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Black Adam (2022)
Can't wait for what's to come...
Having grown up reading Captain Marvel (Shazam for you youngsters) and Black Adam i was super stoked when i first heard The Rock was pushing for it to get made and even more so when i heard it was finally getting done. I went in hopeful of a masterpiece and whilst it was really good i felt it could've been better. The Justice Society storyline i thought was a bit weak and kina felt like it was done out of convenience because this was more in holding with the comics. The thing is The Justice Society is old and predate the Justice League by decades yet this movie is set in present day. Also, where does Amanda Waller come into it? Maybe i haven't read comics in a while and all these things are current? Not sure. There was no mention of Captain Marvel (Shazam) and what was with Superman at the end? Since when does Superman work for Waller? Also, Superman is vulnerable to Magic and Magic is what Black Adam is so i think this meeting should have been built up more with a tie with Shazam. Anyhoo, i'm peaking for what the future holds for a Shazam, Black Adam, Superman and or Justice League cross over. Cheers.
13 Minutes (2021)
Really Lackluster Disaster Flick
Peter Facinelli and Anne Heche was enough for me to check out this movie, add to the fact it was billed as a disaster flick and i had high hopes. There was lot's going on with illegal immigration and closeted homosexuality and ignorance and unwanted teen pregnancy and.....probably too much to be honest. The first 3/4 of the movie was getting to know characters and their plights followed by a massive twister which all but wipes out a small town and then the aftermath which doesn't have happy endings for most of the people we meet. I couldn't help but feel like i was watching something from the Christianity Network, like the message was going to be accept God into your hearts and you will be saved etc. Overall, this movie fell well flat. The acting was just ok, special effects pretty mediocre and story meh! I'd suggest watching or rewatching Twister instead. Cheers.
SAS: Red Notice (2021)
Not terrible but....
I found this on Netflix and being a Ruby Rose fan thought i'd check it out. The movie starts ok although a little silly with a girl walking around amidst a massacre just shooting footage on her phone but meh, it's possible. We are then introduced to the hero of the story in some Angelina Jolie Tomb Raider'esk opening riding up to the mansion on a motor bike and finding out he's a mega rich super spy or some such. Throw in some action and drama and intrigue and mediocre special effects and cut to the ending which was just comical. The movie went for a solid action flick with a little drama thrown in and the end scene turned our hero from an M rated Ethen Hunt into PG13 Alex Rider. He just murdered Ruby Rose's character and then cried like a little b*tch before getting married in a Fantastic Four (original with Jessica Alba) wedding ceremony complete with phone call and wifey telling him to go "drop him"??? LOL The movie was worth the watch but probably would go back for more. Cheers.
Breach (2020)
Poor low budget sci-fi thriller
I've seen dozens of these low budget, dumb plot sci-fi movies over the past 40 odd years but what stands this movie apart is the cast. Bruce Willis and Thomas Jane. Basically, the Earth is dying and humanity is heading off in giant spaceships (arks) to a "new Earth". There are a group of people who think humans have had their chance and want to sabotage humanity's chance at a future. Somehow, which is never truly explained, the sabotages unleash an alien parasite on the ship which infects the passengers and turns them into puppets. Bruce Willis, who's character is completely unlikable leads a group to defeat the alien scourge. The plot is really thin, the acting very b-grade (including Willis and in particular Thomas Jane who is ridiculous), the special effects are low rate and poor. Even the weapons look like toy guns. The final creature couldn't look anymore fake. Just overall really really bad. Cheers.
Moonfall (2022)
This movie is a montage of other Roland Emmerich movies
I so wanted this to be a good film but the story line in certain areas was pure garbage. It was like the studio gave Emmerich a hundred and forty million and said make us a big budget disaster flick and he took the best and worst bits from Independence Day Resurgence, 2012 and Day after Tomorrow and added them together to make a new movie. The special effects on my 75" HD 4K tv were spectacular but other than that this was not a good movie. The acting was barely passable, even from Halle Berry and Patrick Wilson. Michael Peña's character was totally unlikeable as was Wilson's son and wife for that matter. Halle Berry's husband was way overly dramatic. Probably the best acting came from Berry's son and baby sitter. I'd have to be extremely bored to watch this again. Peace 🙂
p.s. How were the phones still working at the end of the movie with all of the satellites destroyed along with half of the planet?
Blacklight (2022)
Ok movie with a tired premise
This type of movie seems to be Liam Neeson's go to nowadays e.g. Honest Thief, The Commuter. The acting was pretty good all round and the effects, what there were was ok. The story though felt just way too familiar. It seems they just changed it up by giving Neeson's character OCD. The whole reunion with his family and his daughter's being ok with the disruption, especially after making such a big deal early on, felt lazy and rushed. It was an ok watch but doubt I'll watch it again. Cheers.
Gunpowder Milkshake (2021)
A bit too much John Wick but without the polished choreography
I was surprised to find out Gunpowder Milkshake wasn't based on a comic but was instead a stand-alone project. A big fan of Karen Gillan having watched her as Amy Pond in Dr Who and then Nebula in Guardians/Avengers I was happy to see her have her own big budget action flick. It was a bit of a let down though. The choreography of the first fight scene in the bowling alley felt staged and poorly done. It felt like Gillan was counting as she played out the scene.....1, 2, 3 duck, 1, 2, 3 thrust etc. It was a weak effort. The choreography did improve with some of the fight scenes pretty decent (except for the Dr's office against the same 3 guys from the bowling alley which was laughable). The acting was very over the top, especially from the librarians although Michalle Yeoh I thought was far and above everyone else in every aspect. The story is very much in the vein of John Wick with secret societies of assassins and instead of the Continental you have the Diner. Hopefully the sequel will be better then the original.
Army of the Dead (2021)
More than average zombie flick but too many questions
As a stand-alone zombie movie I quite liked Army of the Dead but there are some glaring issues. The average movie goer expects more than we did in the 80's and 90's. We need our movies to not only have great action or special effects or drama etc. But also a storyline which makes sense and sometimes writers and directors can be too smart for the own good. Just like I Am Omega failed to capitalise on the biggest subplot which was the zombies acting with purpose and not just flailing about. Similarly this movie failed to expand on some pretty big and vital storyline's e.g. Who was patient zero and why was he being transported by the government and how was he able to control the other zombies. Who was his queen and her bodyguard? How was his hair growing? And how did she become pregnant? Also why was he taking prisoners and turning them one at a time? These are really huge aspects of what could have been a new direction in the genre which basically just sees zombies as posing one singular goal which is to eat brains. I thought this movie was a big waste, an ok way to spend an hour watching explosions and lots of action but as far as storyline I think they missed the mark big time. Cheers.
Cosmic Sin (2021)
Very poor sci-fi offering
Unfortunately Cosmic Sin was a bit garbage and if not for Covid having smashed the movie industry for a year this would never have had a cinema release. The trailer looked ok and Bruce Willis is a fan favourite but that's about where the positives end. I mean they fly through space wearing a suit which consists of elbow and knee pads, gloves and boots, a plastic chest plate and a helmet which has a force field (covering only their faces) that looks like it could fail at any moment. Utter garbage. Everything about this movie screams B-grade and that's being generous. Personally I'd recommend giving it a miss. Cheers.
The Little Things (2021)
Good movie with fantastic acting
I do like me a Denzel thriller. I've been looking forward to watching the little things and I wasn't disappointed. The story is ok, even though the lead up to the ending was dumb, and it had a real Seven feel about it particularly the last 20 minutes and in all honesty the writer may have pinched a little from Seven's ending. Not complaining though, I really enjoyed it. The acting was superb. Denzel, Rami and Jared all have very distinct styles and each shone in their particular role. The scene with Denzel where he was lying in bed having visions of the victims was top notch. You could feel his pain. And Rami's little breakdown felt genuine. Jared's character was creepy as hell. Seriously, if you were one of the supporting actors and you received a call from your agent telling you you had a part in a movie with Denzel, Rami and Jared, do you think a little pee might come out? LOL. With a lesser cast the story may not have been so captivating but thankfully this movie had a legend and 2 brilliant actors. Cheers.
Mortal Kombat (2021)
Good action flick but slightly confusing and messy
As a teenager I used to love playing Mortal Combat and Street Fighter at the local arcade. The games were pretty basic compared to today but a whole lot more involved then what I started with, Space Invaders, PAC Man and Joust....and let's not forget Frogger 😁
I remember when the first Mortal Combat movie was released and loved it, especially being a fan of Christopher Lambert who played Lord Raiden. The story line was good, acting ok and the fight scenes were every teenage boys fantasy. The sequel was a bit blah but still enjoyable....and at least better then Street Fighter the movie or the deplorable Double Dragon.
This latest Mortal Combat offering centred around a brand new character in Cole Younge who apparently is the last direct descendant of Scorpion (Hanzo Hasashi). Cole's backstory of a washed up MMA fighter is weak and hardly explained. His relationship with his family is unclear (is he the biological father or step father), at least to me. Cole's power is weak and poorly fleshed out. He develops some form of armour over his torso and arms which seems to absorb blows and redirect as energy (think Black Panther) although I could be wrong, it was a bit confusing. The movie felt like it chopped and changed between PG13 to R18+ at will. There was lots of super violent fights with heads being crushed and knives being driven into skulls and copious amounts of profanity all of which made the humour feel out of place yet at the same time the choreography for the fight scenes seemed low budget and the characters saying "flawless victory" or "fatality" after their fights came across as silly. I know these catch phrases were a big part of the games but they were always said by the voice over fight announcer not by the characters themselves.
There's heaps more wrong with this movie but I want to at least focus on one positive. I thought Hiroyuki Sanada was fantastic as Hanzo Hasashi. A real standout for me. His performance was totally believable (minus the last few minutes which felt rushed overall). The main backstory of the movie was the feud between Hanzo's Scorpion and Bi-Han's Subzero which ended a thousand years ago (or thousands of years ago) with Bi-Han killing Hanzo's wife and child and then Hanzo himself. Hanzo was Japanese and Bi-Han Chinese which apparently meant something in the movie but it's never discussed and we have no idea why the feud existed in the first place. Hanzo goes to hell and for whatever reason Bi-Han goes to work for Shang Tsung in Outworld as an assassin where he is helping to win Mortal Combat thus bringing an end to Earth??? Ummm why?
So many problems with this movie but still an enjoyable watch if you don't take your movies too seriously (which apparently I do 😆).
Cheers.
Greenland (2020)
Good Movie but.....
I was really looking forward to Greenland. As a fan of disaster movies I loved Armageddon, Deep Impact, 2012 and other similar flicks. Both Armageddon and Deep Impact come out around the same time (I believe Deep Impact was first) and whilst Armageddon was a big budget action movie Deep Impact was more drama with some great CGI thrown in. Greenland was more like the latter but minus the CGI. I liked the storyline and how it built to the climax, the only problem was there was no climax. I sat for over 2 hours waiting for the impact and the devastation that followed but all we saw was a space view after the fact and then we shifted to the bunker where Butler and family waited for the shockwave etc. that was it. No flaming fireball, no tsunami, no earthquake, explosions, toppling buildings, nada. I felt the ending was very anticlimactic and left me disappointed.
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
Completely missed the mark
I had such high hopes for WW84, especially after the first movie and then Aquaman. I really thought DC were on the right track. But as much as I wanted a huge masterpiece what I got was a poor Thor Ragnarock knock off. First off, the opening jewellery store heist was completely laughable. It paled so much in comparison to the bank heist scene from The first film. Seeing Wonder Woman skimming across the floor deflecting bullets was awesome but this jumping around using her lasso to flick people around seemed like they were trying too hard. And the way the one criminal grabs the kid and the other 3 are calling for him to stop? Completely unbelievable. The movie took what felt like an age to get interesting and none of the characters were interesting save for Barbara but I felt the Cheetah character was so underdone. Maxwell Lord's rise to power and subsequent redemption was also laughable. And the way Diana convinced the entire population of the planet to "renounce their wish"??? It really felt like they spent way too much time on the lead up to the action, not enough time on the action itself and then rushed the ending with a "everyone lived happily ever after" finish. Also, just to add, we are expected to believe the biggest supernatural event in history happened in 1984 with everyone getting fantastic wishes and the world nearly ending in nuclear holocaust but in 2020 no ones remembers? Can't see myself rewatching WW84. These are just my thoughts. Cheers and blessings
The Silence (2019)
Not terrible but confused why it was made?
I hadn't seen or heard anything about this movie but am a big Stanley Tucci fan so thought I'd take a look. Just reading the promo screamed rip-off of The Quiet Place. Creatures that kill by sound and can't see, deaf girl the main character. It just felt too close. The movie itself wasn't bad and the acting fairly decent, except for the preacher and his flock, I don't know, the acting felt very b-grade. The special effects were just ok although some of the explosions looked questionable. Stanley Tucci and Miranda Otto were standouts, especially Tucci. The rest of the main cast were good also. Some of the storyline was too convenient, especially the ending. I'm just a bit confused why this would be made. The Quiet Place was a fantastic movie with a great premise. The Silence really comes across as a low budget wannabe. Watchable but not great.
Dracula (2020)
2 outta 3 ain't bad
This series was 3 episodes long with the first 2 being set in the past and the third current day. I really enjoyed the first episode which was an introduction to the main characters and enjoyed the scenes in Castle Dracula. The 2nd episode was set out at sea onboard the Demeter. There were a few nice twists and some of the characters were likeable enough. I loved the ending of episode 2 which set up Dracula's arrival in modern day England. Unfortunately this is where it goes off the rails and becomes quite silly. The beginning of episode 3 really failed to live up to the cliff hanger set up by the 2nd. Some of the main characters had no bearing on the story whatsoever. Some of the characters were. It likeable at all. There was too much silly humour with Dracula's lawyer Renfield who is a big part of Dracula lore. Finally, the ending was lazy and stupid. I really wanted to like this and did enjoy the first 2 episodes but it tailed off into absurdity. Cheers
The Wrong Missy (2020)
Surprisingly Funny and Nice
I'm a fan of David Spade although never really thought of him as a leading man, more of a sidekick type actor to bigger stars like Adam Sandler etc. his type of humour doesn't really stretch over the full length of a movie. I was pleasantly surprised with The Wrong Missy though and enjoyed it from start to finish. The humour is kind of gross and confronting but has a charm at the same time. The characters were likeable, even the ones you are meant to hate. Lauren Lapkus was a scream as Missy and nailed crazy to a tee. And I was chuffed to see Rob Schneider who I don't really see around much lately. It's the kind of film you wouldn't watch with your mum 😁
Avenue 5 (2020)
Loving this show
I saw the preview and watched the first episode with a touch of scepticism but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with how funny it is. The little one liners really hit their mark and the surprises keep coming. The ship being circled by a ring of poop was unusual but then to add a laser light show to make it light up? LOL. And in episode 7, where the passengers see what they believe is the face of Pope John Paul floating in the poop....it's Donald Trump!! Hahahaha priceless. I love this show.
Good Boys (2019)
Inappropriately funny as hell
So I watched this not really knowing what it was about and the whole movie was set up within the first scene in that you kinda knew what you were in for. The humour was completely inappropriate for the age of the movies main cast and some scenes made me cringe, not because they were bad but more so because as an adult it's more than a little wired watching a 12 year old talk about his "big dick". I must say though as inappropriate as it is I don't think I've laughed so hard and so consistently throughout a movie for a very long time. The conundrum here is that the movie works so well because of the age of the main cast and the adult humour. Lot's of people will be offended and cry about young people being objected to sexualised behaviours etc. and that's fine, I for one thought this movie was funny as and would definitely recommend it to my friends. Cheers
The Dead Don't Die (2019)
Unsure what to make of this??
I'd been looking forward to seeing The Dead Don't Die ever since seeing the trailer and while I didn't hate the film, I just don't know the direction they were going as some of it doesn't make a lot of sense and some parts were just 'huh?'. I got the sense it was gonna be a little weird when near the beginning of the movie Adam Driver and Bill Murray are driving along when the song "The Dead Don't Die" comes on the radio and Bill Murray says it sounds really familiar and Adam Driver remarks "it's the theme song" meaning the theme song for the movie. Then nearing the end, after Adam Driver's character saying several times during the movie "this is going to end badly" Bill Murray's character has had enough and asks why he keeps saying that and Adam Driver responds saying "I've read the script" which leads to a dialogue surrounding the movies script. There is a bizarre character played by Tilda Swinton (who I love) who without warning or back story ends up being an alien and being beamed to her spaceship which then promptly fly's off??? There is a significant storyline surrounding 3 teenagers who manage to escape from an zombie overrun youth detention centre and who after running into town one says to the others she knows a place they can hide and then we never see them again??? We are introduced to 3 young adults one of which is played by Selena Gomez who look like they are going to be main characters but who without warning die. We don't see them die but instead Bill Murray and Adam Driver happen upon their hotel room to find them dead. As I said, I'm not sure which direction they were going with this movie but I just don't feel like they even got close to nailing it. Sometimes you can be too clever and it ends up being messy. One good thing (at least for me), it was nice to see Bill Murray and Carol Kane together again. For those of you who remember Scrooged they had some great scenes where Carol's ghostly character savaged Bill's Scrooge :-)
Polar (2019)
Lots of potential but to over the top...
I'm not real sure how to take Polar. On one hand it has a John Wick vibe with lots of killing, blood and gore but it also adds humour sort of like "The Big Hit" which I liked. Where I'm confused is with Matt Lucas's character which to me felt out of place and detracted from my overall movie enjoyment. Matt Lucas was so ridiculously over the top he kind of reminded me of the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland. I just didn't like his character at all for this type of movie. The Johnny Knoxville cameo took me by surprise 😁
Glass (2019)
Unless there is a 4th film........
I was really looking forward to watching Glass being a fan of both Unbreakable and Split as well as other movies by Shymalan such as Lady in the Water and The Village. Glass however let me down big time. The story itself was good as was the acting with the exception of James McAvoy who was fantastic. The ending though, i thought, was garbage. Throwing a twist into a movie is ok but it has to make sense and there needs to be a reason or in this case back story. It's like there should've been a movie centred around the secret society to explain who they are and why they do what they do but all we got was a 60 second mini explanation for what turned out to be the most integral part of the movie??? The "big" battle scene between David and the Beast was weak at best.
I did really appreciate bringing back actors to reprise their roles from both Unbreakable and Split although it was a shame Robin Wright Penn didn't return.
I think overall i enjoyed the idea of the movie way more than the movie itself and feel it fell well short of being remarkable. Maybe they cut the crap out of it and we'll get the explanations we need from an extended cut? Maybe.
Cheers :-)
Aquaman (2018)
Best DC film by a long way
I grew up reading comics, particularly Justice League, Superman and Green Lantern. When I heard they were doing Green Lantern I did a happy dance but after watching it however it was bitterly disappointing. I liked Man of Steele and Batman v Superman and thought Wonder Woman was really good. Justice League was just ok with a few really good scenes. Aquaman blew all recent DC offerings away. As many have said, the visuals are spectacular. The acting was great, storyline was great. Jason Mamoa was prefect in the title role. The movie held my interest from start to finish and bulit up pace nicely till the climax. There's always going to be those people, especially those familiar with the character, who will say they could have done better, that's true for every film. It's no Infinity War but DC were definitely spot on with Aquaman.
Mortal Engines (2018)
Great visuals and very good CGI but.....
I was super looking forward to this movie but after about 20 minutes I found myself wondering how long it had to go. Like many reviewers have said this movie is a mix of other movies notably Mad Max, V For Vendetta, Batman Ninja and probably heaps others. I wasn't going to bother reviewing being so many people had already said what I was thinking however I wanted to add my two cents on the whole Shrike thing. The Shrike storyline was, I thought, so out of place in the movie. Perhaps this was an integral part of the book (if it were one) but for the cinema release it was such an out there thing. For all intents and purposes there were humans who somehow put there souls into robotic bodies (similar to the movie 9 which was brilliant by the way). I'm not sure how they did this and he'll i may even be wrong, it was a bit confusing. One thing I will say though, I thought the Shrike death scene was by far the best part of the movie. The flashes of his memories finishing on his child was very emotional and very well done. I also thought the visuals of the weapon in use was great.
An ok movie but I probably wouldn't watch it again.
Cheers 😜
Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay (2018)
Juvenile pretending to be grownup
Blood, gore, death, headshots, exploding heads, razor cuts, male strippers, lesbians making out, you would think a movie that has all this would be set for the more mature comics fan. Unfortunately not. This movie feels like it was written by a 13yr old who probably felt cool because he got to swear and put in adult material. What really irked me was the Flashpoint Paradox tie-in. Flashpoint Paradox was dark and gritty and felt like it was more realistic (good doesn't always triumph) whereas this movie had none of that appeal. Really disappointed.
Den of Thieves (2018)
Really good action movie
I really liked this movie. It held my interest from start to finish and left me wanting more although the ending did urk me. The action scenes were great and not too over the top. The Chemistry between Merriman and O'brien was fantastic and their scenes together Kept me on the edge of my seat not knowing what to expect. I was really confused as to why we got to see O'briens Family scenes and really just wasn't interested in that at all. Maybe they were trying to show us his vulnerability but I don't think there was enough back story for it to warrant being in there. Also Fifty Cents scene where his daughters date turns up and the whole "if you hurt my daughter we will mess you up" thing. It's so cliche'd and has been done to death (Lethal Weapon, Bad Boys just to name a few). It really felt they were ripping off the Fast and the Furious's 'we are baddies but we are a family' vibe. One thing which really annoyed me was near the ending when O'Brien went to the bar and had the "Usual Suspects" moment where he figured out what had happened. This was such a blatant rip off of that movie that it just felt poorly written and for me detracted from my overall movie watching experience. I don't mind what happened as far as the characters ending up where they did just didn't like the was they explained it. That being said, I still think this was a great movie. Cheers