Tag: Action

REVIEW: While not perfect, ‘Bad Boys 4’ is bad ass

It really sucks that P Diddy turned out to be awful and this film couldn’t have “Shake Ya Tailfeather” or “Bad Boys for Life” playing, but the movie still manages to be a good time.

The fourth film in the franchise starts out with Mike (Will Smith) getting married to a new character, Christine (Melanie Liburd). The celebration is great until his longtime friend and police partner Marcus (Martin Lawrence) has a heart attack. After a near death experience, though, Marcus walks away with a new found confidence and a positive outlook on life.

It’s certainly needed as the detectives’ late captain is framed for major crimes by the cartel. As they begin to investigate, the cops themselves are framed and are not only sought by the cartel, but other law enforcement as well.

Continue reading “REVIEW: While not perfect, ‘Bad Boys 4’ is bad ass”

REVIEW: ‘Furiosa’ is positively fantastic

No Mad Max? No problem.

While “Furiosa” does in fact take place in the “Mad Max” universe, the character portrayed by Mel Gibson originally and then by Tom Hardy in 2015’s “Fury Road,” isn’t present. Instead, as the title implies, the film centers on the other main character from the 2015 picture, Furiosa.

The film chronicles how she was initially abducted by a biker warlord named Dementus (Chris Hemsworth), and later became a mainstay at the Citadel where Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme) resides. Over the course of the film, she’s portrayed by Alyla Browne in her youth and Anya Taylor-Joy later in life.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Furiosa’ is positively fantastic”

REVIEW: Long live the ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’

It’s hard to imagine the current run of “Planet of the Apes” continuing on without Caesar, but director Wes Ball’s latest film in the series is a fitting follow-up to the 2010s trilogy.

“Kingdom” takes place several generations after Caesar’s death. Humans are now primitive and scarce, while the apes have built up small villages, one of them being home to the protagonist, Noa (Owen Teague). Led by Noa’s father, the clan built a peaceful society around training falcons.

The peace of Noa’s village is shattered, though, when it’s raided by another ape kingdom set on conquest. Injured in the battle, Noa awakens to find his village destroyed and residents taken hostage. From there, Noa sets out on a quest to rescue those imprisoned and gets an unlikely ally along the way.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Long live the ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’”

REVIEW: Gosling and Blunt lift ‘The Fall Guy’ above average

Ryan Gosling has been outstanding in many dramatic roles, but damn does he ever have some good comedic skills, too.

Gosling stars as Colt Seavers, an experienced stunt man who had a steady career and a budding romance with a camerawoman, Judy (Emily Blunt). However, that came to an end with a bad injury that took him a long time to recover from. He’s convinced to come out of retirement, though, to work on a film that’s being directed by Judy, which is her first project.

It’s an awkward experience because he broke up with the up-and-coming director after his injury. The situation is made even more complicated when the actor Colt is doing stunts for suspiciously disappears. It turns out, there are nefarious reasons why, and as Colt searches for the star, he’s put in danger.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Gosling and Blunt lift ‘The Fall Guy’ above average”

REVIEW: ‘Monkey Man’ has great action but mangled storytelling

There are plenty of primate movie titles this year it seems. March had “Kong x Godzilla,” April has “Monkey Man” and May brings “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.”

The middle film isn’t actually about a monkey, though. Instead, the film centers on the character Kid (Dev Patel), a young man living in Yatana, a fictional metropolis in India. Struggling to get by, he manages to earn money as a fighter in an underground boxing ring, where he dons an ape mask.

His true objective, though, is putting himself in a position where he can get revenge on those who destroyed his village and killed his mother. His main two targets are a corrupt guru (Makarand Deshpande) and a crooked police chief (Sikandar Kher). But pulling such a thing off is a difficult, dangerous task.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Monkey Man’ has great action but mangled storytelling”

REVIEW: ‘In the Land of Saints and Sinners’ is a solid Neeson entry

Another movie has arrived in theaters with a poster showing Liam Neeson holding a gun. There’s been quite a few of these over the years, but few quite as somber.

“Land of Saints and Sinners” is set in Ireland during the Troubles, but most of the movie takes place away from the conflict. Instead, the location is a coastal village where humble, friendly bookseller Finbar Murphy (Neeson) resides. What he hides from the town, though, is that he’s also an experienced hitman.

However, it’s part of his life he’s ready to be done with. That is until the conflict arrives in the village when a group of IRA members go there to lay low after a bombing. While there, one of them commits a crime against one of the residents, and, as he’s grown to love the village, Finbar decides to take action.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘In the Land of Saints and Sinners’ is a solid Neeson entry”

REVIEW: Godzilla and Kong’s New Empire is off to a forgettable start

At this point these films might as well just cut the human characters out entirely, they were barely necessary here.

That’s because, as expected, the latest movie centers on the big monkey and giant lizard. The former, Mr. Kong, has made a home in the Hollow Earth, a space between the planet’s surface and core. Kong is living his life as the Hollow Earth’s de facto ruler, but is rather lonely as the only giant gorilla there.

That changes when he discovers several other massive apes live nearby, but they’re led by a tyrant hell-bent on conquest of the surface. Godzilla, who is becoming aware of this threat, is preparing in his own way. But it’s going to take both rivals to handle the antagonist.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Godzilla and Kong’s New Empire is off to a forgettable start”

REVIEW: ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ is a fumbling follow-up

It’s time to take the Ghostbusters off the contacts list, they don’t need to be called again.

Set after the 2021 film “Afterlife,” “Frozen Empire” takes place in New York City in the present day with Egon Spengler’s daughter Callie (Carrie Coon) hunting ghosts with her kids Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) and Trevor (Finn Wolfhard), as well as her boyfriend Gary (Paul Rudd). Though successful, the four have also gotten into trouble with NYC leadership for property damage.

They get off with a warning, but are forced to leave Phoebe, still a teen, out of ghost catching. Meanwhile, former Ghostbuster Ray (Dan Aykroyd) is presented with an old family heirloom with a powerful entity inside. As the film goes on, situations with the characters begin happening that may release the entity.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ is a fumbling follow-up”

REVIEW: ‘Knox Goes Away’ is a strong creative effort from Keaton

A moody drama with Michael Keaton playing a hitman? Sure, sign me up.

In addition to starring as the lead character, Keaton also directed “Knox Goes Away.” In the film,  John Knox is a contract killer who’s been dealing with memory loss. When he meets with a doctor, Knox is diagnosed with a fast-moving form of dementia that will give him only weeks to live.

Without much time left, Knox starts making arrangements to pass on all of his money to his estranged family. However, the plan becomes complicated when his son Miles (James Marsden) shows up one night asking for help in covering up a crime.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Knox Goes Away’ is a strong creative effort from Keaton”

REVIEW: ‘Love Lies Bleeding’ is a chaotic blast

“Love Lies Bleeding” is a really accurate title, because this film has all three. It also has a ton of awesomeness.

Kristen Stewart stars as gym manager Lou in “Love Lies Bleeding.” A recluse, Lou seems to just be on cruise control in her life. Jackie (Katy O’Brian), meanwhile, is a woman who’s hitchhiked from Oklahoma to New Mexico, with hopes of competing as a body-builder in Las Vegas.

The two meet and begin a relationship, and fall for each other quickly. However, situations related to their past, present and future put them on a wild collision course with destiny that challenges their love.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Love Lies Bleeding’ is a chaotic blast”