Category Archives: Thriller
Thriller
Flash Movie Review: John Wick
It can cut across all age groups. I am not saying it is right nor am I condoning it, even though I have done it myself. If you never acted it out there is a good possibility you have seen someone else do it. Maybe at the beach you saw two little ones building sand castles. I do not know what the attraction is but after the castles were done, one of the little ones kicked the other castle. In turn, the one with the broken castle ran over to the remaining castle and stomped on it. Through my school years I saw so many examples of revenge that sadly it was pretty much the norm. In my day revenge consisted of putting glue on a student’s seat or starting a rumor about them. With the access of the internet we have been exposed to various kinds of revenge and cyberbullying. I remember an incident where I worked at a company that had a boss who was a horrible person. Trust me when I say he was not a nice man; so keeping that in mind, I am going to tell you something that I am embarrassed to reveal. At work one day, late in the afternoon, I went to the restroom. Standing at the urinal I heard a faint cry for help. Looking over by the stalls I caught a glimpse of my boss’ shoes peeking under the only closed door. I pretended I did not hear anything and shut the lights off as I walked out of the bathroom. Back when that happened I knew it was wrong but it felt so good. REVENGE was the only reason ex-hitman John Wick, played by Keanu Reeves (The Matrix franchise, Devil’s Advocate), came out of retirement. This action thriller had a no-nonsense, take no prisoners approach that was beautifully executed by first time directors David Leitch and Chad Stahelski. Interesting side note, the two directors were both stuntmen, which explained the focus on physical contact in this movie and I was impressed by it. The fights played out like live video games with precision choreographed movements. Keanu was well suited for this role with its sparse dialog that he delivered in the proper framework, whether it was sadness or sarcasm. Without giving away anything I thought the writers did a brilliant job on what was the motivation that pushed John back into his former line of work. Operating just as well were the actors Michael Nyqvist (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo franchise, Disconnect) as Viggo Tarasov, Alfie Allen (Game of Thrones-TV, The Other Boleyn Girl) as Iosef Tarasov and William Dafoe (Out of the Furnance, The Hunter) as Marcus. This film knew exactly what it wanted to achieve and succeeded. I have to tell you I did not know revenge would be so much fun to watch. There were many scenes that had blood and violence in them.
3 1/4 stars
Flash Movie Review: Left Behind
Once again I was peering into the kitchen sink with its stopped up drain. The still, murky dishwater had a few mounds of suds that aimlessly drifted across the surface like melting icebergs. I had already poured some liquid drain opener into the sink but there were no signs of any movement. Looking in the basement over by my tools I came across an unopened box that contained a device that claimed to clear drains. I had seen an advertisement for it but had not used it yet. Returning with it to the kitchen I broke open the sealed box flap and poured the contents onto the kitchen counter. At first glance the items looked like a pile of tired snakes, gray with red tips. I followed the instructions on how to assemble the pieces. When I was done I was not sure which end was to go into the sink first. Inserting one end into the drain I pushed down on the air pump but nothing happened. Flipping to the other side I tried again but not even an air bubble came up to the water’s surface. Repeating the process again with the other end, the air pump still did not deliver its claim to clear the drain with forced air; the device was a useless piece of garbage. SIMILARLY, this faith based film reminded me of my clogged kitchen drain: dead in the water filled with rubbish. Nicholas Cage (Moonstruck, Leaving Las Vegas) played commercial pilot Rayford Steele, who was piloting a flight overseas to London when a portion of the passengers suddenly disappeared into thin air. Unable to contact anyone at flight control, it was not until he heard from his daughter Chloe, played by Cassi Thomson (Grave Halloween-TV, Big Love-TV), that he discovered people were mysteriously vanishing all over the world. Flying blind, Rayford was not sure if he would be able to safely land. I do not know where to start regarding all the things that were wrong with this action thriller. Besides being utterly offensive in the way they used stereotypes such as the “smart” asian man and the “suspicious” middle easterner, the script was cheesy and pathetic. The acting if you want to call it that was sad from everyone including Lea Thompson (Back to the Future franchise, J. Edgar) as Irene Steele and Chad Michael Murray (One Tree Hill-TV, House of Wax) as Buck Williams. Seeing the character Chloe going from riding a motorcycle to a piece of heavy equipment was laughable. It was brutal sitting through this film as it pounded its faith based agenda into the viewers’ heads. No way would I even consider this a movie; it was bigoted propaganda. This garbage needed to be flushed down the drain since nothing was going on except a paycheck.
1 star
Flash Movie Review: The Equalizer
I believe everyone has at one time experienced some form of injustice. There are all kinds of injustice; some more powerful than others. How many of us have felt we were unfairly treated by someone in a customer service role, either in person or on a toll free number? I would guess nearly all of us. This type of scenario has more to do with poor training than some form of discrimination. Speaking from personal experience, more times than not if you end the conversation and try again later for someone different they may be able to resolve your issue. You just need to get the person who is better trained. Now there are some forms of injustice that are more serious. The guy walking down the street, minding his own business, when a small group of young adults push him down as they walk by, just because they did not like the way he looked could make you angry. However, there is little you could do without becoming a victim yourself; so you wait until the punks are far enough away to go over and help the fallen man. Having seen more than my share of injustices, I am intimately familiar with the anger that wells up inside and the frustration that takes over because there is not a damn thing I could do to stop it. HAVING left his former ways behind him Robert McCall, played by Denzel Washington (The Book of Eli, The Great Debaters), could not sit back and watch the mistreatment of young Teri, played by Chloe Grace Moretz (If I Stay, Let Me In). His actions would not go unnoticed. I have to give credit to Denzel for putting in a strong performance. In the recent past I felt he was showing us he could act instead of simply acting and in this crime thriller he was very much his character Robert. The other excellent performance was by Marton Csokas (The Lord of the Rings franchise, Noah) as Teddy. Visually I found this crime film interesting to watch with its great camera angles; it was a plus for the dynamic fight scenes. Unfortunately the story could not keep the good parts together. With a slow build-up, I found things were getting sillier as the movie progressed. There were some unanswered questions I had by the end of the film which left me somewhat unsatisfied. I can only assume the movie studio is hoping for this to become a franchise. Not that I want to judge the idea unfairly, but if the studio wants to go forward they would need a better script next time. There were several scenes with blood and violence.
2 1/2 stars
Flash Movie Review: The Guest
There was nothing they did that caused you to be alarmed. They were pleasant, engaged and most importantly attentive to your friend. Though the two of them had been dating for a few months, this was the first time you were meeting them. This was known as moving the relationship to the next stage, where it was time for the boyfriend/girlfriend to meet the best friend. Hoping to keep the get together as stress free as possible, it was decided that everyone would meet for lunch; nothing else was planned in case by some small chance there would be any kind of friction between the two. In spite of everything going well, there was something about them that set off a tiny alarm in your head. You could not explain it but you had a sense that something was not right about them. The tough part was deciding whether you should tell your friend about your feelings; it was a no win situation. Though there would be several more get togethers, you were always on guard; looking for something concrete you could casually bring up to your friend to see how they would react. You were smart enough to know when a friend was involved in a relationship it was your job to be supportive and not say anything unless something blatant was being done by the girlfriend/boyfriend. HESITANT at first, the Peterson family quickly opened up their home to the stranger David, played by Dan Stevens (A Walk Among the Tombstones, Hilde), when he explained he and their deceased son had been friends in the military. With Laura and Spencer Peterson, played by Sheila Kelley (Matchstick Men, One Find Day) and Leland Orser (Independence Day, Taken franchise), insistent that David stay with them for a while, it was soon after he had settled in that a couple of accidental deaths occurred. This film was a surprise for me with it retro vibe and fun script. Dan Stevens was so good in the role; he easily commanded the viewers attention. Like those scary thrillers from a decade ago, the tension came more from the chase instead of the violence. Now granted there were a few violent scenes with blood, but they were almost minor compared to the buildup. Another aspect of the movie that i enjoyed was the script; it had a fun dose of cheesiness, yet made the characters real to the point where I was feeling concerned for them. In addition, just when you thought the story was going in one direction, it veered off in another direction. This sounds strange to say but I really had a fun time watching this film, despite my initial wariness. A few scenes had violence and blood in them.
3 stars
Flash Movie Review: The Maze Runner
One possible spoiler alert near the end of this review.
As infants most of us I believe asked that perpetual favorite question at any nearby adult, “Why?” I bet some of you thought I was going to say, “Are we there yet?” As young children, with a world of unexplained phenomenons taking place around us, our inquisitive minds questioned everything. When I was a kid I had a curious fascination with many of my toys; I always wanted to know how they worked. After playing with them for a short time I would try to take them apart to see what was inside that made the toys do what they did. The problem with this was I could never put the toys back together, so I quickly learned to suppress my curiosity if I wanted to keep playing with my toys. This may have been the very beginning where I slowly lost my inquisitive nature and began to take everything at face value. As an adult I tend to be more suspicious of things than curious; this possibly developed from my environment than my nature. But when I look at the people around me, the majority of them are similar in their lack of curiosity. I wonder if it has to do with that mindset of “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it?” CURIOSITY wasn’t the only thing missing from the boys who found themselves in the middle of a maze; they had no memory of their past except for their name. Things would begin to change once Thomas, played by Dylan O’Brien (The Internship, Teen Wolf-TV), showed up. Though he could not remember his past, he was not satisfied with the boys around him who did not question the things happening around them. Based on the novel by James Dashner, this action mystery had a gloomy dark dread to its story. I thought the actors were well cast for this film. Besides Dylan, I also admired Aml Ameen (Lee Daniels’ The Butler, Evidence) as Alby and Will Poulter (We’re the Millers) as Gally. I am not sure if it was intentional but I felt the story had a “Lord of the Flies” flavor to it. Surprisingly I found myself becoming anxious during the movie as the story became more intense. The special effects were good which helped make the action scenes even that more tightly wound up. Seeing this film without any knowledge of the book, I found the story had a bit of predictability to it. My major complaint had to do with the ending. For me it was unsatisfying; I prefer every movie being able to stand up on its own. In this case, a sequel is needed to figure out what had just happened. The big question is whether moviegoers are that curious.
2 2/3 stars
Flash Movie Review: No Good Deed
I am generally not as kind of a person as I used to be or even want to be. Those within my circles of friends and family I try to be kind and thoughtful; however, these days strangers are a whole different story. And I have to tell you I hate being that way. Through the years as some of my displays of kindness were met with deceitfulness, those layers of negative experiences started to pull the kindness inside of me down into a setting hardness of mistrust. There were the relationships where kindness was met with covert acts of hurtfulness; helping the high school student who was selling local newspaper subscriptions but my money never made it to the newspaper office and the former co-worker who took my data to pretend it was their own hard work; each thing kept chipping away at me. Look at all the news being reported about internet or phone scams that prey on unsuspecting individuals; it is enough to make one never answer the phone or open a piece of mail again. I know all of these things can lead to a society that is made of closed up and isolated people; it is a scary thought. KINDNESS was met with a night of terror and horror for Terri, played by Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Person of Interest-TV). All it took was to help a stranded driver who had a car accident and needed to make a phone call. Unbeknownst to Terri the gentleman was escaped convict Colin Evans, played by Idris Elba (Pacific Rim, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom). The strongest element in this crime thriller was Taraji and Idris. The rest of the cast that included Leslie Bibb (Iron Man franchise, Law Abiding Citizen) as Meg and Henry Simmons (World’s Greatest Dad, Madea’s Family Reunion) as Terri’s husband, really took a back seat to Idris and Taraji. With their solid acting the two actors had a believable chemistry that kept me interested in the story. Now about that story; the script was kept at such a poor level that the movie kept brushing into hokeyness. It was astounding how many times Taraji’s character Terri, who was a lawyer, kept making poor choices. Even though the story was predictable and filled with cliches, I still was able to be mildly entertained for a portion of the time. It was a shame this movie was not kind to its actors and it would be unkind of me to tell you to go see it at the movie theaters. There were several scenes that had violence and blood in them.
2 stars
Flash Movie Review: As Above, So Below
The shine of its skin invited you to choose it. Deeply hued in red with lighter shadows, there was a firmness felt when you picked it up, bringing it closer to your face. As you bit down on the apple, hearing the crisp crunch of it as you drew a piece into your mouth, your anticipation was elevated to meet your expectations for the impending sweet taste to fill your waiting mouth. As you moved the apple back within your eyesight and before your taste buds registered the taste, you saw the horrific sight of blackened, decayed flesh under the skin of the apple. To make matters worse you were not seeing the beginning edges of it but the middle part as your brain registered sour bitterness in your mouth. What I just described to you was an example of disappointment. To avoid this feeling I do as much as possible to avoid any reviews or hype about a movie I plan on seeing to review. Trust me this takes discipline, for I used to be the type of person who was lead through life by my high expectations. I learned the hard way that these expectations were a burden to carry around as they tended to pave a straight road to disappointment. The city of Paris is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. Not a fan of horror movies I was hoping to see some great shots of the city in this horror film. SCARLETT, played by Perdita Weeks (Prowl, Hamlet), was in search of a special object that most explorers only considered to be a myth. Part of a small group of adventurers that included George and Benji, played by Ben Feldman (Cloverfield, Mad Men-TV) and Edwin Hodge (The Purge, Red Dawn); Scarlett needed the help of Papillon, played by Francois Civil (Moliere, Elles), to lead the group deep down into the Catacombs of Paris. It was there she hoped to find the elusive item, but she would also find much more. Let me get right to the point; this horror thriller was one of the worst films I have seen this year. I was stunned by the amateur writing in the script and poor acting. It seemed as if the writers went through their childhood memories of carnivals and Halloween horror houses to just pull out random things to fill the scene, hoping to scare the viewers. I was bored for the majority of the movie; this picture really came across like a cheap knockoff of a knockoff. And the biggest disappointment for me was not getting to see any decent outdoor scenes of Paris. I should have taken the money I used for this film and spent it on a couple of European travel magazines instead.
1 1/2 stars
Flash Movie Review: The November Man
The time was put in and you felt you paid your dues. There was a sense of success associated with the job that enabled you to feel proud. But when the time came you were done; you did not want to have to put in another day doing the same thing you had been doing for many years. A long time ago I had a part-time job as the manager for a furniture company’s moving crews. Prior to taking the position, the department was constantly under fire from customer complaints about the damage caused by the crews delivering the furniture. My responsibilities were to setup weekly routes for the various crews; manage the loading of the moving vans and reduce damages to a minimum. It was a grueling job since more times than not I had to fill in and be part of a crew. I was constantly amazed by the customers who bought furniture that would not fit into their houses. When the time came to leave that job I was glad and vowed I would never move another piece of furniture again. However, I soon learned never to say never because anytime a friend asked me to help them move something I could not say no. These are some of the things you just do for friends. Similarly former CIA agent Devereaux, played by Pierce Brosnan (Love is All You Need, The Ghost), had the same dilemma when he agreed to come out of retirement to extract a friend from a potentially hostile situation in Russia. Due to the length of time away from the agency, there was a chance Devereaux’s special skills would not be able to serve him well this time. This action thriller played out as a light version of James Bond; without the sophistication, charm and witty dialog. Though there were plenty of explosions and chases, the script was a poor excuse for a crime film. Pierce was convincing in his role which helped fellow cast members Luke Bracey (Monte Carlo, G.I. Joe: Retaliation) as Mason and Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace, Seven Psychopaths) as Alice. Unfortunately the directing was not very good; I found myself becoming bored as the story spiraled into a multitude of cliches and predictability. With the recent releases of these action films starring aging movie stars and their obvious stunt doubles, I did appreciate the fact that Pierce appeared to be doing some of his own stunts; if not, the camera work was much better here because it was convincing to me. It would have been fun to watch Pierce in this type of role since I was always fond of his James Bond movies; however, it could not be found here because this film was easily forgettable.
2 stars
Flash Movie Review: Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
Such a fickle force that makes us breathlessly swoon as we extend our arms into an inviting hug; yet, it can similarly drive us to a dark place to commit a murderous act of passion. It is frightening how much power love can have over us. In yesterday’s review I spoke of love’s ability to move us to a point where we would willingly take the suffering and pain away from the person we love if we could. With today’s movie I am being led to the darker qualities of love. I have met several people who were obsessed by love. For those in a relationship, they needed constant reinforcement from their significant other that they were being loved. If it was not enough they would seek it from outside their relationship. Unfortunately I have dated this type of person and discovered it in an inconvenient place. We had traveled out of the country for a vacation; I was not familiar with the language, but they were fluent. During our stay at the hotel the assistant manager always made a point to come up to us to say hello or ask how we were doing, conversing in English for me and Spanish for them. I did not think much of it at first; however, their conversations seemed to last longer filled with chuckles and smiles. As the week progressed the assistant manager periodically popped up at our door just to check on us and chat. I think you know where this is going. When I returned to the hotel room early from a tour I had taken by myself, I caught them in bed together. Evidently they needed to be loved by more than one person. EMOTIONS of love and hate ran high, driving people to do extreme things in this action thriller. It seemed as if several of Sin City’s citizens with hidden agendas were crossing paths on their way to administering their own form of justice. This sequel to the 2005 movie was able to stand on its own; it had to because I vaguely remembered the first one. The cast included Josh Brolin (Oldboy, Men in Black 3) as Dwight, Eva Green (Casino Royale, Dark Shadows) as Ava and Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler, Angel Heart) as Marv. Using the same stylized graphics as the previous film, the majority of violent scenes were made to look more cartoonish; though, there were a couple of places I had to turn my head away from the screen due to the intense violence. In spite of this I was entertained by watching this crime picture. It was nothing spectacular and I was a bit confused in some spots; but, the story was easy to follow and I enjoyed trying to figure out which actors were playing the unrecognizable characters. I believe a majority of viewers will either love or hate this movie.
2 1/3 stars
Flash Movie Review: The Expendables 3
The elderly couple swirled around the dance floor as the bottom of the woman’s dress trailed behind her like a settling morning mist. They dipped, spun and veered from side to side in synch to the beat of the music calling out to them from the tall black speakers that stood like sentries around the dance floor. There was an elegant grace to their movements that did not betray their actual ages. Speaking with them after the dance I discovered they were in their upper 70s and had been dancing together since their wedding day over 50 years ago. When I complimented them on their beautiful movements they thanked me, telling me I should have seen them when they were younger. The couple took turns explaining their moves that involved lifts, fast spins and quick footwork in unison across an entire dance floor. Due to their ages they could no longer do such things and be graceful about it or at least without throwing out either of their backs and falling to the ground. Here was a couple who did not look their age but knew their body’s limitations as it aged; I admired their practicality and honest spirit. AGING gracefully was not an option in the latest for this movie franchise. As the third installment this action film treaded on familiar ground. Sylvester Stallone (Grudge Match, Bullet to the Head) returned as Barney Ross, the head of an elite covert fighting force. After a mission had failed, Barney decided it was time to form a team of younger players who would have to go up against the man who brought Barney’s original team down; revenge had no age limit. Along with the cast from the previous films; this movie had Harrison Ford (Ender’s Game, Cowboys & Aliens) as Drummer, Antonio Banderas (The Skin I Live In, Desperado) as Galgo and Wesley Snipes (Blade franchise, Demolition Man) as Doc. I can just hear you wondering what happened to the younger team members. They were in this adventure thriller; I just wondered if they were happy about it. This could have been a fun somewhat campy film, especially with its great opening scene, if the script had been better. Unfortunately the story was poorly executed. The only older actor that looked like he did some of his own stunts was Jason Statham (Snatch, Homefront) as Lee Christmas. I think the most physical thing Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Last Stand, The Terminator franchise) as Trench did was walk across a hallway. There was violence and blood as a multitude of stunt doubles did the physical work. I am afraid this third film was aged and tired; it needed to be retired.
1 3/4 stars
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