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...

The Expendables 2 film review...

 
What's it about?
Head-crushing sequel to 2010's muscles-n-guns festival-of-awesome The Expendables, which gathered practically every big name in action cinema under one tent pole extravaganza of explosions and flying lead. This time around, Jean Claude Van Damme's "Vilain" (with Scott Adkins in-tow) wants to get his hands on multiple tonnes of previously-hidden uranium to sell to the highest bidder - naturally, our band of gun-toting heroes must save the day, with punching, kicking, and just a little bit of shooting and blowing shit up.
Who would I recognise in it?
Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Scott Adkins, Chuck Norris, Liam Hemsworth, Charisma Carpenter.

Click "READ MORE" below for the full skinny on Stallone & Co's latest action-fest...

Triple Bill Mini Musings: Going Old School...

Pumpkinhead:
I used to see the cover for this on video in the horror section of my local video shop back in the day - it formed part of a wall that stood like a mural of alluringly graphic cinema, and now all these years later I finally got around to giving it a spin on The Horror Channel. I think it would have made more of an impact if I'd seen it all those years ago during my formative years, because as it stands now in my late twenties it's a decent flick but nothing that particularly grabs me. The kids getting picked off one-by-one are cannon fodder at best, but the main reason to watch is for the creepy atmosphere (the flick gets off to a great start) and the titular beastie itself - a glorious testament to practical effects wizardry (suitable then that this flick directed by Stan Winston). What's more, fans of Lance Henriksen will be well served here.


Red Scorpion:
Joseph Zito (who directed Friday the 13th Part IV) rocks up with this 1988 guns-and-explosions fest. Dolph Lundgren plays a KGB agent sent to Africa to take out an anti-Communist rebel leader, but ends up taking the side of the massacred villagers when he sees the horrors perpetrated by his own side. It's overlong with some really dull, drawn-out portions of under-heated character work that doesn't contain enough emotional payoff, or isn't efficient enough, to suit this kind of a flick. However, whenever there are explosions and guns going off it's great 1980s action fun ... it's just a shame the talky and introspective bits don't work here. Appropriately enough I saw this on Movies4Men - the sort of flick you'd watch with mates and a few cans.


Faster:
Like an old school 1970s action revenge picture, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson stars in this surprisingly good muscle-bound shooter, which wisely never outstays its welcome, gets right into the meat from the-off, relies on big guns, big cars, and bigger muscles, and interestingly leaves you unsure of where certain characters are going to go and where they'll end up. Imagine a high-end B-Movie which delivers on genre thrills, but also has the sense to change things up a bit with a cast of characters who are all varying shades of grey, and who all don't have to go to the ends of the earth to round out their character arc as you'd otherwise predict.