It’s good to be back to review movies again. 1st movie of the year 2012, and it just happened to be one that is full of excitement, drama, and includes a nice blend of action in there. This. Is Contraband.

Mark Wahlberg is one of my favourite actors because he plays the role of the hero well. Shooter is one of my favourite movies, and this movie just adds to it. It’s not exactly high on the “WOW” factor, but it is an enjoyable movie to watch.

Wahlberg plays Chris Farraday, an ex-smuggler who’s trying to get his life together since having a wife and two kids, and let’s be honest, you can’t live the same life forever, because you only live once (No Drizzy), and you have to grow up some days. It’s a process of life that we must face eventually. So, pretty much its a “got out of the game to get clean” story. One that we’ve seen in a lot of movies, so I can compare this to The Town already.

Family members that we’re not necessarily related to are idiots, and are the cause of grief. This is one of those circumstances. Drug deal goes bad, boss man has to get paid back, Chris worked with boss man’s older brother (who died), Chris’s father is in Jail……why is this sounding more and more like The Town? The only difference is that this is based in New Orleans, and not Boston (which is good, because the only time I can tolerate anything Boston related is in movies). There was even an actor in the movie that was in The Departed so the Irish accent threw me off a bit. The acting was ok, but a funny appearance from J.K Simmons because I’ve been used to seeing him in Farmer’s commercials & as Jonah Jameson in the Spiderman movies, so hearing him in a southern accent was funny to me.

This movie was enjoyable, but it was like a mix and mash of 4 movies into one: Bad Boys 2, The Town (which, I had stated), The Italian Job (and not because Wahlberg was int hat movie as well), and Heat (but, everyone copies from Heat, so that’s a default choice). I felt myself at times calling out (in a whisper to myself in the theatre) as to what was going to happen next in the scenes developing, which character was backstabbing who, and predictable outcomes and scenarios. Like I somewhat anticipated, it was something that wasn’t going to really wow and amaze me, but at the same time, everyone is entitled to watching movies that are strictly for enjoyment purposes. This is one of them.

It didn’t really do anything different as far as movies are concerned, in fact, this movie is based on a European movie that was made a while back, so it’s essentially a remake of some sort, but Wahlberg brings the swagger that he regularly does, and his ability to produce humour during a serious role is also a trademark of his that makes his roles good. I give this movie a 7/10, based off the fact that it was enjoyable, but nothing new and surprising. I’d still say go and watch it. A good couple of hours of entertainment. But, for now, this is my opinion, this is my review

That’s My Word & It STiXX