(trailer review) - John Wick: Chapter 4

(OFFICIAL TRAILER)

I am not the kind of person to go into a fight with a hatchet and the other person has a pistol, an automatic one at that. Can you imagine, this chapter in the John Wick movie franchise started with, a man (John Wick) not willing to sell his car to a random stranger! Said random stranger finds out where John lives, beats him up, kills his dog and steals his car. But little did the random stranger know, John used to be a professional assassin, is well known in the underground territories and circuits he operates in and his dying wife was the person who gave him the dog when she died. John is seeking revenge plain and simple. The story is soo simple but so effective and great! You just want more and more of this franchise.


This trailer for a start, the cracking song used, Nas' 'Got yourself a gun' and from that point, you see what the film has been known and loved for. Headshots in abundance, ways of killing people in ways deemed over the top, repetition in the way you will kill someone, fights anywhere and one-liners galore. Oh yeah, and everything is just so damn cool. That last shot with the car reminded me of the horse scene in the last movie. This trailer is just excellent and I cannot wait to see this movie, the spin-off Ballerina and The Continental. It cannot come out fast enough.


Directed by Chad Stahelski and starring Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, Laurence Fishburne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, Lance Reddick, Rina Sawayama, Scott Adkins, Clancy Brown, Natalia Tena, Marko Zaror & Ian McShane

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(trailer review) - John Wick: Chapter 4

You know the expression "...opening up a can of worms", THIS entire franchise is exactly that. In case you are unaware with how this all began and the story soo far (I could be off as it has been a while, so spoilers if you have not seen any of the John Wick movies especially the first one). John Wick is minding his own business when a guy compliments his car and wants to buy it. After refusing, said car is stolen and John Wicks dog is killed.  Not to go into how much the dog means to John but John is an ex-assassin and he seeks revenge on the person who killed his dog. That was Chapter 1. This is Chapter 4.

To say this film does exactly what it says on the tin is an understatement. This film is simply a revenge film which has spiralled soo out of control, we are on the fourth film and it looks epic. There are elements to this which are almost nonsensical, but the world they have built for this movie, is incredible. The close quarters fights. The close quarters fights that include guns. The raw and visceral attacks with any instrument. If this trailer did it for you and you have not seen the previous three movies, I suggest you watch it before this as they all tend to lead on from the one before it and it is soo so good!

Directed by Chad Stahelski and starring Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, Laurence Fishburne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, Lance Reddick, Rina Sawayama, Scott Adkins, Clancy Brown, Natalia Tena, Marko Zaror & Ian McShane

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(film review) - John Wick 3 - Parabellum

Chapter 3. Where this, now trilogy, should close the story of John Wick and his quest for vengeance leaving him to live a life as a retired hitman in the tranquillity he sees fit.  It’s like, after every movie, you reminisce back to how we got here.  How did it all start? His dog was murdered, he avenged it.  His car was stolen, he retrieved it.  The only thing John has a problem getting back, is his retirement, as finding his was back into the underworld of, well…let’s call it, The Hitman Society has proved to cause more harm than good.  Well, more dead bodies by The Babayagga, but we won’t get into that just yet.

In case I haven’t explained why I love these movies properly, I’ll break it down. John Wick is just like an 80’s or 90’s film where, titular hero, John Rambo? John McClane? John Matrix, even? Take on hordes of enemies who are trying to kill him and he survives.  It’s about suspending disbelief where some elements of the movie may seem unrealistic, but you enjoy the ride anyway.  The story might not be Oscar worthy, but you enjoy the ride anyway.  In most recent years, there hasn’t been much movies, if any that recapture the glory decades of such films.  Some over the top violence, one liners and such, other than the ones that are trying too hard.  Some may argue that the Fast and Furious franchise is among them, but that’s family *he says in his best Vin Diesel voice* and his name isn’t John, it’ Dominic.

The John Wick franchise is the 80’s and 90’s action movies, compressed into an up-to-date, stylish romp with lots of imagination trying to be as realistic as possible.  If you can watch a superhero movie which is largely based off of the comics, bar a handful, then you can watch Mr. Wick escape certain death, repeatedly.  I mean, John McClane wouldn’t Die Hard…well, until they ruined the last one in 2012.  Let’s see what the latest instalment will do, if they ever get to it…I hope not, with that Year One premise.

Anyway, back to the movie…

John Wick is now excommunicado losing all access and privileges of the Hitman Society with a huge 14 million bounty on his head after the events of the last movie.  He is literally a dead man walking.  The continental is off limits as well as any friends or allies he once worked with as they are all included in the worldwide broadcast and may want to collect the reward themselves.  John must stay on the run, avoiding death, literally at every corner to seek a meeting with The Elder, the person at the head of the High Table to negotiate some sort of deal.

This movie does not disappoint from the previous movies and if you have made it this far watching the previous two, you are already enjoying the ride.  I feel as though the movies just get better and better as they give you nothing but fight scene after fight scene after fight scene after brutal kills after fight scene after more brutal kills after even more brutal kills, book fight, horse fight, bike fight and if not, ALL kills ending with a headshot or two at the continental, of all places!  The action.  The Visuals.  The comedy.  There are places to nit-pick, if you must, but it doesn’t take away from the film as a whole, because the film’s pacing does not slow down.  Well, apart from the desert scene, but other than that, nearly every scene is soo masterfully done, you may want to frame certain shots.  I didn’t even mention the dog fight, di I?

if you were a fan of the previous movies, I don’t see you coming away from this movie with negative thoughts as they simply expand on what came before and take it that much more further.  The director Chad Stahelski, has only made 3 movies and the previous two were John Wick movies, so he is definitely on a roll.  I’d say that, due to the movie being a ‘Chapter 3’, is an absolute MUST that you see the first two previous movies as they continue from one another and you might just be confused otherwise, because the film expects you to have experienced the previous movies and not even try to hold your hand with any narrative or exposition at all!

Go watch it if you are a John Wick fan! If not, watch it after you see the first 2 at least.

(film review) - Ant-Man and the Wasp

So, recently we had Infinity War and Thanos came and shut things down.  He did what he came to do and that is (in case you didn't know), reduce the galaxy to half.  I won't go into his reasoning as that would be spoilers for those who may not have seen Infinity War yet, plus I've said enough already, but I can assure you, the post credits scene is something to look out for at the end of this movie.  But with that said, this movie is also a must see to give us an idea of what is to come next AND the fact that this movie is absolutely hilarious and a nice palette cleanser for what had JUST HAPPENED in the MCU.  I'll explain.

After the events of Captain America: Civil War, The Avengers have disbanded and everyone has gone their separate ways.  Due to Ant-Man's involvement, this has driven both Hope (Evangeline Lilly) and Hank into hiding.  Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is on house arrest and spends his time trying to entertain himself and his daughter when she comes around and only has a few days left.  Hope and Hank (Michael Douglas) are planning on a rescue mission to the quantum realm and as Scott having been there, Hope reaches out to Scott to bring back a ghost from the past.  Meanwhile, a Ghost and a black market dealer Sonny Birch (Walton Goggins) are also after the technology making things difficult for both the mission and Scott.

First of all, this movie is a tremendous palette cleanser for the previous MCU movie as this movie is light-hearted and incredibly funny, the polar opposite to Infinity War.  There are moments that are touching, moments that are serious and lots of action with a ton of funny moments.  A comedy heist just like the original Ant-Man movie but this one may actually be funnier.

There are some great acting from the supporting cast members such as Michael Peña, Hannah John-Kamen and David Dastmalchian, the former and latter being returning characters.  The score is superb and Peyton Reed has done it again and I can only dream and Hope for a 3rd movie directed by him because he knows what he is doing to bring light-hearted fun and entertainment combined with action.

It was great seeing Lawrence Fishburne come over from DC and the ending credits is something that is required to stay behind for due to the nature of these Marvel Cinematic Universe movies which give you an insight to what may happen next.  If you can, watch it, you will laugh your head off and it is a feel good movie.

(film review) - John Wick: Chapter 2

Just when you thought the brilliant story had ended.  Just when you thought The Babayaga came out of the shadows to play and now playtime is over!  Just when you thought the guy that everybody is afraid of, was going to return to his life of solitude with his new dog! YOU. WERE. WRONG!!!

The story picks up only four days after the events of John Wick, where after seeking revenge for the murder of his cute dog, John hasn’t forgotten his beloved and stolen 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1, where he continues his rampage to rescue it from a chop shop owned by Abram Tarasov (peter Stormare), brother of Viggo and Uncle of Iosef.  Having retrieved his Mustang, john is later visited by Italian crime lord, Santino D/Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio).  Santino forces John to honour the promise upon his marker and carry out one last job, which is the only thing that will allow him to return to retirement life.  But will john honour his word and carry out the task and fulfil his marker or will he carry out his retirement life as planned?

At this rate, John should change his home address if people keep knocking on his door like girl scouts, right?  I’m sure WE are ‘in agreement here!?’  This movie is just what the first movie ordered, nothing but fight scene after fight scene after fight scene after brutal kills after fight scene after more brutal kills after even more brutal kills, a splash of car chasing and debauchery and with the most, if not ALL kills ending with a headshot or two in an art gallery and such.  The last movie had an epic gun-fu fight in a night club which went WITH the music.  This movie!  Sigh.  There is a scene where two men are casually stalking each other firing their guns at one another in a crowded street without ANYONE noticing.  There is a scene where John throws a gun at a man’s head because he was out of bullets.  I cannot express my joy and odd laughs you get during this movie from somewhat, graphic violence or the absurdity of certain situations and scenarios.

I feel like everything I said in my last review, this review is basically that x2 and a gold star. Keanu Reeves is no longer Neo, his name is John Wick.  And if the director and the people behind this movie, such as the writers and producers, continue to deliver such a fun-filled romp of violence in this neo-noir action movie in the continued style and finesse, visually, we will continue to want this until Keanu is physically unable to do it anymore.  I mean, he is 54 and kicking ass!

(film review) - Ride Along

Kevin Hart has been doing a lot of films and people have been gravitating to this comedian's films like crazy.  For me it's a matter of, is this Kevin Hart playing a character as Kevin Hart or is this Kevin Hart playing a character as Kevin Hart playing a character in a movie? If that makes any sense.  Yes he is a funny comedian, but is he funny in these films? SHould he be funny in these films? Is he always the same funny guy character in all of these films including this one? Hmmm....

Ride Along is about a detective named James Payton (Ice Cube) who is on a undercover operation only to find that a lot of the crimes he has come across has been orchestrated by a man named Omar who no one has ever seen.  To make matters worse as James is chasing a ghost, James' sister is about to marry her boyfriend, Ben 'Blackhammer' Barber (Kevin Hart), a man he cannot stand and doesn't think he is worthy of her.  To add the salt into the wounds, Ben is a security guard trying to progress to becoming an officer, but James doesn't think that Ben is cut out as a man, a man for his sister or as a cop and schemes of a way to foil his plans, embaress him, so that his sister leaves him by showing him, what a cop's life is really like and take down Omar by taking him on a Ride Along.

This film is goofy, funny and basically exactly what you'd expect from a comedy.  A bit like watching a Will Farrell movie, you know what to expect.  With that said, the comedic beats land well and this film is generally funny and goofy, with witty dialogue and decent action.  Ice Cube playing the mean, angry big brother cop goes without saying and Kevin Hart playing, the funny guy, basically Kevin Hart gels well.

Nothing too spectacular in terms of directing, script, screenplay, acting, cinematography, but a nice little popcorn flick for you to hangout to with a couple of friends.  If anything, the computer game sequences are great.  Especially the game to real life adaption, when you see it, you will understand what i mean.

Have a watch, you might just chuckle, if not, laugh out loud!

(film review) - Man of Steel

After seeing Man of Steel, I was left a little perplexed. I wasn't sure what to think overall about the whole film.
I did feel disappointed and I did feel the film could have been better. However, if I were to give this film a number out of 10 with 10 being really good and 1 being really bad, this film would get 7.5 and not 9 or 10 in what it seems everyone else seems to be giving it.

I can debate this all day! ALL DAMN DAY! But I won't. I will only explain my view of the film from what I experienced from the story and how it was delivered.

First of all, Everyone knows the story of Superman and there has been 5 films before this one. (No one rates the fourth Reeves one)

The chances are of the audience knowing Superman's abilities is very high anyway.

So, with that said, I'll keep this Sypnosis very brief. Jor-El has a child with his wife on a dying planet. He sends newborn child in a space capsule across the stars to the Sol System to land on Earth to live so that their race does not go completely extinct. Child grows up with installed values but before becoming a shining beacon of Hope, he must confront General Zod and his plans. Also being from Clark's home planet of Kyrpton, Clark is left with a choice to decide whether to side with the human's or to decide with his own.

My understanding is that the Director was not going to revisit all the same scenario's and stories from previous films. This film is purely about an alien trying to fit into a world who will "fear" him for being different. The film is also about Zod and why he is the way he is because he ISN'T necessarily a villain.

This film most importantly, IS NOT...and I repeat NOT a Clark Kent film. This story is not about Clark Kent being Superman. It's about Superman being an Alien. From when you understand that, you will understand the film.

The film has received mixed reviews and as I said before, 7.5 out of 10, I believe the film will raise to 8.5 for one simple reason. Should they do a sequel and this film is more about Clark Kent juggling his life of being Clark & Superman, then the previous film, Man of Steel would make more sense and give the film Justice. Kind of an odd way to look at grading this film, but I felt this film was not executed well.

Reason's why I didn't like the film is because there was too much chopping and changing and skipping bits. There was no character development whatsoever and Superman himself was kinda dry... However, the small bits of the clark kent story (shown as flashbacks) were good including the values which were installed into him making him the man that he is. The fighting goes without saying and the film on a whole was good. But if the director made the film longer and added more detail, I would have put this film on parr with Batman. It just wasn't delivered the way Batman was. The reason could be purely due to the rehashing of the story. It has been done again and again and AGAIN!!!

I would also like to add, the writers and Director wanted to make a Superman film we haven't seen before. One where people get to see Superman BEING Superman. We all wanna see Superman tump guys over (in which he can't do with humans). And this is THAT film, so this is why you will love the film as well as the origins explain in more detail.

By the way...I don't believe the other films previously explored how he discovered his strength, heat vision or Ice Breath. My understanding is, these came into knowledge as he got older but everyone has seen Smallville or know what it's about.

In conclusion, this is a good film. Like Batman Begins but a little different in delivery and has grand scale destruction with a lil love interest thrown in there. If you don't know with whom, you haven't been, reading, listening, watching, living.
Go See It!!!

(film review) - Predators

I'm old school. I saw the very first Predator film. It was scary. I was young though. It starred Arnold Schwartzenegger, had Bill Duke in it, as he was the very few notable black faces back then and they were out stuck in the jungle, somewhere and there must have been 12 of them or so getting picked off, one-by-one like target practice by an unknown assailant. THAT was predator. THAT was where it all started. THAT was scary. But with Hollywood trying to create suspense, thrillers, horrors, etc and often getting it wrong, they can only resort to remaking films that don't need remaking and making them completely and utterly crap.

This film on the other hand attempts to mimic the very first film and doesn't do too bad, per say.

The film for me was engaging as it does start off with the lead character Royce (Adrien Brody) waking up finding himself falling from the sky and landing in this Jungle. For me that was pretty random, but I guess, there have been weirder ways to start a film, right? Anyway, he wonders about and bumps into a few other people, Mexican drug cartel enforcer Cuchillo (Danny Trejo), Spetsnaz soldier Nikolai (Oleg Taktarov), Israel Defense Forces sniper Isabelle (Alice Braga), Revolutionary United Front officer Mombasa (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali), death row inmate Stans (Walton Goggins), Yakuza enforcer Hanzo (Louis Ozawa Changchien), and doctor Edwin (Topher Grace) and then realises that the group of people are all in this "jungle" for a specific reason as they all have some kind of "background" which eventually lands them there. It is also noted that, they aren't even on earth.
It's not long until they are forced to band together and work as a team, to help fight attacking creatures and whatever is out there picking them off one by one. However, in saying that, there has to be that odd character that doesn't want to co-operate and act like a complete idiot to only get that 'Victory' kill. The one where you cheer loudly or in the inside saying, 'That fool had it coming'.
They wonder about some more until they bump into a man Noland (Laurence Fishburne), an air assault soldier who has survived on the planet for years by scavenging and hiding in an abandoned structure. He explains that the Predators sharpen their killing skills by collecting warriors and dangerous beasts from other worlds and bringing them to the planet to hunt and there is also a tiff going on between the predators. The Big ones verse the Small Ones. I don't know what to make of that, really...but the bigger predators did look really cool. Properly like, "Wow, what big teeth you have, predator guy-thing".
Not to spoil too much, the film has one or two more unexpected additions/twists and then ultimately ends on a satisfied note. Well I was satisfied. I couldn't help change facial expressions with a scene in the film in which I thought was unnecessary and cheesy, but other than that, it was a good watch.

I'll end this with, it's not Alien(s) or Alien 3 and it's not the Aliens vs Predator or Predator 2. It's more Predator, less tangy and a slice of cheese. Good watch.