Category Archives: Action/Thriller

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

Hardcore Henry (2016) Movie Review

April 4, 2016 Alex Brannan

The first person POV film Hardcore Henry follows the eponymous character (here, the camera is a character) after an unexplained accident renders him maimed. Given cybernetic enhancements to essentially his entire body in a series of jump cuts, Henry must fight to save the wife (Haley Bennett) he doesn’t remember from the corporation that provided the parts that built him.

For the most part, it is your basic action movie plot: the untethered yet reluctant hero, the damsel in distress, the rugged in-the-know guru (or about a dozen of them), and the clearly immoral villain.

The gimmick, then, is the cinematographic choices. The real question, then, is: Is this a gimmick film? Continue reading Hardcore Henry (2016) Movie Review →

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

Eye in the Sky (2016) Movie Review

April 1, 2016 Alex Brannan

In Eye in the Sky, a joint security task force between the UK, the U.S., and Kenya plan a combined drone and ground strike on a meeting of high-level Al-Shabaab terrorists in Nairobi. When the operation starts breaking down, the scenario boils down to a political debate over whether or not to utilize a drone strike to take down the targets.

The film attempts topical commentary inside the drama-thriller framework it is working with. What works most readily is Continue reading Eye in the Sky (2016) Movie Review →

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

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) Movie Review

March 28, 2016 Alex Brannan

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice begins in medias res of The Man Steel climax, showing in this case the perspective of Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne. As he runs headfirst into the rubble of a crushed Wayne Enterprises building, he has a number of save the cat moments. This, despite the later scenes in which he brands criminals with the bat-symbol, which pretty much nullifies this initial scene.

18 months later, an alien artifact from the battle of Metropolis washes up on shore somewhere in the Indian Ocean and Lois Lane (Amy Adams) is working with the CIA to catch a suspected terrorist. As Superman (Henry Cavill) flies in to save Lois, he is Continue reading Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) Movie Review →

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

10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) Movie Review

March 11, 2016 Alex Brannan

Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), in the process of leaving her boyfriend, suddenly becomes party to a car wreck. She awakens in a concrete room chained to the wall. An effectively desperate Winstead struggles just to reach her phone in a tense scene that culminates in the menacing introduction of Michelle’s captor Howard (John Goodman).

This early standoff between Winstead and Goodman is fascinating, although it would have played better with Continue reading 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Love It, Quickie Reviews (<400 Words)

Deadpool (2016) Movie Review

February 12, 2016 Alex Brannan

From minute one of Deadpool, it is clear that we are dealing with a wholly unique film. If you didn’t know what you were getting into with this film, the opening credits sequence explains it for your rather efficiently.

Given a film that never Continue reading Deadpool (2016) Movie Review →

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

The Revenant (2015) Movie Review

January 12, 2016 Alex Brannan

The Revenant has the viscera of a Braveheart or a Gangs of New York, with the now familiar touch of director Alejandro G. Inarritu. His style shows through with an even stronger flourish than that of his previous film Birdman, as it links itself more naturally with the thematic elements that are in play in the film.

The film centers on Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio), a hunter on a fur trading expedition who seeks vengeance after becoming severely wounded and left for dead in the 19th century wilderness.

The only true way to describe this film is to call it Continue reading The Revenant (2015) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, F Movies, Loath It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

The Loft (2015) Movie Review

January 2, 2016 Alex Brannan

The Loft begins with distracting shots: intentional blurring and tightly framed, hyper-wide angles. These grotesque wide angles return frequently throughout the length of the film.

A groveling Karl Urban tepidly growls his lines as Vincent Stevens, a man being interrogated by police after a woman is found dead Continue reading The Loft (2015) Movie Review →

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

Creed (2015) Movie Review

December 4, 2015 Alex Brannan

Creed is essentially a re-boot of the Rocky franchise showcasing fresher, younger hands.

The film centers around the trials of son of legendary fighter Apollo Creed, Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan). Creed grows up in a juvenile corrections facility and in and out of group homes until Apollo Creed’s wife (but not Adonis’ biological mother) Mary Ann (Phylicia Rashad) takes him in.

18 years later, Creed is following in his father’s footsteps as a pro boxer in Tijuana. By day, he is a desk jockey in Los Angeles, but he knows that it is not the life for him. We see him Continue reading Creed (2015) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Indie Films, Like It, Quickie Reviews (<400 Words)

Cold Deck (2015) Movie Review

December 4, 2015 Alex Brannan

Cold Deck opens with a jazzy soundtrack and a warmly-lit montage of poker tables being played. The film zooms in on one particular table, where the players engage in emasculating ball-busting, each jab met with the same uproarious laughter.

One player, Bobby (Stefano Gallo), loses out to the clubs owner, Chips (Paul Sorvino), who takes sympathy on him and lends him some cash.

Bobby works in a factory, but his conversations are all on gambling. It is his lifestyle. Strapped for cash, barely able to Continue reading Cold Deck (2015) Movie Review →

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

Hackers (1995) Movie Review

November 22, 2015 Alex Brannan

18 year old Dade (Jonny Lee Miller), aka “Crash Override,” aka “Zero-Cool,” is on parole for a cyber-crime he committed when he was a pre-teen child. On his 18th birthday, he is given access to a computer for the first time since he crashed 1,500 plus computers, resulting in a stock market dip.

Dade falls in with an underground subculture of computer hackers. This group is soon framed for creating a Continue reading Hackers (1995) Movie Review →

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