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Review: Knight & Day

Friends of mine and I always discuss how the era of the fun summer action movie has been long over. Where are the Lethal Weapons? The lighthearted “fun” Die Hards?” The ridiculous but extremely awesome Face/Offs? Every action movie we see these days is a brooding, serious, gritty film. There is nothing wrong with that, in fact I enjoy them quite a bit, but sometimes, I just want to have a smile on my face at the ridiculous stunts being played out on the screen.

‘Knight and Day,’ calls back to this era of the fun action film. Though, quite simple, and mostly forgettable, for what it is, ‘Knight and Day,’ was a lot of fun.

Starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, ‘Knight and Day’ is a ridiculous premise, played out in plethora of exotic locales, from the streets of Boston, to Belgium, and a deserted island.

The movie starts introducing Roy Miller (Cruise) literally running into June (Diaz), both on their way back to Boston. But something is up with Roy, because as soon as June goes to the bathroom in the plane, all the passengers/flight attendance start fighting Roy. He proceeds to kill everyone on the plane, and as soon as June get’s back from the bathroom, Roy has to land the plane in the middle of nowhere so they can get away.

The rest of the movie is filled with “lighthearted” action. For example, in one big set piece, there is a huge highway chase scene in Boston. Roy jumps from car to car trying to save June from a bunch of kidnappers, yet he doesn’t miss a beat in flashing is smile and saying something cute the damsel in distress.

Of course, Knight & Day isn’t without its flaws, with many stunts relying on CG. But, that is unfortunately the reality of the day that we live in. Paul Dano apperas as Simon Feck, the individual Roy is trying to protect, he’s an actor I’m still not sold on, but he does well here, as well as Peter Sarsgaard.

I’m a huge fan of director James Mangold’s previous effort ‘3:10 to Yuma,’ which in my opinion is one of the best modern westerns we’ve had in a long time. He does a great job here, and I think the film could have shined if it relied much less on CGI-packed action. With one-liners, and Cruise’s signature grins, at the end of the Day, ‘Knight and Day’ is a ridiculous but fun escapist action film.

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