Friday, August 5, 2016

Movie review: Burn Notice

Michael Westen is a very good spy. He has also received a burn notice which disavows his employment as a spy and strands him in Miami. Putting his special ops training to work, Michael and a few friends help those in impossible situations.

Jeffrey Donovan (Michael), Gabrielle Anwar (Fiona), Bruce Campbell (Sam), Coby Bell (Jesse), Paul Tei (Barry), Seth Peterson (Nate), Lauren Stamile (Agent Pearce), Jack Coleman (Strong), John McGinley (Card).

Burn Notice is seven seasons of explosions, bullets, deception, and manipulation. The series begins with the premise Michael is a spy who has been burned, leaving him stranded in Miami on threat of death if he leaves. With no job and no money, he turns to his friends for help and uses his spy skills to help those in desperate situations. Along the way there is some romance, good comedy, and plenty of action. Sadly, the series falls into a routine with each episode bringing a new problem situation that often plays to the long running and tired series plot line. The result is a strong start, good depth in the middle, then a slow descent into repetition leading to a necessary series conclusion.

Acting by Donovan was pretty good, even if he felt detached much of the time. Anwar was awesome delivering a nice mix of sexy alongside an obvious desire to shoot everyone. Campbell added an enjoyable comedy element to things and improved somewhat throughout the series. Bell was enjoyable, delivering a solid performance, as did the remainder of the cast.

Camera work, sets, and backgrounds are pretty good with decent use of natural scenery and good quality. Action scenes were intense with plenty of explosions, bullets, and violence. Dialogue was good with a nice mix of comedy, drama, and nice narrative explanations. Sound and soundtrack were okay.

Overall if you enjoy a good crime TV show or spy action & adventure check this one out.

With a lot of violence, some sexuality, blood, gore, and adult situations this should be fine for older teens and above.

Released: 2013
Reviewed: 7.27.16
Star rating: 4 out of 5
Genre: Crime TV, Spy action & adventure, TV Action & Adventure, Crime Series

copyright ©2016 Dave Riedel

No comments:

Mine mine mine!!!!

Blog disclaimer and copyright information. . .

-I hope to make this blog revenue generating in the future and as such any posts found here may be paid posts. If you want to pay me to post for you, let me know!
-Content may change over time resulting in inaccuracies. I also make mistakes, some will be here.
-I have no control over what is at the other end of any links you may find here.
-Film pictures, dvd covers, film banners or whatever you like to call them are copied here from widely available public locations. I did not create them nor do I own them.
-Any files, programs or downloadables are provided only for convenience and fun. I in no way warrant, represent, or otherwise imply they won’t cause you problems. Use at your own risk! If your computer blows up I don’t want to even hear about it.
-Reviews posted here are my opinion and meant as informational for prospective viewers and are not meant to malign, defame, or otherwise harm anyone or anything. They also are not meant as advice or counsel , not necessarily factual or absolute, and the author will not be held responsible for the results of their use.
-Comments are NOT the opinion of this author, nor is he responsible or liable for the comments or their results. I will try to moderate them in a reasonable (to me) manner.
-Translation of any portion of this blog may result in other than desirable language for which the author is not responsible. Furthermore, I’m not an English major so there will be bad grammar and punctuation found here. There may also be language that is intentionally objectionable to support my opinions. Tough.
-Copyright: All reviews and opinions expressed here by the author are owned by the author. Please enjoy reposting and/or linking, I ask only that you give proper credit and inform me you have used my content for your own pleasure and devious purposes.
-Legal limit on damages: .02 cents, U.S. (Yes, I will give you my 2 cents worth if you abuse me in court).