Kontroll Review

Murder. Mystery. Romance. Just another ride on the subway.

Director: Nimród Antal
Release Date: August 30, 2005 (DVD)
Run Time: 105 minutes
Rated: R
Language: Hungarian
-Subtitles: English
*Alternate title: Control

This is the Directorial debut of an American director born Hungarian,Nimrod Antal. Its very interesting to note that his first movie is a Hungarian film. Something most people dont seem to know even exists.

The film is crafted around the dark world that grows from the Budapest underground metro. With that said the whole world we are pushed into is stunning. The camera work is near perfect, always showing off every aspect of the surreal lighting and gloomy tunnels that are beneath the earth. I can not tell you how wonderfully shot this movie is, At first all the close ups and the way the film is was...Nothing special but it surly became more.

Kontrol was not the movie i expected going in at all, I thought it was something else and I was greatly surprised by the movie in all parts. I was indeed expecting a type of crime thriller but what i received was indeed different.

The story of the film is that Bulscu is a Control ticket agent working in the Budapest Metro, His job is to ask everyone if they have a ticket to ride the subway and if not he must cite them. He has a team that we grow to know in such a short time period, The rookie of the group Tibi, is without a doubt my favorite character, As we follow his story to learn his new job. Of course the focal point of the movie is not about Citing people for lack of a ticket but figuring out this world we are now living in.

Action scenes are not rare in the movie, We meet a character named Bootsie, who is pure adventure and action. A very fun character that brings the team together in a race of whose better. Without a doubt the best part of the movie comes from this character for multiple reasons.

I really dont want to dive all that much into the movie but i must say they do give us a bit of everything, With the action i have already mentioned we also get a slight knock of a love story as well, For some reason it just fits perfectly, very limited to what happens but it brings things together.

Horror is something I was not really expect but I guess this is also the area that the Thriller aspect comes into play and I must say it played excellent. The creepy lighting in the tunnels add to the hooded villain perfectly. Some place that someone like this could grow.

Music is a very strange thing in this movie, but at the same time everything seems a bit out of place but manages to crawl together to help us understand what in the world is going on. The costume party rave scene wouldn't be the same without the music or the lack of clarity in the scene, Adds a great amount of tension to the scene. As does the music in the scenes with Bootsie. Perfect use of music and the sounds from the Metro work so well together its perfect.

This movie is from Nimrod Antal, Which i had stated already, the reason I bring it up again is because he has a movie in theaters at the time of this review called "Predators" Which i have also reviewed earlier on the site. Nimrod is at his best in Kontrol and i would highly recommend this movie over Predators any day.  Nimrod shows he can give us a bit of everything in a low budget film not of the Hollywood standards. I'm glad he has been given the chance to do other things in Hollywood and he did a solid job with Predators but i wait for his Great American hit still.






Get in Kontrol and let the subway run free on your mind.

Shuttle Review

Never ride with a stranger.

Director: Edward Anderson
Release Date: 8 March 2008, 7 April 2009 (DVD premiere) USA
Runtime: 107 min

This movie falls under the Thriller category of which i really do enjoy watching, The movie didn't let me down with hoping it would keep me in the whole time.

The plot of the film is about two young ladies who are coming back from a fun trip, while in the airport they meet up with two young guys that happen to find our girls cute, So what happens? The guys are dumb enough to get on the same Shuttle as our lovely ladies have chosen.

The shuttle has The two girls as well as the two younger males we meet at the start of the movie, as well as the Driver and another man, All looking to get to their destinations. Which of course is put on the side as the Driver decides to go on a Detour.

The movie does a decent amount of build to whats going on, We dont just jump straight into the bad guy is going to kill us deal, instead we slowly walk into it. Which some folks may not enjoy but it built plenty of tension for me.

The cast starts off doing a seemingly decent job but as the movie goes on people start to shine, without a doubt Tony Curran does an amazing job in his role as the driver. We also get a good showing from Cullen Douglas, which both roles alone make the movie a worthwhile viewing. But the rest of the cast even makes a sold movie for people who enjoy thrillers.

I have to say some of the scenes we are given make you wonder why they didnt just go for it, or pull the trigger, cut the cord...Do something, But at the same time they give you a reason to think to yourself "Would I really do it?"

From other reviews i had read i could tell people really enjoyed some of the twists and turns that the movie put in front of us, Something I saw very early on while others happen to unfold as the movie goes, You just cant figure out if its this or that until right near the end. I like that about the movie alot. Guessing. Tension. Thrilling.

Overall the movie has a nice dark and gloomy feel to it, very fitting for a thriller. The Blood and gore, or what we do see is pretty decent, one scene looked to have used CGI, which happens pretty fast but either CGI or not i wasn't a fan of it, but the scene its self was still done fairly well.

A solid movie for anyone who likes to travel or loves thrillers, or maybe just a friend type movie.
The movie may speak louder to some people more than others too of course. I found myself to enjoy almost every bit of it.