(film review) [STREAMING] - Extraction 2

Straight out of the gate in 2020 when the entire world was told to stay home due to a global pandemic, Netflix dropped a movie called 'Extraction' starring Chris Hemsworth (Thor from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, if you did not know the actor's name). It was at a time where there were no trips to the cinema, we could only rely on home entertainment and while Netflix has been pretty hit-and-miss when it comes to a lot of the products they put out, Extraction was another hit, like how 'The Old Guard' with Charlize Theoron was...well, it was decently received, at least. Whilst this might seem irrelevant now, but both 'John Wick', 'John Wick: Chapter 2' and 'John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum' was already out by then and taking the world by storm. A former hitman takes on a crime lord due to killing his dog. Riviting storyline, but it was nothing but action on top of action inside an action sandwich and it was very well praised and beloved by many. Those movies were directed by stuntmen, Chad Stahelski and David Leitch. Whilst David Leitch has gone on to direct other movies (since the first John Wick), Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, Nobody, Bullet Train and Violent Night, all films that have received some kind of praise due to the action and visuals, Sam Hargrave, another stuntman is responsible for both Extraction and Extraction 2, which leads me to this; there seems to be a new trend in Hollywood where a stuntman can act, stunt co-ordinate and pick up the camera to direct compelling movies that are not too deep on story, but can deliver a heavy punch or eight to the face, providing the audience with nothing but action in a way that many of us love and enjoy. So while Extraction was Sam's first feature movie...and it was really good, Sam raised the bar this time around and he simply made an even better sequel.

Extraction 2 picks up where the last one left off, and the story of Tyler Rake continues as a black ops mercenary who has been specifically selected to carry out a job which is very close to home for him. Tyler and his team must infiltrate a Georgian prison for an extraction, but in his way are two warring gangs and one of the leaders of the two gangs is a ruthless drug lord and has a personal army. Tyler just do this quietly, failure to do so, means he is likely to disrupt the prisoners and bring on a fight, likely die and fail his mission.

Surperb. You know when you are sitting/laying there watching a movie and then all of a sudden, you sit up as if the movie has commanded your undivided attention, like it never had it in the first place. There was a scene where someone was going to fall, but what the other person does to catch them made me sit up straight. It was a great moment, one of many in this movie. If you do not know already but I love a long take. A long take is where it seems as though the camera stays locked on the action covering many angles, following characters and not "cutting" to a different angle. This has been achieved in many films and TV shows, but I think I first recognised it in the first Netflix Daredevil season one taxi scene from inside the taxi where the camera turns in a 360 degree turn without cutting or again in Daredevil and the famous action-packed hallway scene. The Michael Keaton film Birdman (I think, from memory) is all one take too. The first extraction film achieved this as a car chase scene that started from a jungle and ended in a street fight. Without giving away too much, this long take starts from inside a prison and ends on a train. It is amazing to watch and a lot of the time I kept thinking, "How?" "How did they achieve that?" Moreover, we are simply looking at a video game at this point. The film was soo good, when the film finished, I was buzzing with excitement wondering if and when there will be a sequel. If a computer game developer would take this franchise up and develop a game to play on consoles and PC. Man like Tyler Rake, has simply shot up as one of my favourite action heroes next to John McClane and Ethan Hunt.

Sam Hargrave's directing is a work of art. I believe coming from a stuntman background allows him to see angles or action in ways others cannot, hence why the action in these films feel soo intense, gritty and gripping. The only franchise that comes remotely close to this franchise is, John Wick and The Raid. Even the TV show Gangs of London comes close to this but Extraction is something different entirely. No glamourous or beautiful shots, no or not many sequences where you have to suspend disbelief, everything feels real as if it could really happen and characters can actually die. Insane are the stunts, but we are not talking Fast and Furious type of stunts, you know? Sam levels up the story this time around with more characters and a complex situation that changes the dynamics of the characters involved. Without going into too much detail, but a character is disillusioned and thinks wholeheartedly that something is a certain way, but later faces the realisation that all is not what it seems. There is a "side character" from the first movie who returns with a bigger role in this and their scenes are excellent.

The action, superb. The cinematography, excellent. The pacing, swift. The music, good. The acting, great. There is even another actor who joins the franchise in whom was a surprise to me just like the first movie had a surprise actor in it as well. The stuntwork, top form and amazing, but what would you expect from a director who is a stunt co-oridnator. All in all, this franchise seems to be getting better and better with each outing and I sincerely hope, we do get a 3rd to leave us with a trilogy at least...unlike The Raid franchise that only gave us 2 great action-packed films. Make it a trilogy and we can mention it as part of the most underrated trilogies ever made. Oh, and watch them back to back, Extraction 1 and then 2.

(trailer review) - Uncharted

(Official Trailer)

When I first saw the first trailer for this movie, I thought to myself, "this is basically Spider-Man doing similar things".  I guess it IS a little unfair to say that because Tom Holland is not only a great actor and with range, but he has done a few films and hopefully with this one, different enough not to be simply seen as Spider-Man.  Personally I think I need to see him with some facial hair or something just to help separate how young he looks and to also separate from Peter Parker, some stubble wouldn't go a miss, you know?

This trailer is cool though.  Although heavily edited, I was loving the action. Unfortunately, I have only recently got a PlayStation this year and I do want to play the Uncharted games but for someone watching this and had not play the games, this trailer pretty much sells me on the action AND the game, should the game be action packed like this trailer.  Personally, I heard it actually is and is a really good game. Hopefully, if Sony play their cards right, not only will they have a great game in their resume for their console, a movie based on the game that could be equally as great, is definitely a great start going forward for other movies, alike.

Directed by Ruben Fleischer starring Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg, Sophia Ali, Tati Gabrielle and Antonio Banderas,

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(trailer review) - Uncharted

 
I remember when they stated they were going to be making an Uncharted film.  Truth be told, I'm not at all attached to this franchise because I never had a PlayStation it came out on, although I loved the look of the game.  I'm a Tomb Raider guy first and foremost and I love those games, so when i heard people talking about some guy named Nathan Drake, I was definitely like, Nathan who?

With that said...The best part of this trailer review was the Scottish man and the reaction!!!  I laughed soo hard. Otherwise...to me it seems it's just Peter Parker without any webs, I could be wrong. It looks interesting but I believe I need another trailer.  I think I need the Uncharted lot to weigh in on this!

Directed by Ruben Fleischer starring Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg, Sophia Ali, Tati Gabrielle and Antonio Banderas,

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(trailer review) - Snake Eyes

(Final Trailer)

(Trailer 2)

(Official Trailer)

This trailer wasn't great, I'm not going to lie.  It played a lot of what we have seen before in previous trailers and whilst that is a good thing not to spoil a movie giving away everything, I also felt like they have in fact, given away everything in this trailer.  For some reason I felt as though this trailer was very hollow.

The cool bike scene seems to have been extended a little and there is a burning building which could be the very end fight scene, but they really didn't need to give away the Storm Shadow reveal, as one, I didn't know he would have been Storm Shadow and would have probably like to have seen that in the movie, and two, to also work that out in the movie. I saw the white suit and instantly thought Storm Shadow and then he says, "Call me Storm Shadow". That's likely the very last short in the movie.  I feel like they are clutching at straws after this trailer but let’s hope the movie is really good and they haven't given everything away in the trailers.

Directed by Robert Schwentke and starring Henry Golding, Andrew Koji, Úrsula Corberó, Samara Weaving, Haruka Abe, Takehiro Hira & Iko Uwais

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(trailer review) - Snake Eyes

(Official Trailer)

At the end of the trailer, it says Snake Eyes and in very small it says G.I. Joe Origins.  I guess that is a way to tell people that this is part of the G.I. Joe franchise so people won't be confused.  However, I'm not even sure if that is a good thing!  Could Snake Eyes make that money without it being "linked" to the G.I Joe series which has been for the most part, pants!?  I guess we will never know now, but Bumblebee was a great film, but because it wasn't titled Transformers: Bumblebee, there is an argument to be made that, the movie just was not recognised and people didn't know what it was so they never saw it.  It's a tough one because everyone remembers X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but then, don't we just want to see ninja's fight? Sometimes the trailer sells itself, no?

With that said, this trailer has definitely sold me.  A man with no real family working at a fish factory saves a fellow worker/friend and is taken away to have a new life, trained and to become a ninja.  Doesn't everyone want to be a ninja? It kind of write itself, no?  I'm getting a little bit of John Wick 3 vibes from this and I love it.  Those motorcycle chase scenes look great. I'm not sure if it could beat motorcyles and a horse chase but we will see.

Directed by Robert Schwentke and starring Henry Golding, Andrew Koji, Úrsula Corberó, Samara Weaving, Haruka Abe, Takehiro Hira & Iko Uwais

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(film review) - The Hitman's wife's Bodyguard

I'm going to start off with...maybe I should have re-watched the first one before watching this.  Although I remember the first one, very vaguely, I remembered it was funny in places and it was simply Ryan Reynolds doing Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson doing Samuel L. Jackson with a lot of craziness involved and guns.
In this case, the sequel, this is more of the same but, I'm not sure if it was the drink, tiredness or straight delirium, but this movie had me laughing sooo hard, I was streaming tears and struggling to breathe.  It actually took me out of the film for possibly 5 minutes because I was trying to catch my breath back and stop crying! #Sigh #Goodtimes

Michael Bryce is a Bodyguard, or in this case, a former bodyguard.  Traumatised and suffering from PTSD, he wants out of the life and wants to make peace with it.  However, whilst trying to get away from it all and trying to get some peace and relaxation, Sonia Kincaid finds him and drags him back into the fold of being a Bodyguard for her whilst she has her own mission.  The problem is, Michael is on a sabbatical from guns and firearms and wants nothing to do with it all, but when Interpol show up demanding help to thwart a terrorist mastermind named Aristotle Papadopoulos, Bryce must find a way to carry out the mission and get back into bodyguarding, the very thing he has been trying to get away from.

This film is funny! Whilst there might be some over the top moments, some dark humour, the action comedy doesn't get any more action comedy than this.  There was a scene where a car blows up (it's an action film, this can't be a spoiler), and the first thing I thought was, "Ok, that was excessive...Michael Bay would have loved that" But that's just it, the film has excessive moments a plenty, but teeters on the end of anything in the recent Fast and Furious movies.  This movie does everything to push Michael Bryce, especially as he doesn't want to be a bodyguard, so essentially what the life of bodyguarding is like and pairs him up with two impossible people he shouldn't be around.

There is a scene later in the movie that straight killed me in the cinema and I can't say too much as I could give away the scene but it was comedic genius. Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds destroyed the scene as the acting was perfect especially coming from their characters.  Selma was also masterful as she was straight fowl-mouthed and everything you may vaguely remember from the first movie, but more.  Antonio was great as essentially a Bond villain and he also played his part well, but a special shout out goes to, Frank Grillo, Richard E. Grant and Tom Hooper, as Frank was good, Richard was great and Tom was just excellent.  I'm enjoying seeing more of Tom in films as I remember him from Game of Thrones as Dickkon, but more recently as Luther in Umbrella Academy.  Put him in the MCU so we have more 'T' 'H' 's to rival the many Chris'.

You do not necessarily need to see the first  movie to watch this one as it pretty much stands by itself and the movie has some soft character building moments too, but all in all, this was definitely worth the watch as I had soo much fun with this!  I hope they do another.

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(trailer review) - Snake Eyes

 

Ummm.....so THIS came out of nowhere!

For some reason I feel there has been a delay with this film.  You know when they are trying to get something off the ground but it's in production hell?  Maybe it's all a fabrication in my head but guess what?  I'm happy to see it!

What is this, 59 seconds of ninja? Correction! 59 seconds of ninja badassary? Yup!  All American hero? Ummm, yeah ok, but a lot of us want to see ninja stuff, right?  I know it as Action Force before knowing it as G.I. Joe and if I'm honest, as a child it was all about Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes.  So with this reboot, I'm guessing...we are getting just that, Storm Shadow vs Snake Eyes!

As long as it's better than Batman V Superman, I'm fully involved

Directed by Robert Schwentke and starring Henry Golding, Andrew Koji, Úrsula Corberó, Samara Weaving, Haruka Abe, Takehiro Hira & Iko Uwais

(trailer review) - Die Hart

Clean into the middle of the pandemic and worldwide (kinda) lockdown period, Kevin Hart drops a trailer for a new film which has a title riff of "Die Hard", is a comedy and starring John Travolta...colour me intrigued!

Going by the trailer, it appears as though, Die Hart is about Kevin Hart basically playing a fictional version of himself trying to become an action star akin to Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson in which, I guess in real life, where he has always been the sidekick and comic relief in films like Ride Along, Jumanji and Central Intelligence, he is tired of being just the sidekick and believes he can be an action star.  To become that action star, Kevin seeks help from (John Travolta) who will push Kevin to his limits to become the hard as nails action hero he desires to be, but can Kevin handle it?

This looks funny. Kevin is funny and although his schtick can be annoying at times and played out, this film actually does come across as funny due to Kevin's ridiculous nature, like when he tells stand up jokes.  The bit at the end with the building had me laughing out loud, so i'm definitely involved.  I'm just wondering if this is a film or a series.

Directed by Eric Appel and starring Kevin Hart, John Travolta, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jean Reno and Josh Hartnett.

(film review) [STREAMING] - Extraction

There are stories in film which have been done over and over again.  One guy on a mission to save someone from the clutches of evil.  I mean, Mario has even done it to save Princess Toadstool and Princess Daisy from Bowser and King Kooper!  The point I'm making is, it is NOT new and to regurgitate something like this for people to watch and be fully invested in, you need to come with something different.  I mean Mario always had a different trick up his sleeve or in his or some kind of hat or raccoon tail.  Anyway, for an example of how this movie of an ex-soldier/marine/mercenary goes about taking this job to save this kid from the evil clutches of some guy and lead him to safety, handles the task in a very basic way, BUT John Wick style! Action, Action and ACTION! And if action is your thing, you will love this!

Tyler (Chris Hemsworth) is an ex-marine with who is asked by a friend to extract a young child of a drug lord and lead him to safety as a rival gang wants to abduct him.  The plot doesn't get any more complicated than that other than a few road bumps along the way for good measure.

The movie starts off with action immediately, so you get a rough idea of what you are about to see, but it doesn't fully prepare you for the action and carnage which will ensue.  The storyline is pretty much non-existent.  You get a little backstory with Tyler, but for the most part, they only skim the surface with it.  There is also another character in the movie in which you also get a little backstory with in which may help you with sympathising with the character, but like I said, for the most part, this movie serves the audience with action John Wick style mostly. There will be no awards for the compelling drama and character acting.

Not only is this movie lacking story like John Wick, ironically enough, but the fight/action scenes are enough to rival John Wick movies themselves.  I cannot remember the first movie to achieve a long continuous shot/take, but this movie has a long shot which is a sight to see.  If anyone remembers and had watched the Netflix Daredevil series, there were a few long shots which worked well.  Everyone remembers the 'Hallway' fight.  To the point, they repeat some kind of long continuous shot in a hallway in the other Daredevil seasons.  A few movies that also did it was Gravity and Birdman, however, this movie achieved this feat akin to Raid 2 and if you remember Raid 2, that movie was just action on top of action like blocks of action piled up on top of each other, only to pull a block out and, more action.
The scene starts off in a type of Jungle, goes into a car chase (both alongside and outside of the car) leading into a hand to hand knife fight.  I cannot remember if it then goes into a street chase (I feel it does), but the movie is intense and keeps the action at a height to keep you entertained.
There are some real funny moments in the movie which made me laugh out loud.  I actually paused the movie and then tweeted Hemsworth because I was soo caught up in the action and the scene, I had to 1. Stop crying with laughter, 2. Stop laughing and 3. Catch my breath.  The moment involved some kids in an alleyway and everything about it was superb.  Moreover, the action is superb.  Every action scene.  What I do want to see is a shared universe of John, Tyler and Jason in a movie, together.

As this is coming from the Russo Brothers and Captain America's stunt double, it goes without saying, the directing, the fight choreography and glimpses of humour are ALL there and done well.  The movie also does a good job in making things seem very real to the point where the fight scenes are very visceral.  And coming from Thor himself, Hemsworth totally sells the part with his native tongue included.  If a sequel could be possible, I'll be game for that as Sam Hargrave handled his business with this one. Maybe a one-off, or maybe expand the world a little.

If you like action and little story, this should be for you.  You won't be disappointed.  Imagine, I saw this film without seeing a trailer first!  Well done Netflix.

(film review) - Bad Boys for Life

I've dumped on Michael Bay a few times and it isn't that he is a terrible director because I absolutely loved Pain & Gain, but he often drowns the audience in loud brash sights & sounds.  Don't get me wrong, when it's necessary, it works, but for the most part, it doesn't.  It's dated and he really does need to up his game when it comes to the action shots and story because he is a very competent director.  Nobody wants to see a fire hydrant blow up in huge flames when a dog pisses on it.  Pretty much his style of action, because it "looks cool".  And some of his "Comedy" is questionable, not to mention the stereotypes he sometimes portray in some of his movies, i.e The Transformers franchise.  Moving forward, the irony of watching THIS movie which was NOT directed by Michael Bay like the first two, is that Michael Bay could actually learn from these directors Adil and Bilall because I believe they did an excellent job of directit a Michael Bay movie, better than Michael Bay using Michael Bay-isms.  I'll explain.

Bad Boys 4 Life picks up 17 years later and Mike (Will Smith) and Marcus (Martin Lawrence) have continued to be the Bad Boy super crops that they are, but time is ticking on and they are getting old.  For Mike, he wants to be a Bad Boy until the wheels fall off, where Marcus has had enough and wishes to pack it all in.  However, when specific people start dying around Miami and disrupt their flow, these detectives, must investigate, but the past can always come back to bite you and push you to the limit.  Mike and Marcus have to stop this imminent threat that threatens their lives.

I really enjoyed the first movie and the Second movie was really good too.  However, the second movie was a little too long and Michael Bay had his trademark signatures all over it.  Yeah, it made it entertaining, but it was really annoying at times and a departure from the original. However, this movie incorporated some of the Michael Bay-ism, but with more class.  It's weird but when you see it, you will see it.

The action was great, the story was even better, but the comedy was soo much better than I would have expected, especially when you think about how old this franchise is.  At they past it or are we over it? And the chemistry of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, do they still have it.  An action comedy as it is labelled, but the dramatic scenes were very touching.  A benefit this movie also has, is the history behind it.  If you grew up with this movie back in the day, you feel for the characters and what they are going through.  There are some moments where you WILL question, "How old are these guys, STILL doing what they are doing?", but as they also address that in the film, the story moments give you more of an insight into these great characters where this movie is practically 25 years deep and still going strong.  Well it was a little wobbly after the Second one but this one brings the bar back up and if I'm honest, I NEED to see more of these two.

Will Smith's acting is great, but who would have thought any less...but Martin...Martin Lawrence is soo good, he literally carries the film on his back and you completely get his character, Marcus.  The main antagonist was a little one note, but the villain was pretty decent overall and not as mustache twirling like how other villains have been.  A little fleshed out but it would have been nice if we get some more depth with future movies as the film definitely lends itself to a sequel especially as they introduce a handful of new characters.

Overall, just a really good and feel good movie.  It is possible that Bad Boys has finally hit it's stride like the Fast and Furious franchise.  Imagine if they were in the same universe...makes sense, no?

If you are a fan, you should love this!

(trailer review) - Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)

Sometimes I feel that Warner Bros should just give up as they clearly don't have a clue as to what they are doing and nobody really cares for them, but then, they have had a few decent movies, so one might think, "hmmm, maybe they do", because you forced to believe everything will be ok with a few decent trailers.

Essentially this is a Bird's of Prey movie, but will be told from the eyes of Harley Quinn, who I'm guessing, isn't apart of the Birds of Prey team in the comics, but because she was well received in Suicide Squad, is the reason as to why she is being used to help sell the movies.

On top of that, the world she is playing in, is now defunct, no?  No Batman or Superman, but we have a Shazam and soon a Black Adam? It's all confusing.  I'll see it when it comes out, we shall see in time what WB are doing.

Directed By Cathy Yan and starring Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Rosie Perez, Chris Messina, Ella Jay Basco, Ali Wong, Ewan McGregor

(film review) - Terminator: Dark Fate

Ok ok ok...first of all, wow.  Secondly, Tim Miller....My Guy! I wasn't that keen on watching this one but I am a Terminator fan from when I was little.  I've seen all of them.  And while some are not great at all and some are better than others, none really captured tension like Terminator 1 or 2 did.  Don't get me wrong, Terminator Genisys wasn't terrible, captured tension to an extent, but it felt more like bigger and grander in explosions and action etc, atthough I manage to enjoy it, apart from the twist at the end among the other things that let it down.  But for the most part, to me, it was better than Salvation and definitely better than Rise of the Machines.  This one, not only gave you vibes of the first two, this one had me under soo much stress.

Dark Fate picks up 27 years after the events of what would have been Judgement Day.  Robots in the future are losing the fight against humanity in the future, so once again, they send a Terminator back to the past to kill whomever it is they see as a threat in their timeline, Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes), by wiping them out in the past.  Ultimately, this leads to the return of Sarah Conner (Linda Hamilton) continuing her fight for a better future with the help of an advanced human named Grace (Mackenzie Davis).

Thirdly, the movie starts immediately in the opening credits where talking is being heard and it is soon to be revealed that this is the interview scene from T2 where Sarah Conner flips out.  Mild spoiler, but I feel it is justified in saying this to let you know that James Cameron is fully invested and involved in this movie, although he isn't directing it.  The explanation of Sarah Conner being back was great and made sense to the overall story.  The storyline itself actually made sense to me which led to some of the most touching and greatest moments in the movie involving the T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Sarah Conner.  The new Rev-9 (Gabriel Luna) is a sight to behold.  Sometimes when I watch these advancements, I wonder how far they can actually take it, I mean, after liquid metal, what else can you do?  How about liquid metal which can split into two Terminators? (relax, it's in the trailer - Sorry if you haven't watched it)  I mean, technology and society has advanced and these Terminators sure have too.  This leads me onto Gabriel Luna as the Rev-9, who is just as menacing as Robert Patrick from Terminator 2 but has more charm to him.  One of the main stars in the movie Natalia Reyes did a great job as Dani Ramos and although there was a moment in the movie where she actually had a little moment, the film had a very steady/fast pace that kept you on edge.  The quiet moments are slim to none, but when you have a killer robot named a Terminator, Rev-9 Model, I mean, those quiet moments are going to be very, very small considering the world we live in now.  Arnold was excellent in this too.  His relevance was good for the story and if they DO think about doing a sequel, this could possibly be the last we see of him.  He looks GREAT in the role and he also reminds us how robotic, funny yet dangerous he is as the T-800, Model 101.  Mackenzie Davis is just as badass as Linda back in the day and playing an enhanced human (super soldier if you will), was good to see and her moves and fighting skills were great.  She proved to be a great foil to the Rev-9, it is unfortunate, the character has a great shortcoming that, to me, made her trip back to the past, irrelevant to an extent.

Also, just so you are not confused to whether this is a kids movie or not, swearing, blood it's all there.  The swearing (in which I don't mind), although more than what I'd normally hear in movies that are produced for children for toys etc, this movie does not hold back.  There was a moment where I blurted out a few expletives when the action sequences ensued.  Tim Miller didn't hold back and this made me happy.  I would say the visuals were good and there was a water scene I wasn't 100% on, but by that point, I was already sold on the movie.  Maybe there is an explanation to the scene and how it played out but meh, whatever.

If you are a fan of Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day, I cannot see why you'd dislike this because to me at least, we are back on form, but where we go next, is a mystery.  Enjoy

(film review) - Bumblebee

I’m trying to figure out (along with the rest of the world), how this new Transformers movie fits into the universe of the Transformers franchise.  At first, I heard it was a soft franchise reboot, but it comes across as a prequel, kinda.  I mean, Michael Bay has f’ed up this franchise in the most royal way. The Transformers franchise is basically an X-Men movie timeline at this point and nobody is interested in it any more.  We can argue it made money at the Box Office, but when nobody generally likes it, overall, it a question of, "Who Actually Cares?"

Let me get into it.

Bumblebee is a fish out of water story of a boy and his dog.  Well, I believe that is the two idioms you could use to describe a film like this.  A civil war is engaged between the Autobots and the evil Deceptacons.  Losing the battle, Optimus Prime wants to establish a new base of operations and sends Bumblebee as a scout to Earth as a potential base as they retreat to regroup.  "After a battle and being awoken and disorientated, Bumblebee is intercepted and tracked down by two Decepticons who threaten to find his leader Optimus Prime and destroy Earth.  With only his one human friend, Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld), Bumblebee is the only Robot to save it. He is Bumblebee."

Pretty straight forward and straight to the point.  Nothing major or anything we haven’t heard/seen before.  Think if the movie ‘ET’ and ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ had a baby.  This is essentially how the rest of the movie plays out.  If anything, the same plot synopsis of the first Transformers as well, maybe.  I don’t know and at this point, frankly I don’t care, as this film is actually really really good.  At the top, I stated that I am trying to figure out where we stand in the franchise, unless from the very beginning as a reboot, I am totally fine with this and I hope they do intend to go forward in this direction.  Anything else is just confusing.

The first 5mins of the movie was AMAZING!  It reminded me of 'Man of Steel' where we see Krypton.  The little kid in me smiled with glee as we were able to finally see the Gen 1 Transformers fighting on Cybertron.  I mean, I’m just going to spoil the first 5 minutes of the movie because frankly, we need more people to see this movie to get more movies and I would be doing the movie a dis-service if I didn’t mention it.  Soundwave! Shockwave! Ravage!  Just like the toys you played with as a child!  If you are as old as me.  I don’t need to explain the Ravage and Soundwave connection I’m sure, but seeing this on screen was amazing.  Travis Knight clearly had a great vision with this movie and for what he executed in the first 5mins alone was enough to have any Transformers fan salivating for more.  Alas we don’t get any more than maybe 5-10 minutes of that, but the rest of the movie is also very good, albeit with a few nit-picky bits I didn’t like, which could arguably be the Michael Bay influence.

So it goes without saying that I found the movie aesthetically pleasing visually and the story wasn’t great but pretty serviceable.  The supporting actors next to Hailee were throwaway characters and although John Cena as a lead was ok.  He was nowhere near as bad as previous military characters in other Transformers movies.  The movie didn’t have enough Autobots and Deceptacons, but from what I saw, I was fine with.  More for the sequel?  The nit-picky things were things I thought we had moved away from in Transformers movies, and in cinema as a whole.  Maybe I was reading too much into it, but the black man dying first or more importantly, sacrificing himself to save the white man, because essentially, that is what happens.  Or at least it seems that way as you never see him again.  Weirdly enough, I didn’t notice that until my friend alerted me to it.  I did notice the black man being the butt of the joke, which was the wannabe boyfriend.  I get it we needed comedy interjected into the movie, but I thought that was what the "Fish out of water" element with Bumblebee was.  As I said, maybe I was over thinking it, but these were the things I hated regarding previous Transformers movies directed by Michael Bay.  At least there wasn’t any unnecessary explosions and over sexualized shots and 360-degree camera spins…although it was EXECELLENT in bad Boys 1.

I’d definitely suggest to watch this movie, even if you dislike Michael Bay Transformer movies, as this one is different, and it’s executed well.  Other than the nit-picky moments, this is a feel-good movie.

(film review) - Mission Impossible: Fallout

A lot of people don't like Tom Cruise for his scientology or for his height, maybe for both, but for me, I don't actually care.  Tom is a superb actor with quite a bit of range but I really love a few of his films.  Live Die Repeat (or whatever they decided to call it in the end), Minority Report, Tropic Thunder and Mission Impossible, the latter being his best work and one of the best franchises out there.  His dedication to stunt work is unparalleled and I have to say his character of Ethan Hunt is what the Character John McClane is to me.  Over the years, unlike Bruce, Tom has NEVER dialled in a performance to my knowledge, I don't think he would know how to, as he is someone who has to be ALL THE WAY INVOLVED, to even breaking his ankle doing a REAL STUNT in this movie for AUTHENTICITY.  So, when they say, break a leg in showbiz, Tom actually did.  But was it worth it?  Well without sounding bias at all, of course it damn well was!!!

Fallout picks up 2 years after the events of Rogue Nation and the capture of Soloman Lane.  What is left of Lane's terrorist group get a hold of 3 Nuclear Weapons known as Plutonium Cores, while Ethan (Tom Cruise) is re-tasked to retrieving the Plutonium, he is also being shadowed by lead operative August Walker (Henry Cavill) from the Special Activities Division.  When IMF discover that an extremist named John Lark is interesting in purchasing the Plutonium, Ethan must capture him, but when that goes wrong, Ethan must pose as him.  When Ethan is actually outed as the real John Lark, IMF are forced to disband or be labelled traitors to the country and Walker must capture or kill Ethan.

Just when you think the Mission Impossible franchise could not get any better, they prove me wrong with this one, just like they proved me wrong with the last one.  Sure, I'm bias but who doesn't love all that spy stuff? On top of that, trying to keep up with the Mission Impossible story per movie and with whom you should trust is a task in itself, always has been and doubles up in this movie then times' it by 10 just to make you feel on edge.  No one can be trusted, but the world needs to be saved from these extremist groups.

As usual, Tom Cruise literally breaks a leg for this performance and apparently, flew a helicopter by himself with hidden camera's just for authenticity.  He carried out real Halo Jumps proving, there is no one in the movie world as an actor, as dedicated to their craft as him and the film is all the better for it.  There is a shot where he jumps out of a Cargo Plane which looked Amazing. The visuals and cinematography is excellent. The camera work is excellent and as usual, the action is very visceral and entertaining.  I do chuckle when he limp/runs off after breaking his ankle though, I'm not going to lie.  These films are what they say on the tin, action, espionage, thrillers and/or spy films done right.  However, it would be interesting where they will go with 7 because not only do they get better, the stunts get wilder and wilder.  Oh, and just in true Mission Impossible fashion, there is some running and there are motorbikes, two MI must haves for EVERY MOVIE and strangely enough, you may role your eyes at them, but they are still entertaining, regardless.

I cannot think of any flaws with this film at all as Henry Cavill is excellent, the supporting cast are also excellent and if anything, maybe we could have the IMF team do just that little bit more than what they are already doing, somehow.  It's great to see Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames etc, but where do they go next? Does Ethan have a successor because he must die, right...eventually?  Well, let's hope Tom doesn't and he intends on doing more movies because although we have no clue where they can go next, wherever they do go, it will be entertaining, guaranteed, Tom's Leg Approved.