(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.

(film review) - Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

You know what is really wild to me? This movie coming to an end and I was smiling from ear to ear gassed about what I had just watched (for context, to be gassed, is to be excited). I mean, I had watched the trailer and given the trailer high praise. As I said in my trailer review "...Michael Bay took my childhood cartoons and ruined them..." (I guess I was also referring to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films too, as he was a producer on them). Although Michael Bay was also a producer of the 2018's Bumblebee movie (It should have been called 'Transformers: Bumblebee'), I am guessing he did not meddle with that one because that movie was far better than the previous Transformers movies and it is quite possible, he learned from possibly poking his nose in where it did not belong for TMNT. The Bumblebee movie was really good and I was hoping for more...and it looks like we have got it, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, and for me, it did not disappoint!

Noah, an ex-military electronics expert is trying to get by and support his family, but when he decides to take on a risky job for his friend Reek, Noah is catapulted into a world of robots in disguise who have learned of a planet-eating alien seeking to devour Earth. Noah must join the Autobots to help save the planet, even if it means joining up with the Maximals.

I will start with the negatives first. The Music. Do not get me wrong, the music was fantastic and there was a moment towards the end of the movie where a certain song came on and the scene was simply perfect. I was smiling so hard, enjoying the moment way too much for a Transformers movie. The special effects, in places; not great. This might be due to the budget Steven was given but in a couple of places, it seemed very 'green screen'. The nostalgia factor. Where this movie is set in the 90s I am not sure, if the movie came out in the 90s the film would have simply felt like it fit in with the times we are "currently in", but as I grew up through that time and we are currently out of that time, some 30 years ago, I felt that the 90s influence was somewhat heavy-handed. Not as heavy-handed as Captain Marvel, but I just felt like it was just a tad too much nostalgia for me. The Humans. Nobody cares about them. Nobody wants them in a Transformers movie. They get in the way, they do dumb things and for the most part, they are simply there to also help hold the audience's hand for exposition. On top of that, they are also there to help keep what would be a special effects-heavy movie, costs down, but for the most part, the humans were not terrible, they help bring a little humour and help ground the movie.

The positives, loads! The story was a simple one; bad guy coming to do bad things, so the relatable [human] good guy teams up with unknown [robotic] good guys to help stop the [robotic] bad guy from succeeding, nothing new right? But I will say, Steven handled the franchise with care. I never watched Beast Wars nor did I care for it, but seeing these animals looked absolutely great. The size of the Autobots and the size of the Maximals compared to humans is staggering. They all just looked great and very well realised. The Music, although sounding like a 90s best hip-hop hits album, was really good. The irony of going to the cinema to watch this movie on this occasion for me was, whilst a song from a band is currently playing in the movie, the very same band is currently at the same complex I am in and likely performing, had performed or due to perform the very same song I am currently listening to. Trippy. All the music pieces were a great fit, but I do think it was a little heavy-handed as a lot of the music was back-to-back-to-back. The fighting scenes. Whilst I ultimately did not get what I wanted (and I will not mention or allude to it due to spoilers), the fighting scenes were really good. The action was really good and the 3rd act was surprisingly good, especially when that particular song I mentioned earlier dropped. I think I was in the cinema by myself and I really should have cheered as loud as I could because the moment was simply great and I wouldn't have been disturbing anyone, but it was soo good. The humour' decent. While I will say, having Pete Davidson as Mirage was funny, I felt that maybe they could have made some of the lines uttered in the movie less cheesy, but I guess we need a little bit of cheese now and then. The voice acting. Pete Davidson; great. I was not aware he could do some brilliant voice acting and having Peter Cullen is always a bonus, but I had no idea, Ron Pearlman, Colman Domingo and Peter Dinklage were in this lending their talents.

In regards to the rest of the movie, there was a Lord of the Rings moment, visually anyway, when you see it, you will know and the acting was not superb, especially as it is a Transformers movie so I could not have expected anything less (how the movie and the characters were written), but Dominque Fishback is the anchor to this movie while Anthony Ramos was just ok to me. I felt Anthony's quieter scenes with Dean Scott Vazquez were better and written very well, whereas his other moments could have been fleshed out more. There is also a moment with Dominique which was really good too, but ultimately, I feel his character could have been written and acted out better. But other than that and some other moments that do not escape any Transformers movie, on the whole, a very good watch, especially if you leave any opinions of previous movies and the bad taste in your mouth from them, at the door before you sit and watch. Lastly, the mid-credits scene; interesting, very interesting. I wonder what Hasbro has in store, hopefully, something great than trying to build a universe and simply messing it up just because they are trying to build a universe as capable, vast and great as the MCU, like how DC and Universal have previously tried and failed trying to do so, although DC might actually be able to salvage what is left of that mess. If you can, go out and see this movie as it IS a lot better than the previous movies we have had before.

(film review) - Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

For those who are unaware and I am pretty sure I have stated this a few times over the years but Sony own/rent Spider-Man from Marvel since Marvel sold Spider-Man when they were going bankrupt back in the day. They sold X-Men, Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider, Hulk, Daredevil and many more. Since Disney bought Fox Studios and Marvel, a lot of the characters Marvel sold a long time ago have gone back to Marvel due to either buying the company or the contracts for these IPs running out. However, Sony will NEVER let that happen. In case you are unaware, Spider-Man is a character that is soo bankable, not only is he recognised all over the world, he brings in the toy money as well as other merchandise. That said, currently, whilst Sony has not produced back-to-back, excellent Spider-Man movies, hence why we got Spider-Man and Amazing Spider-Man and now Spider-Man (the "home" trilogy) as a joint venture with Marvel, Sony has not produced anything as equally as excellent in their Spider-Man universe by themselves, until their animated Spider-Man (Spider-verse) franchise. Venom, Morbius and soon-to-be Kraven the Hunter, nothing seems to be as close and/or as great as this Spider-verse franchise of yet, and if they stick the landing in a third film, this can quite possibly be, the BEST Sony Spider-Man trilogy project Sony has ever done or better yet, the best Trilogy in film, period (I do not believe I am exaggerating here either). This film was simply incredible. And just when you think they could not top their last movie, they brought out this one and just raised that bar for themselves and others.

Across the Spider-Verse is about Miles Morales continuing to be Spider-Man but trying to be the best person, son and Spider-Man he can be but like most or all spider-men, not being able to get that balance right. When a villain becomes intrinsically tied to Miles, Miles has to figure out who and what type of Spider-Man he will continue to be going forward, how he can balance being Miles and being Spider-Man and what difficult decisions he will have to make.

Incredible. They set a high standard and bar for the first movie 'Into the Spider-Verse' so announcing a sequel was going to definitely raise eyebrows. Was this simply lightening in a bottle or do these guys, Lord and Miller really have what it takes to go above and beyond their first movie, and the answer is a resounding yes! Yes, they can! All the tropes they had in the first movie, they repeated a few things but they did not overdo it. The movie treats you as if you have seen the first movie so it does not babysit you, the explanation is minimal, but we set out differently this time around. We are learning more about these characters and their struggles. What it takes to be a Spider-person is strenuous and comes with a lot of baggage so, the film pivots with a somewhat cold opening, and when the film gets going, you are really in for the ride until the very end, and even then, you will want more.

The music, the visuals, the animation, it is all top tier. It is premium quality. While the visuals may not be for everyone with the constant changing and flash of colour and various techniques used, when you break down what they have done, and how they presented the film, Lord and Miller are nothing short of artistic genius' and when you have seen the movie, you will understand, the story they wanted to tell. There are soo many frames that could be placed above your mantlepiece that simply look like a work of art. The humour is hilarious. The gags and callbacks and eater eggs, you will need to watch this film multiple times to catch them all. The comedy hits, it is funny, it continues from the first film and moves effortlessly into this sequel and in places, even funnier. While I will say, I may have seen a couple of continuity issues in some of the frames/shots, this movie is soo good, you cannot help but Marvel at what they have achieved. The characters, the actors, where is the flaw in what these two have achieved with this movie? Emotional and heartbreaking, dark and forbidding in places and they leave you wanting the sequel immediately, regardless of this already being a long movie. This movie is very serious when it wants to be and touches on a lot of adult themes as well as life choices.

I will try not to gush about this anymore because I will surely start going into spoiler territory from sheer excitement in talking about this movie, but what I will say is, the voice acting lent for this project was superb and while some characters were fleeting, they stuck out as a great introduction to the franchise. Imagine, 10 years ago, a Miles Morales Spider-Man movie may have been frowned upon because it is not Peter Parker and ultimately, who cares, right? Wrong! We care. Lord and Miller care and have dedicated a lot of time and poured their heart and soul into this movie and it shows. There will be reasons why people did not like this movie, but in my eyes, I am really concerned for the future of the franchise because if they do not stick the landing on the third movie, one of the best trilogies ever made will be talked about for years to come as to, the greatest trilogy that never was. Such an incredible movie and I wish more projects from these guys.