Tag: Action

REVIEW: ‘KP Demon Hunters’ has infectious energy despite pedestrian story

K-Pop is entertaining enough by itself, but throw in some glowing weapons and action, and things really get dialed to 11.

That’s the case with this new animated flick from Sony. Released on Netflix, “K-Pop Demon Hunters” follows a trio of singers who moonlight as fierce warriors. Rumi (Arden Cho), Mira (May Hong) and Zoey (Ji-young Yoo) make up a wildly popular group who regularly sell-out concerts.

At the same time, they spend time ridding the world of demons who threaten to steal souls from the unsuspecting public. The three have gotten exceptionally good at both of their jobs. However, a new threat arises in the form of a group of demons who take the form of a boy K-Pop group, which begins siphoning their fans for a nefarious plot.

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REVIEW: ‘One Battle’ holds little entertainment, political value

If Leonardo DiCaprio’s characters in “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “The Revenant” and maybe “Don’t Look Up” fused together, they might look something like the guy he is in this movie.

Unfortunately, that’s not a good thing.

In this film, DiCaprio portrays Pat Calhoun, who’s also known as Bob Ferguson. Pat is the member of a left wing revolutionary group known as the French 75, whose efforts range from immigration camp liberations to acts of terrorism. In his company is his girlfriend, Perfidia (Teyana Taylor).

The two eventually have a daughter together, and not willing to be a mother, Perfidia leaves her child and boyfriend. The movie then picks up with the characters again in the present, with the daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti), now a teenager. Life has mostly settled for Pat and Willa, the former’s revolutionary days behind him. Unfortunately, a past enemy eventually comes knocking.

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REVIEW: ‘Caught Stealing’ has more cinematic crimes than just theft

“Caught Stealing” involved the filmmaking contributions of several great talents, making it ultimately unfortunate that the movie ends up a disappointment.

Set in the late 1990s, the movie centers on Hank Thompson (Austin Butler). Once a promising Major League Baseball prospect, Hank’s life took a bad turn and he now works at a neighborhood bar to get by. Work follows him home, too, as he drinks regularly.

Hank’s home is also adjacent to a British punk rock neighbor named Russ (Matt Smith), who has left the apartment for a trip back to the U.K. Unfortunately, Russ was involved in illegal activity and criminal elements looking for the Brit come across Hank, which spirals into a dangerous situation for the bartender.

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REVIEW: ‘Nobody 2’ entertains, but lacks spark of original

He may play a nobody, but Bob Odenkirk has become quite the action star with these two flicks.

Odenkirk once again stars as Hutch, a normal guy who appears to be a simple suburban family man, but actually has a lengthy past as an elite government operative. He’s returned to that line of work after some time away, while still trying to keep up his family life in a good place.

Unfortunately, like in the first movie, Hutch has found himself to be in somewhat of a rut. Looking for a way to spend more time with his family and reconnect, he decides to take a vacation to a water park he went to in his youth. However, like usual, danger seems to follow him around.

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REVIEW: First step for ‘Fantastic Four’ is fine, but not phenomenal

A “Fantastic Four” movie where Dr. Doom isn’t the main antagonist? That’s allowed?

Apparently it is, because good ole Victor isn’t the big bad of “First Steps.” Instead, the family of heroes including Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), his wife Sue (Vanessa Kirby), brother-in-law Johnny (Joseph Quinn), and colleague Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) face something from the depths of space.

Having picked up their powers a few years ago, the four have become celebrities, known for their contribution to science and several heroic moments. Things are going well, but that’s about to change. In addition to Sue getting pregnant with a potentially super-powered child, a planet-eating threat known as Galactus is on its way to Earth.

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REVIEW: ‘Superman’ loses shine due to clumsy story, despite dedicated cast

About 15 years after his first go round in the genre with 2010’s dark comedy “Super,” James Gunn presents his latest film featuring the most well-known hero around.

Yes, the Man of Steel is back on the big screen. It’s a new era for DC heroes in cinema, with the Extended Universe in the rearview, ending with an Atlantean chomping on a cockroach-topped burger. Now, we have a whole new universe, where Superman and other heroes are well established in society.

Things aren’t going well for Supes lately, though, as public perception has been turning against him recently for his independent involvement in a geopolitical conflict involving a U.S. ally. As Clark (David Corenswet) navigates the situation and his romantic relationship with co-worker Lois Lane (Rachel Brosahan), he also has to deal with the latest plot from Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult).

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REVIEW: ‘Rebirth’ shows ‘Jurassic’ series should go extinct

The people behind this film better bow down anytime they see John Williams.

That’s because the legendary “Jurassic” theme is used often in the latest movie in the franchise. Scarlett Johansson stars in the film as Zora, a mercenary for hire with plenty of experience in dangerous places. That’s where she’s headed in this flick, as she’s been hired by a pharmaceutical company to lead a paleontologist to an island inhabited by dinosaurs.

The goal is to extract the blood of three dinos, which could help lead to a cure for heart disease. That paleontologist is Henry Loomis (Jonatahn Bailey). He’s accompanied on the trip by Zora’s teammates, including Duncan (Mahershala Ali), the captain of an excursion boat.

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REVIEW: In taking new genre path, ‘M3GAN’ sequel loses original charm

The robot that became a social media sensation in 2022 is back, this time with martial arts skills and a whole lot of exposition.

A sequel, “M3GAN 2.0” takes place two years after the events of the first film. Gemma and Cady continue to live together, with the former now advocating for AI regulations while the latter still struggles to fully fit in. Meanwhile, a new robot, unbeknownst to the protagonists, escapes from its programmers and goes rogue.

With the robot, named AMELIA (Ivanna Sakhno) now a threat, and the government suspecting Gemma is behind it, she, Cady and company have to go back to M3GAN for help. Surviving in cyberspace, M3GAN (Amie Donald) agrees, and she still has some of her attitude and sass.

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REVIEW: Action waltz in ‘Ballerina’ doesn’t surpass other ‘Wick’ films

What if a girl from the John Wick universe was put through the Black Widow program from the Marvel universe? You might just get a protagonist like the one in “Ballerina.”

Ana de Armas stars as Eve in this “Wick” spin-off. An orphan, Eve is trained by an assassin tribe called the Ruska Roma after the death of her father. Ruska Roma operates by developing girls to be both capable assassins and skilled ballerina dancers when they get older.

Eve grows to become such an assassin, and never lets go of the memory of how her father was killed. After one of her missions, she finds a clue about the group possibly behind it, and decides to follow-through on revenge, even without approval from her superior.

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REVIEW: Live ‘Dragon’ finds mild success with animated playbook

After six years, the dragon Toothless returns to the big screen looking much like he did in the animated film from 2019. The world around him, though, is much different.

The latest “How to Train Your Dragon” film is a remake of the 2010 animated feature. Like its cartoon counterpart, the picture centers on the young, awkward Viking Hiccup (Mason Thames), who doesn’t have the same battle prowess of his father, Chief Stoick (Gerard Butler).

But he makes up for it with his inventiveness, which he uses to one day catch one of the dragons attacking his village. He can’t bring himself to slay the dragon when push comes to shove, though, and instead decides to learn about the creature and train it.

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