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Nancy Drew… Trouble Shooter Review

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Nancy Drew has returned for some more detective shenanigans! Nancy herself doesn’t look very good in this film though and as tends to be the case in these older adventures, her friend Ted seems to be the real detective around here. It’s a fun movie and definitely a short one as well so you will have this finished in a flash. It may not stick out among the Drew adventures but it’s just solid all around.

The movie starts with a guy being accused of murder so he writes to his friend Carson Drew. Carson is ready to see that justice is served so he quickly heads out to help but much to his dismay, Nancy Drew finds out about this as well and now she wants to help. Unfortunately for Ted, she quickly tracks him down as well and decides that he will be helping her this time around. Can the two of them solve the case of who really committed the murder or will they just get in Carson’s way and cause an innocent man to be taken down?

You can see how Carson treats Nancy as a burden here with how he sighs and tries to keep her out of trouble. He’s just used to doing everything so having a kid around slows his roll. While he is confident though, it does feel like he is always foiled in the end though. There’s only so much that his law training can do here without becoming a vigilante like Nancy. Also, he’s a bit distracted here as he starts off a romance with Edna who immediately captivates him as well as Ted. Nancy gets awful spore about this which impacts her detective skills as well.

Now with a man’s life hanging in the balance you figure that the characters would not let any distractions stop them but that never seems to be the case here. All of the romance scenes here are rather painful with Carson and Ted just tripping over themselves in trying to help her. You’d think they would be a little more subtle and would realize that this isn’t the time for such tings. Worry about romance after the case has been solved. It also doesn’t feel like the romance actually impacts the story all that much. It’s just kind of there to be there.

It does hurt Ted a little but beyond that he looks good. He’s the only one to realize that the attendant was stealing the chickens and he ultimately proves to be helpful at the end as he ensures the heroes have a good landing. He is always very reluctant to get involved in these cases and would much rather take it over to the police, but once he is dragged in, Ted makes sure to do the job right. It’s why he’s such a quality character. You can sympathize with how he just wants to have a quiet day but that won’t be an option for very long. I’d say a lot of the film’s best humor also revolves around Ted and his reactions. It goes without saying that he’s the best character here.

Not to take too many shots at Nancy, she is a good lead but she almost comes off more like an antagonist at times with how she gets in the way. Her one sided feud with Edna doesn’t do her any favors either. Edna is trying to be nice the whole time while Nancy is just petty and takes everything personally. She’s also very slow on the uptake like when Carson had to quickly change his story around Edna and Nancy just didn’t get it. She tends to miss some clues that are right in front of her and so ultimately she has a ways to go before she would become the famous detective.

As for the actual case, it’s not bad. Despite a murder being involved I wouldn’t say it’s super captivating. It’s all fairly basic and the character cast is very small so it’s not like there are a whole lot of suspects that it could be. Basically if someone shows up and acts a bit antagonistic then you figure he’s probably the culprit. Sadly there’s no officer Tweedy this time so the heroes have to make do without him.

I’d say the reason why the film shines though is because the writing is just really good. Sure, it’s all very low key but because of that it ends up being a very calming film. It feels like a slice of life all the way through with two kids doing their best to spice up the day. They get their fill of action and adventure or at least Ted does. Nancy’s always ready for another round even if that’s not a good idea.

So even if the film doesn’t become all that unique, you could easily see 10 or more films just riding off of this one’s energy. You can easily just keep it going for a long while yet with slightly different cases and I think it would still be entertaining. I could probably do without the random romance but that strikes me as a one time thing anyway so the other films wouldn’t need to do that. Now we just need a film series about the Hardy Boys.

Overall, This was a pretty good film I’d say. I do have the disclaimer that you could be bored if you walk into this expecting a lot of action, but this isn’t that kind of film nor is it attempting to be. You have to be drawn in by the writing and the cheerful vibe of all the scenes. If that sounds good to you then you will certainly have a good time here. It’s just a very calming film that makes you feel good. The only thing that could have hurt this film would be if it was too long since this kind of plot is best meant for a shorter film but that’s why it’s so fast. It’s a quick adventure that’s over without having any pacing issues.

Overall 7/10

The Stepfather (2009) Review

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Man, the Stepfather was big enough to get a whole trilogy and then a remake? I’d never have guessed since you don’t see this guy brought up in the same breath as the horror legends like Jason or Freddy. Now those guys have withstood the test of time. This movie plays out like the others so you can sense all of the plot threads from the jump but the important thing for a film like this is always in the execution. Unfortunately I would not say that it succeeds in this. This film doesn’t really have much going for it and will end up being forgotten in the end.

The movie starts with Grady getting a shave and preparing his new guise as he gets to work on murdering another family. The guy has been unstoppable for a while now because his charms are so unbelievable that people just want to marry him right away. He only goes after families that are missing a father though as he aspires to have the perfect family. Well, he meets Susan at the supermarket and they quickly hit it off. They get engaged very quickly and Grady figures he has the perfect setup here as nobody suspects him. Well, Michael returns from military school and immediately distrusts Grady. What can the villain do now?

I did think that early on there wasn’t much of a good reason for Grady to be suspicious at all. We get the ominous music and all as Michael peers down the stairs and shoots looks at Grady but you just don’t really get it. Sure, you get that in general Michael isn’t happy to have anyone around right now but Grady helped get him back into school and even promised he would help make sure Michael isn’t sent off to military school again. Take away the shady music and as the viewer you would think he is doing all of the right things.

So I didn’t think the suspicion was all that earned initially. Of course as the film goes on then Grady gives him a lot of reason to be nervous and upset but it definitely takes a long while to get there. As a character I’m glad that Michael’s a little older so he can actually fight but I wouldn’t call him all that likable. It feels like he’s always trying to start a fight and is awfully defensive about everything. He’s rather annoying the whole time.

His girlfriend Kelly doesn’t really get much to do here. You could take her out of the film and not much would change. She tries to at least keep Michael from making a lot of mistakes like spying on Grady or digging into the past which makes sense since it all seems crazy from her point of view. Ultimately she isn’t able to stop him though and both of them have to really brace themselves for the climax.

I wouldn’t say Susan is a very likable character here either. As always she falls hook line and sinker for Grady to the point where she will not let anyone even think about looking into his past. She doesn’t find anything particularly suspicious about him and just goes with the flow the whole time. I think that would be admirable if they have been together for years and the trust is completely there but everyone has a super valid point when they mention that she doesn’t know much about him. He shows up out of nowhere and suddenly she trusts him 100%? It’s all just way too fast and part of what’s hard to buy about these films is how easily Grady is able to show up and get married each time. Cmon now.

At least the ex-husband Jay does decently well here as he suspects the guy and finds out the lies pretty quick. Unfortunately he isn’t too smart in how he handles the follow up. Look, if you’re talking to someone and the guy just walks out of there then you should probably be careful about following him. He’s clearly not afraid to lie to his family so what else do you think he might do to keep his secrets? The whole scene with Jay is rather tragic too since he gets the longest death with nobody to help him.

Finally you have Grady but there isn’t much to say about the guy. He’s just insane the whole time and forgets his identity really quick. Instead of it being a moment of genuine confusion like in the original, here it’s just played off as this guy being off his rocker. In fairness, the guy is completely insane so that tracks well enough. There’s just not anything interesting about him, his goals aren’t anything special. Additionally he’s just too insecure. He murders anyone who even thinks about starting a rumor on him which just makes the whole thing more suspicious. I dare say that it would have been smarter to keep everyone alive since it’s unlikely that they would do anything more than talk. Was the old lady really a threat? Really??

Overall, The Stepfather is a film you’ll want to void. I wouldn’t say that it has any particularly interesting characters and it’s as predictable as possible. The violence has been toned down from the earlier installments which is good at least but everyone’s still getting bumped off. Dying through suffocation is always a rough way to go out. It would be nice to change up the formula one of these days and have a new villain show up to stop Grady and make his presence known as an alternate villain. I think something like that would potentially be very interesting. Either way I’d recommend giving this one the skip, it’s not going to do anything for you.

Overall 2/10

Stepfather III 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

You can tell that the writers stopped caring with this one but I can at least give the poster some props. It’s one of those images where it’s hard to see exactly what’s going on at first. Is it a knife, shovel, or a candle? If the guy bleeding, just blasted someone else who’s bleeding, or is it the rain? Is he looking sad, mad, or glad? The more you look at the poster, the more it changes. I know what you’re thinking though, it’s bad when you have to start complementing the poster!

Okay so Jerry survived yet again because he’s just that powerful. He runs over to a plastic surgeon who agrees to give him a new look and doesn’t question how dangerous this situation is. Jerry murders the guy afterwards and heads to a new town. There he meets the desperate widow Christine and quickly marries her. This time he is sure that he’s found the perfect family but he will have to deal with her ex-boyfriend Mark, her ex-husband Steve, and his mistress Jennifer. Can Jerry defeat all of these obstacles? Man that’s a lot of people here.

Okay so the first big issue with this film is that it seems like Jerry’s character doesn’t make a lot of sense here. Yes the guy is insane and all but at least he did have his vision of a perfect family. Every little thing that goes against his values would set him off and his view of a perfect family was a bit warped but he wouldn’t sabotage it himself. Now we have a subplot where he is cheating on his wife with the new neighbor. Really? That doesn’t make any sense. Yes he would look for his next targets as he’s ending the current arrangement but he never actually makes a move until that’s happened.

Also…having an affair in the same small town where everybody knows everybody? No disguise or anything, he just drives on over there. Of course he’s caught but the whole thing is so obvious that it doesn’t work. Jerry was a master strategist who evaded the cops for years and had plans for his plans. You can’t expect me to believe that he would suddenly be making rookie mistakes like this. Of course he ends up blaming Jennifer for tempting him and tries to turn it all around but it doesn’t change the fact that he made the errors here. He’s the one ruining the perfect family concept and it goes against his character. That’s really his only gimmick as the villain so if you toss that aside then there’s not much left.

Meanwhile it is almost funny to see an ex boyfriend and ex husband in the same movie. I feel like that’s really rare at this point. The ex husband is lucky that he doesn’t stick around since I thought he was doomed. Of course Jerry makes quick work out of the ex boyfriend but that almost felt like a bit of satire with how the guy just shows up to get bumped off. It’s not played out that way but what are the odds right?

This guy wasn’t that smart or good with his reaction times either. Don’t just stand there and get pounded like a sack of toast. Meanwhile I wasn’t a big fan of Christine either. Naturally she is tricked rather quickly and the whole wedding was rather quick. She ignored everyone’s advice that she was going too fast and just kept moving along. Now everyone may have seemed like they were just being sour grapes but the warning bells were there. Like Jerry laying hands on one of her sons when he was playing video games. The way she found out may have been rather dramatic but she overlooks it so quickly.

Then we have the affair going on and she lets herself be manipulated a little too easily. Her plans are always thrown away and she is never able to stay one step ahead of the game. In this film Jerry left a lot of clues that something was not right and she didn’t pick up on them. Then you have Father Ernest who was at least helping the kid try to crack the case here but unfortunately that didn’t work out. Ultimately Jerry did sniff that plan out quick and unfortunately the roads were deserted. Unfortunately there wasn’t anything Ernest could have done there so the whole thing is just tragic for him. He didn’t even make any mistakes necessarily, he just didn’t drive quick enough.

As for Jennifer, well she was moving rather fast but at least she didn’t know that Jerry was married. Again it does continue the trend of everyone being so desperate in these films. It’s like nobody is content to just be alone and happy, you always gotta be looking for the next rebound. The romances here are all rather weak but that was probably obvious from the jump. This isn’t really the film you’re looking for when trying to find a quality romance.

Now while the film is definitely not good and the writing for Jerry didn’t work at all, there is one positive I can say about the film. The soundtrack is actually surprisingly good. I dare say I would even call it great. There are a lot of tunes that sound like they’re from the 90’s X-Men show. The music is definitely more comic book movie material than your average horror fare. I was surprised whenever a good tune would show up and it happened several times. Perhaps even though the budget was lower they were able to spend more on music or they chose these to save money and they just ended up being really good. However they pulled that off, it definitely worked for me.

It doesn’t save the film of course though as it still suffers from all the usual horror pitfalls. Aside from the writing being sub par you’ve also got to deal with the over the top violence that is always around. Everyone gets bumped off in rather brutal ways. The surgery scene at the beginning is also very graphic and so the movie is trying to put in as much grit as possible. It should have stuck to the Matrix effects like in the first murder where it’s like the guy was phasing out of existence with a lot of clones and tremor effects. Instead we just go back to normal murders after that and that never helps a film out.

Overall, Stepfather III is a film you should certainly skip. In a way I’d probably say that this beats the first two and ends up as the best in the trilogy but that would be due entirely to the soundtrack. After all it’s similar to the first two but they didn’t have good music. Jerry betrays his entire character here but in a way it shows that he was always a villain with no morals so that may not be a bad thing. He’s so bad at covering his tracks that it buys time for the main characters as well. It’s a bit ironic that the final movie would end up being the best one as usually it tends to fall off but it’s not like it matters much since the gap between them is fairly small anyway.

Overall 2/10

Stepfather II 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 the Stepfather to return for another adventure. How did he survive his wounds from the first film? Well, I guess you could say that he’s just built different. Nothing’s putting him down, at least not right now. Unfortunately this movie is more of the same and so there’s not much good to say about it. It’s your classic slasher film with everyone making some questionable decisions.

The movie starts off with showing us that Jerry is now at an asylum. At least he’s not being allowed to run rampant around the world but it’s a very small consolation at this point because the therapist in charge of him isn’t really the cautious type. He is quickly convinced to let Jerry have his way around the place and gets promptly bumped off. Jerry has to look for a new widow and that isn’t hard either. Carol is very eager to get together with him and the two hit it off. Will she be able to realize what a phony he is in time or will it all be game over for her?

Right off the bat it feels like the film is winking at us a bit. This therapist was just way too trusting. Seriously he got fooled this easily? All it took was Jerry playing on the guy’s ego a bit and he was twisting him around with ease. The guy should have seen this coming and even telling the guard to leave the room was a bit much. You knew the guy was doomed either way but he made it all so easy on Jerry.

Meanwhile I wouldn’t say that Carol looks very good here either. Her friends are right that Carol barely even knows this guy. Sure, most of them are happy either way but this is why you shouldn’t go on the rebound so quickly. Every guy is going to try and appear normal at first, that part’s obvious. It’s why you gotta take it real slow. Now I’m not saying that you have to take a few years but at least enough time to hopefully really get to know him. The rebound shouldn’t be considered automatic though, like Carol doesn’t absolutely have to find a new man. Maybe she’s happy on her own and that’s completely okay.

It’s why I still find Jerry’s whole gimmick to be annoying because it resides on the assumption that he will find someone who wants to marry him at every town. That feels like it should be a stretch and yet it ends up working out for him every time. It shouldn’t be so easy. Jerry himself is just as insane as always. He does lay on the nice guy act rather thick but I guess everyone just eats it up. It’s too bad he’s saying every line ironically since the whole family message could be rather decent if it was coming from someone else. It just loses all of its weight when he’s saying it.

Matty is Carol’s best friend and you feel bad for her since Carol immediately turns on the lady. You’d think Carol would appreciate how hard Matty was working to try and make sure that everything was good. Instead Carol basically threatens to terminate their friendship. Matty is nice enough where she still keeps on going with the investigation but ultimately makes the mistake of going to Jerry directly about this. When you’ve already proven that someone is lying, why not go straight to the local authorities or if you don’t think they’ll take the stolen identity angle seriously, then tell Carol. Force the issue or make a big stink about it throughout the neighborhood so everybody knows. Confronting the villain one on one is not the way to go about it.

Yeah Carol made it hard on her which is why Carol’s not a great heroine either but this still wasn’t the way to go about it. Todd actually got along with Jerry well enough in this version so the act actually could have worked but ultimately Jerry made too many mistakes and it came back to bite him. Todd was able to step up when it was crunch time. Then you have Phil who shows up to get absolutely wrecked right away. Again, this didn’t make Carol look great since she seemed willing to jump ship and go back to Phil only to rebound with Jerry once again when that guy mysteriously vanished.

The worst part is that Phil didn’t seem like he was going to be a great guy either, he was just going to be better than Jerry and that’s not a tall order to fulfill. Jerry does a good job of covering his tracks but the victims really make this easy on him the whole time. There are a lot of ways to explain their disappearances each time because they ended up meeting with Jerry 1 on 1. You know that eventually things will work out but it always takes quite a while to get to that point.

The film’s fairly violent as you would expect and follows the usual horror formula. Everyone gets bumped off over and over again here. Sometimes it’s almost out of nowhere like a random driver showing up and getting taken out. This time around Jerry even starts to throw in some one liners when he takes the characters down. That was definitely different as I don’t really remember him doing this much in the first film. Maybe he did and I forgot but I don’t think that was the case. This would then continue into the next movie.

Overall, Stepfather II has no real good excuse to get Jerry back onto the field so the whole opening scenes are as contrived as possible. In general the film only barely works because it’s all such a big stretch. Then it stumbles for the rest of the duration anyway with Jerry not being a very interesting villain. Yeah we know he’s crazy but at least in the first film he’s trying to have some kind of plan which is to have a perfect family while here he’s letting everything get in the way of that. It’s almost like he’s sabotaging everything on his own. Just don’t give out so much information that could be easily traced to show that he’s lying. He’s almost better off just claiming amnesia with some of the lies he’s telling here. He should also quit naming such small towns where everybody has heard of everyone. Start saying New York City or something since nobody would be able to verify that so easily back in the day.

Overall 2/10

Graveyard Shift Review

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

So whenever you’ve got humans fighting against monsters movies seem to try and make the humans are unlikable as possible. Perhaps it’s so that you won’t feel so bad when the humans die but I find that it can also be a double edged sword in that the film itself can be made worse because there’s nobody to root for and you end up rooting for the monsters. Well, that’s pretty much what happens here. There’s one or two decent people here but for the most part you can see why the rats are staging a rebellion.

The movie starts off with one guy murdering a bunch of rats just because he can. It’s clear that this guy is the real villain of the film so the rats gang up on him and their leader throws that guy in the shredder. They now realize that they can fight for what’s right and seem to unionize. Well, the mill needs a new person to load up the cotton and that’s where John comes in. He’s desperate for a job and this is really the only game in town so he’s forced to jump into the mix even though his boss Warwick is suspect at best. The guy threatens his colleagues into having affairs with him and doesn’t have any morals.

When people die he just shrugs and moves on. The guy has no ethics at all but unfortunately he’s the boss. John will have to try and survive out here but it won’t be easy. The only food place for miles is not hygienic and he falls for the girl that has caught Warwick’s eye, Jane. Not it’s extra personal and the rest of the staff were already bullying John so it’s only going to get worse from here on out.

I guess the mean people just flock to this town. You’ve got bullies, a corrupt boss, and just about everyone is only looking for their own self interests. There is nobody to confide in or to trust. It’s a rather lonely experience for John which may be why he was desperate for romance but the whole romance plot doesn’t work. It’s another rebound scenario and John only just got here. The whole thing is fairly rushed. The only acceptable explanation is that he’s just desperate for any friend but even then that’s not good enough for me to give this a passing grade.

The film has a lot of issues but lets knock out the biggest one right out of the jump. There’s a lot of animal violence here as the characters are bumping off the rats. It was rather sadistic how the first guy would toss them into the shredder. From there on you can see why they’d need revenge but of course in the meantime the humans are fighting back. They throw bottles at them and lay all kinds of traps. That’s why a film where a big amount of emphasis is put on the animal is always going to end up failing. It’s unlikely to avoid animal violence in such a scenario and that’s what happened here.

While the score wouldn’t be as abysmal without the rats, I can’t say that the film would be good either way though. It’s just a very mean spirited title all the way through. John doesn’t really fall for all of their instigative actions as he just minds his business but the bullying is quite excessive. As I already mentioned, Warwick is just a bad guy all the way through. He’s not as omnipresent as most villains so the heroes can at least escape him for a while here and there but then they tend to trip and it’s game over as the rat pack shows up.

The only props I’ll give the film is that the creature was decent. They keep him in the shadows for nearly the entire film but at least he makes for a solid threat. Rats are intense in great numbers and all but it’s always nice to actually have a big villain to really unite against. It gives them all a common foe as opposed to just beating up on a bunch of minions. Also the latter would be even worse for the movie since that would mean a lot of rats would be injured.

I wouldn’t even know where to begin in trying to save this film. It just didn’t have potential right from the jump. It could have used some more action and maybe a subplot about John trying to make the town a little better. That could have been interesting and at least give the audience a little more reason to care about their ultimate survival. Otherwise for the most part you’re just waiting for them to get taken out. The characters are just so mean. Also what’s with the one guy and yelling whenever he launches his water cannon? He’s very overdramatic the whole time when he’s just shooting water.

One guy had the right idea in just walking out over the poor working conditions. Ultimately that’s a much safer option than just sticking around. Of course whether you make it out or not is always a different story since it can go either way but the rule of thumb is to never stay in a bad situation. It’s just very rarely going to work out and more times than not you’ll regret staying.

Overall, The Graveyard Shift would have been much better if it had been about ghosts or something like that. Make it a spooky kind of horror film instead of focusing on rats the whole time. The rats really didn’t help the movie’s case and it was really sub par at best. You’re definitely going to want to avoid this one. You can do better with almost any of the other creature feature films. They end up doing a lot more in terms of scares and likable characters than this one which fumbled the ball the whole time.

Overall 1/10

Copycat Review

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This review is of the edited 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

Copycat is one of those films where you know it’s not going to be so good right from the jump. The question is will it rise to mid status or will it just be bad? Well, in this case it never ended up recovering and this is probably a film you aren’t going to be checking out a second time anyway. It’ll just fade away into obscurity.

The movie starts with Helen giving a lecture on the various mass murderers of the day and how you have to be scared because right now even some of the classmates could be evil. Her doom and gloom speech is a big hit but unfortunately one of those murderers was in attendance and attacks her. The guy murders one of the cops but is ultimately captured. Unfortunately the experience scarred Helen for life and she can no longer leave her apartment now. She is completely trapped.

This gets a little intense for her when she reads the news and sees that another mass murderer has appeared. This is her specialty but it’s not like she can go out there to take names and find out what’s going on. Helen is given little choice in the matter though when the villain sends her a threatening message. Monahan and Reuben are the two cops who will be helping her out here but can any of them take down this new villain? One thing’s for sure, they need to keep their guards up at all times.

I’ve noticed that these mass murder mystery films tend to put the main character in a rather difficult spot so they can’t help too much. At least it happened twice which is enough to make me raise an eyebrow as bone collector did the same thing. Since Helen can’t leave and is racked with fear that limits what she can actually contribute to the case. Considering all of this she actually does rather well in looking at the clues and helping out. You feel bad for her too because you figure one traumatic experience is enough for a life time and yet she’s going to have to go for a second one now.

I thought she was a good character though. Helen is tough and talks back to the other characters while also keeping up her boundaries. She only allows her friend Andy to see any moment of weakness within her. To everyone else she at least tries to keep the image up the whole time. Her friend Andy means well and looks after her but you get the feeling that he is doomed from the jump.

In these films just about everyone is doomed for being too close to the lead. Usually as soon as a character appears you know they could be next on the chopping block. The villain here doesn’t have any special powers or anything like that but at the end of the day he does have the element of surprise and that’s hard to fight off. Certainly it’s difficult to combat that on short notice at least.

The villain here is one of those psychotic kind of characters as you can probably guess. It’s also hard to call this a murder mystery to the extent that the film isn’t really giving you a chance to find out who the murderer is for the most part. I suppose the mystery is more about finding him before he bumps someone else off. Unfortunately the tricky part is that it takes a while to find a pattern or any leads so the body count here is already rather high.

I liked the two cops on the case though. Monahan does her best to manipulate everyone and shows that she has what it takes as a cop. Her approach to everything is rather by the book which isn’t a bad thing but the film uses that against her at one point. She ultimately gets off a shot just like how the manual said to do but in the end it wasn’t enough. I blame everyone else at the scene far more than her though because she still did her part.

At one point I almost started to wonder if she was going to end up being a villain in a twist or something but I’m glad the movie didn’t go in that direction. As for Reuben, he’s a good partner. Helen even tries to give him some romance tips at one point although I think it’s a little dicey to be thinking about how to make a move while there’s a serious threat on the loose like this. Ultimately Reuben may be a quick shot but that doesn’t mean he’s super safe.

The villain from the opening scene: Daryll, sticks around for the film and that was unfortunate. We already have one psychopath in this film, did we really need 2? Any scene with this guy in it is super annoying and drags on. I don’t think they should have even given that creep much attention. I suppose they were desperate for leads but that’s when you get someone on the inside to rough him up a bit. That may be easier said than done of course but it’s just a shame that Helen had to work with this guy even for a minute after what happened.

The movie’s stinger for the sequel is also really weak. It doesn’t make you hyped for a possible sequel at all and is just a groaner. It could have done something, almost anything more interesting than that. I would have no reason to believe the sequel would be any better than this film. In fact, there is even the chance that it would just be worse in the end depending on who the main villain is.

Overall, There isn’t much to like about Copycat. It’s your run of the mill horror/slasher title. It’s really gritty and by the time the heroes come around it’s always too late. The victories here feel hollow as a result and nobody is ever prepared so they get bumped like it’s nothing. The writing isn’t anything special and this film is really one of those dime a dozen horror titles. I would recommend just steering clear of this one. It doesn’t even have anything super entertaining to talk about or that at least would make it stand out. I suppose I won’t forget the scene with the random criminal at the police station because of how random it was. Whatever could go wrong for the heroes certainly did each time.

Overall 2/10

The Hurt Locker 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

The Hurt Locker really goes in depth with how dangerous it can be to try and disarm bombs in hostile territory. At times the film moves a little too slowly so pacing is an issue here but it’s still a good movie all around. It’s got a lot of good qualities to it and tells a solid story. It probably could have benefited from some more fight scenes but it’s not really that kind of movie.

The movie starts with Sanborn and his squad investigating another bomb. They have to disarm it and quickly leave. Unfortunately the robot malfunctions so one of the squad members has to go in personally and he dies in the explosion. His bomb suit didn’t really help at all this time. So in comes the replacement, William. William is one of those guys who doesn’t mind making a lot of splash plays and is eager for thrills. He has a very reckless nature about him and tends to disregard orders rather easily. This of course does bring up a lot of tension within the group and he’s also putting them in danger. Sanborn may have to make a difficult choice about this.

Unlike most war films, this isn’t about a squad on the front lines. For the most part these guys come in afterwards to disarm the bombs and make sure the general area is safe. They have to be prepared to fight at any point but that isn’t their main purpose. It’s an interesting angle to focus on but that also means that it won’t be nearly as exciting. For example, there’s a very long scene where the characters are just walking down a street towards the bomb. William then has to put on the suit to go there but it’s hard to move in that thing so it’s all very slow. The scene just drags on and on for a good while before he gets there.

You’ve also got a stand off where there are two guys in a building so the heroes have to prep a sniper rifle and watch from their vantage point. This stand-off lasts for a long while but it’s more on the boring side since nothing’s actually happening. Of course it’s easier said than done to try and storm the base but that probably would have been a lot easier. The Hurt Locker consistently takes any scene and then drags it on quite a bit. That’s its biggest weakness in a nutshell. It’s really my only big weakness for the film but it’s one that destroys any replay value. This is definitely a movie that you only watch once.

As for William, he’s a fun main character but does go too far on the rebel stuff. Throwing away his communicator was a big mistake and likewise running into a demolition field because he forgot a glove is a bit much. You can see why he really tests everyone’s patience here and it nearly costs him everything. Even Sanborn thinks about bumping him off at one point. That would have definitely been a huge mistake even if William was annoying though.

William’s job is the most dangerous as he has to be around the bombs so much so you do cut him some slack, just not enough for all of his actions. It’s definitely a job where there probably aren’t a lot of people lining up for it so I could see him getting away with a lot. As for Sanborn, he’s a solid leader. Definitely a lot more by the books and he can’t wait for this deployment to end while William is happier to be here. I can definitely sympathize with Sanborn a lot.

He’s doing his job so he’s not backing out or anything but he’s doing it because it’s the right thing to do, not because he actually wants to be here. It’s a really big difference. It certainly does help really paint Sanborn as a good character because he’s contending with a lot of fear throughout. Then you have John who isn’t even a combat guy but ends up going onto the field at one point. Things don’t go great for him but he did live up to his words that he would go onto the battlefield as needed. He didn’t shrink away from his responsibilities for a moment.

There’s a kid named Beckham who ends up being a rather important player here. Not so much because of what he does but what is seemingly done to him. It’s an understatement to say that not too many people are thrilled about the division being around so the heroes always have to be on guard but this kid enjoyed their company at least so William starts to grow attached to him which gets a little tricky with his duties.

Ultimately one of the tough parts about being in this squad would be minding your own business. It seems like a lot goes on here and someone could take out a gun at any moment. You can’t pro-actively just start attacking because there are a lot of innocent people here so you’re forced to be reactive. The amount of stress that comes with that has to be absolutely crazy. For sure everyone here probably had their wills written down before going on the mission.

Overall, The Hurt Locker is a film that really goes into detail on what being in the field is like. It’s well written and all seems pretty accurate to me. I think it could have just moved things on a little quicker and sped all of the scenes up. That would have helped a lot with the pacing and I think you could still get the tense atmosphere across even with that. The setting itself already helps a lot with that plus with this kind of film you know that the characters aren’t completely safe. They could still be destroyed at any possible moment.

Overall 6/10

Dante’s Peak Review

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Volcano disaster films should always be hype pretty much by definition since lava should make for a great visual. That’s not always the case but it’s a good rule of thumb at least. I would say this is a solid disaster film as well, we get a lot of danger and good visuals. Some really annoying characters for sure but it’s an entertaining movie with some solid pacing throughout. I definitely didn’t have any big issues with it.

The movie starts with Harry and his partner trying to escape as a volcano is erupting but unfortunately she has them hang back for a bit to try and grab some computer files. This ends up backfiring completely as they leave too late and she gets crushed by falling debris. Ultimately there is no way to recover from this and so Harry is now back to being alone. He then gets called into another potential volcano situation and it looks serious. Unfortunately even though his boss Paul specifically invited Harry here to gauge the volcano reactions, he thinks Harry is being a little too presumptuous and denies the action. This prevents anyone from evacuating until the volcano actually blows up. Will they be able to escape now or is it game over?

I would say that part of what makes a volcano situation particularly deadly is that just touching the lava would mean game over. It’s not like touching the stove where you can quickly leap away if you have good reaction times. Let the lava hit your leg and you’re not running anywhere. So with that delay a lot of people really don’t have a chance here. There are some intense images like when we see the bridges just collapse into nothingness and everyone crashing. Your best bet in a way is to go to the water but even then lava can survive for a bit on that surface. We also see that it boils the water up to an incredible temperature that just cannot be survived.

So water sounds good in theory but it’s probably not your best bet. Your best bet if possible is to put as much distance as possible and hope a rescue squad arrives but it’s still going to be a tough call. The body count here is quite high and we can blame Paul on this completely. The film tries to give him some hero moments later on and that he means well but at the end of the day he chose to gamble with everyone’s lives. That was a really bad call and it’s really hard to come back from that. Especially because it’s not like Harry was crazy.

In some disaster films you can see why the main guy is written off because he is acting erratically or not making any sense. That’s not the case here as Harry was being very careful from start to finish. I don’t really see what he could have done differently. He did all of the tests by the books and then used the evidence to show his findings. Paul just decided to ignore this and I didn’t think his counter reasoning was all that good. What’s the point of bringing in your best man if you won’t accept his findings?

As for the mayor Rachel, I wouldn’t put much blame on her. Ultimately she did end up listening to Paul but he is the big boss so that makes sense. In her position it’s hard to say that she should have listened to Harry. There were some warning signs but in the end it’s natural to listen to the experts when they’re talking. That’s exactly what she did so you can’t really fault that. The film was starting to set up a romance with her and Harry which is a bit iffy though since he lost the lady who was going to be his wife in such a tragic way.

Yes, time has passed but you don’t just do a rebound like that. While the film doesn’t go too far with this, I would still say the romance is a weak point here. Rachel’s kids can also be on the annoying side. They do try to help near the end of the film which doesn’t make the situation any better but I won’t deduct too many points for that from them. I do think the boy just randomly going to prohibited areas is a bit much though. His mom’s the mayor so he should be behaving himself more.

One of the most annoying characters is the grandmother though. She decides to just ride out the volcano in her house for some reason. Whether she wanted to test her limits or just didn’t think it was a big deal, it’s still selfish because she has family. It was natural that someone would come to check up on her and everyone nearly died as a result. You can only make that kind of a choice if you’re on your own but otherwise you have a lot of other people to think about.

There’s a scene involving the dog that nearly gets very messy but fortunately the movie doesn’t fall into that trap. The scene is intentionally meant to get you a little stressed but I can accept that since it ends well. I still don’t think it’s a good idea mind you, as using a dog to make everything tense is the cheap way out. You need to just let the volcano do that and it was already effective so why go through all of the extra effort? The film needs to have confidence in itself.

Overall, Dante’s Peak is a solid film. The writing is good and it’s an interesting story. I do tend to enjoy my disaster films as the visuals are always a lot of fun. Imagining how the end of the world can be also helps to show the appeal of these titles. In this case being locked in an island with a volcano erupting definitely sounds absolutely distressing. Even if you live through it, you’ve lost everything so the recovery process is just as scary. It would probably make this a hard watch for anyone who has actually had to experience something like this. If you’re up for an intense thriller though, then this is the one to check out. There’s definitely a body count here as well so don’t expect everyone to get off the island without a scratch.

Overall 7/10

Point Blank Review

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It’s always very and I mean very risky to backstab a fellow villain when you’re trying to make a lot of money. Remember that this is someone who was willing to go on such a dangerous mission in the first place so he will stop at nothing to get revenge. That’s really what this film is all about to, it’s a big revenge title. The movie works very well as a noir thriller where every scene is ominous and you never know what will happen next.

So the movie starts off with Walker on the big heist so he can finally get rich. Unfortunately he is shot in the back by his partner Reese who runs off with the cash and Walker’s wife. A long time passes but Walker eventually gets out of jail and he’s eager to even the score. He lives solely for revenge now and nothing is going to deter him from getting that. Whatever it takes, he will get his money back. So begins a long journey where he faces off with every big figure in the underworld. Will any of them give Walker his money?

Now right off the bat while this is a serious noir title, there is one part of the story that almost feels like it’s part parody. So Walker really wants his money which is just as important as the revenge. First he goes to Reese for it but when that doesn’t work he begins climbing up the criminal food chain in order to get it. He goes after Reese’s boss, then that guy’s boss, etc. all the way to the top. The issue is that none of these villains have any money.

Yes, all the big shots of the criminal empire have their funds tied up in assets and generally non cash objects. That is really hard to believe when their lives are literally at stake. You have them talking matter of factly about this even when they are being threatened and ultimate murdered. A lot of villains lose their lives over this as Walker isn’t playing games. He actually means to keep on destroying everyone until he gets his money so the villains should just produce it already. You can’t tell me that the heads who have near unlimited power aren’t able to scrounge up the money.

So that was always odd but it would never deter Walker. He just kept going after them and there was a really handy informant who had his back as well. It pays to have good intel so you are always on the winning side here. You won’t have too much sympathy for Walker’s wife Lynne though as ultimately she did go with Reese here. Not a good move and it just makes her look so bad. So even when she has regrets later on, it’s clear that she had made her choice and it wasn’t a good one.

The movie does have a sense of humor though even while Walker is on his mission. At one point he is able to get onto the elevators because the villains are basically goofing off. Then you have the guy who tries to trick Walker into getting in front of a sniper rifle but the tables are turned on him. It’s not laugh out loud funny like a big gag movie but the subtle humor worked well. It’s a very serious film but not one that always feels like you’re dreading the next moment. It has a lot of energy to it.

There’s also a rather trippy scene where Walker is navigating his way around a house and Chris is mocking him through loudspeakers and all kinds of devices. She really went through a lot of work to get the whole place set up and even lands a really long combo on him. The romance in general here is really weak as you feel like Walker wouldn’t be moving on just yet even after he was betrayed earlier. His mission comes first but then again you could almost still say this is part of the mission. He needs to waste some time between targets to be there at the right time and this may just be how he does it.

The writing is really solid here and I can’t think of the last time I saw a bunch of villains being as nonchalant about their evil empires as these guys were. They would sit on the couch smoking a cigar while talking about how they don’t have the money and how they can bump anyone off. They acted as if these guys all owned rather large companies and were just making business decisions. In some ways I suppose that really was the situation.

The crooks own the city and that’s a rather scary thought to the normal people. I guess you either play ball or that’s game over for you. The ending links up well with the opening and is a solid way to end things off. You get to decide exactly what Walker does at the end and if the package is worth it or not. Personally I do think the whole thing was legit this time with the package but it’s good Walker didn’t go out or he’d probably be gunned down. I do think he ultimately will make a move and it would work out though because Walker will eventually charge and the other guys should be gone.

As a final note, I think the film works as much because of what it didn’t show as what it did. There’s a lot of hidden lore here and dynamics we just don’t know about. The film doesn’t explain everything and I don’t think it needs to. Everything is kept very mysterious and that works exceptionally well for a noir. The more vague everything is, the more you get to try and put the pieces back together yourself. It adds a layer of unease to the whole thing and this atmosphere stays from start to finish. The film doesn’t fumble here.

It’s not perfect to be sure and has some weak elements like the romance and character basically going through with an affair to get the villain to drop his guard. I never like that approach because I don’t think under any circumstance you should allow yourself to be compromised just to complete the mission. There has to be a better way and at that point you just delay the mission or try something else even if it’s a bit riskier.

Overall, Point Blank is a really solid movie. You get to slowly pick up the pieces with Walker and he is a fun lead with how resolute the guy is in getting revenge. He will stop at absolutely nothing in order to get his money back and that’s real dedication right there. Nobody’s going to double cross him in the future, that’s a guarantee. If this film ever got a sequel I’d be all for it but there is some charm in being a one off since you really just get to imagine how it all played out.

Overall 7/10

The Ladykillers Review

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The Ladykillers is an old school comedy movie that has aged rather well. It’s got that low key humor which is always fun and while the movie may run a little on the long side as the pacing isn’t super dynamic, I would say that you’ll still have a good time with this one. You may just shake your head at how the main characters handle things at times. They definitely didn’t plan all that well for this caper and only get so far thanks to coincidences and luck.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Wilberforce who is always running to the police with wild stories. As a result they don’t believe her anymore and it’s a shame because she just wants to help but unfortunately isn’t very good as doing the detective work on her own. This would have at least let her filter out the crazier stories and could have saved her a lot of credibility with the cops. Well, one day she is approached by a Professor Marcus who asks if he can have the room she was offering in her house. She is glad to have a new tenant and agrees. The guy is even part of a musical band so now she gets to hear some free music.

What she doesn’t realize is that Marcus is a big thief. They pull off a rather large robbery at the railroad and even trick her into being an accomplice. Now they are just biding their time before leaving. Will she be able to get to the truth of this before they leave or is all that money about to vanish? Additionally, she may not be as safe as she thinks since these villains can sometimes get a little extreme about their money.

Naturally the humor here is that she’s having a merry ole time and is completely oblivious to what’s going on here. The villains aren’t exactly subtle and it’s just that she’s not too quick on the uptake here. If only she had more detective training then she may have been able to solve this. Since you know who the villains are from the start, it’s imperative that you find this amusing or you likely won’t enjoy the film as a whole very much. That is really the meat of the film after all.

And I would say it works out well enough. It’s not even too over the top silly for the most part as there isn’t a lot of slapstick or anything like that. The chase for her pet parrot comes awfully close though. It’s the kind of nice adventure that pads the runtime out a bit but feels rather random. At least it showed that the thieves were willing to go quite far to protect their cover as a nice musical band that is always here to help.

I can’t say I was a big fan of some of the villains though. The best one would probably be the leader Marcus. He’s the one who came up with the plan. While it may be a bit convoluted, it does end up working so you have to give him credit there. He’s also not someone who jumps into a fight too easily but is ready to mix it up if he’s disrespected too much. Louis tends to push him rather far. That guy’s the meanest of the group and the only one who is quite eager to take Wilberforce out even though she’s an older lady. He feels like she’s a threat to the plan and must be eliminated.

The other thieves at least aren’t on board with this but while they wouldn’t suggest it or commit the act personally, it doesn’t feel like they would do much to stop him. Ultimately that’s why you shouldn’t trust villains too far. Even if these guys may not be the ultimate evil or anything like that, there will definitely be times where they may cross the lines. They’re already criminals after all so it’s not a stretch that they could commit another crime.

I will say that the film’s climax/ending was rather unexpected. Given how calm and low key the whole movie was, I was expecting the ending to follow that trend. It ended up being a whole lot more exciting and explosive than I would have ever suspected. It still plays into the humor angle while also being rather serious there. It was a good way to end the movie and a wise move by the writer since it makes the whole thing a lot more memorable.

The music in the film was decent I suppose. It’s always nostalgic hearing those really old tunes. The thieves probably should have switched the track a little more often though. If the old lady was listening a little closer she would realize that it always sounds the same and may have realized that something was up. You could tell that some of the thieves weren’t really in with the plan from the jump though and weren’t super supportive about the whole thing. You’d think it would be a small price to pay for the money though, why grumble so much about something that’s rather minor? It’s why these guys never ended up being the top level thieves around.

Overall, The Ladykillers handles the comedy/action mix rather well. It’s so low key that some parts may start to feel a bit dull but the movie is just short enough where this isn’t a major concern. If it had been much longer then I think the film would have suffered for it. I probably would have taken the film in a bit of a different direction like having them all help the old lady out when a bigger thief shows up. I would say that they could do that for a sequel but it doesn’t feel likely. The premise itself is good though and works better as a comedy than as a really serious title. If you haven’t watched this film yet then it’s worth picking up.

Overall 6/10