Category Archives: Live Action Movie Reviews

Knives Out Review

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This was a really big murder mystery film when it first came out. We don’t get a lot of big budget types like this one so it’s always cool when they show up. Murder mysteries are a lot of fun after all and especially when they throw in a lot of suspects so you can really have fun trying to guess who it is. This one certainly had me guessing for a while because this kind of film always has so many twists. I was actually expecting a certain twist to happen at some point but it would have been a really hard sell so it’s for the best that the film didn’t go there.

The movie starts with a big family all converging on a rich mansion. The reason for this is that the head of the family is now dead after seemingly committing suicide. So this should be an open and shut case but the world’s most skilled detective Montblanc is here for some reason. It’s very strange to see him here if there is no murder or criminal action afoot and the cops are assisting him with some kind of investigation. So now the clock is ticking and every member of the family is rather suspicious. They all really have big motives to murder him except for his nurse Maria who got along with him really well and has a good alibi. In fact she has the rare ability where her body forced her to puke whenever she tells a lie. This will be super handy for Montblanc to have on his team so he recruits her as his assistant.

So lets talk about all of the suspects here. First to understand the suspects we have to understand the victim. Harlan is the man who died and he was super rich thanks to his best selling murder mystery novels. The guy’s family really treated him like a bank and they were always trying to get rich off of him which is rough. It is the one part about being rich that i do think would be tough as it’s hard to form normal relationships at that point. Still, Harlan is a fairly intelligent guy and he has decided to cut everyone out. It’s a pretty smart move to be honest and he just has to be careful on the execution because you never know what the other characters may try and do.

Okay so the first suspect is his maid Fran. She’s the first one to find the body after all. She doesn’t have much of a motive for murdering him beyond the money but she had opportunity and time to do so. Of course this is all assuming tat there even is a murder since this appears to have been a suicide but you have to assume that someone is guilty or you wouldn’t have a complete murder here right? Fran’s role isn’t super large next to other characters. She’s okay but really not very intelligent at all and makes one of the worst mistakes that I’ve seen in a while.

The next suspect is Ransom who stormed out of the party really early and so there is a large block of time for which he is completely unaccounted for. Rather suspicious right? He has a big motive here as he was not going to be included in Harlan’s will. So that means he gets nothing out of the inheritance at all but if he bumps Harlan off quickly enough perhaps the new will won’t have taken effect yet and the old one will still be around where he does get some money out of it.

The will itself is a bit of a controversial topic but I agree with Harlan here. A widely accepted notion is that you need to take care of your family. So even if they’re awful, you include them in the will in some capacity. I get it but I definitely do disagree 100%. If you weren’t a good person or we weren’t close at all then why would I put you in my will? I’d rather just give 100% to a nice co-worker or friend. If I don’t know anyone at all then I’ll donate to a bunch of charities but I wouldn’t give to family just because they’re family. In general I don’t tend to buy into very many traditions that are obligation based. That’s just not who I am.

Then there is Linda who is fairly successful thanks to Harlan’s checks and influence. Without him though, the money will dry up quickly and so she definitely needs to be a big part of his will. If he was going to cut off his assistance to her, then it would make sense to bump him off right away. She’s a fun enough character but you can definitely feel how selfish she is from the jump. Of course that’s pretty much the case for every character here.

Richard has a massive motive as he was cheating on his wife and Harlan found out about it. So bumping him off would be a way to take the secret to the grave or at least that would be the main idea here. In general Richard is always upset about something and he’s an entertaining character with all of the grumbling but probably not somebody you would really want to be around. One of the guys he grumbles with is Walt, Harlan’s son. Walt’s big motive here is that Harlan was about to fire the guy from his job which meant that Walt would have to actually start earning his own living soon. That’s likely not something that would come very easily to him so it puts him in a pretty tough spot there. He’s also very quick to start making threats so you know that he can’t really be trusted.

Next suspect is Joni who is into the very abstract spiritual stuff. She believes in keeping an open mind and always being peaceful but of course this goes out the window once money is involved. She needs money and so if Harlan won’t send her checks anymore then that’s going to be a big problem. Again she’s a very selfish character who only looks out for herself and is more than willing to bump someone off. Her daughter Meg isn’t in a great position to be bumping anyone off. She’s definitely not loyal at all and at the end of the day is about as trustworthy as all of the others which means that she is not trustworthy but it’s harder to picture her bumping anyone off.

There’s also Jacob who is another kid that’s really here to mess around. He’s definitely annoying but hard to consider as a murder suspect. Of course everyone is a suspect but you figure this was a grownup task. Well, Montblanc will have to work hard to figure it out. He’s definitely a really fun detective and I really enjoyed the accent. Adding that in was a real genius move if you ask me because it does help him stand out among the other characters. I definitely haven’t seen another big detective with that voice before. Montblanc also has a good sense of humor and tends to steal the show in all of his scenes.

Maria is also a good heroine although a bit weak willed I have to admit. She is the kind of character who can definitely be swayed with a little social pressure and I was hoping she would be a bit bolder. She has her big moments here and there and is a nice person to be sure but for example if someone’s asking for a lot of money then you can’t give it away. It was crazy to see her actually considering letting go of all her immense wealth so quickly when confronted by the other characters. That’s just messed up. I’m telling you there’s no way I’d even remotely consider giving away the money for even half a second here. That’s not even counting the fact that they were not subtle in how they didn’t care much for her initially. Then you’ve got the threats, etc. Yeah Maria was way too much of a pushover in this film.

The only real negative I’d have here is more of a minor one. The gimmick of the main heroine puking every time she tells a lie was pretty gross. It happens quite a lot in the movie too so that we can really see the ability. Of course I get what they were going for here and it’s super handy in solving the mysteries but at the same time I would have preferred any other kind of gimmick. Like maybe telling a lie makes her suddenly bark or do a backflip. Something a little less gross you know?

Again, this is pretty minor but ugh those moments could really be hard to watch. The visual effects for the film are really good though. We get the really cool background with the knives that are sticking out of the wall and of course the mansion looks really good. It’s got a very grandiose feel to it. The soundtrack is more on the calm side as it’s just a subtle backdrop while the mystery is being solved. It makes sense but of course I wouldn’t have minded a few rock songs to have been thrown in here and there.

Overall, Knives Out is definitely a great film. It brings back all of the classic mystery elements in a big budget adventure for the modern day. There’s a lot to love for this title from start to finish and it has a lot of replay value. I would definitely recommend checking it out as soon as possible. We’ll see if the sequel can possibly stand up to this one. It would seem that most definitely think it pales in comparison so we’ll have to see if it can make a comeback somehow.

Overall 8/10

The Enchanted Cottage Review

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All right it’s time for a romance film that’s going for more of a wholesome feel. Unfortunately it does make some mistakes along the way like the romance being a rebound which always hurts its potential. It’s a fairly low key film and so it’s not bad or anything like that but it doesn’t succeed in nearly as much as it would have liked. It needed a bit of a rewrite in some areas to really take things to the next level.

The movie starts off with Oliver and his fiancé heading to a small college to prepare for their honey moon. This place is enchanted according to the legends and it should bring them happiness. The fiancé doesn’t love the place but she wants Oliver to be happy and accepts his decision to spend the duration of the trip there. The place is run by a nice old lady and a newcomer named Laura. Laura has had a tough time of thing in life because most people find her looks repulsive which makes everyone seem rather petty to be honest. They can’t just act nice at least? The film desperately wants you to think that Laura looks downright ugly but doesn’t do a particularly good job of it at all. The movie needed some special effects or something.

Well, the plans change when Oliver is called back into active duty. During one of the battles he is mildly scarred in the face and loses the use of one of his arms for a while. His fiancé and family try to console him but he’s too ashamed to see anyone and so he locks himself in the cottage. The only ones allowed to see him are Laura and the home owner. Eventually the fiancé gives up and the family leaves. Oliver then decides he still wants a wife so he goes after Laura and while she is thrilled to finally have a guy, part of her feels like she’s just the consolation prize. Does he actually like her?

So we have come to my biggest problem with the film. In my mind her fears are correct and he practically admits as such. He doesn’t want to be alone and with his scars, he figures that he can never attract all of the beautiful women that he once could. So Laura is basically the best that he can get and Laura really needed to have the strength of will to say no. That’s just really insulting to be honest and romance is something you should never settle for. You’re either first pick or you’re last. There’s no real in between there.

Yes the film does make the case that by the end he really likes her but it’s hard to see how this would have started in the first place. It’s a rather big piece to just shelve for a while isn’t it? Also you feel bad for the original fiancé because she was going to stay by his side. He’s the one who pushed her away and so she really got the short end of the stick here. They were engaged and everything so now she has to go back to square 1 to find herself another guy? That’s really gotta be rough.

The family don’t look great here. They mean well but definitely complain a lot and ultimately make things tougher on Oliver. It would have been nice if at least one of them could have been supportive though. Even if your kid ends up falling in love with someone that you don’t find to be attractive, there’s no reason why your kid should ever know that. Keep those thoughts to yourself and remember that beauty isn’t the only reason to get together with someone. That would be extremely shallow.

There is a supporting character here named John who is blind. That actually works well for Oliver since he doesn’t have to be embarrassed when they talk. They’re actually able to converse naturally and John is a very perceptive guy. He does his best to help during the film even if it doesn’t particularly go well. He’s a nice guy and was a good supporting character.

Finally we have the lead heroine Laura. As mentioned earlier, she has to go through a lot here. The film plays up how ugly everyone thinks she is to a rather crazy degree where men will even back up when they see her. They don’t want to get anywhere near her and so that makes for a super tragic part of the film. Particularly since she tries to avoid these scenarios as much as possible but is basically forced into it later on in the film. She seriously can’t catch a break and that really is sad. So you’re rooting for her but as the older lady mentioned, sometimes you just gotta stay alone. There’s nothing wrong with that and it’s better to be alone than to settle. At least that’s how I see it although I’m sure some would debate that.

The best thing about Laura’s character is that she really takes everything in stride. Sure, she does get upset and sad at times which is completely understandable but she doesn’t take it out on anyone else. Laura does her best to get right back on the saddle and help out around the cottage. That’s the trait of a good main character. The writing is good and the film goes back fast so I had no real technical issues here.

Overall, The Enchanted Cottage is a pleasant film on the surface but I thought the romance was really weak which does end up hurting the rest of the experience. It should have made Oliver less of a jerk the whole time. I actually think they should have made it so that the fiancé and family were treating him poorly. So he got to experience what Laura had to go through all those years and that would have been a great way to link them together. At that point it’s not like he settled for her but that he grew to love her because of how she stayed strong despite all of the trauma. Maybe they could work that in for a reboot. In the meantime you could definitely do better than this film.

Overall 5/10

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City Review

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

Resident Evil is one of those franchises where the films are typically doomed from the start but you are still curious how it will play out. The first movie series had a lot of flaws to be sure but it never forgot to turn up with some amazing musical themes and a whole lot of action. It had some crazy scary visuals and in general was very intense. This one tries extremely hard to be scary, often taking the shortcut of just being grotesque but it doesn’t work as well. It drags on and on and while the film was initially trying to be more accurate to the games, it seems like they gave up on that early on.

The movie starts out with a reallllllly long scene of a girl noticing that there’s a mysterious creature in her room. She heads over to investigate and you’re just waiting for the jump scare the whole time as something seems wrong with the other girl. Anyway onto the real plot! Many years later, Claire travels home to warn her brother Chris that Raccoon City is hiding something and they are in danger. Chris doesn’t buy any of it and runs back to the police station. Only problem is that zombies are real and the town is now under attack. It’s mostly deserted at this point which is good but the problem is that the Umbrella corporation is blocking all exits. Can the heroes find a way out?

Where to start with this one right? First off most of the characters are pretty bad here. You have a truck driver who isn’t paying any attention to the road so he crashes into a girl and then tries to tell himself that the crash wasn’t that bad. Unfortunately his dog becomes a zombie so later on he gets taken out which was pretty tragic. The dog really didn’t deserve any of that.

Then we have Leon who is the biggest clown in the movie. This guy’s supposed to be super serious. An amazing agent who takes on all kinds of threats and stuff. He’s the guy you call in when all else has failed and yet that just never happens to be the case here. Yes he gets a big moment at the end of the film. That’s great and all but he’s complete comic relief here and constantly getting into trouble. I laughed when he walked up to the prison bars like a rookie after a prisoner was threatening him. What do you think happens at that point? Well the guy pulls him into the bars and while Leon is stunned he grabs his gun and gets him into a chokehold.

That’s so embarrassing. That should absolutely never happen to anyone. How do you let yourself be that close to the bars in the first place? It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense at all and just makes him look awful. Then Leon takes so long to open the door that the guy gets eaten anyway. To be honest if I’m that guy I would have shot Leon myself for all the incompetence there so hat way at least we both go down together. Leon shouldn’t be walking out at that point when he’s the one who was creating this whole mess.

Hopefully in a sequel he will be experienced but I wouldn’t hold my breath. The writing for this film was pretty bad the whole time anyway. Wesker definitely has a very different kind of role in this film. He’s certainly missing all of the usual aura that he has. This guy is just another dude with a gun now and he also comes across as rather petty since his motivation here is money. It’s not global domination or anything like that, he just wants his big pay day. That’s a fine motivation for a grunt, but not Wesker. That’s going way too far in the other direction.

I didn’t really have a problem with Chris or Claire. Chris maybe could have listened more but I do have to admit that Claire made an historically bad argument in favor of the conspiracy. Showing a video of a crazy looking guy yelling about the virus and how Umbrella is evil isn’t a great jumping on point. She didn’t give Chris any reason why he should even believe this guy. Chris also did dash off rather quick so it would have been tough to convince him either way but the whole exchange didn’t work out in Claire’s favor.

Chris does get a really bad scene later on with a lighter though. It’s supposed to be tense but it was just dumb. So basically there are a bunch of zombies around and so Chris turns on the lighter to scare them off. Problem is that it’s defective so it keeps on turning on and off. This way you can see the zombies getting closer as they keep on circling him over and over again. The scene doesn’t work because they should have finished him off so many times. Like it just doesn’t make sense that he keeps on surviving because of how close they were. It should have been all over for him and so it was pretty annoying to see him just continuing to escape with that plot armor.

I’d argue more plot armor is when the girl from the opening scene returns in some kind of monster hybrid form and crushes one of the zombies. These monsters should not be losing in a battle of physical strength like that. Maybe if you’re Alice who has super abilities but a girl who is seemingly some kind of hybrid? It’s a bit harder to buy even allowing for the fact that we didn’t get to see her much. Meanwhile the final boss looks really bad as it gets one shotted. So the problem here among many others is that you couldn’t take the zombies super seriously as a threat since they kept losing.

There’s not much of a good soundtrack here unfortunately. There are a pair of songs that play randomly in moments that really don’t seem to match with what’s happening on screen though. Trust me that really took me by surprise because of how crazy it was but not really in a good way. As for the visuals, again I’d say the original is much better. This one’s going more for grotesque as opposed to cool so you lose a lot of points there.

At the end of the day what more can be said about this one right? It squeezes in all of the negatives you would expect to see. We’ve got animal violence, general excessive violence all over the place, a very weak cast, poor writing, and it’s just not that interesting. There are very few positives I can even give the film which is why it’s so low. There is one positive though and that is that I enjoyed the way the information was presented. For example when the on screen messages tell us what time it is or why the city is so abandoned. It was a fun way to deliver the exposition. I enjoyed it at least which is a small consolation. If only the rest of the film could have hung in there. I wanted to see more of what Umbrella was doing about this and reactions from the rest of the world. It feels like the setup is really nice but the film just didn’t capitalize. There’s a lot of fun things you can delve into here aside from the obvious zombies murdering everyone.

Overall, Resident Evil has another stinker here. I would definitely recommend watching the original films instead but I suppose technically the best thing to do would be to skip the whole franchise at this point. It’s difficult to pull off a zombie film as it is and I don’t think these will ever be the ones to buck the trend. At least there is an after credits scene to help set up the sequel and in general there are a lot of ways you can continue with the series but we’ll see what they actually want to do for the next adventure. Hopefully they get a little more out there with the next one.

Overall 1/10

Day The World Ended Review

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It’s time for a really sloppy movie which is why this one does not fare very well. The poster’s actually pretty exciting but the monster barely even appears in the movie. I suppose it’s not false advertising per say but it’s certainly on the border right there. You see that poster and it just makes you shake your head because the vibe the poster’s going for will not reflect your experience with the movie in any way.

The film starts off with Jim and his daughter Louise taking refuge in their house. Most of the world has been irradiated after a big bomb attack and the only reason they have survived is because Jim knew this day would come so he has enough supplies for the two of them and the house is in the perfect place where the winds are kept out by the nearby caverns. Unfortunately a few people stop by and Louise lets them all in despite Jim’s protests. There isn’t enough supplies for all of these folks and as they all get hungry, these “nice” strangers may prove to be deadly. Also there’s a monster running around.

The movie really has a Twilight Zone kind of feel to it for the opening act. It’s a very strange circumstance after all and we’re thrown into the mix without much of an explanation at first. So as more people pile into the house, you know that something’s going to give way and fast. It’s inevitable that there will be big fights and disagreements when everyone is hungry and irritable. The movie is at its best during these opening moments when everyone is suspicious of each other. Where the film falters is after that and I’ll get into it more in a second but basically it breaks the atmosphere for a lot of action and thrills except it’s all very poorly written.

The first issue here is just how much of a villain Tony is. Now at first as the viewer you’re upset with Louise for letting everyone in but hey they would die without coming inside so you get it. The first thing Tony does though is break through the door and hold Jim at gunpoint. That should be enough to immediately say that this is not going to work right? If this guy is so willing to use a gun then it’s time to take him out. He takes out the gun and makes threats multiple times. He attempts to murder Jim, Rick, and other people in the house numerous times.

Often times they will beat him up and he’ll say that he’ll try again later once they are asleep. Tony is not subtle at all. Then he’s always trying to force himself on Louise and he’s abusive to his sort of girlfriend Ruby but nobody does anything about this. Time after time they just threaten him some more. The heroes will literally say that they’ll shoot him next time to Tony calls their bluff and each time they don’t do anything. Right now they are at the brink of life and death with how bad the situation is, there’s no way they should be tolerating this.

The whole film feels supremely unrealistic. To put this another way, there are many times where Tony goes for Jim’s gun but Jim insists on just leaving it on the couch all the time. Inevitably there comes a time where Tony grabs it and you’re just wondering what is going on. You’re hoping that it’s somehow part of the plan but it really isn’t. Then Jim has all day to shoot Tony but doesn’t seem to want to do it. He only fires as a last resort after the body count has gone up enough.

All of the characters look awful as a result and this comes down squarely on the writing. It makes absolutely no sense to put up with so much from Tony. They should have finished him off or at least tied the guy up a long time ago. By not doing anything they’re putting everyone else in danger for no real reason. You just can’t be doing that sort of thing. Then there is the injured guy who mutates into a monster hybrid who goes out at night to eat animals. This guy also has veiled threats the whole time and is generally creepy but the heroes don’t do anything. They just go to sleep as normal.

For this guy I’m not saying you take him out per say as he’s not obviously evil the way Tony is but you figure they should do something. This guy talks about the future of mankind and how his mutated kind will rule which is as ominous as it gets. That and when he says that they’re all going to be killed shortly. Makes you think a little right? Of course this is referencing the monster which barely appears. The monster really should have shown up more, that would have made everything a bit more exciting. Yeah it takes away from the spooky Twilight Zone atmosphere but that was already starting to break anyway.

I think this movie would have been most effective without the monster or mutations. Just the heroes surviving as they slowly run out of food and have to decide what to do. Do they make a run for it and try to find some food, stay in until the last moment and hope the radiation leaves? A lot of good ways to have some tension in there and the film doesn’t go for any of that unfortunately.

So yeah back to the characters. Tony is super evil yet nobody does anything about it. Ruby is also super annoying because it’s clear that Tony doesn’t love her and will just keep on using her but this never sinks in. The guy does everything short of murdering her and she still thinks they have a chance of being together. Ultimately this really doesn’t go over well and the whole subplot is just really annoying.

Jim is a pretty bad main character for all of those scenes with Tony where he doesn’t do anything. Jim talks a tough game but when the chips are down he’s just not leadership material. Louise allows Tony to go free by not reporting what he was doing to the others. She needed to mention immediately what he did and have the team destroy him. She takes too many chances and lack of communication is a big reason why the heroes are always falling behind in situations like this. You really need to be warning others and prepping for what is coming up.

I’m afraid that I have to take shots at Rick for the same reasons. Even more than Jim, Rick doesn’t want to shoot anybody. Jim even tries to talk him into it a few times and he refuses. Look, it’s great to not want to murder someone but when they keep on trying to murder you, you’re now putting other people in danger. It’s a selfish ac at that point and he doesn’t do a great job of protecting the other heroes as a result. I just expected way better out of this guy.

Another knock against Jim and Rick for going along with it is how Jim decides that it’s time to continue the human race. He encourages Ruby to go with the abusive Tony to have some kids and wants Louise to forget about her missing fiancé and hook up with Rick. Really now? As someone who’s never liked the idea of arranged marriages, telling someone to get together to protect the future of the human race is crazy. It’s way too much of a dramatic leap in logic. We don’t yet know that everyone is doomed and if they are, why bring a baby into this? The babies will now be all on their own if something happens and without any civilization around, there’s not much that can be done if anything bad happens. It’s just a net loss all around.

This film isn’t even that long but it sure drags on at times. There’s also some dead animals that pop up because of the whole eating animals part which doesn’t go over well either. If the film could make a mistake you can bet that it did. It’s a shame because I do think that the premise is really solid. It’s just been done way better by other titles including the Twilight Zone itself. There is really no reason to watch this one.

Overall, Day The World Ended is a very disappointing film. Particularly because I thought the ending was really strong. I was seriously impressed by it the whole time and yet it all ended up failing miserably by the end. The characters’ actions make absolutely no sense and so the drama felt forced. Tony should have been taken off the board way sooner and the longer he remained with the group, the worse it got. You had a hard time seeing him just enjoy the music and sleep soundly with the group when he was constantly trying to murder them. Maybe if this was a parody it could work but it’s all played straight. Yeah the writing here was brutal.

Overall 3/10

Star in the Night Review

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It’s time to take a look at a movie that is very short but still ends up being great. It’s a perfect example of how you can have a great film with developed characters in a really short period of time. The overall message is very clear and executed well. I had a really good time with this one and would definitely recommend it to anyone. It’s super accessible to fans of any genre.

The film has a Hitchhiker stop by a local motel where he is hoping for a place to shelter from the cold for a while and maybe get a hot coffee. The owner isn’t very hospitable though. His name is Nick and he feels like people don’t actually spread goodwill around Christmas. It’s Christmas time right now and yet everyone is as rude as ever. One lady is always complaining about the noise, one guy comes in to complain about his dry cleaning, etc. Nobody seems to actually be in a good mood and they just fake it for a while. The Hitchhiker disagrees and believes that people actually do get nicer on Christmas and that’s when you see their true selves. Will he be proven correct before the night is over? There will be a good opportunity to see how this plays as a young couple runs in with the wife about to give birth. The motel has no available rooms and everyone’s already stressed out…how will this end?

I’d say the character who deserves the most amount of credit here is Nick’s wife Rosa. From the start she is the only character who actually does seem to care about everyone and she is doing her best to make things turn out well. Even before the other characters start to turn around, Rosa was consistent right from the jump. Whether it’s in offering her own blankets for a guest to use or running around to get some clean clothes and fresh drinks, Rosa was doing everything. She never got jaded or let the world beat her down the way it did for Nick.

You get why anyone would get discouraged when you interact with so many rude people every day and that’s why it was super impressive that Rosa never backed down. She was ready for every situation. Best character by far. I will say that Nick is the most entertaining character though. The guy gets extremely irritated all the time so he’s constantly muttering and making a fuss about things. The guy has absolutely lost the last bit of patience a long time ago and is the kind of guy who will no do you a favor. Ultimately he does get the Hitchhiker his cup of coffee once the goodwill starts to spread.

Meanwhile it was nice to see everyone start to pitch in later on. The guy who was complaining about his clothes being wrinkled ends up ripping them up so they can be used as rags for the lady giving birth. The lady who was complaining about the noise ends up helping with the delivery, etc. Everyone did their best to play a part and for the ones who were not really sure how they could help, they just did their best to be compassionate and supportive. There was one guy in particular who was a bit older and not exactly sure how this worked but made it clear that he wanted to help so they had him transporting water and then calming down the husband.

In the end everyone appeared to be rude and basically not good people at the start but once someone was actually in a jam they ended up helping out. Nowadays it can be hard to picture that happening in many situations but it is nice to think that people would help you out when the chips were down. For example a lady being pregnant and about to give birth should cause you to want to help. It should trigger your parental instinct as you jump in to attend every need. The Mom is just in such a delicate state that you want to help as much as possible. I knew someone who was pregnant for a while and it was always fun to help her out. I probably overdid it a bit as I tend to but I made sure she was stuffed full of pop tarts, Chipotle, Burger King, chocolates, and whatever other snacks she would suddenly have a craving for! It just feels kind of nice like you’re helping make sure the kids comes out all right but of course that’s taking way too much credit.

That’s the kind of memory the film helps to bring out of you though. Each character here really wanted to do their part and so minor complaints like the noise just weren’t a problem anymore. You quickly start to see the big picture in those moments and it’s important to remember that even when there isn’t something urgent going on. You should always take a step back and just try to make sure you aren’t losing your cool over something minor.

The film is extremely short at less than 30 minutes long so it has to move quickly. I’d say that the film pulls this off perfectly though as the pacing is good and the writing is on point. In a way it’s able to directly tackle the message even easier this way than if it was super long and had to throw a lot of extra plot elements in. Make no mistake, I think this could absolutely work as a long movie as well because when a film’s writing is good, length is not really a factor. So I have a lot of confidence in the team behind this one.

Overall, Star in the Night is a great film. It’s a nice optimistic view on humanity which you don’t see very often and it makes for a very wholesome watch. It works really well as a Christmas film and is more focused on the true meaning of Christmas in spreading goodwill and cheer to all. It’s an allegory for the Three Wisemen in a way with a lot of elements from the Nativity being brought in. I also think this is a great way to explain some concepts to kids and younger viewers watching as it’s all very clear and easy to understand while still being mature enough for older viewers to get something out of it. The production values were all on point and the characters were solid. It may have been short but it’s very memorable.

Overall 8/10

Here Comes Mr. Jordan Review

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It’s time for another film involving souls and it was pretty interesting but I definitely had a massive problem with the ending. The problem was so big that I dare say it ends up having a big effect on the movie itself. It’s just not the way you want to see these things go and it felt like the main character basically got the raw end of the deal. Nothing went the way that it should have for him.

The movie starts with Joe getting ready for the biggest match of his life. If he wins this then he will be crowned the #1 boxing champ. Joe has been training his entire life for this and is pretty confident in his chances. He hops into his plane and heads on over but some wind shows up and his plane starts to crash. That’s when he wakes up in the after life where he is being taken away….permanently. The whole thing seems rather off so he questions the angel, 7013 on this. Well…it looks like this guy is new at the job and he jumped the gun by taking Joe out early. His boss Jordan vows to make this right.

He will see to it that Joe has a satisfactory new body to replace the old one and that he can live out the rest of his life there. He’s supposed to have dozens of years left to live and so of course Jordan will make sure that he gets to live those years. Joe is not thrilled about any of this but will give this a fair shake as he waits for a good body. There has to be one around here somewhere. And so begins the journey of body hopping and trying to become the champ again.

A good chunk of the film takes place with a corrupt businessman named Farnsworth. See, he was murdered by his wife and her rebound guy so this is a decent body for Joe. It’s not exactly in the most well fit shape but it can do the job. The only problem is of course that people want him dead and the girl that Joe likes (Bette) can’t stand Farnsworth. Well, it’s time for justice and maybe he can get her to change her mind by becoming a better person.

This is really where the film should have stayed as this makes perfect sense for the film. He gets to have a shot at the title because he’s so rich that he can schedule fights and he can use his wealth to make the world a better place. How do you top that right? Well, that would be the general idea but the characters don’t play this smart and the film isn’t quite done yet. There are more bodies to hop and twists to come flying.

First I will say it’s odd that Joe didn’t do anything about the people who murdered Farnsworth. He knows good and well that his wife and secretary had already murdered him once so doesn’t it stand to reason that they would do this again? It makes no sense that he just leaves them to their own devices and doesn’t do a thing about it. This ultimately comes back to bite him and it’s all just rather senseless. Additionally there’s a long period there where Joe doesn’t even really think much about taking them to justice, it’s the last thing on his mind and so he’s close to just letting these murderers keep the money and just doing his own thing. That also doesn’t make sense, cmon now.

Joe’s just not a very smart guy and makes every kind of mistake imaginable. If there’s an error to be made then he will make it. It’s just that simple and that’s really bad all around. You’re rooting for him because he’s a nice guy, but he is definitely a frustrating character the whole time. It’s like he’s sabotaging himself the whole time. Meanwhile it goes without saying that everyone should be upset at 7013 since he messed everything up in the first place. Despite that, he has the gall to be complaining about the situation at different points and how time consuming it all is. He’s the guy who made the situation like this in the first place so there’s really no sympathy here.

Jordan is a bit disappointing in the end too and Joe should be mad at the guy. First off, he absolutely could have warned Joe that he was about to get bumped off the second time. He knew in advance so why not mention something? I’d argue even if it’s against the rules that wouldn’t matter in this case since the situation was all his fault as well. At that point there’s no real precedent for what’s going on. The worst part is also that Jordan ends up just being a big liar the whole time. He made a lot of promises to Joe the whole time about how he would be able to live out the rest of his life and get his shot to be the champion. While the latter maybe counts if you really squint, he definitely went back on the first aspect. It’s just a super rough spot to be in because Joe really lost everything without anything to show for it.

The film also doesn’t make Bette look good as a result. You have to understand that she falls in love with Joe when he’s in the Farnsworth body and then falls for him again in the next one? As far as she knows these are two completely different people so she moves on way too quickly. That’s not the way you find true love and it just makes her look more on the shallow side. I definitely expected better from her here and the romance in general is definitely on the weaker side. Even in the first place it’s hard to see her falling for Farnsworth when he was the one responsible for sending her father to prison. Yes, he made things right but it’s way too late by then right?

Joe’s boss Max was an entertaining character and I always enjoyed seeing him around but the guy could be a bit slow on the uptake at times. Things definitely didn’t go his way a whole lot and you could argue that he probably lose out the most in a lot of ways. Yes, the ending does throw him a bit of a bone but that’s all it does. The guy should have gotten off with a much better fate. He may have contributed to the issue by burning up the original body but it’s not like he ever could have known what was going to happen so I can’t blame him there.

Overall, The writing is good and I enjoyed the plot but the whole movie feels rather unfair to Joe. He was taken from Earth way too early and so he correctly fought for his case to go back. All well and good but the end of the film just slips the rug out from under him which is unfortunate. So I had a good time here and the comedy could be good but parts of the story feel really forced and additionally that ending is particularly brutal. That knocks it down a few pegs here and it’s an eternal reminder of why an ending is supremely important. Without it, you have nothing!

Overall 5/10

Woman in Hiding Review

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It’s time for an old noir thriller. I felt like this one was a bit weaker than the average Noir title thanks to the main character in a lot of ways although it’s not like the main villain was all that great either. So it’s a team effort there but at the same time it is still a good movie which is the important part. There’s enough to enjoy here without issues and it will keep your attention.

The film starts off with Deborah deciding that she is through with Selden. The guy basically never comes by to see her. It’s apparently been over 6 months since he effectively ghosted her so she’s going to move to New York. Selden makes some weak excuses but she won’t have any of them. She knows deep in her heart that she has made the right move and settling for this guy would be doing herself a disservice. Her father has everything set up and so she goes home to get ready to pack. Unfortunately Selden runs in later on and explains that her father tripped and died in a crazy accident. He’s also back in love with her so she quickly marries him. Unfortunately this was part of his plan and now he owns the mill.

He threatens her to not leave him or try anything or he will take her down for good. So Deborah waits until night fall to make a break for it but gets into a sabotaged car and crashes. This does allow her to fake her own death but Selden is too prepared and stays on her tail. Surely switching states and names would be enough right? Well she meets another guy that she falls for and what she doesn’t know is that there’s a reward out for her. Uh oh……

So as you can probably guess I have quite a few issues with Deborah in particular here. She just seems way too easy which how she falls for these men. In fact the entire plan only works because she’s always falling in love so easily. (Which as we know when you fall in love too easily then the feelings aren’t all that deep) I don’t get how she let herself marry Selden after it was clear that he didn’t care about her the first time. I won’t fault her for not realizing that he murdered her father since that’s a lot more obvious for the viewer than the character but what she should have definitely realizes was that he just wanted to run the company and she was a means to an end. The fact that she never even suspected that makes her look absolutely terrible.

It took actual proof in front of her face that he was cheating on her for her to finally see the light. Then, in the days before internet you’d think it would be easy to stay out of hi gaze once you’re out of town right? Well it could have been easy if she had kept to herself and not taken chances but starting to like another guy? Cmonnnnnnnn, it just shouldn’t work that fast. She falls into every trap and just makes this adventure a whole lot harder than it needs to be.

I didn’t even like the second guy either. So Keith is someone who just wants to have a good time and he likes her but the guy isn’t the best at listening. Deborah basically spells out the situation to him but he chooses to sell her out anyway. I have to imagine that deep down part of it was for the money but either way it’s a bad look because she had warned him several times that she was being pursued and was obviously terrified. Somehow he took that in the other way to mean that she actually was crazy and the guy over the phone was the one who could be trusted.

He put her in so much danger that I don’t care how sorry he was about it afterwards, there’s no way I can picture her staying with him after that. You’d think that she would be completely traumatized at that point and would prefer sticking it out on her own. Meanwhile the main villain wasn’t the smartest either. He could have handled the situation with Patricia so much better if he wanted to keep the company. Additionally if he wanted to stop Deborah in the opening scene there were much better ways to do it than sabotaging a car and hoping that she didn’t survive. There are so many ways that the plan could have backfired even outside of the way that it backfired in this plan. The guy just wasn’t smart.

Speaking of characters making mistakes, we’ve also got Patricia who makes a lot of mistakes. So Selden nearly murders her in the opening scene and ditched her for money immediately yet she continues to like him for no real reason. It’s clear that he is just using her and that he’s insane but later she tries to act shocked about it. There’s no way you can believe her and I don’t see how she can even believe herself. It just makes her look even worse. If you’re going to be a backstabbing villain then you have to own that but trying to play it both ways and gain some sympathy will never work.

So in the end, what keeps this from being a stronger Noir title is that I didn’t really like any of the characters. They were all really annoying the whole time and kept on holding each other back. Deborah should have escaped easily once she made it out of the car, Selden never should have let it get to that point, Keith never should have sold her out, and Patricia should have never thought that she could trust Selden. They all kept on making mistake after mistake which was annoying but at least the core story was still engaging. This is a thriller that keeps you wondering what will happen next especially sine it’s hard to guess what the characters will mess up next.

Overall, If this sounds like your cup of tea then you should check it out. There’s always room for more thrillers out there right? If this sounds like it might be a bit of a slog, then it’s time to shift gears back onto a more iconic one. At the very least this film will remind you that if you intent to hide or fake your death then you need to really stay out of the limelight entirely. That absolutely means no falling in love for a while I’m afraid.

Overall 6/10

An Eye for an Eye Review

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

It’s time for a revenge story. Sort of like John Wick but this film does balance in some humor the whole time as well and it can be difficult to balance out those two tones. I will say to the film’s credit, it did a pretty good job with the two of them. I was pretty satisfied the whole time at least on a tonal level although the film as a whole I wouldn’t say was all that great.

The movie starts with Sean and his partner getting ready to finally complete this big undercover drug case that they have been on for a very long time. It’s been a really grueling mission the whole time but things are looking up. Unfortunately it turns out to be a set up and Sean’s partner is murdered while he barely manages to stay alive. So what’s going on here, who set them up? It’s hard to find out because Captain Stevens on the police force is blaming Sean for everything so Sean quits. He isn’t able to stay out of the situation for long though as his partner’s girlfriend is murdered after calling Sean about a lead she had. Now Sean will have to team up with her father James who happens to have been his old coach. Can they uncover the truth behind all of this?

If it was just a matter of beating everyone up then that would certainly be easier but the main problem here is actually figuring out who the big villain is first. There are a lot of players involved so you can bet that there are a ton of coverups and misdirects as well. Sean gets lucky more times than not. He’s a great fighter but I wouldn’t call him a detective so it’s fortunate that Linda and her colleague Heather managed to pick up most of the pieces. Linda even came close to escaping but unfortunately let her guard down at the end.

As the main hero I would say Sean is a solid main character. It can be annoying how he gets knocked out at times but since most of the movie is about him absolutely dominating whole squads of villains I can let it slide. The one point in particular that made me shake my head though was when he was face to face with the guy who murdered Linda and then allowed himself to be downed in a single blow. You just can’t let that kind of thing happen to you. Otherwise I did enjoy all of the fight scenes. The movie did a good job with the choreography and showing how Sean was just on a completely different level.

At the same time he loses some points for not treating the situation with the level of urgency that you would expect here. There are murders going on and everything is real shady right now yet he has time for a romance? The romance here feels really rushed, forced, and unnecessary as you’d expect. There’s just no room for that right now and it would have been better if that was something that could have been a plot to be started as the credits roll. “The danger is over and the world is saved, now we can discuss the future.” Something like that would be completely reasonable.

So the same is true for Heather and even more so in a way because she’s currently being targeted by the villains and unlike Sean, it’s not like she can fight. They already broke into her house once early on so she needs to keep her priorities straight. One guy who is not good about priorities has to be Captain Stevens. I did think he handled the whole situation poorly at the beginning with being so hard on Sean when the operation fumbled. I don’t know how he actually figured he could blame it on the lead. His reasoning was shaky at best.

To an extent I think it’s because the film was trying to convince us that maybe he was the murderer. A nice attempt I suppose but you have to handle that with a little more subtlety otherwise he’s just unreasonable. James was a unique character because at first you figure he’s going to be the tough mentor type character who is always ready for action but instead he spends every scene getting absolutely humiliated. The guy loses almost all of his fights but still talks tough afterwards. After a point it’s clear that he is a comedic character so that helps but at first I was definitely astonished.

In a way it’s realistic though as you probably can’t fight so well when you’re really old despite what most films would have you believe. So I was not expecting the character’s story to play out the way that it did but it worked out well enough. Again, maybe he should be taking things a little more seriously considering what happened to his daughter but after a point you have to just decide if you can roll with the fact that the movie is going for a light comedic tone to offset the dark moments or not. I think some of the scenes could have been timed better but ultimately I was mainly okay with it.

Ultimately the actual main villain here is okay but more on the forgettable side. He can’t fight or anything and has to rely on the hired help to save the day. That doesn’t go so well for him once Sean enters the building and it’s why you always want to be able to fight. He does have the classic hostage trip at the ready which is a decent equalizer but in the end that will usually just stall for time. His right hand man is fun enough as well. The guy is fairly unassuming but can fire a gun as well.

The movie’s twists work well enough. There’s enough to keep you guessing the whole time. The story itself was okay but I couldn’t really get into it a ton. You have drugs being moved and conspiracies and all but it felt more like the basic outline of a plot to start up the fights rather than it being fully developed. Like if the villains didn’t make so many large moves then they may not have been in so much trouble. Kidnapping Linda would have bought them way more time than murdering her. Since they had a mole within the police they could have made so many more moves over time rather than waiting until the end. There were limitless opportunities to bump off Sean quietly as well.

Ultimately it feels like one of those movies that isn’t as clever as it thinks that it is the more you actually think about it. I imagine you’re mainly here for the fights anyway though which are fun but I would have liked something more to support it. The film also didn’t sell me on the various flashbacks we would get every now and again to show Sean’s rage at losing his partner. It felt a bit overplayed by the end and just wasn’t as effective as it could have been. Throw in the fanservice romance scenes and this film doesn’t stand the test of time.

Overall, It’s not a bad movie but I wouldn’t say it’s very good either. It’s a forgettable thriller amidst a genre that is filled with many better ones. The revenge genre can be hit or miss depending on how edgy the writers want to approach it. This time they decided to take a more upbeat approach which is interesting but it does make Sean look a bit like a jerk at times. There are some liens that I found to be pretty funny during the movie though. It had a good sense of humor and the fights did live up to the hype. So in the end I would say to check it out if you really like a good battle but the story leaves much to be desired.

Overall 5/10

Apology for Murder Review

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It’s time for a very old school noir mystery thriller type of film. This is one of those titles where you probably won’t have much sympathy for the guy who is being strung along since he ultimately makes all of the wrong choices. So you’re waiting for the cops to nab them. It’s a good film with solid pacing and so you’ll have fun here. It’s also fairly short so it finishes quickly.

The movie starts off with explaining to us that Toni and her husband are not on good terms. She married him for the money and he finally figured this out. It’s a pretty rough deal for the guy who is already busy enough as it is trying to get richer. Toni decides to enlist the help of a guy named Kenny by promising to love him forever. So the guy murders her husband for her and now Toni just has to dump the guy and move on. The thing is, the cops have found out about the murder and Kenny is dangerously close to losing his nerve. Particularly since his boss is the one investigating the case and always gets his man. Is Toni going to have to extend the body count a little?

So the reason you can’t feel bad for Kenny here is because he did flat out murder her husband so that makes him a villain right from the jump. No matter what happens after that, no normal person would just go and commit murder like this. Second of all, Toni was still married and Kenny knew it so getting together with her is a big no no. The guy is then willing to let an innocent person be stuck with the murder rap instead of him. So what this all boils down to is a super selfish guy who will do whatever he needs to in order to get what he wants. Not exactly a hero right?

Not even close to one! Especially since if Toni had actually turned out to like him, he would have really had no regrets. Everything that happens later on is really because she’s not very smart about picking her moments and also isn’t great at playing pretend. If she just kept up the act even to the very minimum of assuring Kenny that she couldn’t wait for them to run off together then she would have been good. Instead she basically tells him to his face every time that she only cares about the money.

Even then Kenny doesn’t really do anything about this until he actually sees her with another man but anyone who at least had a little respect for himself would have made a move well before then so she really got lucky here. Kenny just doesn’t have any real smarts about him and so you’re waiting for his downfall. Naturally Toni’s just a bad here. Aside from being really bad at manipulating everyone, she is the true brains behind the operation. In that respect you could definitely say that she is the biggest villain of the bunch. Without her a lot of these things wouldn’t have happened in the first place and it goes without saying that she is very unrepentant about the whole thing.

The best character here by far is McKee. The guy tries hard to get to the truth of things the whole time and never stops even when Kenny keeps throwing subtle digs at the guy. It does take him a while to realize exactly what’s going on but in part it’s because he was hoping to find a different answer so you can’t really blame him. He was still the most useful member of the cast by far and did good work.

The writing in the film is pretty good overall. Even if most of the characters can be really annoying, I wouldn’t call that bad writing. It just means that those characters are suckers the whole time and that can happen in real life too which is why it can be realistic. Toni was certainly able to bend a lot of her guys to her will, it’s rather depressing when you think about it but a reminder to always be careful that you are of sound mind when making a big decision. Also if someone tells you to commit a crime like murder, it’s a good idea not to do that.

As mentioned the film is really short which is also why the cast is so small. It’s a bit over an hour so that’s enough time to get the murder in and then jump us to the after effects. A good chunk of it is about McKee getting closer and closer to the truth while Kenny tries to slow things down or just generally panics some more. It’s a solid game of cat and mouse there. If it was longer maybe we could have thrown in a few more characters but the balance works well enough. It won’t rise up to become one of the top Noir titles or anything like that but it is engaging the whole time and made for a good watch.

Overall, I’d call this a fairly safe Noir title. It has a compelling story but isn’t really taking any risks. There aren’t really any twists to worry about this time and the story plays out in a surprisingly straight forward manor. Probably the most straight forward that I’ve seen in the genre. I’d say this probably does make it have less rewatch value than another title but on that initial watch I don’t see you having any issues. I’m not totally sure I get what the title was going for though, I would have probably picked something else to draw in the crowds.

Overall 7/10

Bloodfist II 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

All right it’s time to jump back into the world of Bloodfist! I have to say it’s impressive just how different this film is from the first one. It may as well not even be a sequel to be honest since it laughs in the face of the first one with Jake’s character development but hey that’s how it goes right? It definitely makes its share of mistakes and so it won’t be another film to be remembered.

The movie starts with Jake winning a big tournament but he murdered his opponent and so he retires from fighting. He has now fallen into all of the vices including paying a lady of the night when he gets a call from an old friend who’s in a jam. He hasn’t seen this guy in ages and the call is the shadiest thing I’ve ever seen so Jake quickly decides to come along where he is beaten up by a group of thugs. He has been kidnapped along with a bunch of the world’s strongest fighters. They are all being taken to an island to fight against humans who have been enhanced with a drug that prevents them from feeling pain while also increasing their physical abilities. Can Jake get out of this or is he doomed?

All right the most disappointing thing here is the fact that the concept for the story is really good! You can’t help but get hyped for something like this because it guarantees a whole lot of action. It’s a classic case of skills vs physical abilities here. These guys may be amped up but the main characters have the edge in fighting technique which you would assume would be enough to take the lead. The problem is breaking the habit of stopping once you have your opponent down because you need to finish them off.

The actual tournament is pretty fun although I think it could have been a bit more balanced. For the most part just about all of the heroes were getting completely destroyed by the fighters and I’m not sure how much I buy that. I get that these guys weren’t rookies or anything but the top level pros should have done a lot better. The place is rigged of course so the winners would quickly get jumped and pummeled by everyone but that should have been necessary more times than it was.

Of course the film does get quite violent here with each fighter meeting rather painful ends. There are more survivors than I expected there to be which is a silver lining for the heroes but yeah they get put through the wringer. At least I don’t question why they would enter such a tournament this time since they were all forced into it. It’s the best explanation for why you would enter a tournament where almost everyone is guaranteed to be murdered. Also since it’s life or death, characters do grab guns and whatever they can which absolutely makes sense. Why stick to hand to hand when the whole thing is rigged anyway right?

One of the plots where the film drops the ball is with Mariella though. So she is the daughter of the main villain and gets beaten up whenever a setback happens. It’s really explained to us quite vividly that her life here is awful and filled with abuse. So you’d expect she wouldn’t have any sympathy for the villains right? Like I can get her betraying the heroes since she is afraid of what will happen if they lose but if the villains go down then that’s fine right? Instead she actually seems concerned and saddened by what happens to the main villain and you’re just shaking your head.

She should be absolutely cheering by that point. He had her publicly beaten and humiliated and yet she isn’t filled with anger at what’s going on? We also find out that she can fight later on around the mid point of the film which would have really helped her in a lot of the early scenes….yeah the writing here wasn’t great to say the least. Most of the villains are also annoying and can’t really fight. They just use their status and cheap shots to beat everyone up.

The strongest fighter was probably the traitor Vinny who also only got as far as he did due to cheap shots. In a fair fight he was not going to stand a chance against Jake and he knew it. Jake could be annoying here as well though because the guy is clearly a top tier fighter but falls for the easiest traps imaginable. At one point he is warned numerous times that Vinny is evil which should have been absolutely obvious from the jump, but at least when he realized that the whole phone call was a ruse right?

Well somehow he doesn’t put the pieces together and loses in the most sucker punch-ish way possible. He just turns the corner and gets knocked out. It’s not the only time he gets beaten up either and even when he’s winning, Jake doesn’t push the advantage and runs off. It’s all just pretty annoying because with his skill level he should be doing way better. By the time he gets serious, a ton of characters have already died. It’s an odd case where you don’t feel like he’s in a ton of danger most of the time and yet you know that everyone around him is doomed because he won’t do anything.

You definitely get Mortal Kombat vibes from the film and can see the potential but it just didn’t work. I’d also argue the film could have stood to have started the tournament earlier so that way there is time for more of the heroes to win one round before they get taken out by the higher ranking fighters. I haven’t seen a ton of team vs team films in the martial arts genre yet so that would have been a lot of fun but it’s relegated to the end. I will say that the fights have at least improved since the first film though. The film definitely gets that credit at least.

Overall, Bloodfist II has some fun ideas but still holds itself back. The random scene of Jake having an affair while he is down in the dumps was wildly bad but once we get on the island we get a lot of fights. The main heroine’s plot is fumbled though and we needed more battles. As with the first film, it will scratch the itch of being a solid action film with a lot of fighting but there’s not much beyond that and ultimately I would say you’ll want to pick a different movie to watch instead. For now this is still not touching Mortal Kombat which is the golden standard for tournament films. We need more titles like that.

Overall 4/10