Kate: Mary Elizabeth Winstead Strikes Gold Again, Is There Anything She Can’t Do

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

An assassin, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, finds herself fatally poisoned whilst on a job, so with mere hours to go before she dies she decides to go on a quest for revenge.

I will give Netflix props for this one. Finally they have managed to produce an action film that pushes beyond their mould of generic, forgettable punch them up fare and actually manages to be a solid genre film.

I enjoyed the stylistic choices present within this film; I think you can feel the Leitch influence here clearly: there are many scenes in this film that reminded me of Leitch’s Atomic Blond from a few summers ago now. The choice of setting and how Japanese culture impacts on the film also goes along way to shaping it into having a personality. Despite being Western this film does feel at times like a love letter to Japanese martial arts films.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead is a tremendous action lead and does a lot to make this film as good as it is. Winstead plays the character with just the right level of warmth to get you to care without sacrificing any of the badass moments or threat. As the film progresses you begin to care about her character and you become connected to her story, which is a big achievement for an action film and an even bigger one for a Netflix action film.

My one criticism would be that they waste Woody Harrelson. Harrelson is a mentor of sorts to Winstead’s character and does end up having a fairly important role in the narrative, however, despite this he is not given much to work with and often only has sort scenes of him sitting or talking, which doesn’t correlate to making us think of him as a badass assassin like Winstead’s character. We needed more of him in action.

Overall, The best Netflix action film in years.

Pros.

Winstead

The Japanese influence

The Leitch influence

The action and the comedy

Cons.

Harrelson is wasted

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Karen: The Real Face Of Evil

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A young couples life is thrown into disarray and panic when they release that their neighbour is a racist intent on seeing them driven out of the neighbourhood.

Though this film is lampooning and joking around about the popular internet meme of the angry Karen there is something far deeper and more true to it as well. Though the film may come at the topic from a point of dark comedy it does make a lot of needed and hard hitting points about life in modern society and the vile racism that can hide behind a mask of civility.

I thought Taryn Manning did a good job as the villainous Karen, that is also the character name. I think it would have been very easy for her performance to be too over the top and border on ridiculous, however, she manages to nail the tone just right and have fun in the role whilst also conveying a sense of malice and as the film goes on genuine evil.

In that respect I thought the film managed its tone really well. It never veers to far into comedy territory and does manage to produce some tense and uncomfortable moments, whilst also giving us a few macabre dark laughs along the way as well.

The one thing I would say about this film is to be prepared for a large amount of cringe. I found myself in a near constant state of cringe watching parts of this film. I would say it was good cringe for the most part rather than bad, however it will elicit a strong response from you.

Overall, a surprisingly strong dark comedy thriller film that manages to deliver on both genres whilst also making some strong points about society.

Pros.

The tension

Manning

The tone

A few darkly comedic jokes that really land

Cons.

There are moments when it does border on the wacky

The cringe

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Stoneheart Asylum: What Is The Point Of Having A Mystery If It Is This Obvious?

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A young doctor, Jim Sturgess, arrives at Stoneheart Asylum to begin his tutelage under the mentorship of Dr Silas Lamb, Ben Kingsley, however, the longer the trainee doctor spends at the asylum the more he realises something is amiss.

Kate Beckinsale headlines this movie, and her name is all over the posters and the marketing, however in actuality her part is incredibly limited, she is basically relegated to a supporting character within the film. However, I thought beside Beckinsale the rest of the cast were well used and actually managed to deliver strong memorable performances.

I think the twists are all fairly obvious and I could guess the big reveal from fairly early on into the film. I feel like there is nothing particularly new about this film as all the twists and turns on display here have been done before.

Although, in the context of the film the twists do work to create a strong sense of tension and unease during proceedings. The idea of the lead getting caught out and locked in the basement and left to die does create meaningful stakes.

The ending is fairly what you would expect, but it is nice to see the characters be given a happy ending after everything that happens.

Overall, an entertaining mystery film though one that is entirely obvious.

Pros.

The performances

The ending

The tension

Cons.

The twists are fairly obvious

Beckinsale is given nothing to do

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The Protege: Mid Fight Scene Sex, Is This Shoot Em Up?

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Assassin Anna Dutton, Maggie Q, sets out on a path of revenge after her father figure/ assassin mentor is killed.

This was a surprise treat, at first I was worried that it would just be a boring and generic action thriller, however as it went on I found the film to have far more personality, humour and charm than I was expecting it to.

This is not the most original action movie in the world, the plot has been done countless times before and no doubt better. Moreover, it is also insanely predictable, and it is clear from a mile away when all the twists and turns are coming.

However, where this film rises above its rather average station is in its performances. I have loved Maggie Q as an action star since I first saw her in Nikita, not only does she pull off action well, but she also has really strong cocksure energy and plays a badass well. A large part of my enjoyment with this film is from watching her interact with the other characters on screen.

In that regard Q is joined on screen by Michael Keaton and Samuel L. Jackson, both provide strong support though I would give the edge to Keaton. I enjoyed the romance/rivalry between his character and Q’s I thought the dynamic was funny and well used, leading to several great scenes.

Overall, a charming action film that whilst not reinventing the genre does prove to be entertaining and very watchable.

Pros.

Keaton

The charm

Cons.

It is obvious

It is a little too familiar

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Battle Royale: Katniss Who?

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A disgruntled teacher and family man, Takeshi Kitano, takes a class of high schoolers out to a remote island to have them fight to the death, with the backing of the Japanese government.

To begin, yes I know this is a contrived and often pointed out view but watching this for the first time I see just how badly Suzanne Collin’s ripped this off with her Hunger Games books that later became films. The similarities go way beyond skin deep, and it gets to a point where you can’t help but stare at the unoriginality of Hollywood.

This film was a lot lighter than I was expecting it to be or had been led to believe it was going to be. There is a tongue-in cheek element to it all that makes the incredibly dark dystopian subject matter feel almost silly in a gallows humour sort of way.

I enjoyed the plot and appreciated the fact that it felt true to life, rather than idealised to a point of being nonsensical, I am talking about you Hunger Games. In reality people would be selfish and self-centred to survive, people would do terrible things to their friends if it meant they could save their own skin. The idea of some kind of chosen one who saves everyone she meets and inspires them to their own greatness is just silly, and again I feel it says a lot about the western liberal image of how a person should be.

Overall, certainly a fun watch.

Pros.

Fun to watch

A few funny moments

Enjoyable characters

Cons.

There were a few tonal clashes

Pacing issues

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Vendetta: Pulling Silly Faces As You Torture People

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A special forces interrogator, played by Danny Dyer, returns back to the country to track down and punish the gangland thugs that murdered his parents.

Dyer is a British national treasure, that simply is a fact.

This film is hard to watch, yet it is impossible to look away from. There is something horrifically fascinating about watching Dyer’s character dispatch all of these troubled youths whilst pulling silly faces, which he does surprisingly often.

Moreover, I thought the army backstory that Dyer’s character has was intriguing and also laughably far fetch. I liked how all of these senior army people seem to think he is some sort of unkillable warrior god. Moreover, the armed response police officers find him just so charming that they just let him go at the end of the film, despite the fact that he could have killed a police officer.

I do think this film revels in its violence a bit too much, perhaps even to an unpleasant degree. Some have labelled this film ‘torture porn’ and there is a good reason for that. I have no issue with some gore, but this film takes it a bit too far an in my opinion enters the realm of bad taste.

Overall, a grizzly film to watch that whilst satisfying at times is also laughable and iffy taste wise.

Pros.

Dyer

Hard to look away from

The ending and how laughable it all is

Cons.

Bad taste

It tries to hard to make Dyer’s character a hero, when he is more likely a psychopath

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Sweet Girl: Netflix Has Given Up Trying To Make Good Films

1.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A father daughter duo, played by Jason Mamoa and Isabela Merced, decide to take on big pharma after they raise the price of a lifesaving drug which leads to the death of the family matriarch.

All of Netflix’s action thrillers are the same. Bland confused and poorly written: it almost feels at this point like they are allowing a machine to write these films using a very basic formula for inspiration. Needless to say it is holding these films back.

I didn’t really feel any sort of emotional connection to the characters, though I did feel the film going out of its way to try and make me care. If anything I would say we don’t get enough time with the happy family unit to grow attached to it before it gets ripped apart.

As a thriller or ‘statement film’ this film has nothing new to say. The message of ‘geez isn’t big pharma bad’ has been one that is often spouted and less often used in an interesting and crucially fresh way. The whole conflict of the film feels played out before it has even begun.

Mamoa is playing the same character he always does, and Merced adds nothing and is simply along for the ride.

Overall, this is so by the numbers it becomes irritating.

Pros.

It is watchable

The opening is mildly interesting

Cons.

The acting isn’t very good

The story feels incredibly generic

It has nothing to say

It is boring

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The Wedding Guest: Nobody Needs That Many Cars

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

We see a mysterious man, Dev Patel, arrive at a wedding for an unknown aim. That aim turns out to be to kidnap the bride and to bring her to his benefactor.

I will applaud this film for giving Patel and action leading role, he really nails it. Patel is easily the best thing about this film and he actually plays a professional killer quite well, I don’t understand why up to the point of this film’s release he hadn’t been cast in more leading man action type roles before, certainly after this he has proven he should be cast more for that type of role.

With that aside my praise for this film runs out. That is not to say it is a bad film, it isn’t, but it is deeply generic. Honestly bar the setting this film has been done so many times before. There is nothing fresh about the story at all, instead it is all too familiar even having the kidnapper turn out to not be a villain and for him and the victim to end up getting together.

Every step of the way you know where this film is going, and it is about as surprising as seeing the sun rise every day. I do think with a better script this could have been really something, Patel is a good actor, but he is only as good as the material he is given to work with.

Overall, a generic action thriller that wastes Patel’s talents.

Pros

Patel

It is watchable

Cons

It is generic

It is incredibly obvious

It is far too familiar

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The Liability/ The Hitman’s Apprentice: Driving A Murderer

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A young man, Josh O’ Connell, unwittingly becomes the assistant/driver to a hitman, Tim Roth, after angering his gangster step father, Peter Mullan.

In many ways this film is typical of the British crime genre, that is not a compliment. The biggest issue with this film is that it is deeply generic, it is not a bad film per say, it is just one that you have seen many times before dressed up in different skins. The plot unfolds in a way that you would expect it to, and it wraps up just the same, there are no surprises throughout you can accurately guess what will happen and when.

Moreover, I did not find Josh O’ Connell’s lead to be particularly likeable or even interesting. In many ways this film would be far more entertaining if Roth’s hitman had killed him and then the film followed him and his daily activities instead. As of right now I am struggling to see why everyone rates O’ Connell so highly as a performer, he is okay in some roles and perhaps miscast in others; maybe I am just missing that one outstanding performance.

I thought Tim Roth’s hitman was easily the best thing about this film, sadly he is mostly wasted and given a back seat to O’ Connell’s milk toast lead.

Overall, deeply generic.

Pros.

It is watchable

Tim Roth

Cons.

It is generic

It is predictable

The ending is weak

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Don’t Breathe 2: Possibly The Worst Parents Ever

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The Blind Man, Stephen Lang, has found and adopted a daughter, Madelyn Grace however, her past catches up to her and it might spell doom for all.

As many reviews have pointed out this film does make the Blind Man the sympathetic lead character, now is this in good taste considering he is a monster in the first film? Probably not. However, this film achieves this task by having the villains of this film be incredibly evil, they are the daughter’s former parents who have been abducting people to try and steal their organs and now they want to harvest their own daughter. This realistically was the only way the film could have him be the lead who the audience is supposed to root for, the lesser of two evils.

The whole film basically acts as a redemption arc for the character with him taking a beating at nearly every turn and losing those close to him. The Blind Man even supposedly, until the third film, gives his life to save the girl as a final act of atonement, does this make up for keeping a woman prisoner and breeding her against her will? Not by a long shot. The character is in no way likeable, but he is pitiable and maybe that was the way he was always supposed to be.

This is a hard film to watch for a lot of reasons, chief among them is the fact that this film is bleak and oppressive at nearly every turn. If I had to describe this film in a few words it would be manically depressing. Nearly every horrible thing that could happen does and the film often lingers on these scenes for far too long. For example there is a scene where the Blind Man’s dog dies and he finds the corpse, now rather than have the scene end there it goes on and shows the man sticking his hand into the dead dogs innards to try and find a bullet. Needless. There are countless other scenes like this in the film that almost feel put in for shock value.

Overall, not an enjoyable film to watch by any means, however if you like the first film or bleak depressing fare than you might find something to enjoy here.

Pros

Lang

It is watchable

The tension

Cons.

It is depressing

A fair few scenes are needlessly unpleasant

A lack of a likeable lead

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