May 12: Knight & Day

"A story of a girl who gets mixed up with a spy trying to clear his name."

Knight & Day is fun ride that cannot be taken seriously. It's entertaining, with great action sequences and explosions, but never transcends the fact that it is merely a formulaic spy flick. Luckily the action, stunt-work, and exotic/world-wide locations makes Knight & Day enjoyable to watch. Tom Cruise continues to prove he's still the movie star we've come to know. He's kicking ass, shooting thugs, and continually being beaten up, all while smiling and reeking of charisma. He never stops entertaining and, while his personal life may be somewhat bat-shit crazy, I will continue to watch his movies. 

Yeah, he's going to play a rock star. See here.

Knight & Day's plot follows all of the cliches of a spy "thriller". Someone gets caught up in a whole lot of something (in this case Cameron Diaz's June), whose seemingly only way out of the mess is to ride along with Roy (Cruise), a secret agent spy man who's trying to keep a genius safe. The genius has created a battery that never needs charging and can prove to be a constant source of energy. Of course everyone wants this battery, so it's up to Roy to keep it safe, along with watching over the clearly incompetent and panicked June. All in all, the plot really doesn't matter, as it's the nearly constant action that makes Knight & Day worthwhile. 

Although I really hate Cameron Diaz...

Like I mentioned, I really don't like Diaz, but she's just good enough in this role to ignore her flaws (although she's still pretty annoying). Her chemistry with Cruise is actually pretty good, but I still would have liked to see other actresses in the role. Overall, however, Knight & Day works in its own little way and, while not being anywhere near the quality of say, the Mission Impossible films, it's a mindless popcorn movie with more than enough entertainment. 

The Good:

great action sequences showing of Cruise's abilities to kick ass and play it insanely cool

The Bad:

an inconsistent plot used merely as a way of tying together each bit of action

The Ugly:

Cameron Diaz... she's not hot... I don't understand her "star-power"

Overall: 6.7/10

Trailer: