Bounty Hunter".
Director James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma, Walk the Line) knew this is going to be an escapist affair thus he has no problems blowing stuff up, putting Diaz in a red hot bikini and keeping the 117 minutes movie brisk and light. It is a stylish globe-trotting affair in the end that probably the villains and a much in-demand energy source dubbed the Zephyr are the only elements in this movie that didn’t get much attention from Mangold and the scriptwriters.
Yet again, why do you care? "Knight And Day" succeeds on the whole as a summer blockbuster. It’s loud, funny, populated with over-the-top action pieces and stars two of the biggest stars in contemporary Hollywood. It’s perfect entertainment for the entire family as you don’t even need to be worried about the sex, nudity and violence as there are practically none. Oh we even lap up John Powell’s light tempo score and Black Eye Peas’ theme song.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
You get to chose between the Theatrical Version and Extended Cut even though it doesn’t add much in the latter, approximately an additional seven minutes of footages.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
With the exception of some dodgy CG green screen effects in which the transfer has no way to improve on, Knight And Day looks fantastic on this DVD. With an immersive soundtrack that constantly involves gunshots and explosion, it’s another title to wake up your neighbors. Dialogue remains highly audible despite the dynamic track.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Linus Tee
Posted
on 18 December 2010
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