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Shooter (2007) – Review
3 Stars
Shooter is one of the most absurdly plotted films to come along in quite sometime. Based on an original novel by film critic Stephen Hunter, the film adaptation is Rambo and The Fugitive mixed with a touch of government conspiracy paranoia thriller. Mark Wahlberg is the hilariously named Bobby Lee Swagger, the good ‘ol country boy thing doesn’t suit this performer at all. In an obvious bid to create a franchise, Shooter has been honed into a violent revenge thriller with an actor that serves as a happy medium between Matt Damon and Arnold Schwarzenegger
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Body of Lies (2008) – Review
2 Stars
Ridley Scott’s continuing fascinating with military operations results in the mediocre spy-thriller Body of Lies. Unlike his brother Tony, who succeed in this genre with the excellent Spy Games, Ridley lets the story start and stop then start again so frequently that the film becomes solely an exercise in visual technique and acting. Lost in this sea of jumbled narrative storytelling are two outstanding performances from the always reliable DiCaprio and the more spotty Crowe. These two have an odd father-son relationship/rivalry although neither is related to the other.
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Vehicle 19 (2013) – Review
3 Stars
The new action-thriller Vehicle 19 opens with an extreme close-up of Paul Walker’s vibrant blue eyes as he navigates the roadways during a high-speed pursuit. Perhaps it’s an homage to Steve McQueen and his vehicular classic Bullitt. Michael (Paul Walker) is an American in South Africa, on holiday to patch things with his girlfriend when he rents a car from a seemingly reputable business. Unbeknownst to Michael is the hidden gun under his seat and dangerous cargo that is locked in the trunk space. It’s a nightmare scenario that anyone of us could conceivably be caught up in.
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Alien Showdown: The Day the Old West Stood Still (2013) – Review
2 1/2 Stars
Why all the internet hate? I’ve seen plenty worse on SyFy recently than this hodgepodge concoction of Eastwood flicks, Predator and of course the proverbial shout-out to Star Wars. Sure the opening few minutes are so stilled they play like cutting-room footage from a second-year student film, but the film develops a campy style (intentionally?) that makes the minimal running time bearable if not outright enjoyable. If I sound like I’m on the fence regarding Alien Showdown, it’s because the movie plays like a really good demo reel. I have no doubt that director Rene Perez and his special effects team are going to accomplish loftier films in their careers if afforded the opportunities.
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Olympus Has Fallen (2013) – Review
3 1/2 Stars
There is an unmistakable B-movie exuberance to the guilty pleasure flick Olympus has Fallen that can’t be denied. It may be escapism schlock but its done with energy, style and most importantly a sense of humor (not the self-deprecating kind that marred the last Die Hard installment). Sporting a top-notch cast with familiar faces and Oscar-winning actors in supporting roles, this Die Hard wannabe is actually the best of its kind since Under Siege.
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Haywire (2011) – Review
1 1/2 Stars
Haywire plays like Steven Soderbergh’s cinematic answer to Paul Greengrass’s Bourne films. As if the Oscar-winning Soderbergh felt he needed to challenge himself by tackling another genre, and once again pulling a good performance out of a first time actor in a lead role. After porn queen Sasha Grey’s casting in The Girlfriend Experience, Soderbergh has once again employed a pro (albeit, an ex-female MMA fighter) in the charismatic Gina Carano.
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A Good Day to Die Hard (2013) – Review
1 1/2 Stars
Cashgrab – ‘When movie studios produce unnecessary and often poor quality sequels in order to obtain more money.’ – Urbandictionary.com
I’m not sure if there has ever been a more appropriate application of the phrase than Die Hard 5, which has been retitled A Good Day to Die Hard for those that have stopped counting. This inept sequel is all spectacle all the time, with virtually zero story or character depth. I’m not sure if the shooting script reached 80 pages. In the first 30 minutes I counted four scenes, and in those sequences Willis repeated his ‘Im on vacation’ mantra at least three times. It’s getting old and man it’s a shame. After all the diligent work in front of and behind the camera for Live Free or Die Hard, how could the creative powers let a product this inferior slip out under the franchise banner?
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Snitch (2013) – Review
3 1/2 Stars
For nearly a decade now I’ve felt that Dwayne Johnson’s onscreen career had peaked with the artfully violent action film The Rundown. As each subsequent film came forth with lesser impact, that 2003 film felt further and further away. Now ten years later Johnson has found a real role that allows him to breathe a bit onscreen and play a recognizable human being (albeit) one with a huge physique. John Matthews is the hardworking owner of a trucking company, and father to an estranged teenage son and perpetually unhappy ex-wife. When Matthew’s son is arrested for receiving a shipment of ecstasy through the mail, the D.A. gives him choice; roll over and snitch or face a decade behind bars. Although the marketing department at the movie studios are advertising Snitch as another Johnson action extravaganza, viewers may be shocked to discover this is a drama with moments of action interspersed.
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Kingdom of Heaven (2005) – Review
2 1/2 Stars
Ridley Scott films have an amazing attention to detail. Everything from production, set and costume design to the actual cinema techniques of editing, cinematography and script are poured over with feverish devotion. Wether it be an alien vessel, a look at modern warfare or gladiatorial days in the Roman coliseum; Scott and his collaborators are masters of recreating a time period and mounting gargantuan production behind them. Kingdom of Heaven is Scott’s first return to ancient times since the OSCAR winning Gladiator, the two films couldn’t be more different. Those seeking the majestically beautiful violence of that earlier classic will be disappointed to find that Kingdom is a slow-moving, often-times ponderous affair than is more thought-provoking film. In fact other than two or three protracted battle sequences, including a doozy in the final act, there is a virtual lack of violence or action of any kind.
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Out of Sight (1998) – Review
3 1/2 Stars
Out of Sight exists in the post Pulp Fiction cinematic wake, that saw many attempt to ape the Tarantino style with little success. After the split narrative structure and off-beat loquacious characters from that earlier film, nearly every crime/drama that followed was suited with similar features. Virtually none of these impostors were able to recreate the sense of discovery that was so vital to the success of Pulp Fiction. So leave it up to director Steven Soderbergh to adapt an Elmore Leonard book (Similar to Tarantino adapting Leonard’s Rum Punch for Jackie Brown) and produce a film that employes vintage Tarnatino-ism to almost near perfection.
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Bullet to the Head (2013) – Review
3 Stars
Sylvester Stallone plays hitman Jimmy Bobo, who along with his partner Louis Blanchard (Jon Seda) get caught up in a plot involving corrupt cops and gangsters. The two are hired to kill a cop, Hank Greely (Holt McCallany), who is blackmailing Robert Morel (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), the new gangster in town. All goes as planned until Keegan (Jason Momoa), Morel’s hired gun, shows up at a bar Bobo and Blanchard are celebrating at. He kills Blanchard and tussles with Bobo, but retreats when he’s unable to finish him off. Detective Taylor Kwon (Sung Kang) arrives in New Orleans from Washington D.C. to investigate Greely’s death. He deduces Bobo’s involvement and the two tentatively agree to work together to discover their partner’s killer. Kwon disapproves of Bobo’s shoot first ask questions later style, but the duo have made it further together than they would have apart. Things heat up when Bobo’s daughter, Lisa (Sarah Shahi), is taken hostage and Morel plays his final hand. Can Jimmy save his daughter, get the bad guy and avoid arrest from Kwon in the end?
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The Package (2013) – Review
3 1/2 Stars
Mafia debt collector Tommy Wick (Steve Austin) is assigned a seemingly simple task, deliver a package to rival mafia figure and former associate,’The German’ (Dolph Lundgren). It’s not something that is normally requested of him, Tommy is more comfortable busting up a man’s face in a bowling alley than dealing with anyone from his past. However his Mafioso boss ‘Big Doug’ is using this job to wipe clean an outstanding marker Tommy’s imprisoned younger brother, Eddie (Lochlyn Munro) is unable to pay. So reluctantly Wick agrees to the deal, unbeknownst of the hijacking schemes being plotted by an opposing gang, fronted by a crazed mercenary (Darren Shahlavi).
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Gangster Squad (2013) – Review
3 Stars
Gangster Squad is a hyper stylized throwback to the days when Paul Muni, James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson blazed across the screen throwing lead bullets from fulgent tommy guns. No, this is not Chinatown nor The Untouchables, hell it’s not even on the level of Mulholland Falls, but in its own cartoonish way Gangster Squad is memorable. This is a game attempt to take a classic film genre and reproduce it by turning up the heat, but at times director Ruben Fleischer has set the heat too high, and results in overwrought melodrama with dialogue even the great pulp noir novelist Raymond Chandler would question. Set in Los Angeles 1949, Sgt. John O’Mara (Josh Brolin) has returned from the war to face a new enemy, Jewish gangster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn). A former boxer turned hood known for his homicidal rage, Cohen has successfully moved his criminal enterprise from Chicago to Los Angles, setting up an air-tight syndicate on the West coast. Sean Penn dominates the film and the role, his character is the driving force and the presence lingers even when the actor is off-screen. It’s a scenary-chewing over-the-top bit for Penn, a gifted veteran actor who should never be encouraged to go over the top in his performances.
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Broken City (2013) – Review
3 1/2 Stars
As Broken City opens we meet Billy Taggert (Mark Wahlberg) a decorated detective on trial for shooting an ethnic perpetrator. 10,000 citizens rally on the steps of the courthouse, while a back-room deal between Mayor Nicholas Hostetler (Russell Crowe) and police chief Carl Fairbanks (Jeffery Wright) is cut to suppress evidence that suggests Taggert acted aggressively. Due to insufficient evidence and a lack of witness testimony the State lets Billy Taggert walk clean. The only hitch is that he is no longer able to serve on the force. Cut to seven years later during an especially rainy campaign season in New York City. Mayor Hostetler is up for re-election and facing stiff competition from his running mate Jack Valliant (Berry Pepper), while a proposed real-estate deal has put an enormous amount of scrutiny on the incumbent’s campaign. Meanwhile Taggert has been toiling away as a low-level private detective, catching cheating spouses and haggling for payment with distraught clients.
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Live by the Fist (1993) – Review
1 1/2 Stars
There is a sliding scale that must be applied to critique movies like Live by the Fist then the screen credit directed by Cirio H. Santiago appears and one must adjust that scale even lower. That is not to suggest that there isn’t any redeeming value or inherent campy fun to be found or had, but when Roger Corman or any of the Santiago clan appear credited on a production, it is almost always guaranteed to be a point and shoot action affair with one take choreography and bare-bones plotting. Live by the Fist carries on that long-standing tradition.
A Navy SEAL (Jerry Trimble) is unjustly jailed in a savage Filipino prison for a murder he did not commit. Behind bars he discovers a new world order where men are killed and maimed in brutal encounters. When he befriends an elderly cellmate and refuses to join the prison’s racially divided gangs, he is then marked for execution by the warlord on the inside “Khan”. Forced to abandon his pacifist philosophy and must use every fighting skill at his disposal to escape.
This is my first introduction to P.K.A. Light-Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion Jerry Trimble, a stout if undersized martial artist who resembles Brett Michaels crossed with Michael Dudikoff. In comparison to fellow athletes turned thespians Wilson, Jeff Wincott and Gary Daniels, Trimble is the least charismatic and seems uncomfortable in front of the camera. Appearing in a handful of scenes, in fact with a 78 minute running-time the entire enterprise in not much more than a handful of scenes, is Star Trek alumnus George Takei. For those fans awaiting the Trimble/Takei on-screen pairing this is your movie. All others should redirect their attention (or curiosity) to some of Trimble’s better efforts One Man Army, Full Contact.
Director: Cirio H. Santiago
Stars: Jerry Trimble, George Takei, Ted Markland