The Suicide Squad Review (Spoiler-Free)

Good day ladies and gents, I have reappeared online to share my thoughts on The Suicide Squad, the latest DC film from director James Gunn. Now being in the UK I could’ve had my review online last Friday because that’s when it released over here, but I decided to hold off until this week. So having seen it twice I’m ready to share my thoughts via my podcast Film Focus.

In episode 127 of Film Focus, I review the latest film from Warner Bros. and DC; The Suicide Squad. So this is the second attempt to make a Suicide Squad film after the 2016 version failed to resonate with audiences in the way that the studios wanted. So with James Gunn at the helm, he has assembled an impressive cast and crafted a story that from the trailers looks like it’s more quirky, violent, funnier and crazier than the previous instalment. So is the film a good time or not? Well, listen to this spoiler-free episode to find out! 😀

Anyway here’s the review:

If you haven’t checked out my podcast before you can find it here: https://soundcloud.com/film_focus

So have you seen The Suicide Squad and if so what did you think of it? Drop your thoughts in the comments section below and I’ll see ya in the next review, laters! 😀

 

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Review (Spoiler-Free)

Howdy ladies and gents, time for a new film review and today I’m going to be talking about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the long-awaited sequel from Marvel Studios. Now back in 2014 I loved Guardians of the Galaxy, it was an unexpected surprise of that summer and so creating a sequel that would equal or exceed the previous film was going to be a mammoth task. But anyway I saw the film yesterday/this morning as part of a double bill at Cineworld and now I’m reading to pass judgement!

The story can be summed up as the following:

“The Guardians must fight to keep their newfound family together as they unravel the mysteries of Peter Quill’s true parentage. Old foes become new allies and fan-favorite characters from the classic comics will come to our heroes’ aid as the Marvel cinematic universe continues to expand.”

At this point in time I’m finding it a tad difficult to formulate my thoughts into works. Guardians Vol. 2 is an interesting beast, it is really good and an overall fun adventure, however it’s also uneven and not as cohesive as the first film. So depending on how you felt about Guardians 1, this film will be more of what you enjoyed before or be a disappointment.

If the story does one thing well it is covering the main theme of family as this film has a strong emphasis on the ties between Peter Quill and his father, Gamora and Nebula, and of course the Guardians team themselves. This film shows what it means to be a family, whether you’re blood related, adopted or have a strong connection to someone and we also see the highs and lows of those relationships. Another strong element was the fact that the story also got quite emotional and dramatic and I didn’t expect that, but it was a welcome surprise. As for the humour, one the first film’s strongest points, it was a little hit or miss, some of the jokes were amazing and other didn’t land as well, plus they were coming a little too frequently for my liking, so anyone annoyed with the frequent humour in Marvel films won’t be a fan of this film. And lastly for the first time in a while Guardians Vol. 2 feels like a standalone adventure with ties to other films or the larger MCU being next to non-existent and there not being any major set up for future films. Now of course there is some set up for a sequel and some great references to the comics, but otherwise this was an isolated film, so anyone hoping for MCU connections definitely be disappointed.

As for the cast they were all very good, though some stood out more so than others. Chris Pratt is a standout as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, he has not only a great sense of timing for his humour but he’s incredibly engaging and has good dramatic moments too. Zoe Saldana was solid as Gamora, she had some good moments with Peter and Nebula, but like the last film I wish I had seen more from her. Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer like the last film had some great comedic moments, and some unexpected subtle dramatic material too, some of his jokes didn’t land but otherwise, good stuff. Baby Groot was adorable, hilarious and used well throughout, and Rocket Raccoon had some really solid moments in this film and like before, Bradley Cooper’s voice work was really great. Other returning cast members including Karen Gillan as Nebula and Michael Rooker as Yondu do really well, Nebula got a lot of additional story material that really enhanced her as a character and while Gillan’s performance was a little overdone at points I still liked her, oh and Rooker was incredible as Yondu having more dramatic and hilarious material than before and I loved the character. As for the new cast members Kurt Russell did well as Star Lord’s dad Ego, I thought he brought a dramatic sense of flair, personality and humour to this role and his scenes with Peter was great. Pom Klementieff as Mantis was so cute and funny, I liked her abilities and interactions with the guardians team and Elizabeth Debicki was interesting as Ayesha, she had some funny scenes, but other times it was a little awkward. I also appreciated the appearances from Sean Gunn, Laura Haddock and Sylvester Stallone.

When it comes to the presentation it was really solid. Visually like the previous film, we are treated to a gorgeous film with a vivid colour scheme, good cinematography, great artistic direction, really detailed CGI and action sequences that were fast, ferocious, inventive and fun to watch. The soundtrack for this film was pretty good, though not as recognisable and as varied as the previous film, and Tyler Bates returns for the film score and he crafts some really nice music, some returning themes and some new material that works well with the on-screen action.

So to conclude Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was a solid sequel, it did well to advance the story of the characters, had good action, humour and heart. However, the uneven story, misuse of certain characters and a not so solid humour prevent it from being the amazing sequel I thought it could be. And so how would one compare this film to the other MCU films. Well as a sequel I’d say it’s better than the worst two films, Iron Man 2 and Thor: The Dark World, and Iron Man 3, so I’d say it’s sort of on the same level as Age of Ultron, okay now here me out before you verbally attack me. Age of Ultron is a film I that had a lot of great elements within but overall wasn’t as consistent and enjoyable as the previous film and I felt a similar way about this film, while not as disappointing, I felt like this film wasn’t as straightforward or consistent as the last adventure, but it’s still worth a watch.

So have you seen Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and if so what did you think of it? Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments section below and I’ll see ya on the next review, laters! 😀

 

QUICK REVIEW: First Blood

Howdy people of the internet, time for another film review and today I’m gonna be talking about First Blood; the first in the Rambo film series. I saw this for the first time maybe in 2008 or 2009 and I remember loving it, however, it’s been a good few years since I saw it last and after reading Anna’s review at Film Grimoire, I had to check this film out again.

The story can be described as the following:

“An ex-Green Beret named John Rambo is pursued into the mountains surrounding a small American town by a tyrannical Sheriff and his abusive deputies, forcing him to survive using his combat skills.”

I love the story as it was very engaging, dramatic and unexpected, plus it was a quintessential aspect of the film and was always at the forefront, rather than being a lazy part of the film like a lot of modern action films. This film was mainly about the personal and mental after effects of war, the complications that come with reintegrating into society, and how some prejudice and unpleasant behaviour can cause a great deal of unnecessary drama. The story is incredibly strong on an emotional level, from the beginning the tone is set with a melancholy/hard-hitting tone and as more details are revealed the drama only gets stronger, culminating in one hell of an ending.

The cast was also fabulous as well. Sylvester Stallone was just amazing as John Rambo. This character was a damaged, lonely, misunderstood and troubled individual with PTSD from the war, he only wanted to continue his life in peace, but some foolish people gave him problems and that’s when things got interesting. And as the film went on, you start to see what kind of beast Rambo really was as he’s aggressive, meticulous, creative and an expert in combat and weaponry and adapting to different environments. People forget that Stallone can actually act thanks to all of the action films he’s done in recent years, however, it is films like these that show how great he can be with the right material, those final moments of the film almost bring a tear to my eye because of how much emotion Stallone conveyed. Richard Crenna as Colonel Sam Trautman was also brilliant as well, he was a straight-talking, no-nonsense kind of guy who knew Rambo from the war and offered advice to the police on how to stop him, but was rarely acknowledged. Brian Dennehy gave a good  performance as Sheriff Will Teasle, here we had the definition of a prick, this guy was antagonistic, rude and overconfident, he had all the traits of a villain from the moment you met him and Dennehy played the part to a tee.

I also really liked the action, while he damage that Rambo caused was circumstantial and not intentional, his pursuers were either not aware of the difference or they didn’t care, regardless the authorities wanted him and Rambo wasn’t having it, so he went to town and left trail of chaos behind. Whether he was dispatching police in hand-to-hand combat, setting tramps in the woods, getting followed in car chases or just blowing stuff up, there was plenty of awesome and memorable sequences. Oh and the music Jerry Goldsmith’s score was so energetic, versatile and worked for all of the emotional points as well.

In conclusion First Blood is a brilliant action film that illustrated the damage of war and how one man can be a force to be reckoned with when pushed over the edge. The performances were great, the action was solid, I can not recommend this film enough as it has a lot of the best aspects that make action films worth watching.

Rating: 8.5/10

So have you seen First Blood and if so what did you think of it? Be sure to leave youre thoughts in the comment section below and I’ll see ya on the next review, laters! 😀

 

QUICK REVIEW: Creed

So after a waiting period that’s felt like a summer holiday I’m finally getting around seeing Creed. After all the hype and great reviews from America, over here in the UK we’re finally getting a piece of this pie and I have to say it was certainly worth the wait. Creed was everything I was hoping it would be and I’m going to tell you why in this review.

The story can be summed up as the following:

“The former World Heavyweight Champion Rocky Balboa serves as a trainer and mentor to Adonis Johnson, the son of his late friend and former rival Apollo Creed.”

I really enjoyed the story as it felt right in the context of the Rocky film series, but also had a lot of heart, drama and other key elements that made the previous films (especially Rocky 1 & 6) so enjoyable. In some ways I feel like this film has a good few comparisons with the recent Star Wars: The Force Awakens like:

• Both films borrow elements from the previous films in their franchise, but continue the legacy in new ways
• There are familiar callbacks and references the older material for long-term fans
• And even both films are part of franchises people love, they’re definitely different from what’s come before

What Ryan Coogler did with the direction and script was great, the story felt very different, like Rocky‘s story but from a black perspective with modern-day elements incorporated and luckily it all clicked in a real and wonderful way. The film was also hilarious at several points, but it didn’t forget about drama, at points things get aggressive, tense or melancholy and it wasn’t just about the drama in the ring but outside of it too with Adonis and his past, but also his connections with Rocky, his mother, girlfriend and so on and that material is handled so well as its very engaging stuff.

The cast well all fabulous. Michael B. Jordan was great as Adonis “Donnie” Johnson Creed, besides last year’s Fantastic Four, Jordan has once again shown his spectacular talent for acting and in this film Adonis is such a compelling character because of the way he grew, because of his potential and tenacity, but also because of his emotional conflict and motivations too. But Sylvester Stallone, damn, he really brough his A-game as Rocky Balboa. I love Stallone, but this is the best performance he has given as an actor in years, this Rocky was older, more seasoned and wise, but also still had the same fire, humour and heart that we’ve come to love, but it was the way Stallone showed emotion and carried his dramatic moments so well which shocked me. And together, Jordan and Stallone had really good chemistry as you watched Adonis and paired up with Rocky and saw their relationship through their ties with Apollo and boxing. Tessa Thompson was also great as Bianca, I thought she’d be just a generic love interest, but there was a surprising amount of depth to her character and Phylicia Rashad was very good as Mary Anne Creed and had a good few wonderful moments. And finally Tony Bellew as “Pretty” Ricky Conlan made for an impressive antagonist, he was big, mean, cocky and had a short fuse. Oh and shout out to Wood Harris as Tony “Little Duke” Evers.

I also loved the way the action was shot, just like Rocky Balboa, the fight choreography was very realistic, fast and intense, but even more so than before, fights in this film felt like they hit harder, were a little more violent and because of the really close camera work and tracking shots you really got to feel like you were inside the ring experiencing the drama from both sides. The film score by Ludwig Göransson was good especially how he included the old Rocky themes and it was also interesting how the hip hop music was added to the film, some of it felt nice and some of it wasn’t entirely necessary.

In conclusion Creed was a solid spin-off/continuation of this franchise, it had the right amount of drama, action and heart that was necessary for this series to come back to the public. This film is right up there is Rocky 1 & 6 and I would recommend it highly especially if you’re a fan.

Rating: 8/10

So have you seen Creed and if so what did you think of it? Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments section and I’ll see ya on the next review, laters! 😀

 

Month of Superhero Film Reviews 2: Judge Dredd

Howdy people of the north, south, east and west, and welcome to Day #24 of Month of Superhero Film Reviews 2! During this month I’ll be reviewing of some of the best, average and worst comic book adapted films. Today talking about that film where “I AM THE LAW!” is a very funny thing to say, I am of course talking about Judge Dredd.

LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW! Haha, Judge Dredd, oh yeah I remember this film. This is another film I’ve seen before and I consider it fun for all the wrong reasons. These days officially we have a much better version of this character with 2012’s Dredd, but before that awesomeness we have this version from the 90’s which is an experience to say the least.

The story can be summed up as the following:

“In a dystopian future, Joseph Dredd, the most famous Judge (a police officer with instant field judiciary powers) is convicted for a crime he did not commit while his murderous counterpart escapes.”

The story is certainly interesting but the execution is terrible. This is a tale of good versus evil, but also about betrayal, deception and revenge, that all sounds good on paper but the way this film handles these elements is very messy, muddled up and confusing. Had the film just streamlined itself and taken out a few of the narrative elements tied to other characters it would have been so much better. It also doesn’t help that there is a massive tonal inconsistency, the film is trying to be serious, but with all the one-liners, generic plot points and terrible comic relief you can’t take it seriously so when the film is trying to add drama or some emotion it feels out of place because of the cheesy and comedic tone. Also what is the scriptwriters obsession with the law? I understand that it is a very important aspect of the film, but all of the characters feel the need to mention it in every second sentence that they speak, its ridiculous and you could probably make a drinking game from it too. You’d be smashed afterward for sure.

Now let’s talk about the cast. Firstly there’s Sylvester Stallone as Judge Dredd. Listen Stallone, I like him he’s a good actor, however, he was just terrible here. Sometimes you can’t understand what he’s saying because he’s shouting or mumbling which makes his words hard to comprehend, it also doesn’t help that he’s full of cheesy dialogue and one-liners that get old pretty fast and for a person whose supposed to be emotionless Dredd certainly likes to be a douche to people and does a lot of smiling and scowling.Rob Schneider as Fergee… This guy, he just pissed me off. Schneider tries his very best to be one of the most over-the-top, wise-cracking, wacky, silly and annoying people to ever come into existence in a film. Fergee thinks he’s witty and smart, but he’s just a fool who moans about everything and is such a little pain in the ass, I wanted him to die so many times. Oh but the person that takes the cake when it comes to over-the-top is Armand Assante as Rico Dredd. What the actual fuck man? This guy seemed like he was on some kind of drugs as he was so hyperactive, crazy, animated and ridiculous. If he’s not being creepy getting up in people’s faces then he’s shouting his lines at the top of his lungs, it does make for some humourous moments for sure but Assante is just on another level of madness.

I liked Diane Lane as Judge Hershey. This lady is smart, loyal, confident and logical, she’s also tough and can speak her mind and Lane acts with the most amount of realism and restraint out of the main cast. Max von Sydow was good as Chief Justice Fargo, like Lane, Sydow acted with restraint and realism and wasn’t cheesy in his performance. The same can’t be said for Jürgen Prochnow as Judge Griffin, he was fine up until a point and them went a little hammy towards the end. And finally I want to give a shout out to James Earl Jones as the Narrator at the beginning of the film, it was nice and I felt like Mufasa was reading me a bedtime story or something haha.

Now let’s talk about the presentation. Visually the film is okay but messy.  The film was trying very hard to be visually distinctive with the look of the city and the use of special effects, but it doesn’t look to polished and the green screen and CGI doesn’t look real enough to work in the advanced environment these characters live in. The costume design was also a bit bulky and silly and I think could have been slimmed down and refined for the Judges. As for the soundtrack, Alan Silvestri does a decent job with the score creating these dramatic and heroic themes, though the use of some them in certain scenes really doesn’t match what’s happening on-screen.

And lastly how does it compare to the comics? I have unfortunately not read the source material so I can’t comment.

So to conclude Judge Dredd is pretty bad film. I can understand what it was trying to do but it failed due to its messy story, over-acting and bad dialogue. Upon second viewing things that I didn’t like were more noticeable and while I can still laugh at the film it’s not that funny this time around. This is another one of those films you can only watch if you’re in it for the comedic aspects and if you’re drunk.

Rating: 4/10

That’s 24 reviews done, only 6 more to go. So have you seen Judge Dredd and if so what are your thoughts on it? Drop me a comment and let me know your thoughts yo! Come back tomorrow and I’ll have a new film review online, until then peace out!

 

The Expendables 3 Review

Good day to you ladies and gentlemen and welcome to another film review, today I will be doing my review on one of the last films of the summer I’ve been looking forward to, The Expendables 3. Now the first film when it came out in 2010 was a nice bit of fun and the sequel just got crazier and a lot more campy too, but was still hella fun. So here we are two years later with third film which brings back the main cast along with even more established action heroes and some new faces too. So does it succeed or is this film overkill of this series of films? Well read on and find out!

The story can be summarized as the following:

“Leader of the Expendables Barney Ross augments his team with new blood for a personal battle: to take down Conrad Stonebanks, the Expendables co-founder and notorious arms trader who is hell bent on wiping out Barney and every single one of his associates.”

I thought the story was good for the most part. In terms of tone this film kind of meets somewhere in-between the first and second film where it is kind of serious and kind of campy. The story isn’t anything special and as a tale of revenge with people of the past coming to back to cause havoc it isn’t going to win any points for originality. That being said the story was solid, had a reason for being and was better than the first film’s overly dramatic tone. The humour is definitely on display throughout and while some of the jokes fall a bit flat, most of them are pretty good with nice banter between team members and the nice self referenced. This film was probably the most modern influenced of this series of films as it not only takes on a younger set of mercenaries but also take into account how technology helps with tactical-based scenarios. Now whether I like this film more so than Expendables 2 remains to be seen as I haven’t seen it since 2012, but now I like this one better.

As for the cast they’re just as good as they have ever been, but some clearly stand out more than others. The best people in this film was Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Antonio Banderas and Mel Gibson.

Firstly Sylvester Stallone as Barney Ross is pretty much the same as he was before, he’s big, gets the most screen time and while his speech is still hard to comprehend at times, the man still knows how to move for a man in his 60’s and gets the job done when it comes to action. Then there’s Wesley Snipes as Doc who I was so glad to see back on the big screen, the guy was totally charismatic and funny and I liked his banter with his other comrades, while there wasn’t too much martial arts from him, what action scenes he did were pretty cool. Antonio Banderas as Galgo was such a riot, the dude is primarily there for comic relief, but he stole every scene was in because he talked so much and was so over-the-top. And Mel Gibson as Conrad Stonebanks, damn he was cool. Gibson hasn’t been in many big films recently, but seeing him in this villain role really makes me want to see more of him. Stonebanks is your typical cold, evil and humourous bad guy that enjoys taunting and toying with his enemies and Gibson was clearly having fun with this rle which I loved.

The rest of cast are decent, Jason Statham is still badass as Lee Christmas, Dolph Lundgren as Gunnar Jensen and Randy Couture as Toll Road are fine and Terry Crews as Hale Caesar while in a smaller role was still kick ass. I enjoyed Kelsey Grammer’s appearance as Bonaparte, the man didn’t do very much but he had some cool and moments with Stallone and some of the new recruits. Arnold Schwarzenegger as Trench takes on a smaller role than the last film but is still awesome in several of his scenes especially when it comes to his dialogue. Poor Jet Li as Yin Yang, the dude barely got any screen time at all, the character was pretty much wasted. Harrison Ford as Max Drummer was cool, this is the most movement I’ve seen from him in recent films, he was fun and intimidating. Oh and shout out to Glen Powell as Thorn and Ronda Rousey as Luna (she was gorgeous and badass).

When it comes to the presentation The Expendables 3 is pretty good. Just like the previous films the action comes thick and fast and comes in the form of mainly fight fights, some hand-to-hand combat and big action set pieces with various vehicles and explosions galore. That being said some of the action wasn’t as special or memorable as what has come before, also annoying is the amount of CGI used in the film as it is so obvious when it’s used and it really takes me out of the film. As for the soundtrack, Brian Tyler comes back to score the music and it is pretty much more of the same, nothing that memorable but not too shabby. The music works for the film and elevates the action-based scenes.

In conclusion The Expendables 3 is possibly the best of the Expendables films in my opinion, while the laughs aren’t always there and the CGI is still pretty, I feel like this is the most consistent and cohesive of the films with a good balance between campiness and seriousness and when the action goes down it is totally chaotic. Any fans of these classic action stars should be satisfied with the film, it may not have the nostalgia factor or originality from the previous instalments but it is hard to deny the fun that comes from seeing some of these actors together on-screen having a good time.

Rating: 7.5/10

So have you seen The Expendables 3 and if so what did you think of it? Well that’s been my review ladies and gentlemen, hopefully you enjoyed and drop me a comment, let me know what you thought of the film. Until next time, laters! 😀

 

Escape Plan Review

Hello there people of the interweb, time for another film review and today’s first review will be on the action thriller Escape Plan! Man I have been following this film since around this time last year when it was known as ‘The Tomb‘ and the main reason I wanted to watch it was purely because it featured Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, two of my favourite action heroes from my childhood. The trailers for the film looked awesome so I was down for this film regardless of how it turned out, so was Escape Plan worth the wait? Read on and find out!

In term of the story the film follows Ray Breslin, a structural engineer who breaks out of prisons for a living, however he is wrongly convicted of a crime, and is incarcerated in the world’s most secret and secure prison. So in order to get out Breslin is aided by cellmate Rottmayer as they set the wheels in motion for a plan to escape.

I thought the plot in this film, while a bit cliché is still an enjoyable one that offers good thrills, action a few plot twists here and there. If you’ve seen any prison-breaking films before then you kind of know what to expect, the only thing you wonder is how will these two main characters escape. And this film mixes a few things up and while it is serious for the most part it offers moments of humour which is a bit hit or miss, but when the humour works its frigging funny. Overall the story was good but I can’t help but feel like if it was handled by a better director and writer it could be so much better, I dunno why but after seeing James Mangold taken on The Wolverine, I feel like he would have been good fit for this film because of his decent track record with action films.

When it comes the to cast their all pretty decent, but in truth you’ll only be paying attention to Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, so let’s talk about then first.

Sylvester Stallone is cool as hell as Ray Breslin, in this film Breslin is a smart guy who is very observant, calm and collected and also know how to handle himself in combat. I think this is one of Stallone’s better roles in recent years, his character just seemed a lot smarter and less generic even though he still does a lot of this basic action-based stuff. As for Arnold Schwarzenegger as Emil Rottmayer I think he fares a little better in this film than he did in his own film The Last Stand or The Expendables films. I feel like Schwarzenegger had better material to work with the script and there’s more moments for him to be badass as well as him being hilarious at points too. Together Stallone and Schwarzenegger have the kind of fun chemistry that was missing from their team up in The Expendables films, and while it wasn’t the best material, it was certainly nice.

The rest of the cast is good too. Jim Caviezel as Willard Hobbs is a right sinister character who has very harsh methods for how he runs his prison and what to do to unruly inmates, Caviezel is pretty intimidating and cool as the bad guy. ffAmy Ryan was pretty hot as Abigail Ross who was one of the people who helped Breslin from the outside and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson as Hush, even thought he was kind of typically black, he was still pretty cool and funny as another accomplice. I loved seeing Vinnie Jones as Drake, he was one of the head prison guards who dished out the pain to the inmates and had some funny and beastly moments. Vincent D’Onofrio was good as Lester Clark, he was the person who gave Breslin his missions and stuff. I was also happy to see Sam Neill as Dr. Emil Kyrie even if his role was in a small capacity I didn’t realise it was him into a certain ways into the film (I think it was the beard). And Faran Tahir as Javed was great, I also like seeing this guy in films and I liked how funny, charismatic and aggressive he was.

In conclusion Escape Plan is a great little action film that Arnie and Sly are still cool in their 60s and have the power to move and deliver the goods when the right material is presented to them. I honestly had a lot of fun with that film, its kind of the stuff I wanted to see from The Expendables films and while it’s no return to form, it gives me hope for the future and I hope some good writers and directors give these guys a chance to do more action films while they still can. 

Rating: 7.5/10 (Some good action fun with Sly Stallone and Arnie Schwarzenegger!)

So what did you think of Escape Plan? Was it a good bit of action fun for you or were you disappointed with the team up of these action icons? Whatever your thoughts drop them in the comments below and join me later for my review of Captain Philips.

 

Escape Plan Trailer #1 Review

Howdy ladies and gents, looks like it’s time to review another film trailer! I was just floating around the internet a little while ago and then I saw that the trailer for Escape Plan was up and I was like “Damn, been waiting for this for ages, gotta check this out and then review it!” So yeah that’s how we got here haha, anyways let’s move on.

Here’s the trailer below:

Alrighty then, after I watched this trailer I was actually smiling thinking that is could actually be a good film. So what have we got here? Sly Stallone is guy who can escape of any prisons and has gotten of loads for ages, but eventually he’s thrown into a prison he can’t get out of… At least not alone. So this is where Arnold Schwarzenegger comes in, he’s another inmate that wants to get out too. And so the both of them decide to team up to escape. Obviously there’s a good few other elements that come into play like the people on the outside who have contact with Stallone’s character and just like any normal thriller there are elements conspiracy and betrayal on the horizon and it looks like fun.

I think what attracts me to this film is the fact that Sly and Arnie are in a film together and it’s not just another Expendables, but just the two of these action icons in one film together and that just makes inner action junkie all giddy. Now obviously this film could be another crappy action thriller, but I think it ha all the right elements in place at the moment, plus it looks like there will be a showdown between the both of them. I just want to see the action and carnage go down, so sign me up! And lastly I remember when this film was known as The Tomb, but I didn’t know it was known as Exit Plan before it got to its current title, didn’t know it was this hard to name a film haha.

In conclusion Escape Plan looks like it’ll be a good time in the cinema and I am genuinely interested in seeing how this film turns out. Sure The Last Stand and Bullet To The Head weren’t exactly the epic action films that a lot of Arnie and Stallone fans were look for, but I reckon this film has the power to potentially rectify that and be a decent action thriller.

So what do you think of Escape Plan? Are you interested or just don’t care? Whatever your thoughts are drop them below and I’ll see ya on the next blog post. 😀

 

Bullet to the Head Review

So we’ve had one major action star return to the cinema in the form of Arnold Schwarzenegger with The Last Stand and now its Sylvester Stallone’s turn in Bullet to the End! Honestly when I saw the trailer for this film I was like “This could either be decent or crappy.” I didn’t have much expectation for this film, I am glad to say I was wrong about it.

So the story goes like this: After watching their respective partners die, a New Orleans hitman (Stallone) teams up with a Washington D.C. detective (Kang) in order to bring down their common enemy. I thought the story was alright, I like how Jimmy and Taylor’s different situations eventually crossed over and how they had to work together to find the people responsible for the death of their partners. Sure it’s a bit cliché when some elements like revenge or the damsel in distress come into play and some of the dialogue and acting is a bit questionable too. However the film’s story survives thanks to the right tone of seriousness and humour that comes from Jimmy and Taylor’s words and actions.

Then there’s the characters or Bullet to the Head which in truth aren’t all that interesting as you’ll only remember two or three people. Firstly there’s Sylvester Stallone as Jimmy Bobo… Wait. Jimmy Bobo? Wtf? What kind of name is that? All I can say is that Jimmy Bobo must be one of the worst names I have heard for any person in a long time. Anyway moving on. I liked Jimmy, he was a no-nonsense kind of guy that didn’t shit from anyone, had a way with words and knew how to throw down. Sylvester Stallone is one of those guys who never stops moving and shows that if you’re in the right condition, you can still be kickin’ people’s arses in your 60s! Stallone was great in this film and I had a fun time watching him beat the crap out of people.

Sung Kang as Detective Taylor Kwon was decent. His character was very by the books; he tries to enforce the law and makes assumptions about things because he thinks he’s right. However his plans or action don’t quite work out a lot of the time which leads him into some dangerous situations. Taylor Kwon was alright as a character but I only really cared about him when he was with Jimmy. There there’s Jason Momoa as Keegan, he was just a straight-faced thug who is a little smug and likes to go around and kill people. At first I thought his character was very generic and boring, that was until he started talking and actually shocked some intellect. Momoa made for a pretty decent villain, he was just this killing machine with a dodgy look on his face and he was a good challenge for Stallone too. And then there’s Christian Slater as Marcus Baptiste. I haven’t seen Slater in many films for years and while I liked his small role in this film he was a bit of a throwaway character. Sarah Shahi as Lisa Bobo was hot but not very interesting as Jimmy’s daughter and as for Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Morel he was cool, I love to see this guy in films because he plays a lot of dodgy characters and here was no different.

When it comes to the presentation of this film it’s pretty good and when I say it’s pretty good I’m referring to the action scenes, gun fights and hand-to-hand combat. This film is all about the violence. So many people get shot, stabbed and beaten to death (or to the point of immobilization), and while it’s normally Jimmy dishing out most of the pain Keegan also causes some havoc and leaves a decent body count by the end of the film. And speaking of those characters the fight between Jimmy and Keegan was awesome; it was nicely paced, hard-hitting and displayed good uses of axes! One other thing to note is that most of the people that get shot really do get shot up pretty bad, there’s a good number of headshots delivered (damn some of these guys have damn good aim!). The only issue with the presentation was in some fights the camera was too close to the action which made it hard to see what was going on and disrupted your view.

So in conclusion Bullet to the Head was a lot of fun and way better than I expected it to be. As an action junkie this film ticked all the right boxed for me, while the story and dialogue are okay at best, there is enough action to go around to make up for the films weaknesses. This is the kind of film I wanted The Last Stand to be and I have to say I enjoyed Stallone’s latest film more than Schwarzenegger’s film. I feel like if this film had more thriller elements and a better script then it would have fared better, but I’d recommend this film just to see Stallone in action, after all these years he’s still a badass and know how to entertain his audience! 🙂

Rating: 7.5/10

So what did you think of Bullet to the Head? Did you like it or hate it? And which do you like better, this film or The Last Stand? Whatever your thoughts drop them below and I’ll see ya on the next review yo! 😀

 

The Expendables 2 Review

Good day to you ladies and gentlemen and welcome to another film review and today’s review will be of the action sequel to The Expendables, The Expendables 2!

So it is the latter half of the summer with only a few weeks separating us from September and the eventual return to academic life for us students, but before that comes around it looks like the summer film season will keep us entertained at the cinema for quite some time. And so enter The Expendables 2 and I’m just gonna let you guys know right now… This film was great, just a load of fun from start to finish. Not perfect by any means, but still better than some of the other films I’ve seen in the cinema.

Back in 2010 we had The Expendables, a crazy action film full of explosions, hand-to-hand combat scenes and loads of firefights. It was film that summoned several of the big action stars of the 80s into one place with a few new faces to fight alongside them. The cast including Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Mickey Rourke, Jet Li, Gary Daniels, Randy Couture, Jason Statham, Terry Crews, Steve Austin and two cameo appearances from Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. While it received a mixed reception it was commercially successful and I think most people who weren’t hardcore critics enjoyed the film. So then fast forward to 2012 with the action sequel which has more stars, action and explosions and to be honest it is so much better for it.

Story

The story of this film is as follows:

“The film follows The Expendables, a mercenary group, as they seek revenge against Jean Vilain, a rival mercenary who murders one of their own, and threatens the world with a deadly weapon.”

While there was a plot in the film, like the first film it is overly important, though it is a bit better than the first film in the sense that it doesn’t drag as much and feels a little more relevent to the characters involved. Though the plot’s only there to give the characters a reason to run and gun and blow things up. It does annoy me a little bit that action films these days can’t have a good or smart plot, but for this kind of film I’ll let it slide because it’s just fun to watch. Within the plot there are references aplenty, the script for this film is funny. Humour seems to be the aim of the game for this film and it works. Heck, if it can work for The Avengers then why no The Expendables 2? There are some lines that each of the action stars are given which are hilarious throwbacks to their previous films, whether they were visual or audio references, they worked very nicely.

Characters

This film boasts an impressive cast that in a lot of ways is even more impressive than the last film. While you have Stallone, Statham, Lundgren, Li, Couture and Crews returning, you also get Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger coming back in much more substantial roles. And then add into the mix Liam Hemsworth, Yu Nan, Scott Adkins and finally the awesomeness that is Jean-Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris and you have film full of badasses!

So much badassness in one area!

Seeing all of these cool people in one film was just grand. Stallone I still applaud him for continuing to do these action films and showing us even though he’s old, he’s still kicking! Jet Li’s fight scenes in this film were a hell of a lot better than the last film, so tight and so brutal! Terry Crews who I am a massive fan of was great in this film, delivering funny lines, battle cries and just being a badass in general. Statham had some great fight scenes too and newcomer Yu Nan had some awesome scenes herself. I also loved Van Damme in this film, he was so cool, so calm and awesome as the villain. Then there’s the awesomeness that’s Chuck Norris, I wasn’t sure what to expect but he was just utterly cool, pure and simple, I loved every second he was on-screen. And then there’s Arnie the frigging Terminator!!! Just seeing him in any scene I was hyped, while he’s a little stiff (granted because he’s old), he delivers some funny lines and when you see him walking and shooting stuff I swear it was like watching him as the T-800 all over again, I loved it!

With a film that has such a huge ensemble cast, there were moments where it felt like some characters didn’t get as much screen time as others and while it’s not as bad as X-Men 3, some characters do get lost in the background.

Presentation

When it comes to action The Expendables 2 was just full of insane amounts action! It was pure and utter chaos and I loved it. The fight scenes were well-choreographed, the fire fights were so insane to the point where it looked like a crazy online game of Call of Duty and all of the explosions were great. I can’t explain why the all of these crazy scenes and action sequences were so good, but when they happened I just got a great level of satisfaction from watching all of the carnage. So much brutality, death and destruction and yet it was so good to watch, maybe it was due to all that testosterone and epic manliness. Also the soundtrack by Brian Tyler is decent too as it fuels all of the badass action on-screen and borrows the main theme from the last film and while it’s not overly memorable it still sounds good.

In conclusion The Expendables 2 is one hell of a film. It’s unashamedly loud, proud, cheesy and doesn’t take itself seriously and it all works. Seeing all of these action stars running around and fighting each other, shooting things and blowing stuff up was just so much fun. I was enjoying myself throughout. While the film wasn’t as amazing as I thought it should have been and certain stars didn’t get as much screen time as they should have done. The Expendables 2 is still hella fun and I recommend to all people just wanting some summer fun at the cinema.

Also with talks of a third film in the works, it seems like these kinds of films are here to stay! Just add Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Vin Diesel, Steven Seagal, Mel Gibson and Wesley Snipes (if he can get out of jail) and that’ll work for me.

Rating: 7.5

Well that’s been my review ladies and gentlemen, hopefully you enjoyed it. Be sure to drop me a comment and let me know what you thought of the film. Until next time, laters! 😀