Double Bill Mini Musings: Super Soldier Punch-ups and Fruit-based Technology...

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning:
What's it about?
Fourth film in the official Universal Soldier franchise. A man wakes from a coma to avenge the death of his family, leading him towards an underground group of former government soldiers: clones who may or may not be brainwashed.
Who would I recognise in it?
Scott Adkins, Jean-Claude Van-Damme, Dolph Lundgren.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
The link to past movies is fairly loose at best, and Van-Damme and Lundgren are both barely in the movie. I was pleasantly surprised by the third film (also directed by John Hyams), which reignited the franchise with gusto. With Luke Deveraux reborn as a dangerous - perhaps even murderous - Colonel Kurtz-a-like, it takes a little getting into, but with a focus on the revenge-driven motives of Adkins' grieving widower/father, Day of Reckoning hooks you in. The direction and photography are impressive, the budget can't have been particularly big, but they get a lot of bang for their buck. The blood-soaked explosions of detailed choreography are all-the-more impressive in wide shots that are, for action movies, held for quite a long time. Adkins' and the army of stunt performers are afforded ample screen time to show off their bone-crushing credentials in battles that are oftentimes as wince-inducing as they are effectively brutal. Climaxing with a gory, bullet-riddled, punch/kick/stab/shoot 'em up that clearly takes thematic and stylistic inspiration from Apocalypse Now, we're again reminded of just how tenuous the links are to origins of Universal Soldier. The story and plotting could have used some work, but the stunning action and razor sharp directing successfully paper over any narrative cracks. It's time for the franchise to now cut ties with Van-Damme and Lundgren, reaffirm the UniSol back story, and move forward with Adkins as the new carrier of the franchise - that certainly seems to be the intention. Good.

Click "READ MORE" below for the Apple man's biopic...

Double Bill Mini Musings: Wolves & Ghosts...

The Wolf of Wall Street:
What's it about?
Martin Scorsese's latest epic about the outrageous life and times of stockbroker Jordan Belfort in the late 1980s and early 1990s - sex, drugs, money, power, women, mayhem, and corruption.
Who would I recognise in it?
Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Matthew McConaughey, Kyle Chandler, Rob Reiner, Jon Favreau, Jon Bernthal, Jean DuJardin, Joanna Lumley, and others.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Scorsese's film is his most brash and outlandish for quite some time, and deals directly with despicable people doing reprehensible things. Terence Winter's whip smart script invites us into this world and manages to elicit different reactions from different people, or a multitude from one individual viewer. Deep down, who doesn't want money and power and sex? The condemnation creeps in when, slowly, the excesses take over and the protagonists' sense of reality skews into obscene territory. These characters - based on real people - do horrible things and never know when enough is enough, but you can't examine that world, or tell that story, without showing it as it is. You can't - and shouldn't - censor it. You can't deal with villainy without meeting the villain, you can't show excess without having a little fun, you can't illustrate a huge downfall without going to extreme lengths.

Click "READ MORE" below for more Wolf of Wall Street, and The Conjuring...

Quadruple Bill Mini Musings: Wolves, Muppets, Hoover, and Pirates...

The Grey:
What's it about?
A handful of Alaskan oil workers survive a plane crash that leaves them stuck in the frozen wilderness surrounded by wolves - and so they must head south, hunted every inch of the way.
Who would I recognise in it?
Liam Neeson, Dallas Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, James Badge Dale, Frank Grillo.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Director Joe Carnahan burst onto the scene with his tough and gritty cop drama Narc, and then went on to breezier and more bombastic fare like Smoking Aces, and The A-Team, however the serious heart behind Narc was always lingering in the background with a dramatic sense of flair. With man-versus-nature action drama The Grey, Carnahan has allowed himself to show his maturing and more serious heart - there's even a poetic sensibility weaved throughout the film that speaks of loss and those raw emotions that are buried to ensure your day-to-day survival. This all said, action fans will still get their fill as a dwindling rabble of bearded, half-frozen men face-off against ravenous wolves - at one point going all MacGuyver and fashioning 'bang sticks' out of tree branches and shotgun shells. The Grey is a tense, gripping and altogether very strong outing from all involved - Neeson and his cast sink their teeth into the material which allows back stories to unfold in subtle snippets of dialogue, hallucinations, and slowly-unveiled memories. There's no shortage of action flicks out there, but while rambunctious outings such as Safe House ultimately prove to be forgettable, The Grey goes for something deeper, more satisfying, and far more memorable. Easily one of the best action/drama/survival films of the last several years, although some might not agree. Stick around to the very end of the credits for an extra snifter of footage, too. Generally pretty great.

Click "READ MORE" below for Muppets, Hoover, and Pirates...