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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Film
- Hits: 152
So despite having a dozen or so intelligent movies on my phone I was persuaded by Facebook to download and watch this.
Which, I'm rather ashamed to admit, I rather enjoyed. Think "Rocky" but updated for the MMA world, and with a few "Plot Twists" which are really rather predictable and the only "twist" is that they resolve themselves exactly as you'd expect.
That said, I can't in good conscience recommend it.
A few of the cinematic "sins" I observed - and they were big ones!!!! -
The Russian as the feared opponent (geopolitical)
The American Military showing up to applaud the "War Hero"
The High School cheering on their favourite teacher...
The resolution - red/blue gloved brothers - as perhaps a nod for an increasingly divisive America to unite...(but 2011, and whoever this director was it wasn't Nostradamus).
Anyways, well reviewed, crafted, but complete and utter bollocks, and I'm ashamed to say I enjoyed and now am off to question my life choices...
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Film
- Hits: 236
Again, like "Machete" OTT high nonsense. I enjoyed, only lacking the "prospecting" angle; but it was again Saturday Matinee cartoon fare written for adults.
Noting, while watching, the writing, the plot, stereotypical villains - evil Russians, the super-abundance of special effects (well done) - it's only a matter of time, maybe at most a couple of years, when AI will be able to crank these movies out several a day; with better dialogue, deeper plots, and undoubtedly better paced - thinking of film-making along the lines of writing music, where the rests are as important as the notes.
Were it not for the violence these would be great Saturday matinee films for kids. But - a little too much gore and killing.
And actors, of course, will be able to license their images, have them uploaded to the AI and get royalties without ever getting out of bed. Not that you'd need actors - but keep the habit of faces we know while the AI creates new, royalty free stars, and then gradually replaces humans entirely...
But this is going on beyond the pale of this review.
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Film
- Hits: 193
Starring Dan Trejo, Don Johnson, Steven Seagal, Robert DeNiro, Lindsey Lohan, others.
An absolutely 5 star B movie, filled with ridiculous dialogues, oversaturated blood and violence, sex, car chases, showdowns, etc.
A perfect mash-up of old Japanese/Westerns, tilted towards an audience generally not myself, but - it wasn't trying to be anything else; just shock/humour/fun, in the ultra-violent Grindhouse-B-Cinema sort of way. That said, definitely not for everyone...
Odd, though, the central conflict is the hispanic community dealing with "patriotic" prejudice, illegal immigration, ICE agents...wow; they saw the future. Only in the movie they knew how to deal with it...we're still wringing our hands, and the baddies we have now are far, far worse...
Now, apparently Sisu: The Road to Revenge is out, and if I do nothing else this evening it'll be that...
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Film
- Hits: 202
Guy Ritchie has lost his touch in a big way. A silly gangsta movie (all his movies are), but this one without style or substance.
The success of "John Wick" has brought everyone on board the revenge fantasies; only some do it better than others. This was a rather style-less interpretation and even the wooden performance by Jason Statham didn't save it.
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Film
- Hits: 227
These were both a complete and utter waste of time. "Drishyam 2" was about the cops reopening the investigation into events 7 years prior. Again, portrayed as corrupt and bungling, but a clever Inspector General thinks he has Vijay only to discover that Vijay, yet again, for an uneducated theatre owner has picked up a surprising number of tricks from the movies he watches.
Funny, how they break from speaking in Hindi to sarcastically utter in perfect English a phrase that obviously everyone knows.
And "Nobody 2" - I mean, if you went to see it you probably enjoyed it, but - again, a pretty hard "NO", just a little too silly. 1 was 1 too many, two is two too many.