Tag: Action

REVIEW: ‘Independence Day’ Sequel Doesn’t Capture First Film’s Magic

Talk about jumping the shark.

“Resurgence,” the follow-up to the 1996 mega-blockbuster, takes place 20 years after the events of the first film. By reverse-engineering alien technology, the human race has created new defensive machinery and the nations of the world have united to defend against another attack.

The story picks up around the time of the 20 year anniversary of the first war and audiences are immediately introduced to a new cast of fighter pilots who help Earth’s defenses. At the same time, though, characters from the previous film are featured, like David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum), the tech genius who helped upload a virus on the mother ship and now serves as the expert on all things aliens.

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REVIEW: The Wait For A Good Video Game Movie Will Continue, ‘Warcraft’ Isn’t It

The “Warcraft” game series has been a phenomenon for nearly two decades, and for good reason. The series began as a strategy game and later became an online role-playing type in “World of Warcraft.” Since its inception, one of the driving factors of the game series was its deep, extensive lore.

While this lore makes for a good story, though, Director Duncan Jones’ attempt to turn it around for a feature length picture doesn’t quite hit the mark.

“Warcraft” starts by following a warrior race of creatures known as the orcs. The orcs, led by a warlock named Gul’dan (Daniel Wu) are in the midst of a plan to leave their dying home world by way of a portal and conquer the land of Azeroth, inhabited by humans, dwarves and elves.

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REVIEW: ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ Strengthened By Character Arcs, Except The Villain’s

After 2014’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past” that jumped around with time travel, Director Bryan Singer has returned to a more linear concept for the latest mutant adventure.

In the new “X-Men” story, audiences get introduced to En Sabah Nur, better known as Apocalypse. Labeled the first mutant in history, Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac) is a man who considers himself a god and survived through the ages by transferring his consciousness to a new body. The last time this occurred, though, was in ancient Egypt and Apocalypse ended up getting betrayed and trapped in rubble.

Fast forward to the 1980s, the film starts up with Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) now running a fully functional school with multiple students. Through contact with a character from one of the previous films, Xavier finds out that Apocalypse could be returning, and in doing so, bring his friend Magneto (Michael Fassbender) out of the shadows.

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REVIEW: Shane Black’s ‘Nice Guys’ Is A Fun Throwback To The 70s

Director Shane Black takes audiences back to the 1970s in “The Nice Guys,” a movie that brings together Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling.

The movie begins with Crowe’s character Jackson, an enforcer and Gosling’s character Holland, a private investigator, at odds with each other over a case.

Circumstances related to the case force the two into a team-up, though, and they get some help from Holland’s daughter Holly (Angourie Rice) along the way, too.

The mismatched buddy comedy is a genre that’s been around for quite some time, so it’s always nice to see one that brings a fresh take. “The Nice Guys” is exactly that.

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REVIEW: ‘Captain America: Civil War’ Endures Some Flaws To Deliver Solid Blockbuster

Iron Man’s repulsor beam finally matches up with Captain America’s shield in a full on fight in “Civil War.”

The third installment of the series dedicated to the stars and stripes wearing hero starts off with the Avengers, sans Hulk and Thor, on a mission in Africa. While the mission goes well at first, there’s a moment when it shifts into disaster resulting in multiple casualties.

Prompted by this and other incidents involving the team, the world governments create an accord to reign in the Avengers and only deploy them when necessary. Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), who’s switched from player to general manager of the team in a way, is on board with the plan, but Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) has reservations.

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REVIEW: Action Visuals In ‘Hardcore Henry’ Don’t Carry Film Far Enough

“Hardcore Henry” is the first feature movie helmed by Russian filmmaker Ilya Naishuller and takes place entirely through a first person perspective.

Right from the start, the gimmick the movie is utilizing is apparent. From the moment the lights go down to when the credits roll, the picture plays out just like a first person shooter game would.

Regarding the story, the movie opens the plot is set in motion very quickly. The main character Henry wakes up in some type of special facility and learns he’s a part man and part machine. After the quick realization, he comes into contact with the movie’s villain Akan (played by Danila Kozlovsky) who plans to use creations like Henry for nefarious purposes.

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REVIEW: Acting Veterans Highlight Drama ‘Eye In The Sky’

If the government has a chance to take out high profile terrorists, should it take the shot? That’s the question asked in Director Gavin Hood’s “Eye in the Sky.”

The movie takes place at a few different locations, a command center with Colonel Katherine Powell (Helen Mirren), a government meeting room with Lieutenant General Frank Benson (Alan Rickman), a drone operating room with pilot Steve Watts (Aaron Paul) and an on the ground unit with the spy Jama Farah (Barkhad Abdi).

In basic terms, the movie plays out like a game of ping pong. Military personnel locate a house in Kenya housing potential suicide bombers and plan to strike the target.

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REVIEW: Poor Pacing, Editing Ruin ‘Batman V Superman’s’ Attempt At Greatness

The fists certainly fly in “Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice,” but audiences have to wait a while for that to happen in this comic book flick.

The film’s first main scene takes place during the Superman vs. Zod battle that wrecked much of Metropolis in “Man of Steel.” This time around, though, the combat is seen through Bruce Wayne’s (Ben Affleck) eyes. Bruce sees the damage caused by the alien battle and immediately views him as a threat. From there, Wayne’s alter ego decides to go after the Man of Steel.

Meanwhile, another billionaire, Lex Luthor (Jesse Eiseberg) has his own problems with Superman, and he also starts scheming against the hero. Even the government sees a problem with Superman as he continues to interfere with human engagements, which puts more pressure on the hero’s alter ego, Clark Kent (Henry Cavill). All of the mistrust in the movie is like a pot ready to boil over.

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Before Dawn Of Justice: Ranking The Superman Films

What’s being billed as the “greatest gladiator match in the history of the world” is just around the corner. “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” opens this week, but before it does, I figured I would put together a short series ranking the Superman and Batman movies.

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REVIEW: ‘London Has Fallen’ Doesn’t Live Up To Olympus

“Olympus Has Fallen,” released in 2013, was actually an enjoyable action flick. Of course it was an obvious take on the “Die Hard” idea of one man being in a building against a whole group of baddies, but it was still a fun time at the theater.

The action was intense with a solid R rating and the “Die Hard” set up of being trapped in a single location always makes for suspense. Another strength the movie had going for it was the use of a cast that included Morgan Freeman, Melissa Leo and Angela Bassett, similar in a way to “Air Force One.”

Unfortunately, because of the first film’s box office performance, a sequel had to get made, and this time things didn’t come together very well.

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