Tag: film

REVIEW: Fourth ‘Expendables’ is an empty experience

The Expendables are back… Well, a few of them are. A lot of the cast from previous movies didn’t come back for this one, probably with good reason.

Still helmed by Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), the elite group of expendable mercenaries  are still taking on dangerous missions, but their latest adventure might have the highest stakes yet. The team is informed by the CIA that several nuclear weapons have fallen into the wrong hands.

To prevent any bombs from going off, the Expendables are hired to recover them and take out those behind the scheme. As part of the mission, they’re joined by some new mercenaries who offer additional combat skills.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Fourth ‘Expendables’ is an empty experience”

REVIEW: Spooky season setting boosts ‘A Haunting in Venice’

After two underwhelming films, the third time appears to have been the charm for the modern Hercule Poirot series.

Based on another one of Agatha Christie’s stories, “A Haunting in Venice” finds inspector Poirot retired from detective work. Played by Kenneth Branagh, who also directs, Poirot is now living in the titular city a few years removed from investigating. That is until he he meets up with friend and author Ariadne (Tina Fey).

A mystery author, Ariadne is planning to attend a séance to gather some inspiration for future works, and she invites Poirot to come along. The inspector is skeptical at first about the whole situation, but decides to tag along. During the event, a mysterious death takes place, and it forces Poirot to exit his retirement on a spooky Halloween night.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Spooky season setting boosts ‘A Haunting in Venice’”

REVIEW: Latest ‘Equalizer’ offers adequate entertainment

Antoine Fuqua made the “Equalizer” trilogy. I watched the “Equalizer” trilogy. I guess the situation has been… equalized.

So sorry about that.

Denzel Washington returns as Robert McCall in “The Equalizer 3.” This time around, the semi-retired super agent finds himself wrapping up the takedown of a crime syndicate based in Sicily. While he’s successful in his bloody endeavor, he does get himself injured with a shot to the back. Eventually, as he’s leaving the area he falls unconscious.

Fortunately, he’s rescued by a passerby who takes McCall to a doctor in a small coastal village. The doctor cleans Robert’s wounds and helps him recover. During his time there, Robert finds peace in the charming town, but is troubled by the occasional presence of mafia members who harass local business owners.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Latest ‘Equalizer’ offers adequate entertainment”

2023 Summer Movie Awards

Summer 2023 is in the rearview and looking back, it was a pretty good one. The season was largely bolstered by the releases of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” but there were quite a few other good flicks out there.

Just a note, I did miss a few of the blockbusters, namely ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” and “The Flash.” However, from what I’ve read, I didn’t miss much.

Based on what I did see, I’m ready to give out my personal awards to the best this summer had to offer.

Continue reading “2023 Summer Movie Awards”

REVIEW: ‘Blue Beetle’ is another below average DC outing

“Blue Beetle” was originally slated for a streaming release but was pushed into theaters. All things considered, maybe it should have stayed on the small screen.

Xolo Mariduena stars as Jaime Reyes in the film. A recent college graduate, Jaime returns to his home in Palmera City only to learn that his family’s house is on the brink of repossession. Wanting to help his parents, he looks for work, but only manages to get a cleaning gig at a mansion despite his degree.

That is where meets Jenny Kord (Bruno Marquezine), the niece of the woman (Suasan Sarandon) who runs a large military tech company. The main focus of the company is the Scarab, an alien technology giving the user an advanced armor. Knowing the dangerous implications of the tech, Jenny removes it from the Kord facility and entrusts it to Jaime.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Blue Beetle’ is another below average DC outing”

REVIEW: Vampire flick ‘Last Voyage of the Demeter’ disappoints

There have been many film adaptations of Bram Stoker’s classic novel “Dracula.” Adaptations of a single chapter, though? That’s a new one.

“The Last Voyage of the Demeter” is based on the chapter “The Captain’s Log” from Stoker’s 1897 book. In the film, the Demeter is a ship leaving Bulgaria helmed by Captain Elliot (Liam Cunningham). While the movie is narrated at points by Elliot who gives his thoughts on the development in his log, the film is centered on the character Clemens (Corey Hawkins).

A doctor looking to return to England, Clemens joins the crew of the Demeter which is sailing to Britain on a seemingly routine voyage. Along with the crew, the Demeter is carrying plenty of cargo, including a mysterious crate. As one would expect, the box contains the legendary vampire himself.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Vampire flick ‘Last Voyage of the Demeter’ disappoints”

REVIEW: ‘Mutant Mayhem’ is an exciting new spin on the TMNT

Turtle Power is back on the big screen and it’s the best it’s been in a while.

The latest film to feature the four ninja turtles takes place in familiar territory. Leo (Nicolas Cantu), Raph (Brady Noon), Donnie (Micah Abbey) and Mikey (Shamon Brown Jr.) live with their father figure Splinter (Jackie Chan) in the sewers under New York City.

An overprotective father, Splinter taught the four ninjutsu and stealth to keep them safe and out of sight from humans. The insatiable want to live normal teenage lives, though, inspire the turtles to do hero work in order to get recognized. However, doing so might put them in more trouble than they expected.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Mutant Mayhem’ is an exciting new spin on the TMNT”

REVIEW: ‘Barbie’ has plenty to like, not enough to love

“Barbie” has everything you’d expect from a movie about the popular Mattel toy, from pink houses to parties on the beach. Oh, plus an existential crisis and explorations of feminist concepts.

As expected, there are many Barbies in the flick, but the one at the center of the picture is a sort of classic take on the doll. To that end, Margot Robbie’s character is often referred to as “Stereotypical Barbie.” At the start of the film, she, and every other Barbie, live happily in Barbieland, a matriarchal utopia.

For Barbie, though, this begins to change when she suddenly has thoughts and feelings she didn’t have before, revolving around imperfections and death. It shakes her so much that she sets out to figure out what the problem is, and that leads her to venture into the real world. She’s not alone on the quest, either, as “Beach Ken” (Ryan Gosling), tags along.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Barbie’ has plenty to like, not enough to love”

REVIEW: Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ is an immaculate cinematic achievement

Scientific breakthroughs can be great things, leading to new discoveries and improvements in quality of life. They can also create terrifying, destructive power.

Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” captures the latter, and the impact it had on the figure that helmed such a breakthrough.

The film mainly revolves around J. Robert Oppenheimer’s work on the Manhattan Project, what led him to his involvement, and subsequent investigations into his character during the Red Scare. To do this the movie goes back and forth between three time periods.

Most of the movie takes place during the time where Oppenheimer was becoming a scientist and his work in Los Alamos. However, the movie also includes moments from Oppenheimer’s security hearing in 1954, as well as scenes in 1959 when Lewis Strauss’ hostile relationship with the physicist was brought up in commerce secretary nomination hearings with the Senate.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ is an immaculate cinematic achievement”

REVIEW: Latest ‘Mission: Impossible’ excels at action, stumbles elsewhere

The “Mission: Impossible” series has always made its protagonist juggle his commitment to completing his objective while protecting those close to him. The first “Dead Reckoning” is certainly no exception.

This time around, IMF Agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is informed about a dangerous artificial intelligence system, as well as a set of keys that can gain control of the program or shut it down. Hunt is ordered to recover it for the United States to give the country an advantage, but he goes rogue, believing it’s better to shut down the dangerous system rather than use it at all.

In his mission, he’s joined by fellow IMF teammates Luther (Ving Rhames) and Benji (Simon Pegg). However, they’re far from the only ones after the keys, as several other powers are after them, including a foe from Hunt’s past. Additionally, a renowned thief, Grace (Hayley Atwell), comes into play as she’s hired to get the keys by one of the many seekers.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Latest ‘Mission: Impossible’ excels at action, stumbles elsewhere”