Sherlock Holmes (2009)

September 26, 2018 / Roger Edwards

For me the inherent appeal of Conan Doyle’s great detective is the way in which it lends itself to continuous reinvention and interpretation. And so, I was greatly surprised by how well director Guy Ritchie handled the 2009 reboot. He in fact did so well, that you could argue it put his career back on track. You won’t find a deerstalker on the head of Robert Downey Jr’s Holmes. This is very much a Holmes for the current times, with bar knuckle boxing, explosions and frenetic chases around a stylised CGI London, but despite how it sounds it works extremely well. The pacing, tone and humour are just right and so the movie avoid becoming a caricature. Under all the modern trappings the screenplay retains the essential elements of source text, such as a densely plotted narrative, cunning mental gymnastics and of course the complex dynamics of the Holmes, Watson relationship.

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categories / Action, Movies, Sherlock Holmes

Megiddo: The Omega Code 2 (2001)

September 16, 2018 / Roger Edwards

If at first you don’t succeed, try the exact same thing over again with more money. Megiddo: The Omega Code 2 is the follow up to the 1999 film The Omega Code. Technically, the film is a quasi-prequel (plot wise) which covers Politician, Industrialist and Antichrist Alexander Stone’s (Michael York) rise to power and his subsequent feud with his younger brother. It then deviates from the sequence of events in the first movie by ending in a large-scale battle at Megiddo between the forces or good and evil, both of whom favour the use of tanks and helicopter gunships. Megiddo: The Omega Code 2 benefits from a substantially larger budget and from superior direction by veteran film maker Brian Trenchard-Smith. It’s hardly a genre milestone but it’s a step in the right direction compared to its predecessor.

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categories / Action, Movies, Christian, Megiddo: The Omega Code 2

The Omega Code (1999)

September 15, 2018 / Roger Edwards

Action-based faith movies are a curious and somewhat niche genre (“no shit” I hear you say). Apart from this movie and its sequel, the only other I can think of is Left Behind from 2014. There have been others, but they’ve tended to be very low budget affairs, made for Christian TV networks. The Omega Code, directed by Robert Marcarelli, was different, in so far it had a larger budget and managed to get a secure a theatrical release. The premillennialist plot revolves around a plan by industrialist politician and Antichrist Stone Alexander (Michael York) to take over the world using information hidden in the Bible via a hidden code. Casper Van Dien also stars as lifestyle guru Dr. Gillen Lane who unwittingly joins Stone to handle his public relations. The film is based on a novel written by televangelist Paul Crouch, head of the Trinity Broadcasting Network. The plot presents an Evangelical Christian view about the end of days and the rise of the Antichrist. Believe it or not, the box office returns for The Omega Code where greater than Fight Club on its opening weekend in 1999.

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categories / Action, Movies, The Omega Code, Christian

Skyscraper (2018)

September 08, 2018 / Roger Edwards

I often find the arbitrary distillations of movies into a glib sentence to be a rather tedious trend. However, The Towering Inferno meets Die Hard is a fairly accurate assessment of Skyscraper. Sadly, the film has none of the drama or suspense of either of those two “classics”. Overall Skyscraper is a rather lacklustre affair, despite having two very personable leads (Dwayne Johnson and Neve Campbell). It suffers from a very superficial story and insubstantial characters, leaving only a handful of action set pieces to drive the narrative forward. It also makes the mistake of simply asking too much of its audience with regard to their suspension of disbelief and plays fast and loose with the laws of physics. In a nutshell this is a movie that aims for the “big, dumb and fun” market, but sadly only delivers on “big and dumb”. Not even the presence of Dwayne Johnson can elevate the proceedings.

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categories / Action, Dwayne Johnson, Movies, Skyscraper

San Andreas (2015)

September 06, 2018 / Roger Edwards

San Andreas makes the same mistake that most modern disaster movies tend to; namely the human story is simply drowned out by the size of the unfolding disaster. There seems to be some sort of curious inverse scale in this particular genre, in which the greater the magnitude of destruction, the less the audience gives a crap about those experiencing it on-screen. San Andreas is essentially a CGI FX showreel with some bland and indifferent narrative bolted on to it. It taps into societies morbid fascination with our own mortality and the fragile nature of our modern life style. It is odd how we seem to relish visions of our own destruction. I’m sure psychologists have a lot to say on this matter. However, beyond providing a spectacle San Andreas has precious little else to offer. Once again, the only redeeming aspect of the film is the presence of Dwayne Johnson.

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categories / Action, Movies, San Andreas, Dwayne Johnson

Executive Decision Re-Edited Blu-ray Version (1996)

July 26, 2018 / Roger Edwards

Stuart Baird’s Executive Decision was one of the better action films of the late nineties, with a stronger narrative and emphasis on characters, rather than just pure mayhem. Sporting a robust cast including Kurt Russell, David Suchet (Quelle surprise, a British actor playing a villain) and a willingness to break with convention (Steven Seagal dies in the first 45 minutes), Executive Decision is still an entertaining genre piece. Therefore, its arrival on Blu-ray in 2011 was keenly anticipated. However, placed on the back of the packaging of the US region-free release was a short and initially somewhat innocuous statement. “This R-rated version contains material different from the original R-rated version”. Exactly what does this mean?

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categories / Action, Movies, Executive Decision

The Boondock Saints Unrated Director's Cut (1999)

June 26, 2018 / Roger Edwards

The Boondock Saint's.mkv_snapshot_01.14.48.jpg

Writer and director Troy Duffy obviously set out to make The Boondock Saints a "cult" movie and to find a niche market audience that would champion it. Every thematic and cinematic attribute you associate with contemporary, "hip", independent film making is duly trotted out and used in an arbitrary fashion. The Boondock Saints is violent (in that very stylised Tarantino sense of the word), slick, contrived and deliberately controversial. It also perpetuates every possible cliché about the Irish as a race and the Roman Catholic church that you can think of. Yet despite these facts, there is still the germ of a good film at its core. Vigilanteism has always been an intriguing and emotive subject that can make for challenging cinema. Populist content such as this can also be the key to box office success.

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categories / Action, Movies, Cult Film, The Boondock Saints

Escape Plan 2: Hades (2018)

June 17, 2018 / Roger Edwards

Direct-to-streaming is in some respects the direct-to-video market of the current decade. However, that comes with a few caveats, as sometimes if a studio gets cold feet about a movie they’ll ditch it to streaming, even if it’s a quality product. Alex Garland’s Annihilation being an example of this. However, that isn’t the case of Escape Plan 2: Hades which clearly falls into the category of a cheaper and inferior sequel. Both Sylvester Stallone and Curtis Jackson return respectively to their previous roles, but Arnold Schwarzenegger is conspicuously absent this time round. In other cast changes, Jamie King replaces Amy Ryan as Abigail Ross. Sadly, the marketing for the movie is deliberately misleading and despite featuring prominently in the advertising, Dave Bautista only has a support role, appearing in the final third of the movie. The director for this instalment is Steven C. Miller, whose body of work is predominantly direct-to-streaming action movies and low budget thrillers.

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categories / Action, Movies, Escape Plan 2: Hades

Escape Plan (2013)

June 16, 2018 / Roger Edwards

If you are over a certain age, there will be certain actors, TV shows and bands that you’ve grown up with and always enjoyed. Let us consider for a moment the latter. The Stranglers will be playing at the Looe Music Festival in Cornwall on the 23rd September. They’ve been touring and producing albums for nearly forty-five years. The majority of the audience who attend their gigs will be long term fans and they’ll not be there in the hope of hearing a bunch of new material from the latest album. No, they want a concert filled with familiar tunes and greatest hits. I'm pretty sure that is what they will get as well. Escape Plan is the cinematic equivalent of this. A movie that is driven by its two leads and tailor made so they can give their fans exactly what they want.

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categories / Movies, Action, Escape Plan

Dredd (2012)

March 22, 2018 / Roger Edwards

Dredd is clearly a movie that has been made by people who fully understand and respect the source material. This is by far the films strongest asset and helps carry the production through some of its short comings. It should also be noted that this is one of the most gritty and violent comic adaptation you're likely to see. It was rated R in the US went so far as to achieve an 18 certificate in the UK. The 3D process that accompanied the theatrical release and which is also available on the Blu-ray disc does add a rather sensationalist element to the proceedings with bullets passing through people’s faces in slow motion and blood spattering across the screen. Yet it works quite well and is reminiscent of Judge Dredd's origin on the luridly coloured pages of 2000 AD.

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categories / Action, Movies, Dredd

Skyfall (2012)

March 14, 2018 / Roger Edwards

There's nothing better than being proved wrong and having your fears allayed. Sam Mendes was absolutely the right choice to direct the twenty third James Bond movie and delivered a film that embraces both the old and the new. Skyfall was an outstanding way to celebrate fiftieth anniversary of the franchise. This is one of the few occasions when the actual movie managed to live up to the respective hype and marketing. Skyfall is 143 minutes of pure Bond and much more. Seldom has series had this depth of story, characterisation and intelligence. It is a lot closer to Goldfinger than it is Moonraker and offers a fresh perspective on the iconic agent. This is not about defeating some villain in his volcano lair. Skyfall is about the very nature of espionage and the effects upon those who work in its twilight world.

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categories / Action, James Bond, Movies, Skyfall

A Good Day to Die Hard (2013)

March 13, 2018 / Roger Edwards

A Good Day to Die Hard International Poster.jpg

Having passed at the chance to see A Good Day to Die Hard during its theatrical I finally caught up with the movie recently. The version I saw was the US theatrical version and not the extended edition that includes three and a half minutes of additional material. It's a curious thing that in an age when blockbuster movies become ever longer and more bloated, frequently running over two and a half hours, that the latest instalment of Die Hard is a brief ninety-nine minutes. That's about an hour and a half once you remove ten minutes or so of CGI credits. Is such brevity to the benefit of the movie? In a nutshell, no. A Good Day to Die Hard is light on plot, character development and viewer engagement. Frankly it’s a caricature of its former self. The notion of the likeable every-man, out of his depth and fighting against incredible odds has given way to a loud-mouth, bullet proof xenophobic who effortlessly moves from one improbable CGI action sequence to another.

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categories / Action, Movies, A Good Day to Die Hard

Olympus Has Fallen (2013)

March 11, 2018 / Roger Edwards

Where film makers of note will often take the bull by the horns and address difficult aspects of US history and culture, Hollywood tends to do the complete opposite. Events are simply re-imagined having a more popular, and box office friendly outcomes. Olympus Has Fallen fits squarely into this category, being a post 9/11 denial movie. In this case, the White House, that national symbol of American power and democracy is ruthlessly attacked by evil North Koreans (are there any other kind?), resulting in another sub Die Hard scenario. This movie holds no surprises and seeks to offer nothing more than what is on the poster. However, contrary to what you might think, that is not a bad thing at all.

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categories / Action, Movies, Olympus Has Fallen

The Equalizer (2014)

March 06, 2018 / Roger Edwards

Denzel Washington is one of those rare actors who can elevate a movie by his screen presence. It is his star quality, along with a better than average story that makes The Equalizer a cut above your average action movie. There is a half decent attempt to transcend the usual alpha male, revenge bullshit that permeates the vigilante sub-genre and explore deeper themes. The film takes it's time to focus on Robert McCall's wider motivation, philosophy and personal morality. It ponders the nature of ethics and alludes to the notion of "knights" in a time when they're no longer required or desirable. However rather than wallow in the notion of an existential crisis, the central theme is self-determinism. On top of all this weighty pondering there's also some very hard-edged violence and death by power tools.

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categories / Action, Movies, The Equalizer

Ironclad (2011)

February 23, 2018 / Roger Edwards

Upon its release in 2011, reviews of Ironclad were mixed. Criticism mainly focused on a lack of historical accuracy, an excess of violence and some questionable casting decisions. Hasn’t this always been standard operational procedure for countless Hollywood historical epic? For example, El Cid, Cleopatra and more recently Alexander. It seems somewhat counter intuitive to berate a film over the very elements that define its particular sub-genre. Ironclad is an action drama inspired by historical events. It certainly does to claim to be a Starkeyesque depiction of the period. You only have to watch the trailer to see exactly how the film was marketed and the demographic the producers were trying to woo. If you’re looking for quality acting, period detail and a dissection of the geo-politics of the era, then you may want to watch something else like A Man for All Seasons or The Lion in Winter. Ironclad is more hitting people with big swords and chewing the scenery.

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categories / Action, Movies, Ironclad

Punisher: War Zone (2008)

February 10, 2018 / Roger Edwards

During the seventies, due to the soaring crime rate, failure of national politics and social backlash against the establishment, vigilante films and novels were very popular with the public. Michael Winner's Death Wish captured this sentiment perfectly. Although an exploitation film, it managed to maintain an intelligent and thoughtful edge, which certainly reflected the mood of the New York public of the times. Sadly, these issues where subsequently written out of most future screenplays due to the rise of the Hollywood action blockbuster. Moral subtexts and ethical conundrums were replaced by the sledge hammer ideology of might is right. Heroes were given badges and the official sanction of the establishment and destroyed two dimensional enemies, without any need for ethical reflection or inner introspection.

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categories / Action, Movies, Marvel, The Punisher, Punisher: War Zone

The Commuter (2018)

January 22, 2018 / Roger Edwards

There are action movies. There are subsets of action movies such as the martial arts, heroic bloodshed and the “Die Hard on a [insert mode of transport here]”sub-genre. And then there are Liam Neeson action movies which are a unique a form of films in their own right. Because few actors have achieved what Liam Neeson has done. Some actors start their careers stuck in low budget, exploitation films, only to claw their way up the greasy pole until the wow us with a serious performance and effectively re-invent themselves as a quality character actor. Liam Neeson has done the reverse. After making his mark as a serious actor, with an Oscar nomination under his belt, he then took a serious change in direction to become an action movie star in his mid-fifties. In doing so he found himself a completely new audience and proved a star at the box office. It’s a curious yet strangely laudable achievement. This leads us neatly onto The Commuter. It’s Neeson’s swansong to the action genre, as he has subsequently announced that he’s retiring from this type of movie.

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categories / Action, Movies, Liam Neeson, The Commuter

Unstoppable (2010)

January 16, 2018 / Roger Edwards

Tony Scott seemed to specialise in loud, bombastic, high octane action films. He was the master of the hi-tech set piece. His body of work succinctly encapsulated what commercial Hollywood is about. Why understate, when you can overstate. Why circumnavigate, when you can blow it up. Why talk when, you can shout. Yet despite these qualities, he often managed to walk the fine line between entertainment and sensory overload. Through strong casting and hardboiled yet dry screenplays, his overblown tales were frequently engaging and would prove a hit with both the audience and critics alike. It’s quite an achievement to when you think about, maintaining commercial success and retaining public goodwill.

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categories / Movies, Action, Unstoppable, Tony Scott

Raid on Entebbe (1977)

January 08, 2018 / Roger Edwards

Raid on Entebbe was one of several movies (Victory at Entebbe, Operation Thunderbolt) to be made about the rescue of the hostages from Air France Flight 139, by Israeli Commandos in 1976. The film was initially made for US television, but was considered to be of sufficient quality to be released theatrically for the international market. Competently and efficiently directed by Irvin Kershner (The Empire Strikes Back, Eyes of Laura Mars), with a solid cast of quality character actors, it offers a broadly accurate summation of the events from the initial hijacking to the raid at Entebbe airport, Uganda. It does not attempt to explore the complexities of the geo-political situation of the Middle East at the time, although it does give a brief overview of Israeli diplomacy and internal government. Raid on Entebbe is a solid linear action movie based upon what were, at the time of the production, topical events.

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categories / Action, Movies, Raid on Entebbe, Charles Bronson, Irvin Kershner

Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)

December 20, 2017 / Roger Edwards

Matthew Vaughn’s sequel to his hit 2015 movie is a curious affair. At times it hits the same heights of its predecessor, but it also frequently misses the mark and lapses into self-indulgence. The stylised approach of the first movie is maintained and again the spy genre is skewered and satirised with a keen eye. Yet as this is a sequel there’s a requirement to be bigger than before and it is this exponential growth that at times tips the balance between keeping the audience on board with the joke and simply over egging the entire concept. A clever cameo featuring Elton John, later becomes an extended joke that then drags on to be a clumsy vignette that out stays its welcome. This succinctly highlights the flaw that runs throughout the film. It’s a real shame that Kingsman: The Golden Circle is so uneven because it has moments of great potential and an absolute superb score.

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categories / Movies, Action, Kingsman, The Golden Circle

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