Category Archives: 7 Star Movies

The Lodger Review

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The Lodger is one of those films that tests each character’s ability to read the room. If there is a mass murderer on the loose and someone started acting really shady, would you be ready to make an accusation or keep waiting for more evidence? The way the film plays out, there is only one suspect throughout the movie so you have to decide if this guy is guilty or if it’s a massive red herring. There are a few ways it could play out even with how obvious it seems and in a way this helped the movie stay interesting.

The film starts off by explaining that there is a mysterious mass murderer on the loose. This guy has been exclusively targeting women in dark alleys when they are away from any other bystanders. Unfortunately the city has a lot of fog and nobody assumes that they will be the next victim so people keep going into dark alleys. The main character here is a lady named Kitty who has built a successful career for herself through dancing. One day her house gets a new tenant by the name of Slade. Slade is often going from house to house as his landowners tend to get tired of him for some reason.

The guy runs rather dangerous experiments all the time so actually I think we’ve stumbled on the reason for why he has to vacate so quickly. He is constantly starting fires and burning things. Slade also isn’t very sociable so it is easy for rumors to start about him. For example the mass murderer is said to have a small leather book and Slade has one too. Slade quickly burns it afterwards but that’s an odd coincidence. Then he shows up with blood stains one day but burns those too. Hmmmmm.

As the film goes on, Kitty believes that Slade may actually be the mass murderer but she goes back and forth on this a lot. For the most part you could say that she is hoping that Slade isn’t the culprit. She thinks he’s nice enough and is probably just an eccentric. The maid is the one who has to keep pointing out how many of these coincidences are adding up but is dismissed each time by Robert. Robert always has an answer for everything even if the answers don’t make a lot of sense.

Slade is set up to be the murderer with so many obvious moments that you have to wonder if this is all setting up a massive fakeout. Either way you’re rooting for the cop to figure it all out. John is doing his best to stay on the case and put an end to the murders but it’s definitely not easy. There are just so many places to hide in an area like this and the weather doesn’t help.

John was smart enough to not give away his theory in public though. I was glad that he dodged the question when the main characters were all quizzing him because that would have been a real bad idea. You don’t get to be a big shot detective if you’re known for spilling the beans on everything after all.

As for the main villain, well the film definitely shows him to be as petty as possible. He has a long speech basically trying to say that the women are asking for it and he’s one of those really lonely, jealous guys. The whole thing makes him look absolutely puny and of course that’s the point. He’s only brave enough to attack when it’s one on one in the cover at night and the detective notices that he only strikes from behind. He needs the element of surprise in addition to everything else. This is not the kind of villain where you will have any sympathy for him. You’re just rooting for him to be knocked out the whole time.

The writing is solid though and this makes for a good old school thriller. It’s one of those very basic thrillers like the Raven film that I recently reviewed. There aren’t a lot of twists and turns to be had here. The film isn’t trying to break any records or do anything crazy either. It’s just giving you a suspenseful adventure where you wait to see if the heroes will put the pieces together before dying to this guy. Usually the main heroine may make it but how high will the body count get in the meantime?

This film also has one of those very sudden endings that you tend to see from old films like this one. There isn’t much of an epilogue or any sequel bait for this one. This is a stand alone adventure with a classic beginning, middle, and ending. It works well enough but if I had any nitpicks, it would be that I’d have liked to see more of the police investigation. Lets see a bit more about what John is doing in the background. Maybe have him start to close in on the case before the very end with the footprints.

I’d also have someone challenge Robert a bit more since that guy is the whole reason why this case was so close. If someone had forced him to admit to the possibility of Slade being the killer, then that would have been a pretty decent subplot. At least it would give Robert more of a role in the film because as it stands he didn’t get to do much of anything. He mostly only existed to be a thorn in the side of the maid and to make Kitty second guess herself. None of them had much in the way of survival instincts but at least they had some kind of instincts. Robert had none of that.

Overall, The Lodger is an interesting film. If you were not big on letting a stranger stay at your place, watching a film like this certainly wouldn’t help you get over that fear. Personally I’ve never been big on having roommates in general. Even aside from the danger, I just like having everything set up my way with as much freedom as possible. Having someone else staying over will always change that dynamic. Of course these characters should have done something once there was smoke going through the house but they took a very cautious approach all the way.

Overall 7/10

The Raven (1935) Review

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It’s time for another film titled The Raven. This one isn’t actually based on the Poe story though and focuses more on a character who is a fan of it. It’s an interesting approach and the film ended up being pretty good so I guess this direction was a good idea. The characters tend to make a lot of dumb mistakes but the writing on the whole is still good so I didn’t really have any big issues with this one. It should keep you pretty engaged the whole time.

The movie starts with a lady named Jean being badly injured in an accident and all the best doctors in the world are unable to heal her. Their only chance is Dr. Richard who retired a long time ago. He is a bit eccentric and downright sinister but Jean must be healed and so Judge makes a strong appeal to him. He’s able to play on Richard’s big ego and so Richard agrees. He heals Jean with ease but in the process falls in love with her. Richard wants to steal her away from the fiancé, Jerry at any costs. So he grabs a convict named Edmond and intentionally messed up his face in a surgery. Now the guy will be forever indebted to Richard and will work as his personal executioner. Can Jerry find a way to stop this guy?

That said, Jerry is pretty oblivious the entire time. He has no idea what is going on and is one of those guys who is a little too confident. Jean tells Jerry that she believes Richard has fallen for her and Jerry just laughs it off. He feels like any reasonable guy should fall for her and he doesn’t feel threatened in the slightest. His confidence is so high that he even agrees to stay the night at Richard’s place along with Jean and Judge. He better hope that Richard isn’t a crazy antagonist.

It’s a very old school attitude, that’s for sure. I wouldn’t even mind Jerry’s overconfidence if he would at least take precautions. The #1 precaution in this situation is certainly going to be declining any invitations to the guy’s home. At the very least you should really be building some serious distance there instead of making this so easy for the villain. Jerry is also knocked out rather easily when it comes time to defend his girlfriend.

As for Jean, well I have to give her some blame here too. Her instincts aren’t completely dead as she recognizes Richard’s obsession with her but then maybe she should be putting some more distance? She is borderline flirting with him the entire time, letting him get really close without saying anything. He basically says that he gave Jerry a job in exchange for losing her and Jean barely reacts. She still wants him to come watch the play and everything. Just not a whole lot of smart decisions going on here at all.

The only one who knew the danger from the start was the Judge. He really tries to get Jean and Jerry to leave the mansion but they just don’t take him seriously. Also they are adults so it’s not like he can just force them to leave. That’s probably the worst part of this whole affair. Ultimately he is no match for Edmond and goes down quickly. Part of me likes to think that he should have just left on his own but that’s not the heroic thing to do here.

As for Richard, well I don’t usually enjoy villains who just have romance on the mind. Jean is his entire goal in this whole affair and that doesn’t make for a very compelling villain. Richard just needed to accept the fact that she was never going to pick him in the end. He most likely would have just ended up murdering her once this sunk in. The guy should have been content to know that he saved someone when the rest of the medical community could not and called it a day there. He would have been a reasonable character at that point.

Finally we have Edmond who is really not that smart. Well I’ve been saying that for quite a few characters but he might take the cake. The guy knows that Richard can’t be trusted which is why he had a gun but still trusts the guy to do an invasive facial surgery? There’s nothing Edmond can do when he’s unconscious and you probably shouldn’t trust someone with a knife unless you are completely sure of their character. The whole thing was just such a bad look for him and his character route goes in a very predictable manner. At least he did make Richard sweat it out when he thought about finishing the guy off on one of the torture machines.

Now you may be thinking that this weak character roster would destroy the film but they were dumb in a fun way. The writing is still very sophisticated throughout. The dialogue is crisp all the way and the pacing is good. This feels like a very fun atmospheric horror film that gets the tension just right. It’s a horror style that you don’t see quite as much nowadays and I definitely miss it. I could watch these old horror titles all the time. They’re just really charming all the way with everyone being a little over the top.

Overall, this film may not be all that scary when you watch it nowadays but you can still feel the intent all the way. There was a lot of care put into the film and I had fun with it. The story is fairly straightforward so it all comes down to the execution and I didn’t think that the film had any big missteps there. What you see is what you get in a lot of ways as there aren’t really any twists and turns in the film. It showed that the writer had a lot of confidence in the story and as a result this one beats the average horror title. I’d definitely recommend checking it out.

Overall 7/10

Follow Me Quietly Review

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It’s time for a very old school Noir title. It’s a pretty fun film and will keep you on the edge of your seat but I have to admit that it has one big issue. The film’s just too short. In a way I’d say it’s a complement to the film but the whole thing just ends before you can have a proper climax. It’s like the movie was building up to a really big showdown but then ends during the build up. I suppose it makes the film feel like it ends in a pretty clever way.

The movie starts by introducing us to a mass murderer named The Judge. He randomly murders people during rainy nights and so far the cops have been completely unable to stop him. Somehow this villain is always a few steps ahead. The main cop on the case is Harry and he is at his wit’s end. He knows that this case shouldn’t be quite so hard. Usually he struggles to get just a little bit of evidence but this time he has almost too much. And yet, he has still been completely unable to catch this guy. A reporter named Ann keeps on pestering him for a scoop as well and while he likes her romantically, Harry is against everything she stands for. What can he do?

I do have to say that the romance is pretty terrible here. Not only is it rushed but it just makes Harry look so bad. He really doesn’t like the kinds of newspapers that rely on terror and clickbait headlines. It’s why he is so upset at Ann the whole time and then he does a complete 180 because he finds her pretty? It’s all just a big mess and Ann looks far too desperate with how far she is willing to go in order to publish her story. As a result none of the characters come out looking like winners here.

Even by the ending you’d think that Harry would need time to process what just happened and instead he’s looking forward to his date. This is the kind of romance that feels like it’s included in the film to meet a checkbox as opposed to being necessary to the plot. Not a strong foundation to a plot like this. So the film is at its best when it is avoiding the romance. The classic plot of a detective/cop starting to go mad as he gets really obsessed with catching the crook is a classic.

Harry just can’t sit still until this guy is caught and it makes for some good tension. His partner on the force keeps telling him to relax but Harry will do no such thing. He even comes up with the idea of making a dummy that looks like the Judge based on witness testimony. It feels like a bit of a stretch for this to even be slightly helpful because dummies just aren’t all that realistic. Still, I suppose it’s better than nothing. At least Harry is trying to be innovative here.

There is one scene in the film that stretches your disbelief a little too much though. The Judge trades places with the Dummy for a while and nobody notices even when talking to the dummy. Again, the film is trying to show just how realistic the dummy is but I think everybody can tell when they are talking to a dummy vs a real person. Maybe I’m giving them too much credit I suppose.

The writing is good throughout and the pacing is good, up until the film just suddenly ends. It was nice to see the cops slowly figuring things out with old fashioned methods like interviewing witnesses, door knocking, etc. I mean that’s a good approach and the film didn’t have to get super flashy or anything. I thought the whole thing was pretty realistic and satisfying to watch as well. It’s why I had no real issues there at all. This is a film that is easy to watch and it’s just fun all the way.

There is a body count and so the film isn’t all fun and games. Still, it never really goes too far at all and is mostly interested in telling a good story. The climax is just anti climactic as we finally meet the villain. The main character also looks incredibly sloppy in order for the final scenario to happen at all. It’s why it’s always better to totally handcuff someone instead of half heartedly hand cuffing one hand. I’m sure there is some kind of logic to it but I’ve always been super skeptical myself.

The film has a very small cast which makes sense with the short runtime. So the only way you won’t like this film is if you’re super against the romance. I will acknowledge that the opening scenes with the duo are absolutely brutal as Harry tries to make the reporter as uncomfortable as possible and the whole thing feels real unnecessary. I think he could have stood to show more professionalism there and she absolutely didn’t need to be begging for the story that hard. She mentions that she really needed the money but you want to be careful not to use that as a justification for just anything.

Meanwhile the villain gets almost no screentime but that works towards the mystery. His identity is a secret to the viewers as well as to the characters. It really makes him feel that much more elusive and you don’t need a backstory for a villain like this. All we need to know is that he’s a crazy serial killer who needs to be stopped. The simplicity of the whole thing is part of the film’s strength.

Overall, This was a pretty good film. It’s one of those totally obscure/random titles that ended up being a real hit. I had never heard of this one before but I like to think that I won’t be forgetting it anytime soon now. If you like the Noir genre then I would recommend this one. Short length or not, it has an interesting premise and the rainy atmosphere worked well here. It would be tough for a remake to be able to match this one.

Overall 7/10

The Yellow Canary Review

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It’s time for a pretty old thriller. This is a film I had never heard of before so it’s always fun to discover something new. The Yellow Canary is a film about a kidnapping and the main character deciding to go rogue. It’s a pretty classic plot and one that can be really fun as long as the execution is good. I would say that the film handles it all pretty well so you should be on the edge of your seat.

The film starts off by introducing us to Andy who is a world famous singer. He’s won all kinds of awards and is ridiculously wealthy. Unfortunately he traded in his morals a long time ago and nowadays he greatly enjoys just indulging in every pleasure. He cheats on his wife, never visits his son, etc. Well one day his son is kidnapped and now Andy has to find the culprit before anything terrible happens. The randomer is stringing Andy along a lot and the cops say this is probably personal but aren’t offering a whole lot of help. The cops mean well but are just out of their depth. Andy will have to take some big swings here.

Now it is a bold approach to have Andy be so unlikable right from the start. Some characters might be a bit arrogant or something but the film goes out of its way to say that this guy has been completely corrupted by the money. I’d even say that a reoccurring theme of the movie is about how all of your friends are fake when you’re rich. In one way or another each of his friends tend to stab him in the back. I’d say at least Andy’s business partners seemed solid and if anything it was Andy who was abusing them the whole time.

Throughout the film Andy does do his best to find his kid, but that doesn’t automatically make him a good character. It just means that this was something super personal and he was going to solve the problem. Perhaps now that he has lost a lot of money by the end of the film he will readdress the priorities in his life. Andy may end up being a good character but I can’t really assume that just from the ending here. You’ll obviously still root for him over the kidnapper though.

Andy’s wife Lissa is upset at Andy the whole film but that’s really justified. I just wish she was able to keep it together a bit more when they were working on saving the kid. For example at one point she is able to grab her son but then panics about how she can’t leave Andy along when the villains are approaching. If Lissa had her way then they all would have been swarmed and defeated. She just seemed to lack a general sense of awareness for danger and I never like it when characters fall to pieces like that. It is unfortunately realistic but doesn’t make the whole thing any better.

As for the police detective Bonner, he is one of those characters who sounds good until you really think about it. He gives all of the textbook advice on not letting the kidnapper get what he wants and all that but has no plan beyond this. Bonner essentially tells Andy to sacrifice his kid to prevent copycat kidnappings. Yes, that is good advice for society but it’s not something that just about any father is going to listen to. It would just sound rather absurd on its face. Bonner is quick to deflect when Andy asks how often the strategy actually saves the kid. It’s clear that Andy will have to do this on his own.

Bake is constantly playing the victim card as he tells Andy to stop being a terrible person. The advice falls on deaf ears though and it really doesn’t hit because Bake continues to work for the guy. If Bake decided to quit that would be one thing but the longer he stays at the job then it makes the moral convictions fall flat. Lissa even calls him out on this and Bake just talks about how he is trapped. We see that he even steals money from Andy as the film goes on so that makes him look even worse. I really didn’t have anything all that positive to say about the guy. He’s easily one of the weakest characters.

Then you have Hub who is always ready to help but tends to take a violent twist on it. The guy is rather unhinged and seems to even enjoy the violence. You always want to be careful with someone like that around. While watching the film you have to try and figure out who the kidnapper is. Naturally he might not even be one of these immediate characters and could be a complete stranger. You’ll really have to go through the film to find out.

I’d say another solid thing about the film is that there aren’t many big leaps of logic for you to follow. The main characters didn’t even really make a mistake when it came to the kid being kidnapped. There was effectively nothing they could have done and then from there it made sense to follow the kidnapper’s instructions until they could find an avenue of attack. The most realistic part here may have even been that the heroes completely had no leads until the villain slipped up. His own arrogance was his downfall here.

The climax was also really solid. I was glad that one character wasn’t bluffing because that would have been a supremely terrible look. When your kid is taken, it’s naturally going to be time for extreme actions and I would expect you to be locked and loaded. There was no hesitation when it counted and it made the villain’s final speech that much more enjoyable. I definitely like it when the villain thinks he is completely invincible and about to claim victory when he’s actually delusional by that point.

Overall, I had a good time here. Andy is definitely not someone who is likable but you still want the kid to be okay so you’re forced to root for him via proxy. The movie keeps up a tense atmosphere throughout and the pacing is on point. The body count is even a bit higher than I was expecting. I don’t know why, but I just assumed there wouldn’t be much death or anything here. Maybe it’s just the way the film was playing out? It felt tense but in a more slow burn kind of way where the heroes would eventually stop the kidnapper before anyone would really have to die for it. By the second death, you quickly realize that this is not that kind of film. This one of those films that just feels like a really well rounded watch all the way through. As long as you enjoy these kind of retro thrillers then you should have a good time here.

Overall 7/10

The Fantastic Four: First Steps Review

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It’s time for another journey with the Fantastic Four. This team has always had a rough transition into the live action environment so would this one be able to change that? I’ve enjoyed the films more than most and for that reason while I don’t think it beats the first two, it is still a fun film. This one is just going for a less action packed adventure than some of the older ones and I always tend to be less impressed with Galactus as a threat. That guy needs to learn some hand to hand or something.

The movie starts by introducing us to an alternate reality where the defenders of humanity are the Fantastic Four. Reed and his three friends had gone up to space and came back with super powers. They have used them well as the planet has achieved peace. There is not a whole lot of crime anymore but unfortunately the planet has been selected for destruction by Galactus. He aims to eat the planet and Reed must try to figure out how to stop this from happening. The problem is that a genius intellect can only take you so far. Perhaps….there is no way to stop this threat.

I was glad that the film starts with the heroes already being experienced fighters. We’ve seen the origins enough times after all and it’s also a good way to make the world feel lived in. The Fantastic Four have a whole lot of social credit from protecting the world for so many years and everybody trusts them. They may not be ultra powerful but it’s not like the villains have been all that tough. This is probably a pretty decent way to frame a Superman movie that adapts Doomsday at some point.

The positives of the movie shine through right away like the quality writing and quick pacing. The movie goes by pretty quickly and there are no parts that really drag on. By the same token you may not care a whole lot about the human plots like Thing’s budding romance with a school teacher or the Moleman and his antics. They’re just sort of part of the background and you’re waiting to see how the Galactus stuff works out.

If I had a main issue with the film, it would be Galactus though. He is said to be this ultimate disaster that cannot be stopped and so Reed gives up on trying to stop him almost immediately. The reason this doesn’t work is because he’s shown to be extremely vulnerable and filled with weak spots in every encounter. Johnny and Sue are able to focus a heat blast on his eyes that clearly deals a lot of pain. Johnny also severed a few of his energy tubes which made him yell in pain and then Reed did the same with a wrench later on.

If you want me to believe that Galactus can’t be defeated then these attacks should not be causing him so much damage. He feels like a character who is relying on the feats from the comics but in the movie there isn’t enough to suggest that this guy is so unbeatable. I was glad that he had some real character even if he nearly fell for the most obvious trap of all time. It’s like he has intellect but at a fairly low level and the Fantastic Four are the ones who messed up by taking the bait too quickly.

So it was cool to see Galactus finally walking around and everything but he just didn’t seem to be strong enough to me. The guy should really not have any major weaknesses and it should take someone of a much higher power level to actually hurt him. Even the final blow felt a bit cheesy but I can at least buy it more than his other action scenes. Another tricky thing about this is that it means there were no real opponents for the Fantastic Four to fight in this film. Outside of Galactus you had the Silver Surfer but she would just oneshot the heroes whenever she felt like it.

The only hero who could really fight at a high level was Sue and so that’s why the film kept her pregnant for a while so she couldn’t end the film sooner. Sue looked really good throughout the film and I was glad that she was always very quick to go on the attack. There was no hesitation when she told Johnny to murder the Silver Surfer and she rightfully called out Reed for not immediately dismissing the idea of sacrificing her kid.

As for Reed, well this might be his weakest portrayal. He’s just lacking in confidence throughout the film and throws a pity party for a lot of it. The rest of the team try to get him to move past the initial accident but he just hasn’t been able to. Then he absolutely bombed the press conference and put more trouble onto the team instead of quickly talking about how they will figure out a way to win. His stretching could also stand to look more impressive but Reed was always the weakest member of the team so I suppose that works out well enough.

Ben gets the shaft out of the main 4 characters because he doesn’t really have anything to do here. His thing is usually being the strong member of the team but in this case the opponent is stronger than him. So Ben is really stuck in the background the whole time. He’s a fun enough character but there just isn’t much room for him in the script this time. Better luck next time I suppose.

Johnny looks great though. He really gets to show off his intelligence here and is also very quick to go on the attack like Sue. His powerset may not be as strong as Sue’s but I really like how versatile it is. Being able to fly at super speeds is just incredibly handy and it means he can always be at the danger scene when needed. He was also ready to make the heroic sacrifice at the end if needed.

As for Silver Surfer, they have her be a little more emotional than the Silver Surfer folks are used to from the old movie. That said, if you read the comics then you know that the Silver Surfers are always extremely emotional. I would just say that she looks a little too wishy washy here because it’s not like any of the arguments made were very compelling. She knows exactly what she is doing by picking planets for Galactus to eat and has accepted this if it means protecting her planet. I don’t think hearing a few yells or anything would help that. If anything, hearing her fellow people would have just steeled her resolve instead of the opposite happening.

The film does show just how quickly humanity is always ready to stab you in the back though. The Fantastic Four saved them countless times and they all fall to pieces immediately when they are faced with the latest threat. It would have been interesting if the Fantastic Four just ditched humanity on their rocket. Obviously being a hero means saving people no matter how miserable they are but it’s the kind of thing you certainly don’t forget.

The after credits scene is way too short but still makes for a decent setup to Doomsday. At this point there are just so many great plots set up for that film so I’m really looking forward to seeing how that one stacks up. Honestly they’ll have to try hard to mess this one up. It feels like the floor will be an 8 and I’m expecting the title to be a 9. Never count your chickens before they hatch though.

Overall, This was a pretty good Fantastic Four film. As long as you’re not looking for the next big action packed thriller then you should have a good time with this film. It feels a little bit calmer and quieter than the average Marvel title but it fits with the vibe of this alternate Earth. For that reason it’s going to have a bit less replay value compared to the other titles but on an initial watch it absolutely holds up.

Overall 7/10

The Marvels Review

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The Marvels is one of those films that faded away pretty quickly but I did always enjoy the concept of what it was going for. It was a crossover for the main character of the movie Captain Marvel with the main character of the show Ms. Marvel along with one of the supporting characters of Wandavision. You can only really pull off that many crossovers when you’ve already got an expanded cast. That said, the power levels are very different among the 3 and for once that would be a bit of an issue. You would need to set up a threat weak enough for Monica and Kamala to fight which would mean nerfing Carol a bunch. And….that’s exactly what happened but on the whole I would say this was still a pretty good movie.

The title starts off quickly with the Kree getting their hands on the cosmic band. They are now led by Dar who seeks revenge on Carol for essentially causing a war which ruined her people. Her solution is to wipe everyone out to really stick it to Carol rather than prioritizing a fix for her people. Usually this would be an easy threat for Carol to stop considering how she was easily overwhelming Thanos. Unfortunately her powers have begun to go out of control so every time she uses them, she switches places with Kamala or Monica. Not a great way to stay focused during a fight.

The power swapping leads to some cool teamwork combos and is also a funny gag. So it was used for some positive things throughout the movie but I do have to be honest about how annoying it could be as well. I really wanted to see Carol just crushing her opponents instead of constantly being thrown out of the fight. She could have ended this movie in seconds otherwise. Honestly even with this gimmick she should have done better in the fights. In particular during the climax when she is fighting against Dar. Suddenly she just wasn’t looking as strong as normal and this continues until the very ending when she gets to ram Dar into deep space. It’s clear that working with a character this powerful was not easy for the film.

Carol has come a long way since her trainee days and it’s nice to see her taking charge throughout the movie. Kamala and Monica are new to the whole saving the world thing and so Carol is the one who really has to take charge and lead them. I’ say she did a good job of it too. Then we have Monica whose grudge with Carol feels a bit petty. Grudge may be the wrong word for it since part of the awkwardness is just Monica not really knowing how to talk to her. Still, the stakes are a bit too high for all of that right now.

I also think she should have been training with her powers a whole lot prior to the film’s events. She seemed to still be getting used to her abilities but enough time has passed from Wandavision where she should have a handle on them. Same for Kamala. During the opening fights she seems to be having a hard time and then by the end she is using the constructs like a pro. Part of Kamala’s entire character is that she really likes heroics and looks up to Captain Marvel as her hero. Surely that’s a lot of incentive to have been training all this time. I guess everyone was off their game though, even Nick Fury was having some trouble with random goons.

It might come down to the film just having more of a cheery tone than some of the other titles. This one feels more like a quick TV special than a full on movie. That’s not really a bad thing as it makes for a comfy watch. Part of why I enjoyed the film is it feels like an episode of superhero television, just in live action. Sometime you can pick up and watch for some fun without getting invested into a real end of the world plot. Maybe I wouldn’t feel as excited if I saw this one in theaters since it’s pretty short but the quality was there.

Also, power level issues aside, I thought Kamala made for a good character. I liked her enthusiasm and she was a great contrast to the other characters who were definitely not going to be as cheery. After all being a superhero should be really fun. It isn’t always sunshine and flowers of course but having powers seems like it would be super fun. So it was nice to have one character just enjoying the journey.

Now one other issue about the film being so happy is that it does have to gloss over some of the more serious details of the film. For example Carol forces the other heroes to leave a planet while tons of innocents were still there. Kamala wanted to save them but is overruled and the body count was rather massive. Usually you’d expect a full argument about this and a lot of back and forth but Kamala continues to idolize Carol and doesn’t dwell on it too much. I thought that was a little too easy. It’s a really serious decision and there should have been some pushback.

Carol was right in that moment that they couldn’t save everyone but with her powers she certainly could have saved many more. Kamala should have grilled her on that and it should have been a cause for tension for a while. A good example of this disillusionment would be what happened with Shazam and Superman in Justice League. Having a moment shatter the image of your hero is a big deal. So the film should have really stayed on that more.

Even the fact that a ton of the Kree died indirectly due to Carol’s actions from the first film should have been dwelled on more. Sure, Dar is mainly using that as an excuse but it’s an interesting plot point. I would argue that Carol had no way of knowing the effects she would cause and also didn’t have many options at the time since the supreme intelligence was evil. It’s like when you take down a dictator and now the innocents suffer due to the chaos at the top. It’s something you try to mitigate but doesn’t change the fact that the dictator had to be taken down.

As for Dar, she’s not a very compelling villain at all. She tends to get the shaft in this film with how fast it goes. Her motives are pretty basic and there isn’t much to her fighting style. So nothing really makes her standout. The film itself isn’t the most forgettable but most of the memorable parts will not include her. The prince from the musical kingdom probably ends up leaving more of an impact. She is powerful to be sure but that’s it. Dar essentially works as a living obstacle to the heroes.

The musical planet was a fun little subplot though. It’s an example of a joke that was done pretty well and did not overstay its welcome. If the scene had been 10 minutes longer then I’d probably be shaking my head but it was short enough to work. Then we had the scene of the cats eating everyone which was decent but in context I don’t think it works super well. The fact that everyone was running for their lives was a bit crazy. I think at least half of them would have in theory taken this in stride and running off would just burn a lot of time that the heroes didn’t have. Also with how the cats would randomly spit the objects out, I’m not sure how much I would trust the plan.

Overall, The Marvels was pretty good. It’s not really going to stand out because this feels like a fairly generic adventure. The heroes aren’t really taking the stakes too seriously and they’re so much stronger than the villains that we need a whole energy plot device to prevent them from ending the film too quickly. I don’t think a lack of ambition is a big enough reason to say that a film is bad though. Ultimately it was still fun which is the important part. There were no really bad scenes and the writing was good enough. I thought the banter worked pretty well and since the film was playing it super safe, it’s not like it was going to be making any big mistakes. The post credits scene is more interesting than exciting. I would have chosen almost any other guest star character from the team to make the scene a lot better but I’l still take it. This is seemingly a pretty important scene. So if you enjoy a classic superhero team up then you should check this movie out.

Overall 7/10

A Minecraft Movie Review

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This film really ended blew up in theaters and did better than anyone would have dreamed of. It was really impressive and showed just how powerful the world of gaming could be. It took me a while to see it but after watching the film I can confirm that it was pretty solid. The story was on point and the gags were solid. Throw in the fact that it was really not ashamed to be a video game adaption and you have a confident movie on your hands. I would definitely recommend it.

The movie starts off with Steve arriving in the world of Minecraft and quickly mastering the world’s mechanics. Unfortunately he bumps into the dark side of this realm where he is captured by the villains. His dog is able to escape with the gem connecting the two worlds though. Now there is no chance of harm coming to Earth. Unfortunately the gem is found many years later by a guy who is down on his luck. He ends up arriving into the world of Minecraft with two kids and a local real estate agent. Can they find a way to stop the evildoers from getting to the surface world?

I thought that the opening sequence really set the right tone from the start. It was all very fast paced. Instead of waiting 30 minutes for the heroes to make it to this new world, Steve does it in 5 minutes. I liked how quickly he was able to master the different mechanics and wasn’t acting like a tourist. Steve just got to business and it was even pretty heroic how he was able to escape prison long enough to get his dog out of there. Naturally the scenes are played with a slight grin from the movie’s part as this is still a comedy first and foremost but it is actually funny.

That’s something that the film really gets right. The jokes tend to land well with a lot of tried and true gags. The film isn’t exactly going into uncharted territory but it doesn’t need to do that. When you execute an old joke well then it hits as hard as it did the first time. Of course if you don’t tend to like the sillier type of films then this one’s probably not going to change your mind either. It’s all about those old school fundamentals and this is the kind of film you could picture watching on VHS back in the day. If you play Minecraft then you’ll probably recognize more of the gags right away and if not, you’ll still understand all of the important ones.

Steve was definitely the best character throughout the film. He was always in charge of the situation and managed to keep his cool even when things didn’t go as planned. He may not have been a huge success back on Earth but once he was in Minecraft world he was quick to dominate over there. He didn’t whine or complain about his lot in life. He found a creative solution and that’s the way to go.

Garrett becomes one of the main characters early on as another version of Steve to an extent. He was hugely popular at one point but is now poor in the real world. He just can’t find any way to get successful again and is forced to pretend to be someone’s uncle in order to make some pocket change. When Henry finds the magic orb, this becomes Garrett’s chance to make some money. In Minecraft world he is able to finally be the tough guy that he has always portrayed himself to be. It’s not easy but Garrett just makes it work.

He does break down at one point as the pressure becomes too much but for the most part keeps it together. He has a big rivalry with Steve throughout the movie and then eventually earn each other’s respect. Garrett is far from perfect but still makes for a really likable character. It also made sense that he would want some diamonds because he was about to be evicted in the real world. I thought the whole plot line was very reasonable and it’s not like he was doing anything super drastic to get it.

Henry and Natalie can be more on the annoying side. Natalie actually doesn’t get as big a role as you would think. As the older sibling she does her best to look after Henry and make sure that he’s okay. She makes him a pie to bring to school and does her best to be supportive. So I wouldn’t say that she’s a bad character but does randomly try to make Garrett look bad at times by trying to debunk what he’s saying. I never got why some characters want to just be spoilsports like that.

As for Henry, he doesn’t look very good here. After Garrett helps him throughout the movie, Henry is quick to be upset at him later on. I would have preferred for Henry to keep his cool there. Yeah Garrett wasn’t fully honest with him which isn’t cool but I would argue that he still didn’t do anything that was super drastic. It would have been a different story if he ended up being a full traitor or something. Henry’s just a kid so you have to cut him some slack but honestly the film could have worked better without him.

Finally you have Dawn and she ends up being a bit of a downer as well. She just doesn’t know how to have fun as much as Garrett and Steve. They do their best to keep the adventure light while she either starts complaining or trying to get them back on task. What’s the point of exploring a whole new world if you have to be stressed out the whole time? I guess what it all boils down to is that Steve and Garrett didn’t really need any side characters here.

I suppose that would have hurt the banter though. It’s not like every joke landed but on the whole there were more wins than not. If anything this just didn’t leave much room for the villain to be memorable. She does have a really good final scene as she tries to land a hit on Steve when he drops his guard though. That was pretty good, especially when she tried more than once. It was one of the better gags in the film. If you can’t be a serious threat then the next best thing is to be funny and she pulled that off.

The effects throughout the movie are pretty good. I appreciated how much it was copying the game as well like the villains turning into meat. This was a movie that really paid attention to the details of the game. Now if you don’t like slapstick then that would be the only reason to avoid this film. A lot of the humor is physical so you’re going to have characters getting thrown around and beat up but these scenes just work. I’d even say that about the movie in general…it just works.

There is only one weak plot in the film and that’s the subplot of the divorced vice principal dating a random Minecraft character. That said, it’s still 100X better than the similar plot in Pixels. This one doesn’t overstay its welcome nearly as much and the scenes tend to be short. I’d say they should have been cut out as they had nothing to do with anything but at least they aren’t really in your face the whole time. So I won’t be too harsh on that front.

Overall, A Minecraft Movie was better than I expected it to be. I figured it would be a fun time and all but more like a 6. In the end it surpassed that to be a pretty good experience that I could recommend to anyone. I’m definitely eager to see how the sequel plays out. There are a lot of fun things they can do with a sequel like introducing the Ender Dragon. Of course this is the kind of title where a sequel can mess up easily by not being funny. That’s hard to predict though so we just have to hope for the best for now.

Overall 7/10

What About Bob? Review

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It’s time for a pretty crazy film about what might happen if someone decides to stalk you across the city. This one’s a comedy though so we get to see the fun parts of the premise without dwelling on the darker elements. What this film does particularly well is not breaking character at all during the journey. Even right as we are getting to the end of the film, it resists the urge to suddenly get serious. I thought that was really impressive because 99% of the time the film will quickly get serious at the end to try and land some kind of message. This time the film wasn’t worried about any of that and I thought it was better off for it.

The main character here is debatably Bob or Leo but I’m going to say that it’s Leo. Leo is a professional psychiatrist who is getting ready for a long vacation. Unfortunately he has one last interview before he heads out and it is with a guy named Bob. Bob comes from another psychiatrist who retired suddenly but seems like a harmless guy. Bob suffers from numerous phobias but the biggest one is the fear of germs. He always carries a napkin so he doesn’t have to touch anything directly. Leo gives him some general advice and then heads on vacation. The problem? Bob has followed him over and declares that he won’t be leaving, Leo needs to be giving him guidance 24/7. Can Leo throw Bob out without hurting his reputation with his family?

Leo’s also got a big interview with Good Morning America about his new book and this is threatening that appointment quite a lot. So Leo is stressed throughout the film and you can definitely feel his pain. It doesn’t help that his family quickly become big fans of Bob. They want him around and even think that he is more fun than Lein general. That’s really not good for Leo’s chances of getting them on board. Every time he makes a move against Bob they end up getting more and more upset.

Leo is the antagonist by the end of the film though. He is absolutely trying to destroy Bob and is willing to use bombs for this approach. So as sympathetic as he gets you do have to remember that he is also crazy. It’s just in a different way than Bob. At one point you feel like the film is about to end with the interview but then we get a whole other act after that which was a really good fakeout. The constant battle with Leo and Bob is really where a lot of the humor comes from. I would say Leo is the standout character here and you couldn’t make the film without him.

The movie’s sense of humor is really good so you’ll be having a good time throughout. The pacing is solid as well and the film doesn’t really have any weaknesses here. This is an old school comedy film that manages to land just about all of its jokes. I guess the weakest part of the film would be the family for me. They tend to take Bob’s side a little too easily. That’s part of the joke of course so it works within the film’s context but for the characters themselves you’ll be shaking your head.

As for Bob, he’s fun because he is absolutely psychotic. If he wasn’t crazy then of course he would be a big antagonist as well. Instead you can just make the case that he is supremely oblivious and has no idea what is going on. In a way that is definitely a rough situation to be in. He does manage to get over his traumas pretty quickly but then he still has to get readjusted to real life where he doesn’t understand boundaries and common sense elements. Once he has those, then he would really be okay but that’s not likely to happen anytime soon.

He clearly knows enough to get along with most people to the point where he is even getting married. So Bob has potential here but the specific mental block of his psychiatrist may just be something that’s cemented by this point. If we ever get a sequel, the film already set things up with a legal battle that is about to ensue. It’s more of a funny ending than anything trying to set up a sequel of course but it could work if they ever wanted to get some nostalgia money out of the audience.

The cast is pretty small which is good for this film. There wouldn’t be time to introduce a bunch of characters or anything like that. We did have some fun supporting characters though like the crazy next door neighbors who are always around. Additionally there is Leo’s colleague from the crazy ward but she ended up not being of any real help here. Somehow Bob took over the whole place in under a day which again shows just how charismatic he can be when he really wants to.

He also has a lot of good technical skills like getting a bus to where Leo lives and finding out all of the information on how to get there. Bob has a very one track mind and so I think Leo’s best chance to stop him would have been to trick the guy. Get him to use his one track mind for something but that is easier said than done. Leo tries to trick him on numerous occasions and it just never seems to work. Bob is always a few steps ahead of him. That’s just how it goes.

Overall, What About Bob? is a film that has a really crazy premise and just rolls with it. That’s so much better than trying to take this too seriously. Bob even pretends to off himself at one point to infiltrate a call center which is absolutely diabolical. If you like watching comedies like this then this one is absolutely up your alley. If you are looking for one of those films that has a very serious moral/message at the end…well then this one isn’t exactly for you.

Overall 7/10

Exit 8 Review

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It’s time for a horror title that came out recently. Exit 8 definitely delivers on the scares and especially hits hard if you are claustrophobic at all. I tend to not be great in small spaces but a train station is just large enough where I don’t think it would end up being a really big deal. As for clearing the challenges, well you better hope that you are really good at games.

The story starts with a guy getting on a train and noticing a young mother getting yelled at by a random guy. He stands by without doing anything and the same is true of everyone else on the train. He eventually gets to leave but then gets a call from his ex-girlfriend. She is pregnant and it seems to be his kid but she is unsure of what to do next. She is looking to the lead for some counsel but he’s not sure either which is not really helpful. Still, he says he will visit her at the hospital…but then he loses signal on his phone and suddenly there is no way out of the subway. There are 2 rooms that just keep on repeating forever and a sign on the wall which has some rules to follow. If he sees an anomaly, he must move backwards. If there is no anomaly, move forward. The rules sound simple but the game will prove to be difficult.

If you’ve played memory match games then that will be very helpful here. The subway station corridors are pretty uneventful. There are a number of posters and doors as well as a photo booth but that’s about it. Still, the changes can be really small things like doorhandles being in the wrong spot or the posters being a little more immersive than usual. Depending how paranoid you get by the end, you’ll also be fighting yourself. So there are a whole lot of variables to keep track of here.

Now there is a case to be made here for the game being a lot easier than the main character makes it appear. That’s fair because this guy does have asthma so he constantly runs out of breath and this makes it more difficult for him to move forward. Because of how small the distance is, most players would probably go at a quicker pace and try a lot of things before the slow and methodical approach that the lead does. I feel like you would only star to go crazy after doing the rounds for many, many times. It feels like the main character gets exhausted a little too quickly. Physically it makes sense but I’m talking mentally here.

Clearly he hasn’t played the kinds of video games that require you to grind for many hours at a time. It’s why on a serious note, it’s good to be prepared for those kind of situations because this is a trial that can be much easier if you are prepared for it. Now once the game stars to get close to cheating by summoning vicious animals and floods…well then that’s another story. So by that point you’re going to have to rely on some luck and plot armor. I guess you could just pick a direction and run to reset the room but that’s going to be a little unnerving. At least there doesn’t appear to be any rule that forces you to hurry so you can also just rest in a stable room for a while to get your energy up.

You don’t know that for a fact though so it’s possible that the rooms do have an invisible time limit and you would be doomed. It’s just impossible to say this for sure. As for how likable the main guy is, I thought he was decent at best. The guy is definitely a coward with how he didn’t step up at the beginning and even hesitates for a long time at the end. That said, the film is about his development so I would say that he has gotten better over the course of the film. He may not be a true standout by the end but he’s not bad.

The character cast is fairly small but we also have a girl who wanders the subways. Who is she exactly? Like with most of the film you can only speculate here. She was interesting though and did give one of the scarier moments of the film. For the most part the film is trying to scare you with its own concept as opposed to actual jump scares but there are a few exceptions to this. There is also the man who walks around the subway with a briefcase.

For the most part I thought he was okay. He had to deal with a pretty annoying teammate the whole time. The guy definitely did lose his cool by the end and fell for a really easy trap but at least had a decent mindset for the game. If he was by himself I think he would have maybe even lasted longer but probably would have fell for the trap. It’s why you should always play the game cautiously until you are sure about the win conditions.

As for the kid, well he’s got to be the weakest character. Yes he is a kid so you want to cut him some slack but being so quiet for most of the film was really not good. This is a situation of life and death after all so staying quiet really just puts you in a bad spot. Everyone has to do their part in order to try and escape this place alive after all.

I did appreciate how the film gives you just enough pieces to try and cobble the ending together on your own. There are quite a few plausible theories here. Is the main character still stuck in the loop or will it be broken by his action at the end? Does he have any relation to the man with the suitcase? If yes, then he must have a relation to the girl wandering there as well but if not then it appears to be a 1 victim at a time thing. Is the subway trap a moral trial for those who have made a big mistake in their life? The kid may suggest time travel or parallel worlds as well. Lots of fun theories to throw around there. I personally like the idea of full on time travel with 3 alternate versions of the lead but the theory does mostly fall apart around the little kid unless you realllllly stretch things. Probably makes more sense as a good and bad future but then the good one isn’t fully good because the kid went through a lot.

Well, theory crafting is fun at any time either way. The movie will keep your attention the whole time even though it is really just about people walking through a subway tunnel the whole time. Personally I could have done that for the full 2 hours. The only obstacle in the film that I didn’t care for were the rats with human parts. The special effects used definitely looked eerie but more in a gross way than in a scary one. I would have definitely skipped that part. I also think that this part and the flood just feel like the game cheating.

Maybe you could say that cheating makes the situation scarier and you could be right but it’s less satisfying. The idea of a difficult but fair game is much better because you still have the existential fear of never getting out but at least having a chance. You don’t want a rigged game where you know there is no way out. It doesn’t get to that point for the main character but there could be an implication that it would do that for the other characters. If you stick to objective rules then you don’t have to worry about that.

Overall, Exit 8 is a pretty solid film. I’d definitely recommend checking it out to anyone looking for a unique survival scenario. It’s a horror title that uses a lot of game elements and makes you wonder how you would perform. I may be a little overconfident but I think I’d do pretty well there. At the very least I wouldn’t be falling for the phone trap or talking to a random person in the hallway. The game would need to get a little more creative than that in order to take me down for the count.

Overall 7/10

The Beekeeper Review

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This review is of the TV-14 version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative

The Beekeeper is a pretty fun movie. It’s essentially taking a lot of inspiration from John Wick while adding in a little extra humor. How intentional the humor is may be up for debate but I do think it is winking at you throughout the whole runtime. My only main issue with the film is that I wouldn’t have added so much lore around the Beekeepers. It would be infinitely funnier if the main guy is just a normal dude who likes bees and in this world people are just scared of bee enthusiasts.

The movie starts with a scammer tricking a lady into surrendering all of her money as well as the money that belonged to a charity that she helped out. She ends up shooting herself and so Adam, the local beekeeper goes out for revenge. He takes out the scammers in a matter of minutes but it turns out that this was just one branch of a much larger organization. They considered the opening attack to be a declaration of war and are putting all of their agents into the field to take Adam out. Can Adam really defeat these guys, the FBI, CIA, and everyone else who is out to get him?

Power fantasy is a genre that is popular for anime but doesn’t happen as much in live action. You may get the occasional title but even movies like Superman and He Man aren’t generally leaning into that. This one is much more direct as Adam is shown to be able to take down whole squads single handily. He’s not better than them by a little bit, but by a wide margin. He’s on a whole different level and that’s considering that he is holding back quite a bit. For the most part he isn’t trying to murder these guys.

Well, he tends to murder the foot soldiers but holds back a little against the bosses. He begins to hold back less and less as the film goes on though. There’s just not a whole lot of mercy left within the guy and every time the villains return he’s feeling less charitable. In a sense the film shows that Adam should have taken out the main leader the first time since it would have prevented a whole lot of retaliation at first.

Now this is definitely a film that benefits from the edited version because the script is very modern. Particularly from Derek, the big mastermind behind all of the scammers. That guy talks like a kid on his XBox the whole time. Now, it can be funny to see just how out of sync with reality he is. He’s constantly poking fun at his underlings and criticizing how they deliver their messages. This guy always has a witty comeback for everything and even talks tough to Adam during their initial meeting.

He’s extremely whiny and that’s essentially the point. He has been gifted a whole empire that he doesn’t really deserve. Derek would never have gotten to the top without the influence of his mother and is always playing catch up. The only reason he lasts so long in the film is because of how many meat shields are put in front of him. Don’t expect this guy to be getting any fight scenes but he has plenty of underlings who can fulfill that role.

In particular there are at least two fighters who try to give Adam a run for his money. The first is another Beekeeper but “try” is the key word here. She is never really a threat and that was pretty nice to see. Often times you see every member of a group is roughly equal but this movie was reminding us that Adam was special. He’s not just any Beekeeper, he’s the strongest one there is. A fighter without peer. The fight was short and to the point.

The much more intense fight was in the climax against a man who has already defeated a beekeeper in the past. To that guy’s credit, he very nearly manages to defeat Adam. He was really just a move or two away from winning. While it’s true that Adam would have been weakened from the fights leading up to that moment, I’d still give a lot of credit for going close because that’s more than most others could do.

I would also note that Adam is strictly an anti-hero here. While it’s true that he initially enters battle to avenge the lady who was scammed, he does take things very far. His kill count is massive by the end and he is destroying everyone in his way. Guys like the Punisher would applaud his efforts to be sure. Ultimately he had an objective and saw it through to the end. The situation makes that difficult for the groups like FBI who are tasked with defending the villains. You feel bad for them but there’s ultimately not much that Adam can do about that. If you side with the villains then you ultimately have to be taken down with them. Unless you are Superman, you’re not going to have any easy ways to spare them all without endangering the mission.

In general the government is pretty fun to have around as antagonists though. There is a ton of corruption going on here as everyone is keeping their secrets. There is even a twist about the villain’s mother which ties into all of this. The FBI subplot may feel pointless at times but I would say that’s part of the humor. Veronica is shown to be a terrible cop throughout the movie. She can’t control her emotions, lashes out all the time, gets drunk, etc. Yet somehow she is the top FBI agent and always 3 steps behind Adam.

Adam may be helping to avenge her mother but Veronica still wants to take him down right away. She brings up the classic argument of how the laws will fix this, knowing good and well that they can’t go after scammers from different countries. Nothing would happen with the legal system here. It doesn’t mean that you abandon it of course, but she shouldn’t try to pretend like they will actually do anything. They’d probably just make Adam disappear using extra legal methods and that’s about it.

The film is definitely pretty violent so you should keep that in mind if you’re not great with that stuff. Adam is particularly vindictive against the scammers so he actively pulls off some torture before murdering each member. There are a lot of broken bones/missing limbs in addition to the bloodshed. Throw in the film’s incredibly quick pacing and that makes for a lot of violence. I gotta say, the film crams in a whole lot of plot in this adventure. It’s impressive just how much gets done and what a big supporting cast we have here.

I do standby what I said about not needing the lore for the Beekeepers though. All of the lines in the film about Adam being a beekeeper are really funny under the context of them being afraid because he likes bees. Once we get into a whole group and the government rankings then the film starts taking itself a bit too seriously. The concept is still funny enough on its own but we just didn’t need all of that if you ask me. The rest of the government stuff can stay. In general I still like seeing the meetings and seeing how everyone plans to deal with Adam. There are quite a few conversations that happen purely to increase Adam’s reputation. Whenever any of the minions tries to say that he’s just a guy, he is immediately and decisively corrected.

Overall, The Beekeeper is a pretty good film. It is really about showing just how strong Adam is and works like wish fulfillment with how the scammers are all defeated. If only someone would put a stop to them like that in real life. Eventually some scammers are stopped but it feels like new ones always arrive. It’ll be interesting to see how the sequel goes. There are a lot of fun directions you can take this film in. One thing’s for sure, Adam is going to really be dominating whoever goes after him. I don’t see the films trying to add anyone who is directly on his level. Adam is basically superhuman, there is nobody on his level. If you like a good action title then I recommend this one.

Overall 7/10