Category Archives: Action/Thriller

Wang! Bang! Pow!

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

Nocturnal Animals (2016) Movie Review

December 9, 2016 Alex Brannan

Susan (Amy Adams), an art gallery owner, receives a novel manuscript from her ex-husband Edward (Jake Gyllenhaal). The twisted work, a thriller involving characters not dissimilar to Susan and Edward, proves to be an added hindrance to Susan’s already strained life, a life of lavish emptiness and a philandering new husband (Armie Hammer). As she progresses through the novel, she begins an introspection into her own life that could prove to change her.

Director Tom Ford, a fashion designer by trade, brings his talents to this film, and his touch becomes clear on the Continue reading Nocturnal Animals (2016) Movie Review →

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

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) Movie Review

November 17, 2016 Alex Brannan

Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), a researcher of magical creatures, travels from Britain to New York in this Harry Potter expanded universe film. When one of his creatures escapes his person at a bank in a delightful opening set piece, Scamander gets apprehended by the equivalent of a magic police officer (Katherine Waterston) and a Nomag (aka a Muggle) gets away with Scamander’s briefcase full of creatures.

This all set in a 1920s period piece landscape including a dangerous wizard criminal, a conspiratorial anti-witch Muggle, and a looming dark presence.

David Yates returns to direct this Rowling-verse film (Yates directed the final four Potter films). Beasts has a similar feel to the Potter films in their warmer moments, although the film doesn’t Continue reading Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) Movie Review →

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

Doctor Strange (2016) Movie Review

November 3, 2016 Alex Brannan

Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), a cocksure neurosurgeon with the mind of a savant, becomes victim to a (rather excessive) car wreck. His hands smashed through the windshield and succumbing to massive nerve damage, he may never practice surgery again. Wonderful parallel shots show his fall from grace in a shot structure that seems almost too elegant for a Marvel film.

When a physical recovery becomes impossible for him, Strange seeks Continue reading Doctor Strange (2016) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Drama, Love It

Where the Woods End (Am Ende Der Wald) (2016) Short Film Review

November 1, 2016 Alex Brannan

There is something to the aesthetic of Where the Woods End, the thriller short subject from director Felix Ahrens. It is sleek and gritty all at once. A glorious crane shot of the titular woods opens the short, panning across the lush, unassuming setting.

Where the Woods End is a taut psychological thriller that follows the growing internal torment of police officer Elke (Henrike von Kuick) after she Continue reading Where the Woods End (Am Ende Der Wald) (2016) Short Film Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Inferno (2016) Movie Review

October 27, 2016 Alex Brannan

Inferno begins with an ethical quandary: “There is a switch. If you pull it, half of humanity will die. If you don’t, the human race will go extinct in 100 years.” The words are uttered by Ben Foster’s eccentric millionaire Bertrand Zobrist just before he plunges himself from a tower, backed into a corner by a pursuer wanting some sort of confidential information.

Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) wakes up in a hospital, delirious and hallucinating deformed people and a black plague-era doctor. He thinks he is in Boston, but he is in Florence. Of course, there is little time for explanation, as Continue reading Inferno (2016) Movie Review →

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

Shin Godzilla (2016) Movie Review

October 12, 2016 Alex Brannan

Off the coast of Japan, a massive “anomalous” underwater volcano causes damage to the underground tunnel system and arouses the attention of the Prime Minister and his cabinet. But is it really a volcano…

Of course, it is really the most famous of all kaiju: Godzilla. Shin Godzilla (or Godzilla Resurgence as it is being dubbed in the West) is the first Continue reading Shin Godzilla (2016) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Like It

The Girl on the Train (2016) Movie Review

October 7, 2016 Alex Brannan

Rachel (Emily Blunt) has an overactive imagination, living vicariously in her mind through the fantasy lives of strangers that she sees from her daily train commute. In particular, she is fascinated by a couple whose true lives are far less glamorous than the sex appeal that is seen as a blip on the passing train.

The Girl on the Train is a mystery of sorts, but it is more akin to Continue reading The Girl on the Train (2016) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Drama, Leave it, Quickie Reviews (<400 Words)

The Accountant (2016) Movie Review

October 5, 2016 Alex Brannan

Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck), once an army brat raised under the strict militaristic rule of his father, is a crackpot accountant whose Asperger’s syndrome and radical upbringing create an eccentric skill set.

Armed with a poorly-motivated narrative deadline—do the job in time or go to jail—Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) is an analyst in the Treasury Department tasked with finding a “black money” operator who has worked with numerous terrorist cells, a man who is none other than Christian Wolff.

The narrative of The Accountant weaves in and out of chronologies, perhaps needlessly, in order to Continue reading The Accountant (2016) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Leave it, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

ARQ (2016) Movie Review

September 24, 2016 Alex Brannan

ARQ, the new original movie from OTT service Netflix, is woefully standard. Not only is it woefully standard, but it is a blatant premise ripoff of the criminally under-seen Edge of Tomorrow. Renton (Robbie Amell), or, as he is affectionately referred to by his compatriot Hannah (Rachael Taylor), Ren, finds himself stuck in a time loop paradox in which the same infiltration of his hidden compound occurs over and over again.

The world of ARQ is the typical post-apocalyptic science fiction: savages and raiders rule, food is a scarce resource, random technological innovations litter the screen. This said, the world of ARQ is not Continue reading ARQ (2016) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words), Western

The Magnificent Seven (2016) Movie Review

September 22, 2016 Alex Brannan

Antoine Fuqua’s reboot of the seminal 1960 Western The Magnificent Seven (itself a Westernization of the 1954 Akira Kurosawa film The Seven Samurai) has a distinctly modern feel to it. Bandits have been replaced by violent capitalists. The fear of the outsider has been replaced by the fear of the wealthy. Of course, there is the fear-of-the-other narrative that introduces Denzel Washington’s Chisolm that screams modern relevancy. It is, however, a commentary only hinted at.

What we get in lieu of commentary is Continue reading The Magnificent Seven (2016) Movie Review →

CineFiles Movie Reviews