Category Archives: Action/Thriller

Wang! Bang! Pow!

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Drama, Horror, Long Reviews (>400 Words), Love It

It Comes At Night (2017) Movie Review

It Comes At Night is a terse family drama disguising itself as a horror film. Still, it remains the scariest filmgoing experience of 2017 thus far.

The film takes place in an idyllic cabin hideaway in the woods. It is the sort of place that you would run off to on a lazy Summer weekend. But this house also has wood boarding up its windows. It has a pair of doors—one prominently red—locking itself off from the outside world.

This is no vacation. It is survival.

it-comes-at-night-horror-movie-review-2017

This contrast that director Trey Edward Shults plays with is crucial to the thematic understanding of It Comes At Night. In the film, a family of three have just buried Continue reading It Comes At Night (2017) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Wonder Woman (2017) Movie Review

First good DC cinematic universe film?! All female screenings?! Uproar over a movie based on children’s comic books?! Interrobangs?!

Diana “Prince” (Gal Gadot) is Princess of the Amazons on Themyscira. Trained at a young age as a warrior god, Diana becomes transfixed with the concept of vanquishing Ares, the god who defied Zeus and condemned the world of man to war.

chris-pine-gal-gadot-movie-trailer-reaction-wonder-woman-2017

When a Great War soldier, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), enters Themyscira through a portal, hurtling out of the sky in a crashing fighter plane, Diana rushes out to save him. The German army in hot pursuit of Trevor, the Amazons must fight them off, and Diana gets her first glimpse at the horrors of war.

From here, she sets out to Continue reading Wonder Woman (2017) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words), Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017) Movie Review

Franchises, by their very nature, are formulaic. As such, those who enjoy the Pirates of the Caribbean formula will likely find some enjoyment in this fifth installment. Because it is exactly the same film as the others.

The glaring issue with these films is quite clear. Pacing. Set pieces in Dead Men Tell No Tales, from moment one, are overblown and tiresome. The introduction of the enigmatic Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) begins light and humorous, but this apt intro is squandered when the chase sequence extends far beyond its reach.

pirates-of-the-caribbean-2017-movie-review-javier-bardem-geoffrey-rush

Aside from these pacing issues, in which scenes continue far past their natural expiration date, the attempt at story in this fourth sequel is Continue reading Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words), Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) Movie Review

On a planetary system called The Sovereign, the Guardians of the Galaxy defend some golden batteries from a large squid monster. Upon success of this task, the golden inhabitants of the planet that houses these golden batteries pay the Guardians. They then chase them down violently when it becomes evident that one member of this indelible crew, Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper), stole some of these batteries for his own gain.

guardians-of-the-galaxy-vol-2-baby-groot-vin-diesel-summer-2017-movie

This long diversion about batteries aside (and, yes, batteries take up a large portion of this film’s narrative), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is about Continue reading Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

The Circle (2017) Movie Review

Mae (Emma Watson) is stuck at a dreary temp job. Her car barely runs. She lives at home with her parents. Effectively, she’s stuck.

the-circle-2017-movie-review-tom-hanks

Then, through a connection in friend Annie (Karen Gillan), Mae lands an interview at The Circle, a hip-and-trendy tech outfit that is, on contact, Orwellian. Or, at least, Continue reading The Circle (2017) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Leave it

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) Movie Review

Director Guy Ritchie’s new venture, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, opens on a war sequence that introduces Uther Pendragon (Eric Bana), the father of the once and future king Arthur (Charlie Hunnam), as well as one-time king Vortigern (Jude Law).

It is a scene marked by blurry action and messy narrative introduction. Luckily, it is also a scene that is returned to multiple times over throughout the film.

king-arthur-legend-of-the-sword-movie-2017-may-summer-charlie-hunnam

Following this, we watch little Arthur grow up before our eyes in a very Continue reading King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Free Fire (2017) Movie Review

Free Fire, the new film from Kill List director Ben Wheatley, takes place during a contentious international arms deal in a spacious abandoned warehouse in 1978 Boston. As expected, it does not go as planned.

free-fire-movie-review-2017-brie-larson-action-film

Interestingly enough, the deal plays out in an anachronistically polite way. Not tea party polite, but more polite than Continue reading Free Fire (2017) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, Lists

All of The Fast and the Furious Films Ranked

The The Fast and the Furious franchise is one of the strangest Hollywood franchises around. Its “revival” after four films has resulted in higher budgets, higher grosses, better critical acclaim, and Vin Diesel making increasingly bold claims about the films.

With this discrepancy between old and new, with the franchise more popular now than ever, it seems fitting to inspect the franchise synoptically and rank them accordingly.

And yes this includes the upcoming The Fate of the Furious.

 

8. Fast and Furious (dir. Justin Lin, 2009)

fast-and-furious-movie-review-2015-james-wan-vin-diesel-michelle-rodriguez

2009’s confusedly-named Fast and Furious, the fourth in the franchise, is the Continue reading All of The Fast and the Furious Films Ranked →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

The Fate of the Furious (2017) Movie Review

In Havana, Dominic Toretto’s (Vin Diesel) cousin (Janmarco Santiago) gets his car towed by the man with the fastest car in Cuba. Toretto challenges the man to a race for the cousin’s car. What comes from this is a race of the fastest car against the slowest car. It is a race predicated on family and honor, and, of course, Dom wins.

the-fate-of-the-furious-movie-review-2017-f-gary-gray-charlize-theron

Those unfamiliar to the The Fast and The Furious franchise may find this cold open to The Fate of the Furious, this eighth installment to the series, silly, both in theme and in how it plays out. But it is also Continue reading The Fate of the Furious (2017) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Long Reviews (>400 Words), Love It

Furious 7 (2015) Movie Review

Let me start by explaining what I wanted to do with this review, and then I will explain what is actually happening. I have seen Furious 7 twice without seeing any of the other Fast & Furious films. What I planned to do for this retrospective, which is in preparation for the new movie The Fate of the Furious, was to go back and watch every Fast & Furious film and review them.

Instead, I watched the first two and then decided to watch this again. Drunk on micro-brew beer and Mexican food. Because that is clearly the most reasonable state to watch a Fast & Furious film in. The only thing closer to right would be for me to be drinking strictly Corona.

As a result, I am reviewing Furious 7 without a whole lot of knowledge of the franchise. And I am also watching it drunk, so, you know, f*** it.

furious-7-movie-review

Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) is the brother of Owen Shaw (Luke Evans). And he is out for revenge. Why? Because cars…and stuff. He’s Jason Statham; you really don’t need to be asking many questions. Get off my back. He’s the villain, that’s all you need to know.

Brian (Paul Walker) is now a family man, married to Jordana Brewster’s Mia with a kid. Relegated to a mini van, he feels Continue reading Furious 7 (2015) Movie Review →