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Fear the Night (2023)
A colossal waste of time.
As someone who genuinely admires action cinema, especially when women are allowed to play as well, I was looking forward to this movie. Maggie Q seems like the perfect female action hero for a touch gritty survival action movie.
Unfortunately, this isn't that. There's very little in the way of action, and what's there is poorly lit, shot and choreographed.
What's worse if all the characters, both the bad guys and the women defending themselves, are thoroughly unlikable. So much so, they all hate each other, and I hated the.
It's a shame because Maggie Q can make for a good action star, and the premise is a good one for this type of action movie. But it's completely wasted.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
Tremendous heart and fun.
This movie does everything right that a Dungeons and Dragons movie should. A motley crew of weird and funny lovable characters, all with tragic backstories. Just a real party of the tabletop game would have. The actors are effortless in breathing life into them.
What also really impressed me was the fight scene choreography and cinematography. It's done RIGHT! Show with wider angles and longer cuts, the fights are comprehensible and therefore fun to watch.
For fans of the tabletop game, this is an absolute must watch. And if you're not acquainted with the game yet, this movie will inspire you to give it a try if you can.
Heart of Stone (2023)
The movie had potential, but it's wasted on terrible fight cinematography
A movie like this lives and dies on the quality of its action scenes. And although this one does have really good CGI, whoever was in charge of fight scenes let this movie down. The lighting in them is so dark, you can barely tell who's who. The cuts are so quick and the camera angles so close, that they confuse things even more.
Which is a real shame because leading lady Gal Gadot definitely has the silhouette of an action star. Imagine in a movie directed by the filmmakers from the John Wick movies. She'd be amazing. Unfortunately, that potential is squandered on a movie that makes its fight scene muddy and confusing.
Prey (2022)
The best Predator movies since the first one!
This movie gets the tone that a Predator movie should have. It should be in the wilderness, not a city. It shouldn't feel like science fiction, despite featuring a technologically advanced alien. It should feel like a horror movie. At any moment, we should be wondering if this is the moment the Predator shows itself or kills someone.
It also does itself a favour by not overstaying it's welcome, at a brisk hour and a half. That, and the cinematography is fantastic. There are moments of pure dread, purely because of how the camera is moving. Most of the CGI hold up very well, accept for a few moments when a CGI animal looks very fake.
Shadow in the Cloud (2020)
A great thrill ride, that kind of falls apart towards in the latter half.
What a rollocking white-knuckle, hair-raising thrill ride this is.
Most of it is purely focused on Chloë Grace Moretz's face as were cooped up in the underside bubble of a World Wars Era bomber. The cinematography does an excellent job making us share in her claustrophobic environment. This is also a great showcase for Chloë Grace Moretz's phenomenal skills as an actor, as we never cut away from these long takes for her going through these intense emotions.
The music should also get a special call out. An electro-synth score might seem an odd choice for a movie of this time setting, but it actually works, and heightens all the emotions and intensity.
Unfortunately, the story, that's really great for about half the move, once the twist happens, falls apart into incredulity and ridiculousness that's stupid and physics defying.
Bullet Train (2022)
A phenomenal fun ride!
Now this is what a call a FUN ROMP! I always get so annoyed when that term gets used for boring, uninspired schlop like "Solo: A Star Wars Story".
This is what I expect when a movie is called a fun romp. Creativity, zany characters and a great sense of humour and irony. Not to mention great fight choreography and cinematography. Fight scenes shot with longer takes and wider angle, so you can actually see what's happening.
Brad Pitt is at his "Burn Without Reading" best, playing a man who's just trying to make it through a difficult day. Joey King is also great a Japanese schoolgirl uniform wearing femme fatale. After this and the princess, she's looking like a great movie action star.
See this, without delay, it's a great time!
Baise-moi (2000)
Thelma and Louise if they were really hardcore!
This sordid French tale of sex and violence, I found to be surprisingly compelling. Two women who have been wronged by men, often sexually exploited, feed into each other's worst tendencies as they throw away society's rule book, and take whatever they want, whenever they want, whether it be money, sex or human lives.
In a way it's quite tragic. This is a story about how violence spreads, and how a cruel indifferent world eventually makes the victims into cold blooded perpetrators themselves. The chemistry between the two women is very good, and although this is obviously a micro-budget film, it makes good use of locations and natural light. It won't leave you feeling good about humanity, but I appreciate its honesty.
Moonfall (2022)
It's like they didn't even try!
Which is a real surprise for me. Because I wasn't expecting anything particularly profound or interesting when I sat down to watch this. All I was looking for, is a crazy fun disaster movie. This movie couldn't even clear my on the floor expectations.
Movies like "Independence Day" and "2012", although completely ridiculous, still have solid scripts with fun zany characters to follow as they try to avoid the end of the world. There is not a single fun character in this one. Some of them say their lines like they'd rather be somewhere else.
Add that the lousy pace that feels like 30-minute short is being padded to feature length, and you have a real bore of a disaster movie. Quite possible Emmerich's worst.
The Princess (2022)
The writing isn't great, but the fight scenes are, and that matters more.
While the writing for this movie can generously be called broad, ham fisted and, on the nose, thankfully the fight scenes deliver on the blood, gore and choreography. I love that the movie doesn't take an eternity to get going, and instead plunges us right into the gory action almost immediately.
Lots of credit has to go to Joey King, who not only has the acting ability to carry this incredibly thin story, but also does a fantastic job with the action scene where you can tell she did most of her own stunts. That allows the fight scenes to be shot from wider angles, and with longer takes, allowing us to fully appreciate the action as it unfolds in front of us, rather than the super choppy close up edits Hollywood favours for fight scenes.
The Protégé (2021)
Good fight scenes, but they're few and far between.
This movie shoots the fights scenes well enough, with wider angles, but unfortunately, they're still too many cuts, due to them having to use stunt double for the older actors who can't really perform any of the action scenes it calls for.
Which is too bad because Maggie Q makes for a fantastic action heroine. She's got the acting chops as well as the agile physicality that sells the idea that she can kick the bad guys exactly where it'll hurt them the most. She really does carry this movie, and every time she's offscreen, it flounders.
Unfortunately, there's way too much of the runtime wasted on a lousy story that's badly told. It just slows the pacing down to a crawl for some nonsensical moral philosophizing about the who's good and evil. It's all a real yawn.
Overall, a missed opportunity to make an excellent female actioner.
Ready or Not (2019)
One of the funniest and wackiest slasher horrors in a while!
This is a fairly simple premise for a movie. Very silly. But the movie executes it that premise so extremely well, it doesn't even need as much suspension of disbelief as you might have originally thought.
A big part of that is the lead actress, Samara Weaving, who's big, gorgeous eyes and acting chops help to paint her with an innocence that really tells the story of a lamb that's being led to slaughter amongst the evil wolves.
It's that visual that will really grip you in this intense one-night thriller/horror. She may not be the most compelling slasher female protagonist, but she's one you'll find yourself rooting for just as easily.
The Last Thing He Wanted (2020)
A good performance by the always excellent Hathaway can't save this
This might be one of the most nonsensical and badly edited movies I've ever seen. There seems to be no rhyme or reason for any scenes as they just feel randomly put together with no connective tissue. Maybe I'm being harsh on the editor. Maybe this is really just bad writing, and the editor couldn't do much to save what my one of the most badly paced movies I've ever seen. It's less than two hours long, but it feels like four.
Whatever this case, Anna Hathaway remains extremely watchable and a phenomenal actress. She's deglamourized with little makeup, but her hair still looks amazing. There's really nothing else to recommend this.
Gunpowder Milkshake (2021)
Very fun and hilarious with good fight choreography and cinematography
This movie doesn't really seek to reinvent the wheel, but it does what a movie like this should do, and does it well. The main pair of performances are very good.
And most importantly, the fight choreography and cinematography is very clever and entertaining. Longer takes, and wider angles mean we can actually see and appreciate the choreography. The visuals are very beautiful, with the colours just popping out the screen.
Altogether a good movie.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021)
Good cinematography with absolutely, unforgivably horrendous writing.
The only people who come out of this unscathed are the DP and the music composer. They do a good job giving the town the feeling of being creepy and moody, rainy and lit in a way the accentuates all of that.
Unfortunately, the story and the characters are terrible. It's as if they invented a bunch of new characters, then just gave them the names of the original characters from RE1 and RE2. So none of them really embody the video game counterparts.
Overall, a lacklustre effort.
Irréversible (2002)
French cinema at it's intense unflinching best
French cinema has a reputation for being controversial, unflinching and provocative. And this movie is one of the best examples of such.
No spoilers here, accept to say the performance are absolutely phenomenal, and the films depiction of sex and violence is not for the faint of heart. But if you're open minded enough, it's a riveting experience.
Jolt (2021)
Not the worst waste of time in the world, I guess.
Umm, yeah, this is a pretty half baked idea of a movie, that's slapped together reasonably well. Kate Beckinsale keeps it watchable, but she and the rest of the cast is given atrocious dialogue. As short as it is, it still feels long and boring in a few places.
Total Recall (2012)
A genuinely well made action movie with no real surprises
There's no doubt in my mind that Len Wiseman is a skilled action movie director. The fight scene choreography here is on point, although there's one fight scene I thought was disappointingly edited with too many quick cuts making the action hard to follow, the rest of them were well done, with good camera work and cinematography. The visual effects all look great. All in all, it's a very visually flash and shiny movie.
Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel get to kick some major ass as well.
All in all, no real surprises here, the story pretty much follow all the same beats and plot twists as the original, but it's still a very well made a pretty action ride.
Kate (2021)
Phenomenal fight choreography and cinematography!
This is how fight scenes should be choreographed and shot. I especially emphasize the cinematography. With wide angles and longer takes, we get to see the fight unfold in front of our eyes in a way that feels real, and we can tell what's happening.
Of course, for that to work, you need an actor willing to do the hard choreography believably. And Winstead is absolutely game in that department. She really sells the strength, skill and brutality of the fights.
Peppermint (2018)
Jennifer Garner still makes for a tough as nails action heroine!
Jennifer Garner made for an excellent action heroine during her "Alias" days. You'll be glad to know nothing's changed. She still able to pull of the tough as nails, grounded action choreography that makes her look so believable as an action star.
And best of all, she's got the phenomenal action chops to really carry the emotional weight of the story, which completely rests on her shoulders.
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)
Enjoyable but forgettable
There's nothing too offensive or bad in this visually highly stylised action adventure. It has some pacing issue, but the humour works more often than not, and it picks up nicely towards the end. Angelina Jolie's screen time is brief, but very effective. Overall, it's just okay.
The Girl in the Spider's Web (2018)
An excellent thriller with an excellent protagonist
Some might hold not being directed by David Fincher against this movie for emotional reasons, but take that out of the equation, and this is be beautifully shot, extremely well paced, we acted modern thriller with a protagonist your heart aches for, in her loneliness.
There's absolutely nothing you can fault here on a technical level. The shot were so well thought through and executed. The score is fantastic. And Claire Foy does the character of Lisbeth justice with her vulnerable yet steely performance. This has everything you want in a movie of this type. I love it.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
Beautiful and Awe inspiring Science Fiction
Unlike the fast paced, explosions fest with big moustache twirling villains that are popular among some when it comes to space opera, this movie is very different. It's very human. It takes it's time, letting you soak in the gorgeous visuals, and go on a journey to discovery. The score by Jerry Goldsmith elevates those visuals and is truly jaw-dropping. This one isn't about space ship chases, punches and kicks, it's about the human spirit of pioneering and exploration, and continually reaching for more.
Ah-ga-ssi (2016)
A MASTERPIECE of an erotic thriller!
There's some pretty good erotic thrillers out there. But this is hands down the best one I've ever seen. The performances are incredible, the story in magnificently engrossing, from it's slow start, through all it's twists and turns, to it's emotionally high crescendo finish. This is an unparalleled work of genius that I cannot recommend enough.
Manyeo (2018)
Absolutely fantastic horror thriller
I really didn't know what to expect from this. But it does such a good job of building up to a situation I really didn't see coming. It's deliberately slowly paced at the beginning, but trust me, it picks up and builds to an incredible crescendo!
Don't Look Up (2021)
A hilarious dark comedy that pulls no punches
This is an uncompromising vision of human and political nature in the face of disaster, as an allegory for the coming climate change disaster. And what makes it so funny, is that, at it's core, it's so true. Which is where the best comedy always comes from, truth.