Movie Reviews

Action Jackson (1988)

Action Jackson

Action Jackson (1988)

Director:

Craig R. Baxley

Starring:

Carl Weathers

Craig T. Nelson

Vanity

Sharon Stone

Plot:

Vengeance drives a tough Detroit cop to stay on the trail of a power hungry auto magnate who’s systematically eliminating his competition.

Review:

This was a Christmas gift to my husband so naturally I had to watch it. I was pleasantly surprised by how good this was. Apparently Carl Weathers wanted to make a “modern day” blaxploitation film and this was it. I enjoyed the racial diversity and all the people set on fire.

Also, Sharon Stone and Vanity titties.

Actually seeing Vanity in the movie reminded me of The Last Dragon which then caused me to read her Wikipedia entry, which was interesting.

Carl Weathers was great. There was some kind of weird sculpture in the background of his apartment. Crag T. Nelson played a good bad guy, but a bad action bad guy.

4/5

The Ridiculous 6 (2015)

The-Ridiculous-6

The Ridiculous 6 (2015)

Director:

Frank Coraci

Starring:

Adam Sandler

Terry Crews

Jorge Garcia

Plot:

An outlaw who was raised by Native Americans discovers that he has five half-brothers; together the men go on a mission to find their wayward, deadbeat dad.

Review:

This movie had it’s funny moments, at least I think it did. It’s been a week since I watched it (life, man) and I honestly can’t remember any of them.

The movie was your typical Adam Sandler movie, meaning more of what he’s been releasing these last few years. What I remember most from it was that I liked Sandler’s character the least. He was channeling Batman with his voice and it just came off weird.

Supporting cast was fine, like the whole western thing, but would rather watch Blazing Saddles.

3/5

Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015)

star-wars-the-force-awakens

Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015)

Director:

J.J. Abrams

Starring:

Daisy Ridley

John Boyega

Oscar Isaac

Plot:

Three decades after the defeat of the Galactic Empire, a new threat arises. The First Order attempts to rule the galaxy and only a ragtag group of heroes can stop them, along with the help of the Resistance.

Review:

***Some Spoilers***

I waited until I’d seen this movie twice before I sat down to write a review. I worked very hard to keep my expectations low for this movie. Up until the trailers that was really easy to do, still I managed and I think that helped me enjoy it better. I went in with no theories or desires and I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it even more on the second viewing.

I loved the new characters, they were each so awesome that I flip flop between my favorite. I loved the fact that the main lead was a woman, I know I’ve had Leia and Padme in the last movies but it was different this time. I even liked BB-8.

What I didn’t like or really wished they’d spent more work on were the villains. Kylo Ren was a whinny little boy and I really just wanted to smack him, there was none of the fear that Vader evoked. Captain Phasma was barely in the movie which made all her merchandising misleading. Even the bad dude pulling Ren’s strings wasn’t scary. As a whole they were all seriously lacking.

I’m sure some of that will be fixed in the next movie, but I’m getting tired of movies being used to build up their sequels. Marvel is doing that way too much lately and it’s bothering me.

Anyway, this movie did not ruin my childhood and it was not the second coming, but it was a good addition to the series.

4/5

The Hateful Eight (2015)

The Hateful Eight

The Hateful Eight (2015)

Director:

Quentin Tarantino

Starring:

Samuel L. Jackson

Kurt Russell

Jennifer Jason Leigh

Plot:

In the dead of a Wyoming winter, a bounty hunter and his prisoner find shelter in a cabin currently inhabited by a collection of nefarious characters.

Review:

I was lucky enough to see this movie in 70mm during my holiday travels. We weren’t actually in a city that was playing it, but we were close enough to drive.

The visuals were great and it was kind of sad that this medium isn’t used much anymore. The score was excellent and I thought it was cool that Ennio Morricone, the dude that did The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, composed it.

Apart from those two things, though, I didn’t think this was as good as Inglorious Basterds or Django Unchained.

The movie had almost no action until the very end and a lot of dialogue. I know you’re saying, “But it’s a Quentin Tarantino film, what did you expect?” I expected better pacing, I guess. I don’t need lots of action in his movies, but I needed something other than gorgeous shots to break up all the dialogue. There were also little things that were kind of stupid about the plot, plot holes I guess. Maybe they’ll make more sense after a second viewing.

I thought the ending was a little bit lacking. I kind of hoped that they’d do a Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid thing, but oh well. It was fine, just kind of there.

I loved the roadshow experience and would do that in a heartbeat and I enjoyed the film more right after I got out of it, but the more I thought about it the less I liked it. Oh well, if you’re a fan of Tarantino see it, if not I would recommend some of his other works.

3/5

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

The Man from UNCLE

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

Director:

Guy Ritchie

Starring:

Henry Cavill

Armie Hammer

Alicia Vikander

Plot:

In the early 1960s, CIA agent Napoleon Solo and KGB operative Illya Kuryakin participate in a joint mission against a mysterious criminal organization, which is working to proliferate nuclear weapons.

Review:

It’s interesting that Henry Cavill keeps playing Americans. I don’t have a problem with it, it’s just interesting.

Anyway, this movie should have been better than it was. Maybe it would have been if I hadn’t seen Kingsman or a James Bond movie. The chemistry between the actors was great, the story was interesting, but for some reason it went from trying to be a Spy movie to an action movie and it did the action bits poorly.

I don’t know what it was, maybe I just watched this in the wrong mood. I’d honestly love to see another movie with these same actors in these same roles, but something needs to change. Since it barely made back what it cost I doubt we’ll see a sequel, though.

It wasn’t a bad movie. It was entertaining and I enjoyed several aspects of it, but it wasn’t remarkable.

3.5/5