Don't Buy the HYPE!!!

Rating: 1/10 (25 April 2010)

I hardly ever post a full review on this site. But this movie is getting WAY too many good reviews.
Let me start by saying that I'm in my early twenties and I don't have children. So I wasn't bothered by the profanity, or the violence. It was the complete pointlessness of the profanity and violence that bothered me.
This movie never knew which way it wanted to go. I don't think a film needs to keep the same tone throughout... but there should be a natural progression from one theme to the next. This movie tried to be everything all at once. Eventually I just stopped caring about the characters and the story altogether... which didn't make any difference, because the movie was so predictable, anyways.
The acting was mediocre (and yes, that includes Nic Cage, who played the only interesting character) and the dialog was just plain dull. The only gut-laughs came from a few comic/movie references, and some ridiculous, over top sight gags that don't really work.
So, despite what the commercials say, you actually DON'T have to see this movie. Instead, you should rent A Clockwork Orange or Kill Bill Volume 2, and see how violence and profanity can be used as a powerful storytelling device. This movie is just another vehicle for over-choreographed, slow-motion, super-stylized, "300"style dance-fighting with techno music in the background. There is nothing original about it.