Wang! Bang! Pow!
The later three The Fast and Furious films, excluding the upcoming The Fate of the Furious, are heralded as the rare occasion in which the later installments of a franchise are better than their predecessors. This trilogy has been hugely successful from all sides. Fans like them. Critics tolerate them, at the very least. And the box office loves them.
Furious Six is where all pretense of the franchise’s premise fall away. The film is barely about Continue reading Furious 6 (2013) Movie Review
Fast Five, the fittingly-titled fifth film in the Fast & Furious franchise, begins where its predecessor left off: a high stakes, improbable break out of Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) by his best friend Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) and sister Mia (Jordana Brewster).
Following this successful bus flipping, Brian and Mia go into hiding, proving that they are now full-blown, no remorse criminals.
There is a noticeable shift in quality between Continue reading Fast Five (2011) Movie Review
After a practical joke goes wrong, Jason Scott (Dacre Montgomery) has to come to detention every Saturday in order to graduate. There, he meets a prep-turned-punk Kimberly (Naomi Scott) and an “on the spectrum” nerd Billy (RJ Cyler).
When Billy helps Jason with his house arrest bracelet problem, Jason agrees to drive Billy to an abandoned quarry, which happens to be the site of Continue reading Power Rangers (2017) Movie Review
In this fourth installment of the Fast & Furious franchise, quite confusingly entitled Fast & Furious, the old crew is up to the same old tricks. Dom (Vin Diesel), Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), and Han (Sung Kang) rob a moving fuel truck in the Dominican Republic. They take their cut and split ways to lay low.
When Letty is murdered, the crew reunites to avenge her death. Wrapped up in this via FBI investigation is Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker), who now works for the bureau.
With this premise comes the narrative intrigue of Continue reading Fast & Furious (2009) Movie Review
In anticipation of April’s release of The Fate of the Furious, the eighth installment in the The Fast and the Furious franchise, CineFiles is taking a retrospective look back on all of the series’ films. In this edition, we look at the third entry into the series (but the sixth film chronologically?), The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is widely considered the black sheep of the now incredibly successful Fast & Furious franchise. This is due mainly to the film’s tangential narrative from what has essentially become a testosterone-infused soap opera.
But let’s not judge a book by its preconceived notions.
Tokyo Drift opens on a car race over the ownership of a woman. So…it’s not looking good so far. Unlike the previous two Fast & Furious films, however, this opening race Continue reading The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) Movie Review
In Bogota, Colombia, a white collar NPO that helps Americans get hired in South America is up to the normal day. Save for the heightened, armed gate security.
Midway through the morning, the office is interrupted by an intercom voice informing them that every employee needs to kill two of their coworkers to prevent further ramifications. The building is subsequently locked down with a seemingly impenetrable metal wall. When no one responds to the request of the mysterious voice of god: people’s heads start exploding.
And…begin a psychological mind games thriller a la Circle, 13 Sins, Cube, Cube 2: Hypercube, Cube Zero, Exam, Buried, Brake, Compliance, 9 Dead, Saw 1, Saw II, Saw III, Saw IV, Saw V, Saw VI, Saw VII, Cheap Thrills, The Perfect Host, The Invitation, Shutter Island, The Cure for Wellness, etc. etc.
James Gunn’s script is the ethical dilemma of the man on the trolley tracks—do you Continue reading The Belko Experiment (2017) Movie Review
In anticipation of the April release of The Fate of the Furious, CineFiles is taking a retrospective look back on the franchise as a whole. In this installment, we look at the second film in the series, 2 Fast 2 Furious.
2 Fast 2 Furious begins by essentially recreating the opening race of its predecessor. The only difference is that the intrigue of two dual protagonists facing off is replaced by the correct assumption that Brian (Paul Walker), the now ex-LAPD street racer, is going to win. The scene is also shot with more intensity, even if some shots are directly lifted from the first film.
Following this race, Brian is brought in by Miami police and roped into an undercover operation against Carter Verone (Cole Hauser), an importer-exporter cartel connection. Brian enlists the aide of childhood friend Roman Pierce (Tyrese Gibson) to infiltrate Verone’s inner circle.
There is a noticeable Continue reading 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) Movie Review
Big Ape. Island. 1970s Vietnam backdrop. Movie. Synopsis over.
Kong: Skull Island is a Vietnam era period piece, something that acts as an important backdrop in the film. The stereotypes of U.S. in 1970s wartime dictate exposition and characterization.
The setup of Kong is messy in its expediency. A constant underscore of period relevant soundtrack keep conversations short and lacking in anything more than political platitudes.
Characters, as a result of this expediency and poor scripting, are Continue reading Kong: Skull Island (2017) Movie Review
As a precursor to the April 14 release of The Fate of the Furious, the eighth film in the Fast & Furious franchise, CineFiles is taking a look back at the 16 years of Fast films, starting here with 2001’s The Fast and the Furious.
What can be said about a film centering around underground drag racing, in which characters risk their lives for the respect of the win? Hopefully a lot given that film spawned a billion dollar franchise.
The Fast and the Furious, as a franchise, has developed into an enigmatic phenomenon of action schlock. But in 2001, The Fast and the Furious the film was merely a Continue reading The Fast and the Furious (2001) Movie Review
The first thing one will notice about Logan, after a prologue/advert that you will not see coming, is that this is not Bryan Singer’s X-Men. Logan is the ninth film in the X-Men franchise and the third standalone Wolverine film. And it is a grizzled, grisly action tragedy. Not what one would expect from this comic book franchise.
An opening action sequence promises brutality not seen in comic book cinema to date, and it Continue reading Logan (2017) Movie Review
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