(trailer review) - Argylle

I try to keep my ear to the ground when it comes to movies, actors, what is coming out, who is involved in what, when etc and while I think I am doing a decent-to-okay job, something exciting sometimes slips past my radar that leaves me surprised. This trailer for Argylle is something I never even heard of, but with this cast, wow! With the writers and actors strike of recent, things have been fairly quiet because nobody could talk about any projects coming up, if they were supporting the guild, but I feel like, as soon as they came to some sort of tentative agreement, the floodgates have opened and BOOM, trailers after trailers after trailers have dropped! Netflix, for a start... Check my reviews on what they are up to! But I thought I would have heard something about this movie considering a lot of talk in recent months have centred around Henry Cavill due to his role in Black Adam etc. 

This trailer definitely gives me a Kingsman/Man from U.N.C.L.E/Bullet Train vibes and I found Bullet Train soo entertaining and wild. Clever writing, brilliant acting, clever use of the camera and when everything seems to be hitting on all cylinders, sometimes you can have a really great and entertaining film. For example, a few moments in this trailer made me smile or laugh, for example; when John Cena's character took the woman off of the bike as she was riding it, brilliant! The moment Sam Rockwell opened his mouth on the train to Bryce Dallas Howard (I knew it was him) and then the fight ensues, excellent!  Seeing Samual L. Jackson, was a little bit of a roll your eyes moment for me, of course he would be in this movie, of course. I love me some Samuel L. Jackson but his presence did not surprise me. Seeing Sophia Boutella as well as Bryan Cranston, already I am highly interested, not to mention Superman himself, Henry Cavill and Catherine O'Hara. The premise from what I can gather from the trailer, a woman writing a novel plays out actions with real people in real life, so someone wants to kidnap her to help them to achieve their goal. Interesting indeed. This already looks great, nothing else needs to be done to sell me any more.

(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.

(film review) - The Brothers Grimby

The best character of Sacha is Borat.  When I first saw Borat on the Ali G part of the bjbl Show, I found him soo funny, that when the film came out, I had to watch it.  Had to.  And I was not disappointed at all.  Soon after was Bruno in which I thought was borderline ok at very best. It felt like Borat but an overly extreme version and most of the gags, to me anyway, I didn't find overly funny like how I found Borat.  Like a rehash of the jokes.  The Dictator was better and now we have Grimsby, a cross between Ali G and...well, Ali G, I guess.

Grimsby is about a man who reconnects with his long lost brother after years of no contact.  A lot has changed between the two brothers, one of them is an undercover spy for the MI6, Sebastian (Mark Strong) and the other is a man how has 11 children living with his wife, Nobby (Sacha Baron Cohen) and lives in a small fishing town he grew up in called Grimsby.  When Nobby meet's his brother, Nobby doesn't realise that his brother is a spy and ends up tagging along so that he does not lose his brother again.  However, the life of a spy is no joke and could mean tactical espionage, shooting guns, fights and saving the world.  Sebastian might need the help of England's biggest idiot, his brother Nobby to help save the world.

First off, I wasn't expecting to see this film and having seen the trailer, I wasn't going to.  I mean, I knew it would be funny, but with what I had said earlier in terms of a rehash of jokes, I went into this film thinking, "yeah I've seen this before and it's going to be the same kind of thing".  Was I right, pretty much.  Was it funny? Pretty much.  Was it a decent film to watch? Pretty much.  Will you love it? Depends on your humour, but for me, No.  I liked it as it was entertaining and funny but not a cinema movie at all.  You could probably wait to see this on TV at home and you will enjoy it whilst chilling.  Maybe even drunk or high.  The film isn't garbage and Sacha brings all that he can into this type of movie.  The kind of movie he is known for doing like the fore-mentioned, but for me, I want to see something different from him.  Well acted as usual by Sacha and even better for Mark Strong as I didn't know he could transition to this kind of film and he was very funny in it.  But ultimately, this film is nothing to write home about.  Your normal slapstick, below the belt and somewhat outrageous scenes and jokes you've seen and not seen before.  Prepare to laugh and be somewhat grossed out.

(film review) - Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

I like Tom Cruise, but there are people who don't. I don't know what it is as to why people don't particularly like him, whether it is his face, his acting, his nose, I don't know. I mean, if you don't like him because of his height, then I guess that could be a reason why you may not want to take him seriously, but with prejudices like that, ultimately, you are preventing yourself from having some fun in the cinema. He isn't that much shorter than Robert Downey Jr. and everyone loves Ironman (a 6-footer). An example of fun at the cinema would be, Edge of Tomorrow. The marketing for that film was poor and it made you think it was Oblivion 2 or something. Even though Oblivion wasn't that poor, it just wasn't a great film. Edge of Tomorrow is a great film and it just didn't get the push it really needed, whether you like Tom or not. Excellent story acting and a stunning Emily Blunt. But what I will say is that, Tom knows how to make action movies, action thrillers as well. Collateral was great. The Mission Impossible franchise is a franchise which knows exactly who it's audience is and what to do to make a very entertaining film, like the Fast & Furious franchise. So what I'm really saying here is, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation is brilliant.

The Impossible Mission Force is a highly organised, skilled and dedicated ghost unit who operate undetected across the world saving the world from notorious villains and threats. When rumours of the Syndicate emerges, Ethan Hunt tries his best to seek out who they are and their agenda. With the pressures of the IMF having their operations shut down, Ethan discovers that the Syndicate is a Rogue Nation, who are the polar opposite of IMF and are also highly organised, skilled and dedicated. Ethan and his team are tasked with the impossible mission of revealing a ghost organisation twhotheoretically, does not exist and stopping them from acting out their sinister plans.

Pretty simple right? I mean the synopsis is far from impossible. Their task doesn't sound impossible does it? Ethan, Benji & Luther can do this type of thing with their eyes closed! Well, I can only state to you that this film combines the tension of the first film and the action of the last film, Ghost Protocol and gives you an excellent sequel. The team as we know it is the same. The dynamics are lived in and you can tell, everyone has each others back. The camaraderie is real and evident in the film. So as everyone works together, the stakes are believable. And boy are there some pretty high stakes. There is a under water scene which plays out soo well, I was clutching my chest as my heart couldn't take the suspense. Gasping here and there and gasping for breath, the suspense was actually trying to kill me, I swear. The action scenes were enough and engaging, it didn't over do it. With the perfect amount of comedy, gadgetry and fisty-cuffs, this film aims to please and does it soo damn well. If you saw what the trailer had to offer, the film offers that and then some without being over the top or extravagant.

If you are looking for a film to see, it's not Fantastic Four, unless you really have to. It is this film. You are going to have fun with this. If you don't, it's because you hate Tom Cruise and his face.

(film review) - James Bond: Skyfall

I was born in the very early 80's which means, there were Bond films a plenty. For me, Roger Moore was THAT guy. Swarve, cunning, thought on his feet. He did't mind a fisticuff and he had gadgets galore.  No utility belt, but he had a white under water Lotus. You cannot look me square in the eye and say you never wanted one. Two, that jaws guy.

So, this film is buzzing with the critics and people are saying it's perfect or near perfect. 5 Stars. 9 out of 10. All sorts. My verdict? Well, if you grew up on Bond like myself, then there is no reason NOT to like this film.
I'll explain.

The story is that there is a villain and there is a threat. Nothing new. Bond is on a mission and things get hairier and hairer by the second. When details of MI6 agents get placed on Youtube, Bond must find the culprit and stop them by any means necessary.
I won't go into it too much as this is such a good film, you need to go and just watch it. Moreover, this film IS James Bond, from start to finish and doesn't stray. The film starts with action and ends with action and the very last scene had me thinking...YEEESSSS!!!. The film pays soo much homage to the previous bond films, I wanted more and more. When you watch the film, you will pick it apart and love it. Unlike other Bonds, IMO, this film could not be any more British. And why not? It was such a lovely touch to encapsulate England the way it did and at the same time not over do it with patroism.
The villian was brilliant as well. He was very serious, a genius, cunning and you might even route for him. His mannerisms made the film comical as well as serious. The same way Bond is or how M and him are. And M, is a pitball. Hard nosed and will do whatever it takes with a great performance from all. Even Niomie Harris' character will get you feeling a lil warm inside. Very hot or maybe I found ber hot all by myself. Kind of reminds me of another flirty sexy lass from the previous Bonds. #EasterEgg
In closing, this is old school Bond. Back against the wall, doing whatever it takes to safeguard England from threats and like what I said about Roger Moore's, Bond, cunning, swarve and will give you a dose of everything which makes Bond, Bond. Even the nudey lady bits. But you couldn't expect anything less from Mr. Shaken not Stirred.

I suggest you go see it.