John Wick Chapter 4: One Man’s Ability To Fall Down Stairs And Get Hit By Cars With Barely A Scratch

Summary

John Wick’s story comes to a close.

Honestly, this film was a little disappointing to me. Not hugely so, but enough to be noticeable. Maybe I went in with too high expectations, or maybe the previous films set a standard so high that this film couldn’t match it.

I think my main issue with this film is that it spends a lot of its incredibly long run time, boy does this film have pacing issues, on fights. Now don’t get me wrong the fights are great as always, but instead of doubling down on the characters and the world and giving us more time with them they instead make each fight go on and on to the point where they become a little repetitive. Rather than have a ten minute long fight scene in front of a well known Parisian land mark, I would have rather it been five and we be given instead a flashback explaining how John, played by Keanu Reeves, came to know Caine, played by Donny Yen, and Koji, played by Hiroyuki Sanada.

However, it would be remiss to say that the film doesn’t give us any character/world development as it does in the form of introducing us to John’s family and also introducing a slew of new characters to the series. The film is at its best when the fighting stops and these characters are interacting, as oxymoronic as that might sound.

I thought the ending was appropriate, and gave John a fitting send off. Keanu Reeves as always was terrific and did a magnificent job with the physicality of the role, he truly is one of a kind as an actor. Going forward I could both see Wick coming back, in a faked his death sort of way, or him being gone for good. I would be happy either way. I would be quite interested to follow Akira, played by Rina Sawayama, in a spin-off and see some more new blood injected into the world.

Overall, good for sure but not as good as the previous films.

3.5/5

Pros.

The fights

The world building and the characters

The ending

Reeves

Cons.

I would have liked more character development and flashbacks

Pacing issues galore

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Kill Boksoon: Doing It All

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Gil Bok-Soon, played by Jeon Do-yeon, must juggle both the responsibilities of raising a teenager whilst also being an assassin.

I thought this film had a lot going for it. It completely nails its tones fliting perfectly between humorous and deadly serious, whilst also managing to deliver a number of great fight scenes that were both visceral as well as incredibly well choreographed.

Moreover, I also really enjoyed the world and the characters, though it may feel slightly small when compared to something similar like the world of John Wick, this film does have a lot going on beneath the surface. Whether it is the focus on single mothers, or LGBTQ+ issues within South Korea there is quite a bit of sub-text and deeper meaning to unpack.

A lot of this deeper meaning is the reason why the film is on for so long, as it goes out of its way to explore its characters. This proves to be a double edged sword as the exploration is appreciated, but it also makes the film a slog to get through.

In addition, this film is a shameless John Wick clone there is no way around that, but I have to say of the litany of films in that area this is the best.

Overall, an interesting film that is more funny than it has any right to be.

3.5/5

Pros.

The well-balanced tone

The fights

The story and the characters

It is fun to watch

Cons.

It has pacing issues

It is a John Wick clone

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Furies: Taking Back The Night In Saigon

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

An abused young woman, played by Dong Anh Quynh, joins up with a female outfit dedicated to violently taking down the male dominated criminal underworld of Saigon.

In many senses I was expecting more from this film. I can’t speak to the film that this serves as a prequel to as I haven’t seen it, this was my first entry to the franchise. From the trailer I watched prior to viewing I was expecting beautifully choreographed brutal fight scenes, ala The Raid, but this was a million miles away from that. What surprised me the most in this regard is just how bloodless this film is, like you see people getting shot and stabbed but in terms of genre standards you don’t see much blood. Moreover, the action itself isn’t all that brutal as shots aren’t lingered on to their full effect, there are a lot of quick cuts to give off the illusion of rapid movement, but this isn’t in the films benefit.

Furthermore, the narrative of women getting their own back on evil men is nothing new. In a sense this film feels very similar to the rape revenge sub-genre but with a more action leaning. What’s more, there aren’t really any twists and turns to keep you guessing either, from a narrative lens everything is incredibly obvious and you are never in a position to be surprised. Even when you get the twist at the end you have already seen it coming.

Overall, a subpar action film that doesn’t deliver the goods.

2/5

Pros.

An introduction to Vietnamese cinema

A killer soundtrack

Cons.

The action is bloodless and often cut away from

The story is very pedestrian and familiar

It has pacing issues

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The Mandalorian: The Apostate

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The Mandalorian, played by Pedro Pascal, begins a quest to seek out the waters from the mines of Mandalore in order to be reintegrated into his sect of Mandalorians.

I have missed this show, it is nice to have it back. Right from the opening minutes of the episode and the intense action fight scene with the giant crocodile like thing you know that you are in for a good time. During this scene the scope and the scale of the action is really impressive.

Moreover, I like where the season is heading, the mystery has enough legs to hold the season and to propel it into something new. I like that Mando was seeking to rebuild IG- 11, voiced by Taika Waititi, I hope that he succeeds as it would be nice to see the character back on the show, my heart melted a little bit as he referred to him as his friend, as did it when Grogu tried to take on of the alien species as his pet.

I was also glad to see Bo-Katan, played by Katee Sackhoff, return. I would like to see more of her journey and I hope she does end up teaming up with Din this season, there is certainly a lot of interesting ways they could take the two of them.

I think the one thing I didn’t like about this episode was the pirates. This is mainly because this felt like it came out of nowhere just so that they could have a space battle, it all felt very filler and as though they realised that they had a few minutes spare of the runtime they needed to eat up.

Overall, it is very nice to have the Mandalorian back.

4/5

Pros.

IG- 11

The return of Bo-Katan

Grogu and his pet

The action

Cons.

The needless filler pirates side quest

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Shotgun Wedding: Get Those Divorce Papers Ready

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Tom, played by Josh Duhamel, and Darcy, played by Jenifer Lopez, have their wedding taken over by terrorists and must work together to try and overcome them.

This is watchable yet entirely forgettable. Honestly, this kind of action comedy is nothing new and has been done many times before. Sadly, in the long history of newly weds teaming up to take down armed bad guys this film isn’t high up on the list.

The main reason for this is because of how tame it is. In almost every regard this film feels like it is holding back, be it in the gore and the violence, the swearing or even in the relationship drama. No couple I have ever met interacts like these two, the way they talk and generally just are around each other feels off and oddly formal at times. It would be an understatement to say that Lopez and Duhamel have no chemistry if anything I wouldn’t be surprised if it comes out over the next few years that the two of them hated each other whilst making this.

Overall, this is the sort of lazy film that reminds you that Hollywood, in this case Amazon, think they can just serve audiences with any old trash and that we will just happily consume it. Well I for one will spit out this rancid meal and will call out Amazon for this, consumers deserve better.

1/5

Pros.

It is not offensively bad

Cons.

It is tedious

It didn’t need to be made

It has no charm

It is horribly paced

The leads are both awful

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Plane: Plummeting To The Ground In More Than One Sense

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Gerard Butler is a pilot who must face off against violent insurgents after his plane goes down.

Meh.

I could really leave the review there as there isn’t much more to say. It is a perfectly serviceable action film but nothing more. For anyone hoping for a do-over of Olympus Has Fallen this is nowhere near that level, nor is it near the levels of awfulness that make something like God’s Of Egypt fun. It is exactly what you would expect it to be and that is why it is so disappointing.

Perhaps the only thing of note that is positive about this film is the fact that Butler gets to go fully Scottish and let his accent come out which is nice as his barely faux American accents were starting to get grating. In terms of his performance Butler is as he ever is here, if you have ever seen one of his films then you know what that entails. There is a scene in which one of Butlers character’s passengers gets killed and he throws himself around and looks emotional whilst in the arms of Mike Coulter’s character, that I suppose could count as Butler trying to do some acting here but even then it is still fairly thin.

In terms of Mike Coulter if he thought this was going to be his breakout action role, in a post Luke Cage sphere, then he was sorely mistaken. His character is really more of a prop, being there to service Butler’s character and the plot, being whatever it needs him to be. It is strange that the script never really addresses the crime his character was accused of doing beyond stating it once, they set up a whole narrative that never comes to anything at all. To his credit Coulter’s incredibly limited performance makes Butler look like he deserves an Oscar so if nothing else I am sure Butler is thanking him.

Overall, not campy enough to be fun and too formulaic and familiar to be interesting.

2.5/5

Pros.

It is watchable

Some of the CGI is hilariously bad

It is short

Cons.

The performances are awful

The script feels like it is copied and pasted from many other action films with barely anything unique to it

It never addresses Coulters character’s backstory

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Star Wars The Bad Batch: The Solitary Clone

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Crosshair continues on his journey as the Empire’s killing machine and Commander Cody makes a return.

I thought this was the best episode of The Bad Batch yet, there was something so mature and dark about this episode that I really enjoyed, it played with the idea of disillusionment and clinging on to belief simply for the sake of believing. I thought Commander Cody and Crosshair really played off each other well both on and off the battlefield, and I think bringing back Cody was a stroke of genius. I think it is highly likely the show will bring him back in the future and that is a good thing, I think this second season is building towards Crosshair defecting from the Empire and re-joining his old team.

On top of all this the action in this episode is fantastic, far, far better than what the show has been putting out in the past and it also really highlights Crosshairs specific set of skills, the trick shot he does to take out the commander droid is a sight to behold and really gives him a moment to shine.

Overall, one of the best episodes of the show yet, only let down by its short length.

Pros.

The focus on Crosshair

Showing off Crosshair’s skills

Commander Cody

The thing this episode sets up for later in the season

The return of more Clone Wars characters

Cons.

It was too short

4.5/5

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True Lies: Abducting Your Wife And Forcing Her To Almost Cheat As You Think She Is Cheating On You

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A husband, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, and wife, played by Jamie Lee Curtis, become tied up in the spy game.

An Arnold Schwarzenegger action film whilst he was still roughly in his prime is an inherently appealing prospect, however, this film feels deeply rooted in the Nineties and I don’t mean that in a good way. In many senses a lot of the cliches and toxic ideas of the decade do bleed through, the way Schwarzenegger’s character treats his wife is incredibly dated and borderline sociopathic yet the film wants us to think it is okay and justified.

The action of the film is fun in an over the top extremely macho sort of way, Schwarzenegger can break men’s necks with just a quick snap of the neck no struggle at all. Though I would say that the poor CGI does mean that some of these action sequences age poorly and come off looking like an early video game.

In terms of performance Schwarzenegger seems to be having a lot of fun, but Jamie Lee Curtis is incredibly one note and plays the bored yet still loyal housewife cliché, her character lacks any kind of depth.

Overall, fun but incredibly dated.

3/5

Pros.

Schwarzenegger

The over the top action

It is unintentionally hilarious

Cons.

Curtis

Incredibly dated

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High Heat: Life After Miami Vice

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A chef, played by Olga Kurylenko, takes on the mob.

I put this on as the trailer made it look as though it was a relatively fun and silly hour and a half and I went in expecting bad puns and a general tongue in cheek attitudes. However, in all honesty all I was met by was an incredibly generic and forgettable action movie, that struggles to maintain your attention as you are watching it.

This is very much in that subcategory of action films that could be described as a John Wick clone, everything from the way the action is shot and presented to the mysterious past angle of the lead is reminiscent of the Wick films, however, unlike those films this does not have the world building or incredibly strong lead performance from Reeves to prop it up.

In that vein Kurylenko is fine but certainly isn’t breaking the mould. Looking at her recent filmography I worry somewhat that her career might take on a Bruce Willis like quality as she releases film after film like this wherein she gets paid for minimal effort. I suppose everyone needs to take work to keep the lights on, but she is so much better than this, this is a waste of her talents.

Overall, a deeply forgettable action film.

2/5

Pros.

It is watchable

It is unintentionally funny at times

Cons.

It wastes Kurylenko

The action is all very tame

It feels like a bargain basement John Wick clone.

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Violent Night: A Father Christmas You Can Relate Too

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

After having lost his Christmas spirit Father Christmas, played by David Harbour, becomes caught up in a home invasion and must fight to save Christmas.

I thought this film was damn near excellent. My one complaint would be that we have seen the grizzled veteran who doesn’t want to fight anymore, who doesn’t know where they stand in the world anymore, or even whether they want to carry on any more character trope so, so many times before that it feels a little repetitive. Also having a child restoring this person’s faith in either themselves or the world only adds to the cliché.

That aside this film is just what I wanted it to be, a silly gory good time. I think the tone manages to perfectly capture both the seriousness and the humour of the situation, dark things do happen but it is all taken in good humour. The film is actually quite surprisingly funny with a lot of good commentary and strong one liners that will have you laughing not just as you watch the film but also when you remember them later on your way home.

However, I think the main strength of this film is David Harbour. As I said not long after watching the film on Twitter, if you cast anyone else in the role of Santa Claus this film would be infinitely worse. Harbour pulls off not just the physicality for the fight scenes but also the likeability to make you want him to beat the home invaders and be reunited with his wife at the end of the film.

Overall, a lot of fun and David Harbour really shines.

4.5/5

Pros.

Harbour

The gore

The silliness

The message

You genuinely end up caring about Santa and Mrs Claus

Cons.

The characters are cliches

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