The Virtuoso: The Best Hitman Film We Have Ever Had

The Virtuoso

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

I wrote a tweet whilst watching this film in which I said something to the extent of this is the Hitman, as in the game, film that we never got. Though it has nothing to do with that IP beyond having a similar premise, it just feels so much in the spirit of those games, with a very similar aesthetic so it had to be mentioned.

I have been a fan of Anson Mount for some time, and I am glad to see him getting lead roles- he is very talented, and he really sells the character here. Whether it is the fake smiling scenes where the character forces himself to smile to blend in, or the scenes where he is having a breakdown for the collateral damage left in his wake Mount really pulls off the emotion in a convincing way.

Mount is perfectly matched by Abbie Cornish and Anthony Hopkins, who though feature less prominently both have significant characters that make an impression on you. I thought the monologue with Hopkin’s character when he was talking about committing a war crime during his days in Vietnam was particularly disturbing and well done.

I enjoyed both the action as well as the twists and turns of the plot, I think as an action thriller film this film excels. My one complaint would be the ending however, as I felt the betrayal came out of nowhere and I didn’t like how easily this expert assassin character was killed, it felt disappointing and more than a little cheap.

Overall, a very solid action film, well worth a watch.

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The Grey: A Wild And Savage Soul

The Grey

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

This film separates itself from the wider bulk of Liam Neeson’s work, by having a more soulful, philosophical edge- contemplating the human condition, and the reasons why we carry on. Yes, there is brutal action as well, as you would expect from a Neeson flick, but here it is done more thoughtfully. I think for the most part, the emotional themes and the action blend together well, however it does lead to a few pacing issues.

The pacing issues really come into effect in the film’s second act which starts to drag. This section really needed more action than it has and is the only real time where the weighty themes start to get in the way of the actual fight for survival.

I think as a character piece this works well, the struggle of Neeson’s lead is not only familiar but also deeply personal, many who have gone through a similar situation can understand and connect. Moreover, the final scene where Neeson’s character embraces his death and stands proud ready to fight the wolf pack that has been pursuing the band over the course of the film feels right, as well as earnt. The desperate futility of the situation is beautifully macabre

Overall, a surprisingly deep Neeson flick.

Pros.

Neeson

The character work

The ending

Cons.

The pacing

A slight clash between themes and what’s on screen

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Mortal Kombat: Cringe-ality

Mortal Kombat

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

A while ago I wrote that the images/ trailers we had seen from the new Mortal Kombat film looked like a fan film rather than a multi-million dollar Hollywood blockbuster, and now that I have seen the film I can say that this doesn’t just apply to the promo material but rather the whole film.

There is promise to be found here, the film clearly has a lot of love towards the games and tries to cram in as much as possible on that front. As well the film also boasts some quite well done fight scenes that are nice to look at, however the legendary fatalities of the games, that have inspired generations of shocked and outraged parents, here feel quite tame and almost gimmicky at times.

Moreover, the casting for a lot of the characters is off. I understand that the film doesn’t want to be a blatant copy of the games, but a lot of the characters here don’t look in any way similar to their game counter-parts sometimes to a distracting degree. It almost, to get back to that fan film angle, feels like a group of friends re-enacting their favourite scenes over one long weekend in early September.

Finally, and perhaps worst of all, the writing is far too try hardy and often falls into the category of cringe. Many of the classic lines from the games are featured here, but they do not feel organic to the story or the situation instead they feel forced in for the sake of fan service.

Overall, on the bad side of meh entertaining enough for a one off viewing, but it will be almost immediately forgotten afterwards.

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Spider-Man Homecoming: Iron Man Jr?

Spider-Man Homecoming

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

This will be a review that a lot of you disagree with, but ah well let’s get into it.

Recently I have been on somewhat of a Spider-Man kick and have been watching, playing and reading a lot of related things, in that effort I rewatched Homecoming again, having not seen it since I first watched it in cinemas, and it doesn’t really hold up.

The main pro I will say for this film is the twist, when Michael Keaton’s Adrian Tombs reveals that he knows Peter’s secret it is impactful and is genuinely surprising. I take my hat off to the MCU for being able to bury the lead to the point where I did not see it coming.

Also John Favreau’s Happy Hogan is a delight.

Now to get into all the reasons why I think this is a weak film, especially within the widely strong landscape of the MCU- justification incoming.

Firstly, the focus on Damage Control is odd, yes it is only a minor thing that was supposed to develop out into a TV series, that may or may not be happening now, but seeing it feature in the film felt oddly jarring to me.

Moreover, this film being in the MCU doesn’t actually help it, though most wont want to admit it, because they want Spider-Man and the Avengers to be together, having this film be in the MCU keeps it from really having an identity of its own. By that I mean rather than have this film focus on Tom Holland’s Spider-Man being Spider-Man, the film instead decides to spend most of its time focusing on him and Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark as a sort of father son comedy duo. Now I can understand why they did this from a business side of things, but it makes this film feel like less of a Spider-Man film and almost side lines the character within his own film, this has gone on to create the Iron Man Jr argument with regards to the character of Spider-Man

Adding to this, the film feels overstuffed with characters, not only do you have Peter and his high school friends, and family you also now because it is in the MCU have to have cameos from Avengers and other in universe characters which leads to the film feeling bloated and again not like a Spider-Man film.

Finally, in perhaps my most divisive statement in this whole review, I don’t like Tom Holland as Peter Parker, I understand this is a younger version of the character, but he feels too much like a goodie, goodie boy scout character, with the grit and tragic darkness that make up the character in the comics being gone. This blends into the MCU’s wider issue of favouring humour over everything else, and it feels like a watering down of the character. Garfield and McGuire were both better in the role.

Pros.

Happy Hogan

The twist

Cons.

Iron Man Jr

Too many characters

Tom Holland

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Falcon And The Winter Soldier: One World, One People

Falcon And The Winter Soldier Episode Six: One World One People

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Sadly, this review is not positive. With the way the series had gone I was expecting this episode to bring everything together and to make the series better, despite its faults, but really all this episode did was point out how bad the faults of this series are, and the bad finally outweighed the good.

So firstly the positive, I enjoyed the endings that most of the characters were given, they were suitably poignant and impactful, I particularly liked the final scene we see of Carl Lumley’s Isaiah Bradley; it brought a tear to my eye. Likewise I thought Sebastian Stan’s Bucky and Wyatt Russel’s US Agent both get endings that feel earned and that set the characters up for interesting adventures in the near future.

However, arguably the star of the show Anthony Mackie’s Falcon/ Captain America, doesn’t get the ending that he deserves. After all that time deciding whether to take on the mantel and pick up the shield we just see Sam fully dressed in his Captain America costume which takes away a lot of the impact and though the suit itself looks cool it does not make up for seeing him put it on for the first time.

The reveal that Emily VanCamp’s Sharon Carter is in fact the Power Broker was in no way a surprise, it was blindingly obvious, personally I thought they had revealed it last week in that episode but evidently not. It makes no sense from a character point of view why Sharon has taken this course of action, and the post credits scene of her being pardoned only to carry on being evil just makes it worse- it is a baffling decision, she has to be a Skrull.

Moreover, and I have spoken at length about this in the past, like many Marvel projects the biggest issue with this series is the villain. Erin Kellyman’s Karli is simply awful, perhaps the worst villain Marvel has ever had on screen, her motivations make no sense, she switches emotions and her entire personality at a moment’s notice and the final episode has her repeating the same lines over and over again because it doesn’t know what to do with her.

Overall, disappointing and leaves a sour taste in the collective mouth regarding the Marvel Disney + shows.

Pros.

Walker and the Thunderbolts tease

Bucky and Sam at the end

Isaiah Bradley’s ending and the emotion

Cons.

Everything regarding Sharon Carter

Karli was awful

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Vanquish: Possibly Ruby Rose’s Worst Performance

Vanquish

0.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Just when my faith has been restored in Ruby Rose, following her surprisingly good performance in SAS Red Notice, it is then immediately lost with yet another example of her inability to act. The failings of this film can not be simply dumped on Rose herself; the film is bad across the board.

The biggest and most obvious issue is the fact that the film is incredibly generic, there is nothing new about it at all and you have seen all of it done better before elsewhere. None of the characters or the drama captures your attention, and you are left bored for the majority of the film.

Rose can’t seem to emote, whether she is being forced back into her old life as a killer, is upset when her kid is in danger, or killing a room full of people she always has the same expression on her face. This could be seen as a brilliant portrayal of an unfeeling, indifferent sociopath, but she is supposed to be a character that audiences warm to and root for so that doesn’t really work and just cements the fact that Rose can’t act.

Morgan Freeman isn’t much better, he is clearly here for the money.

Overall, the worst sort of straight to video action film, no care, heart, or even basic consideration has been put into this film.
Pros.

It is short

Cons.

It is incredibly generic

Freeman is clearly just doing it for the money

Rose can’t act

It has no stakes as you don’t care about the characters at all

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Nobody: Never Mess With The Man On The Bus

Nobody

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

As many of you know I am a huge John Wick fan, as whilst this film is different in a lot of ways it bares more than a passing similarity, but rather than be lesser I think both films are on a par with one another.

This film was slightly more tongue in cheek than Wick, there were moments where this film almost acknowledges the silliness of its premise and these are great as they do actually make you laugh and add to the wider charm of the film. I have not smiled so much at a film in a long time.

Bob Odenkirk excels in this film. I will admit I had my doubts about him in the role, but not only does he pull off the action hero role with flair he also makes the character likeable as well and gives him a personality. I enjoyed the duality of his character, how he was so conflicted trying to be both the family man as well as balance his nature as a cold blooded killer.

The action is very well handled, the early bus scene especially, but I would expect nothing less from the visionary director who brought us Hardcore Henry. The violence is brutal and visceral, and really does satisfy a gory whole in the heart.

Overall, a surprising gem.

Pros.

The violence

The humour

Odenkirk

The final fight

Cons.

A bit too familiar at times.

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The Marksman: Liam It Is Time To Retire

The Marksman

1/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Time was a new Liam Neeson action film would have got me excited; hell in the lead up to this film coming out on VOD I was excited to see it, I thought it could be more solid Neeson action in the vein of Taken or Run All Night, sadly it isn’t- it is deeply forgettable, quite racist and a slog to get through.

Right off the bat, the idea that this white, ex-army, farmer is a young Mexican boys only chance at escaping the Cartel is troublesome as a reflection of the white saviour trope, when you add to that the general view this film takes on illegal immigrants, not a very nice one to put it mildly, and the fact that nearly every single non-white character is blanketly bad you can start to see my point about racism.

Moreover, Liam Neeson, Katheryn Winnick and every other actor in this film is sleepwalking. No one seems to be trying here, almost as though in their minds they know the film is going to be bad and are just showing up for something to do. It is a shame as in years gone by a Liam Neeson action film was usually a few hours of dumb fun, now it can’t even rouse my interest enough to make sitting through it anything other than a chore.

It feels to me like Neeson has given up in terms of action films over the last few years, which is understandable, but if this is true he needs to stop appearing in them and go after different roles as it is starting to get tiresome.

Overall. A dreary disappointment.

Pros.

Liam Neeson has some charm

Cons.

Neeson isn’t trying especially in the action scenes

It is a slog to get through

It is quite racist

It is deeply generic

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Death Wish: America’s Love Affair With The Gun

Death Wish

0.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

I have long defend the films of Eli Roth, a lot of people don’t like them or his style, but I defended him. Yet, this film is too much even for me. I think this film is symptomatic of everything wrong, with both modern action films as well as with gun culture in the States. There is nothing cool about a man who gets some weapons by iffy means and runs around and plays judge jury and executioner- those days have long past.

This film plays as somewhat of a wet dream for gun nuts, showing the ever present fear of what if it was your family? Asking the samey and egotistical question would you be ‘man enough’ to get the people who hurt your family, that whole idea feels deeply toxic and problematic now.

The gun violence/ vigilante stuff is fetishized to a point of being obscene, and with the rash of school shootings, and other shootings in the USA this feels more than a little icky and in bad taste. With something like the Punisher the violence is shown to be grim, unpleasant and crucially not glorified, whereas this goes the other way with it and ventures fully into bad taste.

Bruce Willis doesn’t care and isn’t trying, but then would you ever expect him to?

Overall, a far right fantasy and a stain on Roth’s career.

Pros.

It is at times laughably bad

Cons.

Its message

Willis

How it portrays gun culture

The violence

Prince Of Persia: This Man Love Sand, The Inverse Of A Young Anakin Skywalker

Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Video game films often get a bad rap, however, more often then not I find enjoyment in them- especially when they have fun with the games original premise. Assassins Creed, Resident Evil andthis all have more than enough campy, popcorn fun to make up for the fact they wont be winning any awards.

I think of the videogame films I’ve seen this is definitely on the better side of the genre, as the film works as an escapist action, adventure film that doesn’t require too much brain power. I thought the time mechanics, as yes this has time travel elements, are handled much better here then they are in the game. It is far more concise and obvious here, whereas in the games it varies and is never fully pinned down.

Jake Gyllenhaal can rarely take a step wrong, and that is again shown here, as he makes for a very likeable if not very realistic Prince of Persia. Gyllenhaal gives the role a light touch and has fun with it, he also shares great on-screen chemistry and rapport with Gemma Arterton who is the female lead. The two share a good amount of on-screen banter together that actually manages to be funny and hold up, which is an added pro.

Overall, this feels very much in a similar vein to the beloved Brenden Frasier Mummy films and does, in my opinion, deserve far more love than it receives.

Pros

Gyllenhaal

Arterton

Fun and breezy

Simplifies the games

Cons.

The CGI is distracting

Rather obvious white washing

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