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Flash Movie Review: The Killer
I SPOTTED SOMETHING DARK, BURIED UNDERNEATH a pile of blankets that were on the top shelf of a closet. I was using a stepstool to reach the blankets and spotted something that was barely peeking out from underneath. Sliding my hand under the blankets, I felt a stiff leathery cover; I thought it might be a book, except it felt bigger. Having to use both hands, one to hold the blankets back and the other to drag the item out from underneath, I pulled it to the edge of the shelf and had to use both hands to lift it up, so I could finally see it. To my surprise, it was a large, leather covered album or binder. There was gold tooling on the cover that had cracks and wrinkles. I carefully stepped down off the stepstool with the album and sat down in a chair so I could place it on my lap to see what was inside. From underneath the cover as I was opening it, fell out fragments of yellowed paper. There was writing on them, but it was so faded I could not make out any full words. Turning over the cover page which was just a sheet of tissue or wax paper, there sealed onto the stiff page was a handwritten recipe. The handwriting was not familiar to me, nor was there any type of date written to give me an idea of how old the album could be. EACH BLACK CARDBOARD PAGE HAD ANYWHERE from one to several recipes. Because I had been teaching myself how to cook and bake, I was fascinated with this find. Maybe it was a book of family recipes; I needed to find out. Page by page I scanned each recipe until suddenly, one recipe stuck out from all the rest. The name written on top spelled out a word I had not heard since I was a little boy. Was it possible this desert bread recipe was for the one we used to have when I was a small child? I was determined to make it and find out; however, the recipe listed only the ingredients, not the amounts, oven temperature or time for baking. From the ingredients, I only needed one item that I ran to the store to buy. Keeping a piece of paper nearby, I listed what amounts I was guessing, while judging how the batter looked. My first attempt was dry with no taste. My second attempt only filled up the loaf pan halfway, but it came out hard with still no taste. In four weekends, my seventh attempt was a success; the dessert loaf was in fact the one I used to eat when I was a kid. I was ecstatic with the results. From this experience, I must wonder if writer and director John Woo felt the same about doing this updated version from the original one, he did thirty-five years ago. ON ASSIGNMENT TO KILL HER TARGET at a nightclub, along with any witnesses, a feared assassin backs off from killing a blinded woman at the scene of the massacre. The assassin’s “good deed” would not go unpunished. With Nathalie Emmanuel (The Invitation, Game of Thrones-TV) as Zee, Omar Sy (The Book of Clarence, Jurassic World franchise) as Sey, Sam Worthington (Avatar franchise, The Exorcism) as Finn, Diana Silvers (Booksmart, Space Force-TV) as Jenn and Said Taghmaoul (Wonder Woman, Three Kings) as Prince Majeb Bin Faheem; this current version still had John Woo’s trademark bloody violence. The action/fight scenes were beautifully choreographed as well as edited. I enjoyed Nathalie’s and Omar’s performances to the point I would not mind if they starred in a sequel. With so much action and chase scenes, I thought the script was shallow; I did not feel connected to the characters. There were times, I felt I was watching a video game instead of a movie. Despite what I have said and because I was in the mood for a steady action film, I still enjoyed watching this remake. Once again, there were multiple scenes with blood and violence.
3 stars
Flash Movie Review: Avatar: The Way of Water
THERE IS PLENTY OF TRUTH AND plenty of examples that show beauty is only skin deep. I realized this at a young age because of a friend’s grandmother. My friend lived in the same apartment building, so I had met his grandmother numerous times. She was always well dressed, with hair that was never out of place, thanks to her weekly beauty shop visits. I remember how she constantly avoided being out in the sunlight for too long. Being at such a young age, I translated her prettiness for niceness; in other words, if a person was good looking, then there should be no reason why they were not kind. I do not know how I came up with that reasoning, but I was completely wrong. My friend’s grandmother appeared pleasant upon first meeting, but it never lasted long. My friend and I would be playing a board game at his house, and she would walk into the room, eating a bag of candy. She would offer her grandson a piece, but she never offered me one. From other times I was over there, I could hear the way she talked to her daughter and son-in-law; it was demanding, where she constantly had them bring things to her instead of her getting up to go get them for herself. I DISCOVERED THE IDIOM ABOUT BEAUTY being skin deep was not exclusive to people. It could be used as well for buildings. In college, I had a class in a futuristic looking building. From the street it looked amazing, with an outer surface that looked like a checkerboard, with some of the squares raised up. There was a rooftop garden which was more of a novelty back then. When I discovered one of my classes was in this building, I was excited I would finally be able to get inside of it. Upon first entering, there were these cool orbital globes hanging from the ceiling that lit the hallway. My class was held on the third floor; during the warmer months, the room never got cooled off from the air conditioning. The professor told us when they built the building, they installed a HVAC system that was too small for the building. So, the rooms were cold in winter and hot in summer. I later discovered some of the windows leaked which led to a constant cleaning regiment to get rid of the mold. From such a dramatic façade, being inside the building was rarely pleasant. Not that it is as dramatic as that college building, but this action-adventure fantasy is in a similar predicament. HAVING SETTLED INTO DOMESTIC LIFE WITH a family, life takes an ugly turn for Jake, played by Sam Worthington (Hacksaw Ridge, The Shack), when an old foe returns to the planet. With Zoe Saldana (Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, Amsterdam) as Neytiri, Sigourney Weaver (The Good House, Call Jane) as Kiri, Stephen Lang (Don’t Breathe franchise, The Lost City) as Quaritch and Kate Winslet (Sense and Sensibility, The Mountain Between Us) as Ronal; this three hour and twelve-minute-long movie was a visual spectacular. There were times where I sat and wondered if things, I was seeing, were real or not. The use of color and detail in creating visual stimulating palettes was a joy to behold and the special effects were magical. It is a good thing because I thought the script was weak. The story is predictable and a bit repetitive at times. I was feeling the length of the film at some point which told me the writers could have cut the length down some. Spending a little more time on character development would have been beneficial in my opinion, though I appreciated the moral messages. And I did not care for the obvious ploys used in the script to prepare the viewers for the 3rd installment of this franchise. How long will that one be?
3 stars
Flash Movie Review: The Shack
FROM my experiences I know every person treats religion differently. I also am aware of the differences between someone who is religious compared to a person who is spiritual. Some years ago I knew a man who went to temple every day to pray. He followed his religion’s customs and traditions fully, handing them down to his children. The interesting thing was after he died his wife stopped following the rituals; not totally but she became more relaxed about the structure shall we say. I know another person who partakes in all the customs of her religion, but her actions are not of a religious person. Just because you attend services and donate money to charity does not automatically make one religious. In other words you have to practice what you preach. This person discriminates against a variety of minorities; I am talking blatantly speaks out against them. I just sit and wonder how they can justify their actions based on how much they talk about their religious participation. THOUGH I understand the circumstances were devastating for the individual I still find it curious when they suddenly become religious. I have experienced this myself on some level at a time when I felt there was no hope of me coming out unscathed. It took place one of the times I was being chased by a group of bullies after school. Hiding behind a couple of garbage cans on the back porch of an apartment building, I could hear them below me. They must have been looking up at the porches of the 4 storied building before running up the stairs to only check on the top floor they could not fully see from the alley. I remember praying to God to keep me hidden from them until they came down the stairway and were long gone. Due to this experience I have gained insight or maybe it is sensitivity to the actions taken by someone experiencing tragedy, like the family in this inspirational fantasy drama. DEEP into depression from a tragic event Mack Phillips, played by Sam Worthington (Clash of the Titans franchise, Avatar), one day received a letter in his box without a postmark. It was from someone he stopped believing in. Based on the bestselling book this fantasy movie also starred Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures, The Help) as Papa, Radha Mitchell (Man on Fire, Looking for Grace) as Nan Phillips and Tim McGraw (The Blind Side, Country Strong) as Willie. I appreciated the idea behind this film’s story and felt the cast was certainly capable to bring the story to life. My issue lies with the director; the pacing was slow to the point I felt the story was dragging. Add in the script being stacked in favor of manipulating the viewers’ emotions to shed tears, I did not find this a pleasant movie watching experience. If the story would have been told in a more even handed way, allowing the audience to come to their own conclusions, I feel the film would have been better all around. Sitting next to me through this picture were a couple of friends who are more religious than me. Asking them what they thought, they felt the same way I did about the movie. The story was a sad one that did not give them a sense of comfort due to the poor writing and direction.
2 ¼ stars
Flash Movie Review: Kidnapping Mr. Heineken
She hung in the air without any wires or cables attached to her for an unimaginable long time. I stopped what I was doing to stare in amazement as she twisted and flipped her body around like an aerialist in a circus. When she finally landed on the ground, her two feet smacking the forgiving floor like suction cups, she raised her arms up in the air to a roar of applause. The newscasters were agitated with excitement as they repeated the words, “She did it! She did it!” They used her name to describe the move she had just performed because it was a brand new feat that no one had ever performed before. I happened to be channel surfing on the television and came upon her performance during a gymnastics competition. It was pretty spectacular I have to say and now anyone who uses that move in their gymnastics routine will always have it referred to as her move. It brought back a memory I had of the ice skater Dorothy Hamill when she first performed her signature move that is now and forever called the Hamill Camel. When I first got into aerobics I had dreams of branding my style because I used to choreograph every single move to the music I played in class. I thought it would be so cool to be known for something I was the first to do. BASED on a true story Cor Van Hout, Willem Holleeder and Jan “Cat” Boellard; played by Jim Sturgess (Cloud Atlas, One Day), Sam Worthington (Cake, Sabotage) and Ryan Kwanten (True Blood-TV, Mystery Road); decided they were going to do something that would change their lives forever. They were going to kidnap and hold for ransom Alfred “Freddy” Heineken, played by Anthony Hopkins (Hitchcock, The Wolfman), the head of the Heineken beer empire. No kidnapers had ever asked for such an astronomical amount of money before. This action, crime drama depicted the inside doings of this unbelievable plan. The best thing about this movie was Anthony Hopkins, though the writers did not give him much to do. I thought the rest of the cast was okay but on a whole the story lacked intensity, so I never felt connected to the characters. Another reason I may have not been drawn totally into this film was seeing Anthony’s character, this incredibly wealthy individual, not having any security measures in place. Maybe I am paranoid, but someone with that type of wealth cannot just live like an average person on the street I would think. As for the action scenes they had some excitement but I found the editing to be choppy. Maybe one was supposed to have a couple of beers before seeing this film.
2 stars
Flash Movie Review: Sabotage
The amount of years I have lived so far is not a true measure of how I feel or act. One’s age never meant anything to me except a reference point for when they were born. I have never been one to judge a person’s actions based on their age; it is a meaningless point to me. The only one I judge is myself, as I notice the transitions between my mind and body. On a surface level, I am not going to walk around with my pants hanging low to reveal my underwear clad backside; however, I do not care if someone else wants to do it. Sure I wish I could stay up late at night like I used to do (think how much more I could get done), but my body now requires a certain amount of daily sleep if it wants to function in a lucid, steady way. I will say I have always been a big proponent of periodically letting your inner child out to play. When it comes to actors I understand why they want to maintain their youthfulness as they try to keep alive the facade that made them popular. I hope this does not come across as judgmental but when I see a celebrity trying to portray the illusion they maintained 20-30 years ago I feel sadness for them; even more so when they have simple physical stunts that are being handled by their very obvious stunt doubles. It is somewhat ironic that this very complaint I have had about his recent movies was not the case in this action drama. Arnold Schwarzeneggar (Batman & Robin,The Last Stand) played John “Breacher” Wharton, the head of a top level DEA task force. After bringing down a drug cartel’s safe house, the members of John’s group were systematically being brought down one at a time, as if someone was watching their every move. Based on its opening weekend box office receipts it appears this will be another disappointment for Arnold. Funny, I did not mind Arnold in this role; his character was older and more mature. Yes there was plenty of bloody violence and fighting but Arnold was not the focus. He shared the screen with among others, Joe Manganiello (Magic Mike, True Blood-TV) as Joe “Grinder” Phillips and Sam Worthington (Avatar, Man on a Ledge) as James “Monster” Murray. This crime film fails due to the script. There was so little story about the characters that I was not invested in their well-being. The movie was a series of agents being hunted and violently killed. However, the element of mystery was what kept my interest going in the story. I just hope the poor ticket sales won’t have Arnold thinking he needs to resurrect himself and say to us, “I’ll be back.”
2 stars
Flash Movie Review: Wrath of the Titans
This is today’s lesson: size does not matter, when it comes to making an evil character. Just because a character is the largest one on the screen doesn’t make them the meanest or scariest. The character I am referring to is Kronos, father of Zeus, Hades and Poseidon. Though the studio had the key pieces to make a blockbuster of this movie, they did not follow through in taking the parts and expanding on them. The perfect example was the Kronos character. After draining the power from Zeus, played by Liam Neeson (Taken, The Grey), the audience was led to believe this power would give Kronos the energy to break free and destroy the world. At least that is what Hades, played by Ralph Fiennes (Harry Potter franchise, The English Patient) was telling us after he imprisoned his brother Zeus in the underworld. Talk about your family dysfunction. The hero coming to save Zeus was his son Perseus, played by Sam Worthington (Avatar, The Debt). I give credit to Sam, for his role appeared to be a truly physical one as he was being beaten and thrown around. As I mentioned, the pieces were all here: from the love interest, to family betrayal, to battle scenes, to the love between a father and son. However, the story was not able to glue these parts together and create some excitement. It was not like I was totally bored with this movie; there was some good special effects that entertained me. But at one point of the movie I did wish they would have brought back the Kraken and let it destroy everyone in the movie, so there would not be any further sequels.
2 stars
moviejoltz 