Tag Archives: Thriller

Meg 2: The Trench Review

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It’s time for the big sequel to the original Meg title. The first one wasn’t exactly a top caliber film and unfortunately neither is this one. The Trench certainly does throw in a whole lot more action when it comes to the human combatants but it will also be a long while until you see the Sharks in action. In a sense that can be a good thing for the film since the sharks are usually going to be the title’s downfall. At the same time, you know they will show up eventually so either way it’s not like this will have much of an effect long term. In that case, you might as well get it over with. Sure enough, the film does fall into old habits at that point.

The film focuses around Jonas who has been fighting off eco-terrorists and saving the day from the shadows. His crew is also busy raising one of the Megs and Jiuming is even so overconfident as to think that the Meg won’t eat him. This puts him into danger almost immediately but somehow he manages to get to safety. Everyone tells him what a bad idea this is but he doesn’t care. The heroes go further into the ocean than they had planned and end up finding out that there are several Megs. They just won’t have time to do much about this because of an insurrection. Turns out corporate still has a few tricks up their sleeve and now the heroes will be stuck underwater…forever. Can Jonas figure a way out of here?

A good chunk of the film is really an underwater survival mission. How do you get out of a submarine with no escape pods left and the villains watching your every move? This will definitely make you even more paranoid about being left so far under the sea. It’s just not a good business move especially when it seems like there is a traitor behind every door. Corporate doesn’t have the greatest of plans here as they basically pull a Jurassic World but we have the villainous smirks and cackling throughout the film which is the real important thing. You can tell that these villains really think the world of themselves.

Jonas is a solid lead as always. He is a solid fighter and doesn’t underestimate the terrors of the deep. He is always the voice of reason here and ultimately is the one to get things done. Without him the rest of the crew would not have lasted more than a few minutes. They are seriously outmatched without him there at all times. That’s why Jonas is the head honcho after all.

Meiying is supposed to be the fun child character but she does tend to be more on the annoying side. Stowing away on a dangerous underwater adventure is really not the play. She may have some scientific knowledge that comes in handy from time to time but she also spends a whole lot of time just slowing everyone down. She is physically unable to compete when the going gets tough and that is exactly why kids stay out of missions like this.

Unfortunately Jiuming may be even worse at times. He was a second away from completely traumatizing the kid by getting eaten by the Meg. He was way too confident in his sonar gadget and should have been doing a whole lot of further test studies before actually getting in the ocean. He had to rely on pure luck to stay alive and I can tell you now that this is not a good meter for success. You can’t count on luck to bail you out of every opportunity. That’s just not happening, it’s not a good way to play the odds.

The guy doesn’t really learn his lesson as he is constantly running into danger. Now you may be wondering if every character was completely unprepared for action but I can at least say that DJ was ready. This guy decided to properly arm himself in case the going got tough. Some would call him paranoid, I would call him realistic. This is exactly the kind of initiative I like to see in these events. He had some hand to hand skills, a taser, and other miscellaneous equipment. He saves the day on several accounts here. Every time you think DJ is done, he pulls something else out of his toolbox.

He really stole the show in his quick scenes here. I wish I could say the same about the villains. The lady had a great line though where she asks if another villain is crying. That about sums up how threatening these guys are to be honest. This does give us a chance to give Jonas a solid one liner as he kicks someone off a bridge later on though. When the film leans into a little bit of cheesy behavior, you know that it has a ton of confidence. On the whole the film had a good blend of action and humor. I would say the tone was solid and the fight scenes even had some good choreography. One mistake the film had was in having the best action scene be at the very beginning of the film though. When you peak that early there are always going to be some problems.

So like I said the sharks don’t appear for a while. Unless you count the opening scene I suppose. So the film was mainly doing good but once the Sharks show up then the animal violence begins. One of the big problems with creature films like this is how the monsters don’t actually end up being all that scary. The main character is ultimately able to take a few on with just basic equipment after all. Not the best look for these creatures right? So sadly they are stabbed and blown up. Also the opening scene is fairly graphic with all of the animals getting chopped.

It’s why the creature genre tends to be doomed on arrival. Either the monsters show up and get crushed, or they don’t appear much and you were in a whole bait and switch operation. In either event, the film is probably not going to get the highest score. I would say if you take out all of the animals then this could have been an easy 6 out of 10. Throw in all of the shark bashing and of course it’s going to go lower. Props to the film for not bumping off the dog though, now that would have been really crossing the line.

Overall, Meg 2 feels impressively long but I can’t tell if that’s a good thing and the writers packed a lot in or it means that the pacing was a bit slower than I thought. Either way if you’re here for the sharks then you may find the first half way too slow but if you’re here for the character banter then the second half may not match up for you. If you’re a Dinosaur film then you’ll probably have a good time here because their role is way bigger than I thought it would be. Personally I figured that would maybe just be the opening scene or something but they actually stick around. I think it’s probably time for this series to retire but if we get a third then the only way to top this will be to finally add aliens or something like that.

Overall 3/10

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes Review

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It’s time for the big prequel to the classic Hunger Games story. Since we already know how corrupt the place is, you can assume that this’ll be more of a sad story right from the start. The movie does not disappoint in this regard as it is all quite dreary for most of its run. The film does a good job of not being over the top gritty though. The kills don’t tend to be too bloody with the wort of the wounds effectively being off screen. It’s certainly not a feel good movie but one that serves as a cautionary tale to be careful who you trust.

The movie starts by introducing us to Snow who pretends that he is one of the spoiled rich kids in order to survive at a prestigious school for long enough to win an award and actually get rich. His family was rich for a time so nobody suspects anything but this year there is a wrinkle in the plan. The Hunger Games have not been getting great ratings so they are spicing things up with the mentor system. Snow will have to try and make sure that his tribute, Lucy, survives through the tournament at least long enough to prove that he is the best mentor. Can he pull this off or are the games too rigged for that?

There are definitely quite a few things against Snow here, one of them is the teacher. This guy can’t stand Snow and openly says that he will do his best to wreck the guy’s life. When that is the person standing in your way, it is difficult to win any kind of prize. Fortunately the game master is on Snow’s side so he still has a chance. Thing is, he has to try and connect with Lucy which will be difficult since the tributes naturally dislike the people from the capital.

The tributes are given no choice but to compete in these games with their whole families held hostage in the meantime so they can’t even properly resist. If they make the wrong move then they will all be destroyed. Meanwhile, nearly all of the tributes are doomed to die anyway so it is a really rough system. It shows how barbaric the future state of the world is as everyone just watches these games and treats it like a normal thing. Ratings have gone down which is a good thing but it’s definitely not enough to shut the whole thing down.

The toughest part about a dystopia film like this is finding someone to root for. After all, most of the characters are going to be downright antagonistic right from the start. You’re not really rooting for Snow because he is pretty bad himself. Yeah he gets some sympathy points for not actually being rich and just doing his best to hang in there but at the same time he’s been living the life for so long that he may as well be one of those rich kids. Snow plays up to whoever has power and you can tell that he will not be a revolutionary.

Snow gradually gets worse and worse as the film goes on. Not everything is his fault but a lot of the situations are ones that he gets himself into. It’s hard for anyone to make a difference in this kind of world but in the end Snow definitely didn’t do much to change the world. If anything, his ideas for a more cruel Hunger Games may have made things worse. Sure, the combatants will get some better privileges in the lead up to the games but at the same time this will make the games run longer which has a rougher long term effect.

Initially I figured the games would be most of the climax but surprisingly there is quite a bit of story even after that. We get to see more of the lives in the District and how rough those are. Even when things seem happy, there is the underlining fear of knowing that any year you could be chosen for the Hunger Games. You can’t truly live a happy life with the specter of death right behind you like that. It’s just not possible and will only make things rougher and rougher for them all.

Sejanus is the only guy who really tries to make a difference. On one hand yo can respect that but he always does so in the sloppiest ways possible. The guy ends up looking gullible and slow on the uptake. He’s not good at keeping secrets and his half hearted plans don’t help anyone out long term. So he still beats Snow because it’s better to have a bad plan than no plan but you’d think that this guy could have done a lot better. He wins bravery points for talking back in such a dictatorship but couldn’t do much more than that.

Meanwhile for Lucy, she’s not a bad heroine but also seems to not be the best at strategy. I don’t see how she could allow herself to be close to Snow at all considering the circumstances. Even with the actions Snow did during the games, you would always assume that he is against you. The odds of this guy actually being a good person would just be near 0%. He was keeping lots of secrets and lies the whole time after all. Fortunately she eventually finds enough out to get out of there but otherwise that whole plot felt a bit forced to me. In the actual games she did well to last a while but definitely took a whole lot of risks. She wasn’t quite as memorable and hungry for battle as Katniss.

One weakness for prequels is that you roughly know all of the story beats that are going to happen so it does put a lot of extra pressure on the movie to execute the plot extremely well. Any mistakes will feel extra heavy as a result of already knowing the layout. I would say the film does a fine job. It does drag on a little at different points but it still a good movie. You will stay interested but I do think cutting out maybe 15-20 minutes would have made a good difference here. The length just doesn’t make sense with a much shorter Hunger Games like what we saw here.

Overall, A lot of the characters seem a bit gullible here like one guy drinking from a vial dropped off with a bunch of other stuff from someone who clearly despised him. It may not seem like a big thing but in such a cutthroat world, you’d imagine that everyone would have their guards up at all times. The same thing goes for the student who was murdered at the zoo or Sejanus in his various plights. The characters don’t always act like they’re in a sudden death world. You could say that they were simply too sheltered in the rich world and lacked common sense but at the same time that can only go so far. Well, suspend your disbelief and just follow the story along. It’s still interesting enough to get you past the main issues.

Overall 6/10

Texas Terror Review

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Texas Terror brings us back into another classic John Wayne adventure. It’s fairly short as with the last few so things have to move fast but it doesn’t feel like there is as much of a sense of urgency as in his other films. It makes for a fun adventure but nothing that I would consider to be top tier. Still, these films always have strong fundamentals and this one is no exception. You will certainly get to see some solid fights.

In Texas Terror you have some outlaws running around as always and unfortunately they bump off a man and escape. The timing of it is rough though so John actually blames himself for this. He gets on the trail and ends up saving a helpless young lady while posing in his disguise. He then has to go back to town and pretend not to know her. It turns out that she is the daughter of the guy who was murdered. The problem is that the villains are around and one of them decides to further frame John for the death of her father. Can John clear his name and save the day or is it all over for him?

He probably could have had a good talk with her a bit sooner and saved on some of the drama to be honest. Yeah it wouldn’t have been the best story based on his understanding of it at the time but at least it would be coming from him and not some third party. At the same time I get it because she does panic a whole lot. I wouldn’t be surprised if she let the cat out of the bag too soon and would spoil everything. At the very least you have to consider the possibility here. She is just not ready for this. As it is, she faints rather easily and is quick to believe this random guy at the town dance. With everyone being so secretive, I get why she might believe things but she still could have stayed a little more calm to really think things through.

One thing I enjoyed in this film is that John actually has a good relationship with the Sheriff this time around. He’s not running around and being a vigilante or anything like that. Yeah his methods might be a little more intense than the average person’s, but he gets results. Ultimately it’s not like the others were able to really do much of anything here. One guy does spot the fact that the villains were using stolen currency which was really clever. You don’t see this used all that often but using serial numbers to track stolen money is actually a really clever idea.

I would have liked the heroes to have been a bit more proactive at that point rather than waiting though. The middle is the only part of the film that is a little slow since we know who the crooks are and the heroes do too. For a film this short, you don’t usually want it to have any slow moments. Ah well, it is what it is I suppose. At least we do get the classic climax with some real fights as John shows why he is the top dog around here. He really gets in some powerful shots. In a way I feel like John shows off more in hand to hand combat than in marksmanship in these films.

As always you have the classic soundtrack here. A little bit of eerie music every time the villains make a move and it really lets you feel what the movie creators were going for the whole time. This way you aren’t left in suspense of anything like that. While the music may really be on the nose, it’s still better than not having a soundtrack. Somehow these old movies actually understood the balance more than some of the modern ones. They may not have had the budget for a whole lot of songs but at least they were able to get in the main ones that counted.

Overall, Texas Terror is a bit of a misleading title. You’re certainly not going to be too scared while watching this film and it’s not like it is going for that vibe either. At best you could say that John’s early disguise was pretty scary. They actually did a really good job with that one since you really could not recognize the guy. It was an impressive disguise, especially since he makes sure to act a lot different as plain ole John. The fact that the heroine almost saw through it might make him look a bit bad but hey that’s just how it goes. If you like classic Westerns then you’ll like this one as well. It feels like there is just not a whole lot to it compared to some of Wayne’s other films but that doesn’t make it a bad film or anything like that. Standard or not, it’s still a fun adventure.

Overall 6/10

Chain Reaction Review

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Chain Reaction is one of those classic thrillers with a whole lot going on but at the same time you also have to stretch your disbelief quite a bit. You almost wish they had said the main character was ex-military or something to explain how far he got. Instead, the villains look a little inept with how much trouble they have trying to find him.

The movie starts with Eddie and a bunch of other scientists finally having a breakthrough on their free energy alternative. This was made possible thanks to Eddie finally locating the right frequency that their energy process needed. He was in too much of a rush to write it down but that’s fine, they’ll handle that later on. The world can now get unlimited clean energy for no extra fee. Of course somebody doesn’t like that and during the night the facility is blown up and one of the head scientists is destroyed with another one missing. Eddie finds this out but now he and his coworker Lily are being framed for being involved here. Paul, one of the seniors advises them to turn themselves in but Eddie refuses. Lily and Eddie will now be on the run for a while as they try to figure out what’s going on and clear their names.

You’ve got both the CIA and the FBI involved with this affair so you can bet that things are white hot right now. This is where you have to try not to have the film lose you. Eddie and Lily have no espionage training or anything like that but they are able to evade everyone fairly easily. At one point they stop by Eddie’s friend’s house to stay for a while and are otherwise just on the run. It feels like they should have been caught within a matter of minutes or hours at the very worst. There is also a point early on where Eddie is running and the cops corner him on a bridge. So he basically jumps on the inside and while they work on fixing it, he just escapes. That seemed improbable.

Of course, thrillers are often improbable. I would say the trick is really just seeing how noticeable it feels in the moment. Most won’t hold up under scrutiny but at least during the movie you can look the other way. This time it was just a whole lot more obvious so you’re basically holding back a smirk the whole time. I won’t say it was crazy or anything like that but just adding in the whole ex military thing would have helped a whole lot.

Eddie just wants to make the world a better place and so I’d say he is a good lead. He did his best to save lives during the fire and is generally not someone who scares easily. He doesn’t panic a whole lot too which is good and even gets some quick fights. Meanwhile Lily starts off rocky with letting herself get so drunk. No matter what kind of a party it is, you know you’ve had too much to drink when you’re super drunk like this. It doesn’t put her in the best position but at least after that she doesn’t have any rough moments. She generally does her best as well.

Thing is, the main characters are completely out of their depth here for most of the film. The enemies have connections, guns, and a whole lot of power behind them. There’s almost nothing the leads can do without a considerable amount of plot armor. Their only help would be Paul who is rather shady from the jump. Paul is one of those guys who will always say the right things and is constantly in a regretful mood but it just doesn’t help you much at all. You’re still needing someone to actually keep you safe as opposed to just talking about it. He’s not going to be that guy who actually saves the day or anything like that. He does make for a fun character though.

The film’s best moments were often times not even concerning the main characters. I just liked the banter with Paul and everyone who would go at him. Whether it was Paul vs Congress, Paul vs FBI, Paul vs Private companies, etc. They were all a lot of fun. Paul is someone who is supremely confident at all times and feels like nobody can even touch him. When you have absolute confidence like that, well you’re definitely able to do a whole lot.

Ultimately, if we ever did unlock free unlimited energy, you definitely know that there would be massive fights about it. Even if there was enough for everyone all around the world, there would still be fights. People will go to war and fight about every little thing. Imagine something as big as a new kind of energy that would put several sectors completely out of business overnight? Yeah that’s bound to stir up a whole lot of feathers.

The main story may be about the leads finding some answers but I would say the most fun part was definitely the discussions of the impact that such an invention would have. Unlimited energy will likely never be a thing but at least it’s something that you can picture. Still, there needs to be a way to pull off the plot without making the villains look completely incompetent though. Not being able to stop two young adults with no military training is just a rough look.

Overall, Chain Reaction is a good film but not a great one. The villains seemed like they should have been able to win this one near instantly instead of constantly trying to play 4D chess and letting it backfire horribly on them. Still, you will be entertained and at the end of the day that is the most important part. The villains are fun with how over the top they are and the main character does a good job of not panicking. It’s the kind of film that you have a hard time finding nowadays because you’d expect a lot more research and realism to come into play. For this one the entertainment was absolutely the main selling point for better or worse.

Overall 6/10

Mysterious Island Review

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The title of this film may be extremely vague but in a way it’s also quite fitting. The movie is mainly about the island after all and it is quite mysterious so you certainly can’t say that it was a misleading title or anything like that. It’s not a bad film but it can be uneventful for a little while. I would say things really picked up once a certain legendary character showed up and even then you will only really feel the impact if you know the character. If you don’t, then you may end up shrugging a bit.

The film starts with a bunch of people escaping from a prison cell and getting onto a balloon. The civil war is ongoing right now and tensions are incredibly high. Unfortunately their balloon crash lands on a mysterious island. Not just any island mind you….but Monster Island! Now they need to find a way off this island and fast or they will be destroyed. The guys don’t all get along but they decide to put away their differences in order to survive this experience. Two ladies also end up washing ashore so now they can really use their numbers to cook, make weapons, and prepare a way off the island. Will that really be enough or a plan though?

First off I have to give the film enormous credit for not going the cringe route and making the guys all fight over the two ladies. That would have been pretty unbearable and also annoying because it just seems to me that most people would not fall for this obvious trap and would very quickly begin thinking of ways to utilize them in the survival operation. Well, that’s what happens here as they quickly begin to contribute and it was well written. We do get the obligatory romance but for once it wasn’t ultra annoying. It’s a bit rushed but this is a life or death situation and you can see how people would rush such a thing in this situation.

The giant monsters are a little less impressive though. You have a giant chicken, a giant bee, and more. The problem is that all of the “Monsters” tend to just be giant animals for the most part. Yeah it still does work in terms of adding some danger to the film but I would have liked them to have gone all out with the designs. Give us something really scary to make you think twice about everything. I was still glad to see them overall I suppose but at the same time it would also lead to animal violence when they are defeated. It’s the ultimate double edged sword and that was not something the film could really afford.

Additionally it’s not like the island is the best backdrop here. With the characters all stranded there isn’t a whole lot of variety in the backgrounds. It beats a desert or being underwater but I would still take other venues in general. Once the guest star shows up, at least we have his lab and we learn more about the story. I would say his plot is the most interesting part of the film. He clearly seems a little mad with his experiments and he’s not the nicest guy around but at least he does have a full plan. He hasn’t just been wasting time out here or anything like that. No, he’s actually been on his feet and doing things the likes of which nobody has ever seen.

The way he goes out is a bit underwhelming though. Also the film spoils the guest star by putting his name in the opening credits which is an absolutely bizarre decision. I’m guessing at the time it was probably a legal thing where they had to mention him but it’s still a bit annoying. You could probably piece it together anyway when characters talk about his boat but it still would have been more of a surprise. It was also nice to see the in-fighting there with one character really admiring this guy while the other couldn’t stand him. The difference in opinion seems to stem from their jobs which makes sense.

All in all, the film would have been much better if the giant animals were not in it. That’s sad to say but with how the humans were crushing and eating them, they just didn’t work as big antagonists. Would have been better to have either had the island be eerily empty instead or you just used full on monsters. If you needed villains, have the pirate ship show up a bit earlier instead and lead to a lot of big fights. There are a lot of ways around bringing in the giant animals if you really needed to go down that route.

I can at least say that all of the technicals are on point. The writing is good and the pacing is solid. I can’t say there is much of a real soundtrack here but it’s an older film so you don’t really expect that anyway. It is a very quick watch and the tone is nice. It’s got that old time feel to it that always results in quality movies. Without the animal violence it would jump up several points as it is but ultimately that wasn’t to be. It feels a bit like an empty movie. So it’s not particularly offensive but it’s also not a film that I’d be clamoring to watch again. For better or worse…it’s just there. I don’t expect you will remember this film for very long after watching it. Perhaps just the giant monsters since the effects for them were interesting. And of course the guest star since having him appear was pretty fun.

Overall, Mysterious Island has a better concept than the execution. It moves a bit slowly for me and so by the time we get to the big climax, it’s a bit late in the game. It’s not as if the film is super long or anything either but I do think they could have planned out the timing a little bit better. That’s just how I see it at least. If you really like the concept then it’s still worth checking out. The writing is good and the characters all act professional. Even when there are disagreements and in-fighting, they don’t suddenly start acting like children or anything like that.

Overall 5/10

Maximum Risk Review

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

Maximum Risk is one of those films with a lot of action and the hero is outnumbered from start to finish. Not an easy situation to be in but at the same time it’s not something that will phase the main character either. He’s been through a whole lot worse than this after all. Or at least he thinks that he has. It’s a reasonably good film, I was satisfied with it by the end. It does make some mistakes here and there but the positives outweigh the negatives.

The film starts with someone making a break for it but he ends up being murdered. We then cut to a police detective named Alain who looks just like the victim. He’s concerned to say the least and finds out that the guy was his secret brother. Alain now needs to live out his brother’s life to find out exactly what happened here. This will involve a lot of deception and it quickly becomes apparent that his brother made a whole lot of enemies among different gangs. Can Alain crack the case or are the villains going to bump him off?

Clearly Alain is in danger from the jump since his brother was already murdered…which makes his opening actions pretty questionable. He walks into seedy neighborhoods asking dangerous questions and then goes straight into a bar. He is just rushing way too much the whole time which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense since in this case he has a police (And military) background. If he was an ordinary joe, then sure he could make the rookie mistakes. So he ends up getting lucky a lot and has a ton of plot armor but even so you kind of just have to shake your head a bit at that.

Also the most troublesome part of the film is definitely when he runs into his brother’s girlfriend Alex. Now it would be taboo to hook up with her for a bunch of reasons. Respect for his brother’s memory, not going after people who were with family, etc. Unfortunately he doesn’t bother with any of that and they get together real fast. The reasoning just makes it even worse as she says at least he looks a lot like his brother. So it goes without saying that the romance is particularly bad here. I would definitely not be able to give this one a pass.

The villains aren’t the most interesting but the film does something here that I appreciated. In all of the mafia films you have the leader being some really old guy who can’t fight but everyone is nervous of him anyway. It basically comes down to the power that he represents and so that makes a lot of sense but even so you’re wondering how nobody has decided to just take a shot yet. Well, in this film the leader gets a little too ahead of himself and so somebody does make a move. It just makes so much sense that somebody would do this eventually. When you get too old, there naturally comes a time where you aren’t able to command the same respect even if you were a really well liked leader. It’s just inevitable.

The film explains early on that Alain has sniper skills from when he was in the army so you keep wondering when he will use these skills. They finally come in handy near the end so that was pretty nice. In general the climax was pretty good as we even brought back Alain’s police friend from the intro. That guy was gone for a while but the movie didn’t forget about him. He also has a pretty good scene near the end even if he caused a whole lot of trouble first. He’s just not initially meant to be a fighter and you can see that. He’s definitely more the detective type while Alain turns out to be a great fighter.

While you have a lot of serious plot twists and gang moments, the film does still have time for levity. One side character who was a lot of fun was the cab driver. Yeah the guy was perhaps a little crazy with how invested he was getting in this but he also did save Alain directly on several occasions. Without him the villains would have absolutely won this one. It was a tough journey for the cabby but he won’t be forgotten.

The very ending of the film is a little cheesy with how the characters are nervous about going to talk to somebody but I guess the movie wanted to have a bit of a funny ending. Not every joke lands of course and this one didn’t work for me but it’s the thought that counts. The film certainly had a lot of range and in a way that all helps the film out overall. It definitely feels like a 90s action film with how chaotic it is the whole time.

I also do have to give credit to one of Alain’s opponents. He was a powerful gang member who just kept getting back up and returning after many near death experiences. He was really strong and really durable so Alain had to defeat him multiple times. It was nice to have a rival like this who forced the hero to stay alert at all times. He knew that this guy could appear at any moment. He really left an impression, more than you would have expected from any villain in this film. Especially someone who wasn’t one of the bosses of the underworld.

Oh yeah I can’t forget about the FBI. (Or might have been the CIA) They have two corrupt agents running around trying to apply pressure as well but it’s crazy how inept they are. All they had to do was pretend to be heroic for a few minutes and they could have gotten Alain on their side. Instead they immediately try to throw threats around and pay the price. No their smartest moment but also not their worst as they let Alain and Alex have a private meeting in the background to discuss how to betray the agents. Rule 1 would be to not let them be together out of earshot. Yeah Alain really got lucky that so many of these characters had no idea what they were doing, that’s another form of plot armor you could say.

Overall, Maximum Risk is constantly moving at a high speed and that works in the film’s favor. At its core this is a fun film. If anything the actual story probably plays second fiddle to the general action. Yeah there are twists and such but at the same time I would consider it to be a basic thriller title. The details may change but at its core this is about the main character taking on the underworld and winning. The fight scenes are where the series can have more fun with Alain’s signature kicks. He really knows how to take down his opponents in close quarters combat. The writing is good and the pacing is solid so I really didn’t have any big problems here. The only thing hurting it from going further up has to be the very weak romance because this is absolutely the definition of a rebound. How do you go from finding out your boyfriend is dead to immediately going for his brother within the span of hours/days? Just not a good look since it makes the whole relationship look suspect. Perhaps the brother realized this too and that’s why he didn’t mention her in his final message where he accurately predicted a lot of what was going to happen.

Overall 6/10

Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning Review

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This is it, we’ve made it to the end of the Mission Impossible series. Naturally there is a whole lot going on here since the film tries to close out a lot of story threads at once. It’s a solid film to be sure although it is unable to quite match the last few. It underestimates how much the audience is paying attention and throws in more recycled footage than you’d expect. Still, all fans of Mission Impossible will likely be satisfied with how this one plays out.

The story starts a few months after the last one with Ethan Hunt still on the run from all of the countries around the world. His team of operatives are ready to help him save the world, but there isn’t an easy path to this. He may have the key that will allow the heroes to access the source code, but only Gabriel knows where that is. Ethan is going to have to track that guy down yet again, but every time he catches up to him, Gabriel ends up murdering one of his friends. Will this time be any different?

The story changes quite a lot as the film goes on which makes sense since it is basically 3 hours long. We get several plot twists and of course there is a pretty big cast here. In general the film does a good job of switching things up so you don’t feel the runtime but there are some moments where it seems like the film is actively padding the time. Several long drawn out stares across the room, endless flashbacks, and I would say the whole film goes on pause during a long underwater sequence.

For the latter, I’m generally not a big underwater guy so mileage will vary on that one. It just feels like everything always goes in slow motion during those points. It’s not like there are any enemies down there, it’s really just Ethan against the elements. I’ve yet to see a film that really manages to make underwater interesting and i think it’s because of the physics of it. It’s like characters bouncing around in space, you can’t really do much in the way of an action set piece there.

For the flashbacks, I don’t mind them in theory as it’s fair to have a flashback to remind folks of what’s going on. Where the film crosses the line is in showing the same flashbacks over and over. We get several scenes 3-4 times like Ethan and the rabbit’s foot, all of the missiles being armed, the end of the world, etc. If someone in the audience can’t remember what they saw 20 minutes ago then that’s rough but you really don’t need to be entering recycled footage more than once. They’re on their own at that point.

The long length of the film does allow them to have a sequence of long events before the film title actually pops up which is pretty nice though. The longer you can make the intro the better because it’s just a fun way to kick things off. Now this might sound like a bit of an insult but I would say the film peaks in the scenes before the film’s intro. We have some nice fights and it’s got that fast paced action you expect from the series. After that we don’t get quite as much action. The action does return but this felt like the most exhilarating part of the film.

We sort of get cheated out of a final fight in this film. It ends up being more of an anti climax compared to the previous films, even part 1 of this saga which had a more climactic final battle. I enjoy the general action too of course but nothing beats a big fight. So I can see how there are pacing issues within the film. You could also say that Ethan is such a dominant main character that the subplots have a harder time without him. That definitely might make it harder if they want to do future films without him, right now it seems like that would be a bad idea.

It might be interesting to handle that Ballerina style with someone calling in Ethan Hunt to take down the new protagonist but we’ll see how that goes. As expected, Ethan is the best character here. He’s a very heroic figure who always does his best to protect everyone even if it puts him in a whole lot of danger. He does make one really dumb decision in terms of going into the computer’s death chamber and nearly being fried though. I don’t think there was enough of a tangible benefit to really make that a good idea and the A.I. should have just murdered him there. There’s no reason it really needed to wait.

That does bring me to the AI or…the Entity as they call him. He might just be the weakest main villain in the MI series. It’s a good thing Gabriel was here to be a fun villain because the Entity just has no presence. He may as well be mindless with how easy he is to manipulate. I was glad he at least got one scene but the whole thing still makes him look worse and worse. There’s just nothing particularly likable about him and I don’t think he will be remembered as the years go by.

Gabriel is fun as always though. He’s still a good fighter and a real strategist. The fact that he is still able to one up Ethan and stay ahead on the planning even without the Entity is quite the feat. The guy really earned his rep as being one of the top tier villains. Additionally he is also just a really good fighter so it’s not like he is only good at theory crafting. It would have been nice for him to have had more of a proper fight with Ethan though. It’s still unfortunate that we didn’t get to see much of that since all of their battles always happened in unique venues that added a lot of RNG.

Grace’s role is a bit smaller here or maybe it just feels that way because of the bigger cast. She still gets to use her pickpocketing skills as a superpower of sorts since she can steal many things in the blink of an eye. It’s a handy ability and she gets to contribute several times in the film. This is one of those ensemble films where everybody gets something to do. Luther and Benji also have their moments where they help out. The group is very reliable at this point and Ethan knows he can count on them to get the job done.

Paris is the newcomer to the group and she’s a lot of fun. An instant show stealer and also the most powerful member of Ethan’s allies. She can hold her own in a fight and is always ready for action. You absolutely need someone like that on any team to keep the villains honest. I definitely look forward to seeing more of her if we get any more future films. Especially if Ethan is gone since she will then be the only top tier fighter on the group. We do get one more secret member of the team towards the end though and he can fight so I suppose she won’t be on her own.

The music is really good as you’d expect with the classic theme playing and always a lot of tense music in the background. The stakes are high here so the music tends to always be very serious. At times the film may go a bit overboard in how seriously it takes itself with everyone constantly stressed and looking terrified but I can picture most people acting like that so it’s not like it’s a bad thing. You’re just waiting for the characters to compose themselves and move on. This is most prevalent in the president subplot as everyone is panicking and yelling for a lot of it.

While the beginning of the film may have set things up a little too high, I still had a great time by the end. I think the initial realization that this doesn’t beat the last few films can make it all feel a bit lower initially but after you’ve had enough time to process the film you remember it more positively. I was definitely wavering on the 7 vs 8 in terms of a final score but ultimately I would say it does enough right to get the extra nudge. It also has a lot of replay value built in because of how much is happening. I could easily see it again and that’s always the quality of a great film. I would sooner rewatch some of the other ones first but yeah I don’t have many complaints with how this one ended.

Also while I would say the rest of the film after the title didn’t have as many big fights, there was a good skirmish inside of somebody’s house. It was extra interesting because of how the fight concluded, it didn’t go the way that I thought it would. Initially I figured we were setting up for a rematch but ultimately it didn’t play out that way. I guess that’s just how things go sometimes but it definitely worked as a really tense moment.

Overall, Mission Impossible has been a great series and it will be a shame to see it go. I’m still hoping they will announce a new film sooner than later but if it does end here then I can still say that we had a really good run. You definitely won’t want to miss this one on the big screen and shouldn’t let the long run time stop you. The pacing could be better and the flashbacks are overdone but I do like how they tried to tie a lot of things together here. Just get some of those mac and cheese balls at the theater and you’re all set. Whether you’re having a blast with the action scenes or mocking the entity and how he messed everything up so badly, there is something here for everybody.

Overall 8/10

Toy Soldiers 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

When you watch films about how tough the bullies were back in school, you may sometimes wonder how they would fare against an actual threat. Well, this film isn’t quite about this as the main characters aren’t bullies but they are big time delinquents and this is their chance to do something big. They can save the school and really make everybody owe them. Do they really have what it takes though?

The film introduces us to the villains early on with Luis and his gang breaking in and causing some chaos. Luis didn’t realize that his father was already taken away though so he leaves. A long time passes by and this time he breaks into a school containing the sons of the most powerful people around. He aims to use them as hostages to get his father out of prison but the U.S. does not negotiate with terrorists. Will they break the rules on this one to save the kids or leave them be?

What the villains don’t realize is that this is Billy’s school. He’s been a delinquent for as long as he can remember and likes doing all kinds of pranks like taking the dean’s office and throwing everything outside or messing with the phones. Edward has decided not to expel him in each case though because he really wants to fix Billy. Billy’s already been expelled several times after all an Edward doesn’t want his school to just become another one of those. That said, when the terrorists invade the school, we may need some delinquents on hand.

Now you’re probably wondering how some random school kids can do anything in this situation and well…they do need a lot of plot armor. The film tries to balance the happy go lucky tone of a school film with the bleak moments when the terrorists are murdering people. It makes for a bit of an odd balance and this even affects the kids as they are pulling off crazy Home Alone type plans while in a fairly serious situation. So yeah realistically they would probably be blown away to Kingdom Come but the film lets them have their fun.

I’d say it ends up being a fun result at the very least. Yeah I wouldn’t take it too seriously so if you are looking for a very serious title then this one probably isn’t for you. The switching back and forth can be a bit jarring but I kind of get it since it’s hard to maintain the serious tone the whole time with the kids. Not impossible of course as others have done it but this one wasn’t quite ready for that.

Billy makes for a decent main character although I do think he is unreasonable for most of the film. There was really no reason to be acting up in school so much. We get a glimpse into his backstory enough to know that he’s not particularly close with any of his parents but for that reason he should be trying to make sure that he does well in school. This is his last bastion of peace after all. Once he’s out of here then it will get tricky. I know he’s just not looking ahead like that but he should be. He also loses his nerve later on in the film but gets the courage back when it counts.

There is a body count here so things don’t go great for everyone but for the most part the villains are taken down. One kid in particular who went down looked good before taking the loss. He was at least trying to do something and was ultimately just a bit too slow in the draw. I’ll take that over not even attempting to do something like most of the other kids here. Those could have used a real lesson in bravery and learning what to do next.

As for Edward, he was a fun adult here. Perhaps a bit too lenient at times but I do appreciate that he was trying to look out for the kids. He also works as the hype character in the film as he tries to tell the FBI that these aren’t your average kids. These delinquents don’t get scared or anything like that. That’s why it would have been fun if we could have seen more out of them. Ultimately there isn’t much time for the delinquent phase before the stakes go high.

As for the main villain Luis, he’s really solid as an antagonist. The guy has clear goals and well thought out plans at his disposal. Realistically he takes the win in most situations here. I did like how the fact that one of the kids was the son of a mafia boss actually played a role in the story here. It’s why Luis decided to let him go but then things went sideways right after that. The mafia gets their revenge rather quickly and we see just how much power they have. Luis may be a terrorist but he certainly doesn’t have the same level of reach and influence as an established Mafia. Not even close.

I appreciate the fact that the film actually had the government get involved but to be honest they look pretty weak here. They literally lose their entire 3 man sneak squad right they begin the infiltration. Yeah it was bad luck that wasn’t really their fault but still. These are supposed to be the professionals and they’re going down like that? No wonder the kids had to really take matters into their own hands. This is considering that the kids had earlier gotten them the full locations of where all the enemies where. If the kids had all seen that, they’d have definitely been a little irritated to say the least.

Overall, Toy Soldiers is a good film. I thought it was entertaining all the way through. Not saying it’s a great film or anything like that but I did think the premise itself was rather solid. While hostage films can be annoying at times as the heroes have their hands held behind their back in terms of what they can do, it’s fun once you reach the counter attack stage. Since the heroes are kids you shouldn’t be expecting a ton of fights or anything like that but at the same time we still do get our action moments. As long as you like a good action film then I think you will be enjoying yourself here. It’s what I would call a true popcorn flick for you to just turn your mind off and enjoy.

Overall 6/10

The Courier

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The Courier is one of those films that I can definitely say I hadn’t heard of before. It’s a pretty interesting story although I do think it did not end up sticking the landing. The final part of the film just ends up being more on the weaker side. Still, I imagine their options were limited on what they could really do considering the fact that it is based on real events so it’s not like they could just make everything up. I’m not sure how many liberties were taken with this one or not since I was not familiar with the events but I assume the general layout/beginning and end are close to what happened.

The film starts by explaining how things are still tense during the cold war and people don’t really know what the Soviet Union will do next. The West needs an informant and so they decide to bring in well known businessman, Greville. M16 and the CIA convince him that this mission won’t be crazy dangerous and they really need someone to just go in and act natural. He will end up getting something from their contact Oleg and then he can come home. It’ll all e real easy but are they hiding something from him?

The movie also ends up adapting the big Cuban Missile Crisis so it was interesting to see that play a role in the film. Tensions were definitely high all around and everybody was seen as suspicious. So honestly no matter what the CIA and M16 said, this was always going to be super dangerous. Even if Greville played everything perfectly, it would still raise a lot of eyebrows to see how often he was entering Russia. That puts you on a list no matter what and he tempted fate a little too much.

He’s presented as a nice guy who is fairly honorable and so he didn’t want to just ditch Oleg and leave the guy to his fate. A really good quality without a doubt but on the other hand it also means that he was basically entering into a no win situation. Both Oleg and Greville should have left much earlier and each one just underestimated the other side. A key thing to always try to do is imagine that the enemy has the same level of abilities that you do. So as you’re gaining more and more intel then it should come as no surprise that they will be doing the same.

A big subplot in the movie is the marriage trouble Greville is having with his wife and the big reason is because he didn’t tell her what was really going on. That was a big mistake on his part. No matter what anyone says, you can always tell your wife what is happening. No secret should be too big because if you can’t trust her with that, then your relationship is already doomed as it is. If he had come clean about this then perhaps she would have been upset and told him not to go but at least she would know exactly what was going on. Yeah the risk is higher since she can mess up as well but I think you have to take that risk.

Oleg was also keeping secrets and his makes more sense since he was actively betraying his country. It makes a lot of sense why his wife would likely not be on board with that. Still, the same rules apply here. If you can’t even trust your wife then you are already lost. Oleg had the most dangerous role here since he was a high level official working within the enemy territory. It’s why he should have played things a bit differently but of course hindsight is always undefeated.

The CIA and M16 are definitely very shady the whole time. They basically use their pieces for as long as possible and then ditch them eventually. The M16 guy at least seemed to care a bit and wasn’t going as far but the CIA lady was definitely real eager to use the pieces for as long as she could. She definitely put them in really great risks here and of course that did not play out so well. Like I said before, the ending isn’t quite as fun and that’s because it definitely gets rather dark and gruesome. The movie doesn’t shy away from showing you the tougher parts about being a spy.

It’s definitely not all fun and games like in James Bond. You’re in incredible danger at every point and once you’re caught, death is the last of your worries. It’s why I always wonder how characters will just be at gunpoint and meekly follow the villains. Your best bet is to run and they end up landing a fatal shot or something. A quick death is what you want. If you’re captured then your chances of survival approach 0 and it will be a really long period of time for you. Every minute will feel like forever. Of course in the moment it can be tough to make a decision but the important thing is to never let yourself get taken anywhere. Try to drill that into your mind as much as possible.

Overall, The Courier is definitely an intense film. It shows how difficult it is to be a spy and also how the government can put some quick pressure on you to get the job. Greville was a bit naive in how easily he let them convince him to take up the job though. He basically threw away his secure life for this and while it turned out better than it could have, that won’t always be the case. 9 times out of 10 these kinds of shady deals from the government are not going to work out well for you and it’s best to decline. If you have the CIA or another agency walking up to you and asking you to do something, you probably want to say no. There will be a lot of guilt tripping and soft threats but as long as you haven’t actually done anything, then you’re good.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Review

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It’s time for the final Indiana Jones film. I remember this one got a lot of attention when the trailers were coming out. To me it looked like it would be a fun film but I can’t say I’ve ever been super into the franchise. So I sorta just forgot about it for a while there but now after watching the rest of the films I was ready to check this one out. It’s a fun nostalgia sequel and I would put it right in the middle from the previous films. So it definitely does a lot of things right and it’s a really good way to close out the series.

The movie starts out with the best sequence in the entire film as Jones infiltrates a Nazi train and takes down a bunch of agents. He even manages to secure the Dial of Destiny. Many years pass and in the present, the main Nazi scientist has returned. He wants to use the Dial of Destiny in order to go back in time and change history in some major ways. He will need both Dials for this though and that won’t be easy. Additionally he has to contend with a lady named Helena has taken the dial for her own purposes. Well, basically she wants to be rich and now her ex boyfriend and his army is involved. All of these forces are fighting for the dial so Jones is forced to come out of retirement for one last journey. Can he still fight?

Right off the bat I can say the make or break point for this film will be how much you can still enjoy Indiana Jones here. For starters the guy is definitely really old and the film doesn’t try to trick you about this. He feels old the whole time as he can no longer handle the big adventures as much. The guy can still throw a solid punch and gets some running here but you’re not going to see any extended fight scenes. It’s probably why we had the opening flashback sequence. Also like I said that was the best part of the movie so they go through the peak rather quickly.

I appreciate that Jones still has a strong moral compass and is trying to help out even in his old age though. It’s certainly not an easy mission but he’s not complaining and is doing his best here. He’s been through a lot as we find out what happened to his son and his marriage. It does mean that a certain scene at the very end of the film doesn’t really work for me though. It’s just a bit too late and the whole song and dance has happened one too many times. At least that’s the way I see it. I would have ended the film a bit differently although it is still a satisfying journey all the way through.

The new heroine Helena is okay but she really does get them into a whole lot of trouble. She beats the heroine from the second film but definitely loses to any others. As a supporting character she just never really warmed up to me. Likewise I didn’t care for the thief kid here either. So Jones himself really has to carry the team which is hard since he’s not in his prime. We do have an extended car chase scene in the middle of the film and it was fun to see Jones pull out his skills there. If there’s one thing he’s always been really good at, it’s making snap decisions and outwitting everyone else.

The main villain is also a bit on the weak side although I think this is a bit intentional on the film’s part. He’s always very whiny and not particularly strong. He starts to get humiliated from his very first appearance and can’t even hold his own with Jones. The guy has to rely on his thugs the whole time and even then he panics near the end. He’s a very insecure genius and while he has his fun moments like when he’s confidently giving interviews, he never appears as a threat from a villain’s perspective.

The only main part where the film was disappointing is that we don’t get much time travel. With the premise I figured we’d be going to the past fairly early on but as the film ticks on you start to realize that this won’t be possible. At one point I thought we might not even see the past at all. That would have been a lot of fun though since time travel always has a lot of potential. I think the movie should have given lots of scenes for that and this is where they went wrong. The climax involves some really fun imagery and I could have used more of that.

One thing you can’t call the film is boring though. The adventure is pretty fast paced with a whole lot going on. You’ve got villains around every corner and having them infiltrate Jones’ school and start shooting people was intense. You do feel bad for his poor colleagues who got roped into this though. It’s why heroes hide their secret identities because then stuff like this happens. I do think they could have had security/the cops look a bit better during the initial chases though. You’d think a cop getting shot during a huge parade would warrant a much bigger call to arms across the city and get at least some more officers around. The villains never really have to answer for this and while the heroes left the country rather fast, it felt like something that wouldn’t just die out. I’d have liked to have seen the U.S. do a little more later on.

Overall, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is a pretty fun film. I give the writers serious kudos for having this film feel a whole lot like the older ones. It has the proper fun, action tone that you’d expect from these films. They did a great job on making the film feel very authentic the whole time. While Jones himself is definitely the most different since you’re used to seeing him on the front lines, everything else is as you’d expect it. It’s also fun to see how the cinematography and everything has changed over the years. When the film starts it immediately looks way clearer and more detailed than the previous films. Almost as if the graphics of real life itself have improved. Of course it could also just be a case of streaming making it look more grand or just the cameras that were used. Either way it made this feel like a true cinematic experience that stood above the other titles in the franchise in terms of scale. Although the original film continues to live on as the best one in the series.

Overall 7/10