Got a rather lengthy review for Justice League. Hop on over to my Wordpress blog for it... by clicking here.
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Stars Ethan Hawke, Qing Xu, Paul Anderson, Nathalie Boltt, with Liam Cunningham and Rutger Hauer Directed by Brian Smrz Ethan Hawke tends to be recognised more for certain drama films and some action films, but he has taken on a few of these “small” projects that have sci-fi leanings from time to time. He started out in Explorers, and has since appeared in genre films like Gattaca, vampire flick Daybreakers, time travel thriller Predestination, and more recently, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. In 24 Hours to Live, he plays an assassin who mucks up a mission and is killed…. but then revived through some procedure complete with some digital countdown display on his arm showing how much time he has left. It is a sci-fi conceit even if the setting seems fairly contemporary Outside of that, this is very much an action thriller as Travis (Hawke) goes on a mini rampage to set things right, by helping his initial target, Lin Bissett (Qing Xu). On average, this could very well be a direct to video action flick, but the choreography of the action set-pieces gives this an edge that elevates it a little more. This is likely thanks to director Brian Smrz who has spent the last decade or so working as a stunt coordinator or second unit director (more years before that as a stuntman). From vehicular stunts to gun fights and fisticuffs, all are handled with purity and aplomb, supported by a competent and fairly solid plot. Hawke’s presence gives the movie a little more credence, bringing a credibility to the proceedings. The addition of stars like Game of Thrones’ Liam Cunningham or genre stalwart Rutger Hauer add a little more gravitas in terms of performance and character. Still, it’s the action that carries the movie in the end and if you’re a fan of such movies, it’s a nice little time-waster. Rating: ***1/2 / 5 Find the best online deals here. | Barnes and Noble | Google Play Store | Book Depository Discover more about the books here. Please Support. Stars Taran Killam, Alison Tolman, Bobby Moynihan, Aaron Yoo, Steve Bacic, Alex Duncan, Peter Kelamis, with Cobie Smulders and Arnold Schwarzenegger Directed by Taran Killam Despite Arnold Scwarzenegger’s name and faced plastered all over the ads and posters for this film, he’s barely in the picture. His titular Gunther, however, looms large over the proceedings as a somewhat second rate hitman, Blake (Taran Killam), rounds up several other hired killers in an attempt to take out the reputed ‘greatest’ hitman in the world, that being Gunther. He also decides to commit this particular endeavour to film in the form of a documentary. Of course, when Gunther gets wind of the little plot against him, things don’t go easy for the increasingly hapless assassins. SNL writer and performer Killam manages to create humorous situations out of the plot including a few segues away from the core conceit just to keep thing interesting and the pace flowing. Even Blake’s motives are brought into question. Once Schwarzenegger comes in, he (and Gunther by default) practically hijack the movie, and it’s clear the big guy is having a hell of a fun time with this role. As an action / comedy, it’s a decent waste of time. there’s nothing profound or deep, but it is entertaining for the most part, surpassing much top the silly frat humour that seems to permeate many other comedies these days. The documentary format manages to work tot he benefit of the film for a while, but it also means that you miss out on some of the action as the camera crew run and duck for cover… as one might expect to do so if they’re following a bunch of crazy assassins around. Just don’t expect too much and you might have a good time with this one. Rating: **1/2 /5 Find the best online deals here. | Barnes and Noble | Google Play Store | Book Depository Discover more about the books here. Please Support. Stars Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Ruby Moden, Charles Aitken, Rachel Matthews, Rob Mello Directed by Christopher Landon Despite coming from Blumhouse pictures, I didn’t find Happy Death Day to be that much of a horror flick, any more than, say, D.O.A. is a horror flick. If you’re not familiar with that film, either the 1948 noir thriller or the 1988 remake, it’s about a person who discovers he’s been murdered with a slow acting poison and sets out to find out who did it. Here, Tree Gelbman (Jessica Rothe) gets murdered on her birthday and ends up in a time loop enabling her to set out finding the person who is killing her. While Groundhog Day gets name-dropped in the film thanks to its time looping conceit, the loop only starts over when Tree is murdered or dies within the day itself, waking up at 9:01 a.m. in the dorm room of Carter (Israel Broussard), a boy she met the night before. While similarities remain, her actions can vary from life to life, each subsequent ‘life’ possibly giving clues as to who the murderer is. Written by Scott Lobdell (known comic book writer of X-Men and others), the story plays fair with the murder/thriller aspect and the cues are there, with a few red herrings along the way. After all, when the movie kicks off, we learn that Tree is not the nicest person around and more than a few might be suspect of being the murderer. Rothe does an excellent job earning the audience’s sympathy as the movie progresses while the rest of the cast work equally well, some playing into the typical stereotypes of characters you’d find in a horror film set at a college. So you have characters to like and those you’d love to hate as well, but the story itself helps to elevate the cliches. That’s also thanks to director Christopher Landon, who doesn’t completely succumb to the tropes of a horror movie despite some of the more obvious set-ups. Anyone going in expecting a typical horror film is going to find something completely different, and that might actually work in the film’s favour, subverting expectations a few times over. The thriller aspects is more than in full force and the occasional bits of humour work to add to the overall presentation. It is worth checking it out. Rating: ****/5 Find the best online deals here. | Barnes and Noble | Google Play Store | Book Depository Discover more about the books here. Please Support. Stars Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Tessa Thompson, Cate Blanchett, Karl Urban, Mark Ruffalo, Idris Elba, Rachel House, with Jeff Goldblum and Anthony Hopkins Directed by Taika Waititi Well, that was fun. Not quite what I expected (thanks to the trailers), but it was fun in a old-fashioned space-faring Buck Rogers / Flash Gordon pulp serial kind of way. At least for much of the middle of the movie. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) finally learns of Loki’s deception that had been in place since the end of Thor: The Dark World, and together, they go in search of Odin (Anthony Hopkins), only to find Hela (Cate Blanchett) who intends to take over Asgard. In their initial fight, Thor and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) end up on Sakaar where Loki has endeared himself to the ruler of the planet, the Grandmaster (Jeff Glodblum) while Thor ends up facing the world’s champion in a gladiatorial match. Of course, Loki is happy to stay while Thor wants to return to Asgard and take down Hela. As I mentioned, that middle section is rather like a Flash Gordon adventure, instead we have a hammerless Thor having a bit of a misadventure trying to find his way back to his real mission. AND that misadventure includes brawling with the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) who has been missing since Avengers: Age of Ultron. Also along in this little adventure is a Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), a member of some Asgardian Amazons who had faced Hela before. The thing about this entry in Thor’s series of movies is Kiwi director Taika Waititi and he brings his rather cheeky sense of humour to the proceedings. While there is a lot of humour going around, the director also contributes his fair share while appearing as Korg, a gladiator Thor meets on Sakaar. Waititi was a unique choice as director for a Thor movie, having had some quiet success with his NZ films such as Eagle vs Shark, select episode of Flight of the Conchords, the very excellent and must see comedy/horror What We Do in The Shadows, and the incredibly charming and hilarious adventure Hunt For The Wilderpeople. (go find these movies, really!) His light touch and sense of humour works incredibly well with Thor, although it’s hard to judge if the action scenes might have been any different with any other director. One very glaring aspect of the movie is the production design, with it’s bright, almost neon coloured, world on display. It is almost in line with that of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, which would suggest a corporate synergy going on. The use of colours also makes this the closest to a comic book coming alive on screen, and all that adds to the element of fun to the overall movie, particularly with the slightly dour palette tone for the Earth and Asgard scenes. Very much a far cry from the darker tones of Thor: The Dark World. Waititi keeps the pace going fairly well through the 130 minute runtime even if some scenes feel like padding. The humour defuses that quite a bit and Mark Mothersbaugh’s retro score helps as well in keeping the proceedings frothy and fun. If you haven’t seen the movie as yet, keep in mind there is one post titles scene and a post credits scene… and also keep an eye out for some stunning and surprising cameos sharing a scene, one of Interstellar proportions. That’s not counting Stan Lee’s absolutely hilarious turn. Rating: ****/5 Find the best online deals here. | Barnes and Noble | Google Play Store | Book Depository Discover more about the books here. Please Support. Stars Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Carpenter, Marc Blucas, Clark Johnson, Mustafa Shakir, Geno Segers, with Don Johnson and Udo Kier Directed by S Craig Zahler Writer / director Craig Zahler delivered the very solid Bone Tomahawk, merging the western genre with a slow burn horror. His second directorial effort is very much a grindhouse movie that may be perceived as an action flick, thanks to the title. The titular brawl is where the movie heads but like the grindhouse movies it emulates, it takes its time getting there. The movie kicks off with Bradley Thomas (a surprisingly excellent Vince Vaughn) losing his job, getting home to find out his wife (Jennifer Carpenter) is cheating on him and he has brutal temper to boot… BUT he appears to have some self control and manages to deal with this situation. He takes on a new job as a drug runner and within a few months, manages to turn his life around, he’s working on his marriage and the couple are expecting a baby. When his buddy Gil (Marc Blucas) gets involved with some Mexicans drug dealers, the run goes wrong fast and Bradey ends up in a mid-security prison. This all takes close to over 40 minutes but it establishes Bradley’s character and motivations. When the call comes for Bradley to make his way to a maximum security prison where the titular cell block is located, the movie revels in its grindhouse roots. Vaughn is almost like a revelation as he carries the movie on his broad muscle-bound shoulders. He started out as a pretty good dramatic actor with some comedic leanings, and has made a career doing a string of comedies with few dramatic turns over the last few years. His performance here is absorbing and eye-catching, thanks to that physical make-over he sports. Add to that the fight scenes under Zahler’s direction, and you’ve got an superior flick that elevates the flick above it’s grindhouse leanings. The rest of the cast are barely a blemish, all in excellent supportive turns no matter how small the role such as Don Jonhson appearing late in the second half as the warden of the maximum security prison, or the iconic Udo Kier as one of the prisoners in Cell Block 99. Overall, Vaughn’s knockout performance holds the movie together and allows Zahler to deliver a powerfully dramatic film with solid action beats. The movie lives up to its title and delivers on its promise in a near satisfactory way. The ultimate conclusion may be a divisive one but it lives up to its grindhouse roots, closing out the only way it can. Rating ***1/2 / 5 Find the best online deals here. | Barnes and Noble | Google Play Store | Book Depository Discover more about the books here. Please Support. |
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