Tag Archives: Thriller

Paycheck Review

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It’s time for a film with a pretty interesting premise, in part because I could see this actually happening in real life at some point. Companies want to keep things confidential after all and right now people sign non-disclosure agreements but at the end of the day those are hardly full proof. What if they could just erase your memories? Oh man that would be a company’s ultimate dream! This movie is pretty fun and will keep you entertained the whole time but I do have to admit that the main character does come across as gullible.

The film starts off by introducing us to Michael who basically contracts with various companies to work on specialized projects. After which his memories are deleted and he goes off to live his life. The positive here of course is that he’s making absolute bank. The guy is basically rich because of the missions but the negative of course is that he’s missing massive parts of his life. He’s completely okay with this and feels that it’s a fair trade off though. Well, one day an old friend shows up and asks him if he is interested in a longer term contract. This one will last 3 years and of course he won’t remember any of it. Michael agrees but when he wakes up, it turns out that he gave away all of his money for some reason and all of the records have been destroyed. Now he is being hunted and it’s all an elaborate frame up. What can he do to get out of this?

I have to give the film more credit here because this is exactly what my worst fear would be. When you’re erasing whole chunks of your memory like that, you seriously have no idea what happened previously and that is opening up the door to all kinds of trouble. You can’t properly defend yourself from someone accusing you of something when you yourself don’t know what occurred right? So long story short, I would never even consider doing this even if the money was really good like this. An added wrinkle is in this film the procedure of removing memories is actually super dangerous as well so one wrong move and you will lose all of your memories or potentially even die in the machine.

Michael is one of those guys who usually takes things in stride. He’s fairly confident in himself and is skilled but as a character I wouldn’t say that he’s great. He’s cool with having one night stands since he figures that he will forget all about them afterwards anyway and that doesn’t make for a particularly solid romance. So once he does fall for someone you have a hard time buying into it. The romance doesn’t seem all that convincing and in large part it’s because the main character doesn’t exactly seem like a great guy.

You still feel bad for him of course since being framed is rough but that’s about it. As the main heroine Rachel isn’t bad. Taking aside the romance plot of it all, she does contribute a lot to the plot and can also be rather tough which I always like to see in the heroine. Michael also has a friend in Shorty who is very helpful here. The guy has a bit of an “I told you so” attitude but it is completely justified he whole time. Like this was a bad idea from the jump and it was pretty clear to see.

Now where the film taps into some interesting themes is with how Michael keeps having items on hand that are useful in very specific circumstances at specific moments. It’s basically as if he is following a destiny that is pre written by his past self who saw into the future. I always like theory crafting with time and looking at all of the different ways it could work. Basically, if you can see into the future then does that imply that your future is written in stone, you are just seeing one possible version?, or was that the future but the instant you saw it, it has now changed since you can effect things?

Personally I always go with the one possible version theory because to me it makes the most sense by far. You should be able to change the future once you have seen it and everything being pre written is just hard to buy for me. That said, this one is mainly going in that direction as Michael saw the future and planned things out extremely carefully in a self fulfilling cycle where he saw what was going to happen and made sure that it did. So what happens when two people see the future? Well that’s another interesting one.

The climax is pretty fun as it deals with all of that. On the whole I wouldn’t say the film is super action packed or anything like that but there are a whole lot of chase scenes. We also get the government involved which is always fun. Of course they do tend to get in the way a lot at first as they take everything at face value and fall for the villain’s traps. The fact that they went straight to torturing the lead and nearly frying his brain was a really bad look for them. Come on now can’t they at least pretend to not act like the villains for a little while?

Overall, Paycheck is a pretty fun. On its surface it’s just a classic action thriller but the time manipulation and sci-fi elements help to make it stand out. It has some interesting themes there and while that’s never the focus, it is still a fun little thing to touch on even if it’s just temporary. I’d recommend checking this film out, it’s a solid cautionary tale about how technology can get really dangerous really quickly if you rely on it too much. At the end of the day I personally recommend not letting anyone mess with your memories, but hey that’s just me. Also important to note that even if you don’t remember something, it still happened. So Michael’s idea here about doing stuff since he won’t remember it later on…yeah not a very good idea.

Overall 7/10

Empire of the Ants Review

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Time for a foe that is just as scary as a spider…an ant! Look you don’t want to mess with Ants for a variety of reasons but one is that they always have numbers on their side. The plot of this film changes quite a bit as the film goes on and the second half in particular is very interesting with the route that was chosen. The ending isn’t quite as hype as the spiders film though but ultimately this one executes at a much higher level.

The movie starts by introducing us to a bunch of characters who are invited onto a private island to see if they want to buy it or invest in it. They are all supposed to be rich people who can afford such a lavish purchase but what the host doesn’t realize is…a good deal of them are not rich or have no interest in buying the property at all. They’re just here to mess around and eat the free food. It also appears that this place is a scam anyway which is why it’s being offered away so aggressively. Unfortunately the danger isn’t merely to the pocket books as harmful chemicals have given the ants an attack boost. They are now massive and can rip people apart with ease. Can our heroes hold their own against these guys or are they doomed?

The film starts out quite poorly with one guy getting a girl alone and attacking her. She barely manages to fend him off but rather than murdering him or having the guy arrested she doesn’t really report this to anyone and just leaves. The guy’s boss also doesn’t do anything so from this point on you’re really just waiting for the ant to eat him. Like come on why are you starting the film like this. The whole intro is a bit slow as the characters all talk but most of them seem to hate each other and there’s a ton of very awkward small talk. It’s awkward by design of course but it does make for a fairly slow pace. Gradually they start to pair up and get along but you’re really just waiting for the ants to show up.

Sure enough they appear to start murdering people one by one. A good chunk of the film is about running around and trying to dodge ants. There are always various forks in the road so the characters will split up and you try to decide which ones made the wrong call. To an extent no route is that safe though so there is a lot of danger every which way. One thing the film does really good about showing though is that the ants are quite smart. They actively make plans and even try guiding the heroes into specific locations. Ants are generally pretty smart and have an advanced system within the tribe and so I’m glad we got to see that.

This part is fairly by the numbers but with so many annoying characters you are glad to see them get taken out. Some are more tragic than others though like an elderly couple that tries to hide in a house. You feel bad because it’s really a rough way to go when you’ve been around for so long. Like you lived to be 80 and then now you’re going to be eaten by ants? Just doesn’t feel right so that adds a tragic element to the film. The deaths can also be a little on the violent side. Not super overdone or anything. I think it’s just that enough of the death is shown so when you add it to how you imagine it would feel to be eaten alive and it’s a really rough picture.

As I mentioned the second half is where things get really interesting though. So the survivors make it over to a nearby town where everyone seems really nice but secretive. They don’t want the heroes to leave the town or anything like that. A little strange…but okay. So the heroes need to get out fast now but they will be up against the full might of the U.S. Government. There are a lot of secrets being held here and the biggest one really comes out of nowhere. It’s definitely an interesting moment though and explains why the place is so unnerving. I thought it was a brilliant twist but this really should have been the bulk of the movie. It’s just got so much potential and I feel like we didn’t stay here long enough.

Honestly if you focus on the second half I do think you could have actually gotten a pretty high score for the film. Remove the most annoying characters as well and treat this like a Twilight Zone episode. I feel like it was almost there, the whole thing was so close to being awesome and it just could not seal the deal. The two halves almost feel like completely different films and you don’t see that very often.

Overall, Empire of the Ants is not a film that I would rank very high. Too many annoying characters everywhere and while the dialogue can be rather funny, I don’t think the writing is great. The twists are a whole lot of fun but you will have some big questions about a few and won’t have time to get the answers. The ending gets really convenient really quickly and just makes the villains look super sloppy as opposed to making the heroes look like geniuses. The moves just should not have worked and so I was real skeptical. Still, I applaud the film taking things in such a different direction because I really did not see that coming. It came as a real big surprise and absolutely elevated the film because if we were just talking about the first half then we would have been in trouble.

Overall 5/10

Kingdom of the Spiders Review

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It’s time for a story about evil spiders so you know that this is going to be intense. Spiders do not hold back and I can tell you that from experience. I personally don’t think they’re quite as scary as the movies would have you believe but then again I’ve never come face to face with one of those huge ones in real life. I’ve only been around the smaller variety. This movie is a pretty intense thriller through and through with a really solid ending but the characters are not amazing and there is some serious plot armor here.

Okay so the story starts off with Rack messing around. He’s probably the best doctor in this small town in part because he’s the only one. When a horse dies from some venom randomly he’s kind of puzzled but calls in an expert. Diane shows up and explains that it was a spider bite but Rack doesn’t take her seriously for a moment and keeps flirting with her. He’s also busy flirting with another girl but gets mistaken for his dead brother which ruins that moment. Rack just wants romance! So he keeps trying with everyone but what the town really needs is for someone to focus because the death count starts to increase. Even the farm dog gets murdered which the film added as a little punch to the gut for any viewers who were hoping for a high quality experience. It turns out that Diane was right and an army of spiders are approaching to destroy everyone, all around the world. They’re going to destroy everyone Rack loves, starting with the people in the town. Can he stop them?

Now while I give Rack a lot of grief for being a completely patronizing, irresponsible jerk, things wouldn’t have changed much even if he took the threat seriously from the start. The reason comes down to a numbers advantage, there are millions and millions of spiders running around. They can tank fire by going underground and they can run really fast. Short of nuking the area or something like that you are not going to defeat them. The mayor wants to use some strong chemicals but aside from the fact that it would end up hurting a lot of humans as well, the spiders may be immune because they are mutant types.

So the town was always doomed. What was a bit surprising is that we actually see a large part of the fight onscreen. Usually you see the aftermath or something but no we see the spiders jumping people and taking them down. It’s a little hard to buy at face value but the film does put in some work to make it a little more plausible. For example, one bite is enough to seriously start to paralyze you and if you hit the ground then you’ll die right away because of the endless bites. So your best bet is not to get hit at all or to get bit once while running and the adrenaline will help you out.

It’s pretty tragic if anything seeing everyone get taken down though. The climax gets surprisingly violent with everyone being eaten alive. Even the mayor/sheriff had a bit of a grisly end there. I don’t know why people were trying to stop his car though except to doom them all. Like those people are already dead men walking so at least let this guy escape right? Ah well I suppose that wasn’t in the cards. Now the film does bend this law a bit though which is where the plot armor comes in.

So as I explained if you are bitten then it’s game over. You can just throw in the white flag because there is no getting away from this right? Wrong! Rack gets bit a ton of times and then hits the floor. By everything we’ve seen in the film that means he is dead and yet somehow he gathers up enough energy to recover and rejoin the rest of the cast. The scene made absolutely no sense and was completely annoying. You can’t just have plot armor like that for no reason. If they said he was a poison expert or something and was already immune for the most part then that would be fine but there’s no reason he should be alive here. I just can’t accept that.

It doesn’t help that he’s such a bad character too. The guy doesn’t take anything seriously and having more than one romance plot in the same movie is always a massive thumbs down. This guy’s not loyal nor is he trustworthy. You would not want to be paired with him because ultimately he’ll just see you as the next romance partner. It’s why Diane ended up being disappointing as she quickly ended up liking him anyway. There was no reason for that.

It’s too bad because the idea of trying to shelter in a house while spiders try to break in from all sides is pretty tense. The film just doesn’t execute particularly well. Any film with animals attacking you is likely to be a dicey one as that can quickly go into animal violence but it doesn’t need to happen. Why even have the dog appear at all? It’d be nice if the spiders had not gone after any animals and were just shredding the humans. They shouldn’t have any beef with the other wildlife right?

All that aside, the ending is really good though. It makes for a solid cliffhanger and is like something out of Resident Evil. The true horrors still await the main cast and you know that they are not in a good spot. I would argue that they aren’t quite doomed yet though. Given that the spiders are small I feel like you should be able to just make a break for it. They can’t bite you through your sneakers and if you run hard enough none of them should be able to climb up your pants. The tough part is just finding out how widespread these things are. If they go on for too long then you will get tired and eventually die but if not, then you have a chance. A sequel would have been very interesting here.

Overall, The Kingdom of the Spiders makes for an intense thriller but ultimately it made too many mistakes to get a passing grade. Having better characters would have gone a very long way to be honest because then you’re more invested in seeing the characters do well and overcome the audience. Without that it just feels like you aren’t going to be quite as engaged with the whole adventure and I wouldn’t really recommend this to anyone. It’s an interesting premise….but that’s not enough to save it.

Overall 2/10

The Accountant 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

I saw this film a little while ago and it’s definitely a solid action film all around. I remember the trailers and promotions for this one really well. The idea of an Accountant being the main character who is also a fighter and it was enough to get some eyebrows raised. Now granted, the film plays out a little differently than I expected since I was basically expecting accountant by day and Punisher by night but the route the movie goes is still solid.

The movie starts by introducing us to Christian who as a kid could not really handle any external stimulus. This would result in a lot of different episodes and panic attacks which gradually caused his mother to run off. His father did his best to train Christian and his brother Braxton even if his methods could be rather intense and tow the line of going too far. Well, it ended up working for Christian who is now an expert accountant who has been able to lead an ordinary life. He continues to train himself for stimulus every night using a custom setup at his house. His latest case is to find out if some money has been stolen by a huge company and this mystery goes back many years. An intern named Dana discovered this so she wants to help him out but he’s a solo act.

Is this guy hiding something though? Ray, the leader of the Treasury (Makes it sound like a big gang organization right?) hires a lady named Marybeth to find out the secret behind this accountant. He blackmails her so that if she refuses he will send her off to jail. That’s a pretty strong motivation so she’s all in but Christian appears to just be an alias that he uses and the guy has been the accountant for many powerful gangs and influential people across the globe. He always vanishes once the job is done and contacting him is next to impossible. Will she be able to pull this off?

Now the film is mainly focused on the two different plots, Christian’s and Marybeth’s. The latter is mostly a red herring in my opinion as you keep waiting for the two paths to connect. Of course they do to an extent but not as much as you would think. I feel like this was all leading up to a big sequel where you will have the payoff but even if we don’t get a sequel, I think this works pretty well. It’s a fun subversion as she continues to be one step behind him throughout the film as opposed to finally getting one over on him. Why is this a good thing? Well, it’d be a little cheesy if someone who just joined the force could track down the man that nobody has ever encountered yet. It would just be a little too fast, but give her a few years and that can of course change.

She’s a solid character through and through though. She also makes the right call in the end which I was glad about because for a bit there I was getting nervous. The “call” involves choosing to accept the help of a vigilante or not and yes while that can sound tricky, I think it’s clear that you have to say yes. You’re putting villains behind bars, it doesn’t matter where the intel is coming from. Meanwhile Ray was also a pretty solid character. He should probably tread lightly because he doesn’t want the Accountant for an enemy but I liked his drive. Replaying his backstory over and over was a bit much but I thought he pulled his weight really well in keeping the subplot interesting.

For the main plot, that’s where the meat and potatoes is. Christian makes for a really fun main character. He’s definitely been through a lot so it was nice to see him be in total control in the present. He has his system and knows how to protect himself. He’s also an expert fighter which is nice and balances out his serious side and comedic moments well. It also comes down to the fact that he’s just a nice guy in general. The film throws a whole lot of plot twists at you by the end and the best one involves the identity of the lady who works with him over the phone.

I thought that was a really nice touch and shows how he really helped improve a lot of other lives around him. It’s a twist that I absolutely did not see coming but works perfectly well when you see it there. That’s why it is such a good twist. Not every twist in the film lands though. One involves the identity of the main villain. So here’s the thing, it’s an unexpected twist which is cool but I think it was handled a bit too abruptly. No matter who the identity is, we know that this villain has been murdering a lot of people already. It’s hard to just let bygones be bygones.

While you could say that the villain is a vigilante like the Accountant to an extent, he’s certainly much more willing to cross the line at the drop of a hat. He’s an assassin for hire after all and while the victims we saw were other villains, he does murder them in rather intense ways and based on his reputation you are led to believe that he has quite the body count. All of this is just to say that you’re not really inclined to root for him in the present no matter what happened in the past. I actually liked him a whole lot in his past scenes but for the present it’s going to take some time.

Meanwhile Dana is a decent character although I don’t think she brought much to the movie beyond trying to squeeze some Hollywood romance in there. Christian works well as a solo act all the way through and they didn’t have a whole lot of banter or enough of a dynamic to make the extra character worth it. If she returns in the sequel you could probably do something with her but it did feel like this was probably it for her character. Her arc is concluded after all so the sequel would likely introduce some new characters.

The film doesn’t actually have a lot of action but the fights that we do get are pretty solid. Again that’s where the film tricked me a little because I was expecting a ton of fight scenes but really we just had the climax and a brief fight in the past. The choreography was on point though and the story is engaging enough where you’re invested all the way through anyway. The film can be sad, funny, serious, etc. It has a whole lot of range here and makes for a very complete film.

What seals the deal on this one being solid is the ending. A film like this could have absolutely destroyed itself with the wrong ending but it leaves a lot of room for a sequel and is satisfying for all of the characters. A whole lot of world building was accomplished here as well which is impressive for a stand alone title. It probably needs to sell me a little more on how Christian managed to stay alive for so long in such a brutal business but you could partially chalk that up to luck or him never really being in a position where someone wants him silenced. We do see some of the specifics on how he stays safe like a moving base and all buttttt I’m just a little skeptical.

Overall, The Accountant is a pretty good movie. The soundtrack may be a little forgettable but the writing is good and I liked the premise a whole lot. It really does throw a unique element into the mix (Being an accountant) and really rides that all the way through to the end. That will also prevent this film from just being forgotten because no matter how many other thrillers come out, it’s unlikely that they would end up copying that part of the plot. Even if they did, it would squarely be known as the copycat which just makes this one get brought up yet again. I’d recommend checking this film out for sure.

Overall 7/10

Naked Alibi Review

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Time for one of those noir films where you have to stay focused and make sure you don’t miss anything! The film really covers a lot of ground which is pretty good as half of the film is about the first part of the suspect’s double life and then we go to the other. So it’s like the film is actually following the guy’s career path which makes a lot of sense. The villain gets away with quite a bit as the film goes on and the ending isn’t the most satisfying which is what holds this one back a little.

The movie starts with some police officers interrogating Willis. Willis was really drunk and the cops have reason to think he may know something about recent robberies. Willis gets quite upset and even starts a fight but ultimately the cops are forced to let him go. Officer Conroy overhears Willis swear revenge and then shortly afterwards a cop is murdered. Conroy is convinced that Willis is behind this but there is no proof. Then another pair of officers are murdered and Conroy really wants to take Willis down but getting the evidence is the tricky part. Willis also has public opinion on his side so Conroy ends up getting fired from his job for going at this a little too strongly. Well, he will crack this case even if he has to do it as a civilian and follows Willis across the border. Can he really make it out of this alive?

You could say that the opening city is Conroy’s home base since even after being let go from the police force he knows everybody and can tail Willis rather easily. When we switch to Willis’ home base then it’s a lot tougher as Conroy doesn’t know the local gangs or how things work here. In fact he is quickly taken down by a bunch of thugs and only barely survives thanks to Marianna and a kid who spotted Conroy in time. Conroy was a bit sloppy there even if it was because he was just desperate at this point. You still can’t follow just anybody, particularly in a seedy environment like this. It’s just not going to work.

I applaud Conroy’s dedication the whole time though. He never relents in the search or doubts himself at all even when everyone tries to talk him out of it. Conroy knows that he has got his man. Working on your own like that is definitely tough and he doesn’t fall for Marianna’s distractions either. He is completely locked in and ultimately does good. He has to be one of the standout characters in the film although I also give his partner a lot of credit for risking his own career in helping Conroy out the whole time.

Meanwhile Marianna is in a really rocky spot the whole film. She is with Willis but the guy is obviously abusive and isn’t exactly the ideal guy. She has put up with this for a long time and is basically resigned to being with him but this gets more and more unbearable as she learns about him. The relationship was toxic from the start so it’s partially on her as even from the opening greeting he’s putting hands on her and she seems okay with it. It’s once she finds out that there’s another woman involved that it gets more personal. Mix that in with Willis getting more and more paranoid and it’s a recipe for trouble.

It’s clear from her rather rough living expenses that Marianna doesn’t have many options available to her though. Willis basically owns the area and she has no way of getting out. So the whole plot point is a rather tragic one an you wish things could have gone better for her. She definitely tried to help out as best she could even if this wasn’t always a good idea. Following Willis into the Church for example was definitely ill advised. She did not appear to be prepared at all.

Finally you have Willis who is a fairly crazy villain all the way through. He wants pure chaos all the time and really sells the innocent routine. He managed to make a lot of friends at his day job which helps for the alibi. People just seem to like him and it’s a bit scary how well trusted he was despite having this double life. It just goes to show once again that you may not always know someone quite as well as you think you do. The side you see at work is just one part of them after all.

While I definitely don’t like Willis at all, he is probably one of the best fakers I’ve seen in a while. If this was your first Noir title you may actually believe him for the first half because the guy seems really genuine the whole time. I mean fighting a few officers is a massive red flag if I’ve ever seen one but if you get behind that then you’re all set. The film is definitely compelling as you wait for Conroy to take him down.

Ultimately like I said the main weak point here is the ending. It just feels a bit mean spirited even for a Noir title with everything going on. I also think the scenes with Marianna follow suit with her having to take a lot of punishment before Conroy can ultimately come in and put a stop to this. It’s really just a rough situation for everyone involved and shows why you don’t want to have to live in an area ruled by a gangster. It’s just never going to go over all that well and you’re going to really get blasted the longer you hang around there.

Overall, Naked Alibi is a film with a fairly intricate plot and it’s got a lot going for it. The story is engaging and Conroy is a great main character. It also shows how frustrating it can be when you know who the villain is but just don’t have the proof to put him away. It puts you in a really tough spot the whole time. I’d have appreciated getting to see Conroy having a full mano a mano fight with Willis and getting us a happier ending but at the end of the day this is still a film that will keep your attention. It can get rather dark and comes close to breaking through to being overdone but mainly keeps sticks to scratching the edge.

Overall 6/10

A Force of One Review

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A Force of One is a pretty good film that really follows all of the right steps. You’ve got some good martial art scenes (Even if it does overuse the slow mo a bit so they don’t keep up with the recent action films I’ve seen like Kickboxer) and the film even avoids throwing in the obligatory romance. All in all it’s a well balanced movie and while it may not end up becoming one of your all time favorites or anything like that, it’s consistently solid all the way through.

The movie starts with a pair of cops trying to crack down on some drug smuggling going on and so they tale one of the guys into a store. Unfortunately they are taken down by a mysterious kung fu fighter before they can even get any shots off. It’s a huge deal because both were murdered and so now the cops really have to try and stop this right away. They even go as far as to try and learn martial arts by asking the champion, Matt for help. Matt is reluctant but ultimately gets involved. He may even suspect who is behind this but will even he be a match for such a deadly fighter?

You can understand why Matt doesn’t really want to get involved here. He is a fighter to be sure but this is really police business and it’s a huge responsibility to jump in like that. He’s got a lot on his plate but this does end up getting personal later on in the film which really ends up forcing his hand. Once Matt is serious he definitely shows why he is one of the top fighters out there. I thought he would do a little better outside of the restaurant in his first main fight with the villain but I suppose he was taken by surprise so you have to consider that.

Once we get to the big fight Matt is dialed in and it’s clear that he is more powerful than his opponent. He really did end up being the strongest and it was nice to see him just be able to win straight up without needing a pep talk or anything like that. Those moments can work sometimes but other times you just want to be able to follow a lead who can just defeat the opponents with no real help.

His son Charlie gets a fairly big role here as well. He wants to be a really great fighter but does tend to get distracted a lot. He’s very young and still has a long way to go but he’s got a lot of heart and means well. He definitely could have handled the final situation a bit better but he still kept on trying all the way to the end so you have to give him some credit there.

Mandy is the main heroine here and she is really invested in stopping the cop killings. Her main task was getting Matt on board and she does a good job there. From there on out she does her best to keep things professional while trying to get more info but the film mainly sabotages any chance for them to get too close which is good. With a serial killer on the loose there really isn’t any time for side adventures right? At least that’s the way that I see it here so this really made a lot of sense. Later on when Mandy tells Matt to stay out of it and focus on the match is the only time I didn’t really agree with her. That just wasn’t possible by that stage.

Then you have the main villain and since the film is part mystery I won’t say who that is. He works well as the final boss since he is powerful and can hold his own for a bit. There just isn’t much time to really develop him as a character though. He barely gets any screen time which will also make it a bit hard to guess that he is the villain so props if you figured it out early on. The film probably could have done more with him but I get their wanting to not spoil the twist early by mistake.

As mentioned the fight scenes are good so you’ll be entertained there. The film is actually pretty good about never making the battles too violent or over the top either. It’s pretty clean martial arts action most of the way through and you can really enjoy the battles. The writing is also good which will keep you engaged and the characters are solid so it’s really a win all the way around.

The weakest aspect of the film is probably the cops trying to piece together what’s going on. Some of their deductions just take too long like not realizing until the end of the film how odd it is that one of the officers had clay in his fingers. That should have stuck out immediately and while it wouldn’t have broken the case wide open, it would have led them on the right track. It felt like that was held back for dramatic effect over the actual logic in universe. So the movie was definitely much stronger when it was just focusing on the battles. I did enjoy the light hearted banter and slice of life moments in the middle though. We had several fun dynamics which you could picture them building a show around. Matt helping out the cops on different cases and such. Yeah I think that would have had potential.

Overall, A Force of One is a pretty good movie. The title is certainly appropriate as well considering how Matt really dominates the characters when it’s a straight fight. I think the worst thing you can say about the film is perhaps that it’s not going to be super memorable by the end. Sure it has the mystery angle going for it but for the most part the film isn’t actually trying to have you solve it. You’re just waiting for the villain to make their move and then the fights can resume. The movie is very by the numbers for the most part but this is another example of why execution is so important. It can all be a little generic as long as it’s still a lot of fun and this movie succeeds in that area.

Overall 7/10

Lone Survivor

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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 film based on a true story. I suppose films like that don’t have to worry about spoilers as presumably you already know about it, but I still think the title could have been a little different. It sort of spoils a massive part of the movie right out of the gate. You’re waiting for all of his teammates to be destroyed so that the main character is the sole survivor but the whole film is about the onslaught so he isn’t actually on his own until the end of the film. Moreover, the title also basically confirms that he survives. I know since this is based on a true story it’s likely that he would survive but not a guarantee since a lot of tragic stories also get adapted. All I’m saying here is the title’s just a bit on the odd side with how much it gives away.

Well, the basic plot here is that an army of soldiers are sent deep into enemy territory to take down one of the enemy leaders. They need to stealthily get in there and judge the situation. Unfortunately they are spotted by a few locals and after some deliberation, decide to let them go. Unfortunately these people let the Taliban know that the soldiers are in the area and they all start to get picked off. Can they survive long enough for backup to arrive or is it all over for them? That’s the general plot of the film at least.

Off the bat I do think it’s valid to think that the heroes made the wrong move in letting the witnesses go. It does make sense that they would go and let people know which would compromise the whole operation. Your only options at that point are to take them down, tie them up, or bring them with you. I understand not wanting to go the nuclear option but tieing them up should be the bare minimum. Alternately you take them with you as you take the high position on the mountain and you just let them go once you’ve established radio contact and gotten backup. Either way you are in a much better position. The problem with waiting is that you’re not on home turf so the enemy knows the location better than you do and you’re heavily outnumbered.

It’s probably no exaggeration to say that the enemy had 5-6 times the numbers that the heroes had because the soldiers took down a lot of enemy fighters and yet they just kept on coming. It felt like there was no real end to them no matter how much ammo the heroes had. Perhaps if they were on level ground they could have managed to overcome the odds but even then it’s tough because of how heavily armed the enemy was. They had RPGs and machine guns at the ready. The heroes had a lot of ammo and several guns but it’s just hard to fight like that. You’re basically going up against a mini army.

The only time the film isn’t focused on all this action is really the intro act where the heroes are getting ready to be deployed and they all have a little fun. It’s nice that we at least got to see them having a bit of fun before everything went south. There are also the brief meanwhiles to the army base but those are always brief. You do wonder how come the army doesn’t have better communication technology in this day and age though. Using satellites and such you’d expect them to be able to reach home base in any area. Not being able to make contact at all feels like it would ramp every mission’s difficulty up a whole lot. If you can’t call for backup or extraction you’re close to turning these into suicide missions.

The brass apparently knew from the start that there could be communication issues as well so it’s not like this is a big surprise or anything like that. It was expected which probably makes this even more tragic all the way around. If there was ever something that deserved a ton of funding, it’s definitely making improvements to that technology. It also feels very feasible so even though this film’s based on events that aren’t super old, I would imagine this would no longer be such a cause for concern in the present.

Overall, The Lone Survivor is definitely a very intense army film. Don’t expect a whole lot of happy scenes here or much cause for celebration during the adventure. The majority of its runtime is really about the heroes being brutally beaten and killed as they do their best to survive for as long as possible. The film doesn’t hold back on the violence at all or the desperation that the characters are feeling. If you’re curious about the real life events then it makes sense to check out this film but it also may just be easier to read an article on it instead. It’s not really my kind of title and just makes for a very dreary movie as you watch it through. Even the ending isn’t what I would call all the way happy because ultimately this came at a super high price.

Highlander 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

Okay it’s time to look at a film that has a very interesting plot but unfortunately it is completely wasted by having a lot of screen time take place in the past and also getting lost in the grittiness of it all. This should have been a really fun action movie with a whole lot of excitement going on and instead it was all squandered. What a shame.

The film starts off with Connor dueling an immortal in a parking lot. There’s a lot of destruction but in the end Connor wins and absorbs the guy’s life essence. The cops arrest Connor but he gets out due to their being a lack of evidence. So what’s going on here? Well basically there are a bunch of immortals running around so there is finally a tournament to bump them all off. The only way for an immortal to die is to be destroyed (So they’re not really immortal tbh unless you’re just thinking lifespan and in a way that is what some people think of but to me you’re not truly an immortal unless you are unable to die) so everyone is going to fight until there is only one immortal left standing. The final battle appears to be fated to be Connor vs Kurgan as they have a deep history.

Okay so the first massive mistake the film makes is constantly jumping between the present and the past. In general as a rule of thumb you do not want to do this. If you absolutely have to do it though, try to get all of the scenes out of the way early so we can get on with it. Instead this just keeps on going over and over and over again right through to the end. You’re sick and tired of seeing the past each time. It also has to be one of the most generic immortal storylines you’ll see as everyone betrays the guy because it’s immortal.

I’m always impressed at just how awful humanity is in all of these moments. So you’ve decided to anger a guy who won’t die from normal injuries and just hope that he doesn’t slaughter everyone? They’re super lucky that he doesn’t want to hurt any of them because this was quickly turning into a villain origin story. Then Connor meets a lady and has a romance but of course he won’t grow old while she does so she ends up dying. The film has some extra grit by allowing the villain to get his hands on her while Connor isn’t around which is definitely the worst scene of the film.

It’s off screen fortunately but that really didn’t need to be in the film. We already have so many reasons to dislike Kurgan, this is just piling on at this point. Man I have so many problems with the flashback stuff. Ultimately it’s just not interesting and it’s beating down a point that you could have easily understood from context clues. The only scenes of real importance here is when Ramirez shows up to train Connor and even that could have been off screen. You knew Ramirez was doomed the whole time anyway. The mentor is always doomed in these things. At least he put up a really good fight though.

Ramirez was a decent guy and I give him credit for trying to show Connor the ropes. He really did make the guy a whole lot stronger and also informed him of everything going on. If not Connor would have been at a really disadvantage which is why the whole tournament’s not very fair anyway. If you don’t know someone to give you the info dump then you’re just going to get absolutely wasted when the fighting starts anyway since you won’t even be expecting to have to fight for your life until it’s too late. Not very balanced eh?

Connor is a reasonable main character but not great or anything. He’s all business when it comes to the fights and has experience being an immortal. So that’s all good but you do think he would be a little better at handling himself socially in that respect. For example when the cops showed up at the beginning Connor really didn’t even try to explain himself all that much. At least he could have come up with some kind of crazy story. He’s rich so he might have been able to get away with it a lot easier.

The main villain Kurgan is barely a character so much as he’s just someone that needs to be taken down. He’s pure evil and his only real motivation is to murder everyone. Not exactly a deep character. He’s a strong one to be sure but you’re just waiting for him to go down. I think the film could have made him more interesting and in general I wish we could have seen more of the combatants. For the most part they all just show up to get destroyed as quickly as possible.

Brenda is also a character who doesn’t do a whole lot considering how often she appears. She wants to find clues to Connor and how he got such an old sword. She even resorts to asking him out to trap him while she has her tape recorder on but he sees through the traps rather quickly. I suppose she does have one key moment where she saves him during the fight but that’s not really enough for her to turn the corner and be more interesting.

Highlander is the definition of a film that was way too ambitious and so you end up feeling like it left a ton of meat on the bone. I wanted to learn more about the immortals, see more of the action, and just enjoy the tournament. Instead we’re stuck learning about Connor’s past over and over again and the fights play a backseat role. The actual fights are really good when they occur but they absolutely should have been the main focus and it should not even have been close. When your main characters are all immortals you really can’t go wrong.

Overall, Highlander is a film with a lot of potential but it didn’t focus on the most interesting elements of the premise. It should have been more about the fun immortal fights and everything instead of zipping around in the past. We didn’t need to see all of that to be honest and the past scenes hurt the film tremendously. It tries too hard to be edgy instead of focusing on the fun fights and in the end it definitely did not meet expectations. I would say to just skip this one and watch a different action film like Mortal Kombat instead. Now that one really focuses on the tournament rather than on all of the side stuff and it makes for a better overall experience.

Overall 3/10

Nightmare Alley (2021) Review

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This is a review 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 another remake as we step into the circus this time around. I have to say that the original film defeats this one much like the Death on the Nile original beat the remake. Ultimately this one hangs around a bit too long and just doesn’t manage to surpass the original on anything except visuals. The visuals are really solid after all.

So the movie starts out with Stan on rather hard times and he ends up joining a circus. He does odd jobs around the place and helps with one of the magic tricks. Eventually Stan grows ambitious and figures he can use the trick of fake psychic powers to get huge. He leaves the circus with Molly and they set off to light the world ablaze. It’s all going very well and they have a lot of money now but Stan gets jealous. He wants to be even richer and so he decides to forego the morals and start spooking people with visions of their deceased loved ones and things like that. Molly is completely against the idea and so Stan goes to a local psychiatrist named Lilith. She agrees to help him scam people and will even do him the favor of holding all of his money for him in her vault. That’s real generous. What can go wrong?

I’m going to be honest this part’s a little on the nose. Her name is Lilith like the succubus of legend. She is gladly keeping all of Stan’s money for him since she doesn’t care about material gains and all the while she is recording sessions with Stan where she breaks down his psyche to learn of his dark past. Along the way she’s also seducing him since the guy has no ethics as we’ve already established. Any red flags here? Gee….I can’t even….

So yeah Stan has it all coming to him and you can’t feel bad for him. You could argue that he was never a particularly nice guy but he was in a seedy environment and had to be tough. You can certainly understand that and I wouldn’t hold it against him. The main problem is of course the betrayal once he turns from Molly into the arms of Lilith and also getting so greedy. If he didn’t try so hard the guy could have just stayed plenty wealthy and lived a peaceful life. Instead he just had to get bigger and bigger and bigger as the risk kept growing as well. When you turn your backs on everyone for money that is always going to lead you down the wrong path.

Molly was a good heroine at least, she really tried to keep Stan on the straight and narrow. The thing is, at the end of the day you can’t really control someone else so either they want to do the right thing or they don’t. If they don’t then your hands are really tied the whole time. There’s just not much that you could really do about it. Ultimately she does eventually draw the line although it would have been great if she had left a little sooner and decided not to dress up at all.

Lilith is a pretty solid villain and probably the highlight character of the film. Yes she’s not a good person to say the least but I appreciated her cunning. A large portion of the film is Stan just messing with everyone and showing why he is the smartest guy in the room. Lilith was the first one to challenge that and so they have a meeting of the minds several times. It’s by far the most interesting part of the movie. You really feel like he’s on the back foot the whole time despite his bravado and how tough the guy thinks he is. He’s just not on the same playing field as her and it really shows.

Where the film really falters are all the scenes with the circus. It feels like the film doesn’t really get going until he’s out of the circus and into the city, yet that takes a very long time. A good chunk of the film is to set that up and all of those scenes are rather brutal. We see how Stan’s natural charm carries him far but the whole place is rather dreary and gritty. We also get the scene of eating a chicken which is pretty brutal. Obviously most of its not on screen but it’s set up enough where it’s still pretty bad. You definitely don’t want animal violence like that in any form.

The film’s ending is also leading up to this once again. Now I do think the ending is better than the original. This one leaves you some hope for some kind of master plan or a way for Stan to get out of this. Not that you’re really rooting for Stan by this point but you’re at least hoping that he avoids this fate because you wouldn’t really want that to happen to anyone. It’s a rough way to go and the laugh at the end could mean a few different things. I’d say it’s clear which way the film wants you to interpret it, as complete despair and acceptance but you could still maintain that maybe there is some grand master plan coming into play. After all Stan already knows the playbook to this so hopefully he wouldn’t be fooled so easily.

Overall, Nightmare Alley definitely shows you a circus that would give you nightmares. It can’t be easy having to live in such an environment and most of the people there are hardly around by choice. It’s a place of last resort but that doesn’t really make for an interesting film. Once we’re outside that and into the big city then the film picks up but not enough to overcome the intro. I appreciated the strategic element of the film and wish we had stayed to that more but ultimately this is not a film I would really recommend. I would much sooner say to check out the original instead.

Overall 3/10

Death on the Nile (2022) Review

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I don’t rewatch mystery films very often so it’s rare to be able to go back and see the whole adventure again while already knowing the ending. This is a rare chance where I was able to do that since I saw the original film a while back. It makes for a fun perspective and all in all this is a pretty good film even if the original is certainly better if you ask me. If you can only pick one version I would say to watch the first one but otherwise this works well enough.

The film starts with Poirot enjoying a nice party and then he gets to witness a big shot enter the room. The super wealthy Linnet. Jackie introduces Linnet to her fiancé Simon and begs Linnet to give him a job. Linnet agrees but also ends up taking Simon himself to be her bride and the two get married very shortly afterwards. Poirot finds this out the hard way after bumping into an old friend Bouc and joining the group on a big honey moon adventure. They’ll be visiting pyramids and going on boat trips. The usual rich people stuff. An obstacle appears though as Jackie shows up and decides to cause a lot of trouble. She has not forgiven Linnet for stealing her man and even has a gun at the ready. Linnet asks Poirot to take care of Jackie but he doesn’t want to be a vigilante. Well, Linnet is shot to death shortly afterwards and now Poirot has to solve the case no matter what. His honor is on the line!

So this movie does add some fluff which does drag it out a bit compared to the original. As a whole the film is still engaging the whole time but the new stuff does happen to be the weakest. For example we see Poirot’s backstory which really doesn’t elevate the film in the slightest. He’s a character we don’t need to know about, just the fact that he is an ace detective. It’s a fairly sloppy origin that does borderline on boring but it’s fairly quick. It does lead to a final scene that will have you shaking your head.

The actual mystery is on point though. Linnet is introduced as a true antagonist all the way through with how she callously stole her best friend’s man like that. Now as they say, anyone who is taken so easily is not someone you want to have as a partner anyway but it’s still a huge betrayal. It also shows once again why you shouldn’t have your partner just dancing around with someone like that. Seriously there is no upside to asking your super wealthy best friend to dance with your fiancé. Particularly when he isn’t super well off which is why he needs a job right away. In the worst case Linnet could have ended up blackmailing Simon or something.

It’s also a very involved dance that is inherently romantic. Now I don’t care if they’re singing Jingle Bells or Bring me to Life, the end result is the same. You just can’t let the dance happen at the start. But obviously that means you are rooting for Jackie to take them out the whole time but she is such an obvious suspect that this should set off a lot of alarm bells in your head. Granted, even Poirot gets emotional really quickly here which shows that he isn’t quite ready for a case of this level but he starts to get his bearings. It is a little embarrassing that he slept through the whole thing but hey it happens to everyone I suppose.

Poirot is still a good main character as always and fun to watch. He definitely likes trying to anger the suspects all the time to really put them in a vulnerable headspace where they could say the wrong thing. It’s actually a really effective tactic when you think about it. Now lets talk about the suspects, there are a ton of them. Everyone should be considered one except for Linnet of course as she was taken out of the picture right away.

First up we have Jackie who is a fun character. I do think the fact that she still wants Simon makes her look really desperate of course because why would you want a cheater back. Taking him 6 feet under makes sense or getting revenge on Linnet but actually getting together with him doesn’t. He’s already been tainted and you would be the rebound at that point. Plus how could you ever trust him again? Ultimately she is a high quality character and one of the most entertaining ones in the film but that’s not the proper motivation that you want.

Another obvious suspect is Simon as well since of course he needed a lot of money and we already saw that he is quick to betray anyone to get to his own ambitions. The guy’s only honor code is that he will do whatever it takes to win. So yeah that’s a good reason as any to suspect him and of course if he is the villain it will make Linnet look pretty bad for letting him in so easily. You always have to consider that maybe your seduction techniques weren’t as great as you thought they were and the other party just let himself be ensnared. Particularly when you’re rich you need to be extra careful.

You have Bouc who is Poirot’s friend so he would have many opportunities to slip past the detective by using this knowledge. The guy wants a romance that is being blocked by his mother so perhaps he is taking his jealousy out on the newly weds. His mother is also a suspect as she believes all romance is a scam and tries to prevent it as much as possible. Someone like that might try to end everybody! Then you have Louise who is always treated terribly by Linnet and who had her own romance brutally crushed. Perhaps this is payback once and for all!

We can’t forget the singer Salome who has a gun of her own at the ready and takes no disrespect. Linnet may have said the wrong thing and that was the end of her. Sometimes all it takes is the wrong word. Then we have Rosalie who likes Bouc but their relationship isn’t approved just yet. Perhaps knocking off Linnet will be enough of a distraction for them to escape together. We can’t forget Linus who was in love with Linnet but was kept to the friend zone the whole time. She basically flaunts the relationship in his face and he has to stand there and take it. The poor guy seems down bad so maybe he finally decided to bump her off.

We also have Andrew who keeps Linnet’s finances and may have finally stolen too much this time. Perhaps he thought she would notice and had to take her out of the picture. There’s also the two older ladies on the trip who could easily launch a sneak attack when nobody was looking. There are all kinds of ways they could have gotten their hands on the gun and then that would be case closed.

So yeah a lot of motives here and there are a number of characters who could have been willing to commit the act. Part of the focus here is that just about nobody liked Linnet at all so they weren’t even sad to see her go. It’s definitely tragic if you’re in her position but she really did dig her own grave on this one. The mystery is solid and so you’ll have a good time here. It’s also long enough where you can really develop all of the characters and get to know them before the end.

As with quite a few murder mysteries I didn’t actually buy into the explanation at the end. The window of time was way too short for this all to work out as it did in the flashback. There would have been witnesses and the whole plan ends up failing at the gate. You just have to shake your head and accept the explanation but I would not say that it was a very satisfactory one. I think the film could have done better there even fi it meant diverging from the book a little. Just rearrange some things.

The film has really nice visuals and good music so the technical elements are on point. Personally this kind of honey moon would not be up my alley though as it seems like a ton of work travelling and everything when you should just be having a good time. I also would not be going anywhere near the hot areas like the desert when I’m trying to have a good time. No shot, I’d be somewhere cold at least.

Overall, Death on the Nile is a solid film. It does end up getting overtaken by the shadow of the original but as long as you’re looking for a solid thriller then you should have a good time here. There’s always something happening so you have to pay attention to every detail. Even if I didn’t buy the whole murder reveal this time or last time, it’s a fun setup which is the important thing. You can always stretch your disbelief a little bit to just have fun with the story. I look forward to seeing how the next installment goes now that we’re dabbling into a bit of horror with that one.

Overall 7/10