Outside The Wire: Captain America Has Changed

Outside The Wire is a science fiction action film directed by Mikael Hafstorm. The plot imagines a future were the Russia Ukraine crisis has spilled out and become an international war being fought by both human and machine soldiers. We follows drone pilot Harp (Damson Idris), as he is sent into this theater of war to help Captain Leo (Anthony Mackie), stop nuclear weapons from falling into the hands of terrorists.

All of these futuristic action films are starting to feel the same in my mind and I am finding it hard to tell them apart. There is nothing unique or particularly new or interesting here to sink your teeth into most of what we see is just recycling ideas from other works.

The plot as a whole is very eh, again it has been done better before. Furthermore, the twist (that I am not going to spoil as it is a fairly recent film, is obvious and predicatable and is utterly underwhelming they could have done so much more with it, but they settle for mediocrity.

The only pro I will say for this film is that the interplay between Mackie and Idris is on strong form. The two have a great rapport and the banter between the two of them is easily the highlight of the film; it made me smile several times.

Overall yet more bland, generic science fiction that even genre die hard will struggle to like.

Pros.

Mackie and Idris

Cons.

It is generic

The twist isn’t good

It is poorly paced

It is dull

1.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Jack Reacher: Closer To The Real Tom Cruise

Jack Reacher Never Go Back is an action film directed by Edward Zwick, based on the novel series by Lee Child. The plot this time around sees Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise), become wanted for murder after a military contractor betrays his employer. Furthermore, a young woman called Samantha (Danika Yarosh), appears on the scene who has a personal connection to Reacher thereby making her a target.

This film is just plain boring, there is no other way to describe it. The coolest bit of the film is the dinner fight scene in the first five minutes after that it quickly plunges off a cliff, do yourself a favour and turn this off after the five-minute mark.

The action is all very humdrum nothing special or memorable as we have come to expect of Cruise in recent years, all the stunts and fight scenes seem very tame and safe and fail to illicit anything more than an uninterested shrug from you.

Cruise’s performance here lacks all of the charm that made the first film so good, the character seems aloof at best and cold and almost sociopathic at worst. The character is given an emotional journey, but he seems no different at the end to how he was at the start. It is very underwhelming.

Overall, deeply generic, and not worth your time.

Pros.

Cobie Smulders has a very good scenes, sadly she is wasted for the rest of the film

Cons.

It has been done better before

The action is not exciting

Cruise seems bored

The film is badly paced, and you lose interest quickly

0.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Bad Boys: Cars Need Cupholders

Bad Boys is a buddy cop action film directed by Michael Bay. The plot follows two Miami police detectives as they get wrapped up in a narcotics investigation that threatens them on both a personal and professional level.

Before watching this, the only Bad Boys film I had seen was the most recent entry For Life, however watching this film actually made me like that less. That is not to say this is a bad film quite the opposite to be truthful with you, watching this allowed me to see how all the jokes and other elements I liked in For Life where actually just repeated from this film; the unoriginality is staggering.

Say what you want about Bay, as a director he was at this prime in the 90s and this film proves that. This is everything you would want from a buddy cop action film, explosions, laughs, catchphrases…. well maybe not everything; this is no Lethal Weapon after all, but there is enough there to keep you entertained.

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence have a great comedic back and forth, no Gibson and Glover but few can aspire to that level of greatness. I think this film manages to nail the tone perfectly between silly and serious as it can by its nature go from a jokey scene between the partners to them witnessing an important death that still feels resonantly impactful, without being jarring in the transition.

Overall, is this as good as Lethal Weapon no, no it is not, but it is definitely on the high end of the buddy cop scale, there is a lot to love here as long as you aren’t too demanding. Smith and Lawrence are electric together on screen.

Pros

The humour

The switch in switch out tone

Smith and Lawrence

Cons.

Some of it is a little cliched

It is not as funny as it thinks it is.

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Girl In The Spiders Web: Can The Spider Hurry Up

The Girl In The Spiders Web is a thriller film directed by Fede Alvarez based on the Millennium book series written by David Lagercrantz. The plot sees Lisbeth Salander (Claire Foy), as she battles against a mysterious criminal organisation that has ties to her past.

I understand this property is well respected, the book this film is based on is held in high esteem: I have not read it myself so I can’t say, but what I will say is if the plot of this film is any indication for the story and plot of the books they had been vastly over credited.

There was nothing here that I had not seen done better before elsewhere. Most of the twists and turns were painfully apparent from the get-go, and quite frankly I was bored watching it: there were big stretches within this film when I was desperately hoping for something interesting to happen, but it never did.

Foy is fine, is fine she has been a lot better elsewhere, but she is not out right terrible. The acting front much like everything else in this film is very meh, the one good performance and it is more a result of a styling and costume rather than actual acting is Claes Bang, as a villainous enforcer who has a great presences and a few interesting action moments.

Overall, deeply underwhelming.

Pros.

Claes Bang

Cons.

The performances are average

The script is boring and lazy

The plot is predictable

The action is fairly weak and run of the mill

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

War: An Action Film Minus The Action

War is an action film directed by Phillip G. Atwell. The plot sees FBI agent Tom Lone (Jason Statham), track down the assassin (Jet Li), who killed his partner some time prior. A personal war ensues between the two men.

So usually one can enjoy Jason Statham action movies for the dumb spectacle they are, usually they are made better for not taking themselves seriously and for playing up the more campy elements. However, clearly this film did not get that memo, this film takes itself far, far too seriously to be any kind of fun, but more than that this film is boring.

Additionally, for an action film there is precious little action on display here, usually it is just a person walks into a room, shoots some people, then leaves, that is all there is too it. Even the final set piece at the end of the film is disappointing and surprisingly tame. This film seems to have a tell not show policy towards its action and it is all the worse for it.

On the performance side of things, Statham plays Statham as always but without any of the charm. Whereas Li has the presences but doesn’t actually do anything interesting for the entire film. Neither character has anything even barely resembling a personality and the whole film feels like a cliché wrapped in a stereotype.

Overall, this is one of the tamest most boring action films I have ever seen.

Pros.

None

Cons.

It is boring

It is tame

The characters aren’t fun to watch

The ending is disappointing

It is cliché and played out

0/5

Reviewed by Luke

Centurion: Neil Marshal Really Seems To Have A Thing About Scotland

Centurion is a historical action film directed by Neil Marshal. The film loses covers the disappearance of the Roman 9^th Legion during its occupation of what would go on to be Britain. We follow Quintus Dias (Michael Fassbender), as he and a surviving group of Roman soldiers try to survive their retreat after the decimation of the 9^th legion.

If there is one thing Neil Marshal is a master of it is visceral visuals, very much like his contemporaries Michael Bay and Zack Snyder, Marshal manages to create a very violent and very real sense of place and danger. This film is pure spectacle right from the off when we see the destruction and slaughter of most of the Legion at the hands of giant balls of fire, and it continues from there.

The film is very much dumb fun, the story is littered with plot holes, and if you are watching it for the narrative or for it to make sense then you are watching the wrong film. If you are watching it for brutal violence and over the top spectacle, such as a man who has a spear sticking through him impaling another man without immediately dying then this is the film for you.

I thought the performances were all good, not great but serviceable and watchable. We see quite a lot of British talent on display in this film, David Morrissey, Liam Cunningham, Riz Ahmed and Noel Clarke all give decent supporting performances and leave an impression, regardless of their amount of screen time.

Overall, this is a fun watch for the gory carnage alone, don’t watch it if you want serious or thoughtful as it is neither of those things.

Pros.

The dumb fun

The violence

The over the top elements

Fassbender

Cons.

The villains are quite weak

The choice of display for the opening and closing credits is weirdly jarring

The ending doesn’t make any sense

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

Doomsday: North Of The Wall Is An Angry Scotsman

Doomsday is a science fiction action film directed by Neil Marshall. The plot imagines a future United Kingdom that has been ravaged by a deadly virus, as a result of this Scotland (the disease’s epicenter) has been sealed off to the rest of the world and left for dead.

Ignoring how close to our own reality some parts of this film are, this was quite a fun time. I enjoyed the Mad Max aesthetic and thought that the world itself was begging to be explored further, I was left wanting to know more about what happened during the films time jump.

I thought it was nice to see a bad ass female action hero in the lead, Eden Sinclair (Rhona Mitra), is very much in the same vein as other early 2000s feminist icons like Selene (Kate Beckinsale), from the Underworld films and Alice (Mila Jovovich), from the Resident Evil films. Eden has a great on- screen presence boosted by great physicality in the performance from Mitra, she is a very believable action hero. However, her character doesn’t have much in the way of a personality which I find to be my only real issue with the real.

The ending is edgy enough to feel satisfactory and leaves the door open for a sequel, should we want to return.

Overall, a fun time if a little troubling due to our current circumstance.

Pros.

Mitra

The premise

The world and the world building

Malcolm McDowell is always a welcome presence

Cons.

Eden might be cool, but she has no personality

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Doom: The Rock As You Have Never Seen Him Before

Doom is a science fiction action film directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak, serving as a live action adaptation of the classic video game series of the same name. The plot sees a group of soldiers sent on a rescue mission to mars, however once they arrive they are forced to do battle with genetically engineered monsters.

So, this film is used as the poster child for bad video game to film adaptations, however, after watching it I can see a rough sort of charm to it and I don’t think this film is as bad as it has been made out to be by any means. I remember watching this film when I was young, my parents put it on one Halloween night, and before rewatching it for this review that was my only exposure to the film.

I easily think the best sequence in the film is the first person shoot out rampage towards the end of the film. Not only does it look somewhat like the games, which is nice as a point of homage, but also it is just cool to see first person action Hardcore Henry proved my point without a shadow of a doubt and it remains the case here.

Moreover, the performances from Karl Urban, The Rock and Rosamund Pike are all quite good, will any of them win awards for their roles? No they won’t. Though they are good enough to get you lost in the world of the film and its characters.

Overall, maybe I have a soft spot for this film because I am a fan of the games, but I do think that it is a lot of dumb fun and action movie cheese which makes it enjoyable. It is the best video game adaptation no it is not, but it is a good time.

Pros.

The first-person sequence

The acting though not great is good for a video game movie

The world

The creatures themselves

Cons.

None of it made sense

The effects are laughably bad

It is not really related to the games in anyway

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

Shadow In The Cloud: The Next Ripley?

Shadow In The Clouds is a war time horror film directed by Roseanne Liang. The plot sees a stowaway female pilot (Chloe Grace-Mortez), board a plane with a mysterious object. During the flight paranormal forces seek to work against her and to steal what is inside the mysterious box.

Though coming out in the final days of 2020 this may be a strong contender for best horror of 2021, unless something truly exceptional comes out to dethrone it. The sheer level of creativity and originality that this film boasts is a sight to behold, I honestly don’t think I have ever seen a film quite like this.

The scares are well earned as well, whether it is coming in the form of distressing gore, such as when she has to mend her broken finger), or supernatural threat. Both of which help to add to the tension of the film as a whole and make it hard to look away from.

Moreover, I have complained about the female empowerment message in a lot of recent films for not feeling earned or for feeling forced in, but here it is spot on. Grace-Mortez’s Maude is a kickass unstoppable action hero very much in the vein of Ripley or Sarah Conner. Also much like those examples, the film does not feel overt in its messages or politics rather it all feels natural and well done. Honestly the final fight scene is a cheer worthy moment.

Overall, one of the best films I have seen in a long time, a must see!

Pros.

It is empowering

Chloe Grace-Mortez is terrific

There is nothing else quite like it out there

The supernatural WW2 mix

The ending

Cons.

None

5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Into The Storm: Man Vs. Tornado

Into The Storm is a disaster film directed by Steven Quail. The film recounts the devasting effects of a tornado on a small town in America, thriller seekers, researcher and horny teens all get caught up in its destructive wake.

In many ways the disaster move genre is very like the shark attack sub-genre in horror, you know what you are getting, they all play out pretty much the same barring a few details, and they are all as predictable as hell: in short they are junk food, you know they aren’t enriching in any way yet you still watch them as they’re easy.

My issue with this film compared to others in the genre like The Day After Tomorrow or 2012, is that a tornado is fairly simplistic. There is spectacle to it sure, but it gets old after about half and hour and has nothing new to pull out of the bag. There is only so many times you can watch a car get sucked into a hurricane.

The acting is what would expect nothing spectacular, just a bunch of b and c listers trying their best to be serviceable and for the most part they do a decent enough job. I would say the cast could have done with being smaller, as at times it felt like there were too many people on screen and as such I couldn’t remember who everyone was let alone form emotional attachments to them.

Overall, if you like disaster movies this is passable enough, if you want something above average or god forbid fresh then yeah maybe give this one a miss.

Pros.

It is watchable

The tornado is neat for the first 20 minutes

Cons.

It is nothing special

You have seen all of this film before several times over

The effects don’t look good

It is boring after a point

2/5

Reviewed by Luke