Armageddon (1998)

The odd thing about rewatching Armageddon, a film I have watched a number of times before, is that it is somehow both worse and better than I remember. It's quite ridiculous, but manages to be ridiculous in many right ways to balance out the times that it's ridiculous in many wrong ways.

Most people know the story. There's a giant rock hurtling towards Earth. The only way to save our planet is to travel into space, land on the giant rock, and drill down into it to plant some major explosives. There's no way astronauts could manage that. The world needs the best drilling workers, and those drilling workers come in the shape of Harry S. Stamper (Bruce Willis) and co. There are some lame attempts to make things tense, there's plenty of heroism and "America: F**k Yeah!" throughout almost every main sequence, and you get to remember how much you love or hate Aerosmith singing "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing."

It might be Jonathan Hensleigh and J. J. Abrams credited in the writing department, with a bit of input from Tony Gilroy, Shane Salerno, and Robert Roy Pool, although I couldn't say how much any one person added into the mix. It's easy to see the overwhelming stamp of director Michael Bay all over it though. There's no subtlety, of course, and no desire to keep the action clear and watchable. In fact, I would argue that Armageddon is at its worst when viewers have to suffer through the poorly-shot and messily-edited action beats.

Willis may not be doing his best work, but he's fine in blockbuster star mode. Ben Affleck, playing the younger and more hot-headed "drill Jedi", who also happens to be in love with his boss's daughter, Grace (played by Liv Tyler), is also fine, although he has never been as comfortable in these kinds of films as he is in less mainstream fare. Tyler does what is asked of her, and is a welcome presence, despite being constantly pushed offscreen by the tide of testosterone. The supporting cast is pretty great though. Billy Bob Thornton does well, Will Patton and William Fichtner are both as dependable as ever, and there's a lot of fun to be had with any scene involving Steve Buscemi and/or Peter Stormare. You also get Owen Wilson, Keith David, Michael Clarke Duncan, Jason Isaacs, and very brief appearances from Eddie Griffin, Grace Zabriskie, Udo Kier, Shawnee Smith, and Matt Malloy.

There's plenty of impressive hardware on display, the bombastic score from Trevor Rabin ensures that nobody gets to forget the heroism and machismo of our main characters for even one minute, and John Schwartzman tries hard to impress with cinematography that is undermined by the horrible editing so familiar to anyone who has watched any other Michael Bay movie.

Armageddon is not good, but it's comfortingly ridiculous for a lot of the bloated 151-minute runtime. I would put almost every other Bay movie ahead of it, and there are a number of Bruckheimer-produced movies from this time period I would also put ahead of it, but I cannot deny that I can still happily sit down with it once every ten years or so, like treating myself to an unhealthy bit of fast food that makes me hate myself as soon as I've swallowed the last tasty morsel. 

7/10

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Netflix And Chill: Perfect Stranger (2007)

While I picked Perfect Stranger as a viewing choice because I believed it would fit alongside the many noir movies I have been watching this month, I knew that I shouldn't go getting my hopes up. Released in 2007, meaning it could have good or bad performances from the two main leads (Halle Berry and Bruce Willis), and appearing to be skirting the erotic thriller sub-genre without being either erotic or thrilling enough to have been involved in any conversations I have had over the years about those movies, it's safe to say that I set the bar low when I pressed play on this. And it still let me down.

Berry plays Rowena Price, an investigative journalist who finds herself at a low point when her latest story, one she has been working on for month, is nixed by her boss. Eager to sink her teeth into something else, Rowena is delighted to discover some rumours about Harrison Hill (Willis). He seems to spend a lot of his time guided by his libido, and may also be a killer. Helped with the tech side of things by her colleague and friend, Miles (Giovanni Ribisi), Rowena sets about getting as close as she can to Harrison. She could even be putting herself in serious danger. Although . . . is Harrison the one that she needs to be most wary of?

Director James Foley had an interesting career, and he was behind the camera for at least one classic. This is nowhere close to his best work, and I'd say that it's not even jostling for a place alongside his more average works. Perfect Stranger feels like a film that is all out of sorts. It's almost a decade too late, considering when it could have felt a bit ahead of the curve, it has a clumsy and unengaging screenplay from Todd Komarnicki, and none of the stars are able to grin and wallow in the potential sexiness and sleaze of the plot. 

I didn't expect Willis to be very good here (it's after his peak acting period, and he was never at his best in other films I would place close to this . . . e.g. Color Of Night), but it's a shame that Berry is also unable to do anything with the material. While I have often argued that Berry stopped being sexy when film-makers started pushing her as "SEXY", she still has the huge advantage of being Halle bloody Berry. You wouldn't think that here though, which may be due to her being hobbled by both the screenplay and her co-stars. As for Ribisi . . . he just doesn't feel like he belongs anywhere within this film, let alone being the third main name in the cast. Gary Dourdan is welcome for a couple of brief scenes, but the only other person I want to mention is Nicki Aycox, playing the friend who sets everything in motion before mysteriously disappearing.

I pressed play on Perfect Stranger while wondering why I couldn't recall anyone ever mentioning it. I watched the end credits roll by with a very good understanding of why it wasn't mentioned. It's just bad. Not laughably awful. Not painful (not to me anyway, although that might just say something about my pain threshold). Just bad, and subsequently very easy to forget about. Some may think that the very end of the film saves it. I would argue that the very end just adds insult to injury.

3/10

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Live Free Or Die Hard (2007)

AKA Die Hard 4.0.

I always quite liked this fourth Die Hard movie. It remains a big step down from the classic first film, of course, but it also remains something that looks like an action movie masterpiece when compared to the dross that would follow it. 

Apparently based on an article by John Carlin, this was developed into a movie by David Marconi and Mark Bomback, the latter receiving the main screenplay credit. It was then up to Len Wiseman to sit in the big chair and call "action", but, knowing what we know now, he was probably often guided by the instincts of the franchise star, Bruce Willis.

Willis is John McClane, of course, and we first meet him while he's once again not having a great time. He's concerned about his daughter, Lucy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and hopes to ensure that no young man tries to get too fresh with her. Unfortunately, his unique parenting approach is interrupted by a request to pick up and escort a hacker (Matt Farrell, played by Justin Long) who might be able to provide authorities in Washington D.C. with some valuable information about a major cyber-attack. That attack is being carried out by people working under Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant), and Gabriel is about to join the long list of people who discover that McClane can be a giant pain in the ass.

While I appreciate that this may not feel as much like a Die Hard movie as some of the other instalments in the series, I would argue that it's an enjoyable and natural progression. McClane doesn't have anyone to match him as he did in the previous film, but this time around he's in full-on protective mode when he starts to remember that the boy he's dragging around from gunfight to gunfight isn't exactly used to the full-on McClane experience. There's also his daughter to be protected, and that can be difficult and frustrating when the enemy seems so invisible and pervasive while making use of the tech that has become part of everyday life. He just needs someone to shoot and/or punch in the face, and the Die Hard films always work best when the villains are charismatic and entertaining. Thank goodness the casting director bagged Olyphant for that role.

Despite what many would view as a growing disinterest and laziness, although we now know that some of his later performances were sadly affected by aphasia what was later diagnosed as frontotemporal dementia, Willis strikes just the right balance here. McClane is very used to this kind of thing by now, but doesn't act like an indestructible superhero. Oh, he ends up doing some ridiculous things, especially in the finale, but he does them all with a shrug and an acceptance of what should be an instant shuffling off the mortal coil. Long is very good alongside him, believably wary and distressed at almost every turn, and he's a fun personality to pair up with our stoic hero. Olyphant, as he so often does, exudes a wonderful mix of charm and swagger, and even looks as if he might get away with his wild criminal plan if he just avoids making things personal with McClane. Uh oh. Maggie Q is also quite a fun baddie, Cyril Raffaelli showcases some of his physical prowess again, and you get decent little turns from Sung Kang, Cliff Curtis, and a before-their-relationship-soured Kevin Smith (okay, his turn is more fun than decent, but it's amusing to watch him work opposite Willis onscreen).

People might dismiss this because it's not on a par with some of the movies that preceded it. I think that's a bit harsh. They might dismiss it because of Len Wiseman directing. I think that's also a bit harsh. Wiseman isn't someone I would rush to defend as an unsung talent, but he had a few years when he did a perfectly good job with big stars in slick action movies (well, he had a couple of Underworld movies, this, and then it all went a bit squiffy with the Total Recall remake). This is one of those movies made during that time, and he does a decent job of trying to hold on to the essence of McClane while trying to escalate each big action sequence, and it all heads to a satisfying finale that leaves the big vehicles and tech burning in the background while the heroes and villains get up close and personal while viewers wait to hear the expected "yippee-ki-yay" punchline.

7/10

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The Last Boy Scout (1991)

Sometimes reviews are here to help encourage others to seek out films that are relatively unknown. Sometimes I'm pretty much preaching to the converted. This review of The Last Boy Scout falls into the latter camp. 

Bruce Willis is Joe Hallenbeck, a detective who is nothing more than a crumpled heap of neo-noir tropes. He gets dragged into a case that involves a stripper named Cory (Halle Berry) and her boyfriend, ex-quarterback Jimmy Dix (Damon Wayans). People start dying as they start to untangle a plot that involves gambling, corruption, and a ruthless businessman named Sheldon Marcone (Noble Willingham).

Starting with a hell of a set-piece that shows a football player tearing through a field of opponents and pulling a gun as he continues to run towards some points he desperately needs to placate some dangerous blackmailers, The Last Boy Scout is a small-scale film that works as well as it does thanks to the mix of characters and the impact of the many moments that have Hallenbeck cornered by deadly thugs.

Director Tony Scott brings his usual flair for this kind of material, without his usual love of excessively hyperactive editing (oh, you can tell it is HIS film, but it's much less headache-inducing than some of his later movie), and Shane Black is on form with his use of tropes and witty one-liners, making Hallenbeck one of his most memorable characters in a filmography that is just crammed with memorable characters.

Willis and Wayans are a good central pairing, with the former being older and cynical while the latter is a flawed wannabe-hero who perhaps isn't as familiar with how bad people can truly be. That's not to say that the character played by Willis isn't flawed, but his flaws are shown as part of the whole package that helps to make him so good at his job (or, at least, a stereotype who nobody expects to be able to achieve great things until he starts to defy the odds). Willingham is a charismatic villain, as is Taylor Negron (playing one of his right hand men), and Danielle Harris steals a couple of scenes, playing Hallenbeck's moody, but also smart and brave, daughter. Berry doesn't do too bad in her role, Chelsea Field is Hallenbeck's suffering wife, and there are one or two scenes for the great Bruce McGill.

You can predict a lot of the main plot beats here, and Black has never been bothered about being predictable, his focus is always on the dialogue and pacing, but this is yet another film that gives you joy through the actual journey, rather than the main destination. Which isn't to say that the finale is a disappointment. It brings everything together beautifully, and keeps the stakes high for all involved.

Willis gives one of his best, grizzled, turns (this performance sits just below the better Die Hard movies and Twelve Monkeys, in my opinion, if only for the pure fun of it), Wayans is on good form, there's a great score from Michael Kamen, and Scott and Black make a great team. It's a shame that this was their only film together. It's a high point for both of them.

8/10

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Look Who's Talking Too (1990)

I knew there had to be a reason for me having never seen any of the sequels to Look Who's Talking before now. That would be because they may be awful (the verdict on the next one is due next week). Where the first film had the novelty of allowing viewers hear what a baby may be thinking as they make sense of the world around them, this sequel decides to . . . ummmm . . . actually, it decides to just keep doing that more. In a way that is much less entertaining.

James (John Travolta) and Mollie (Kirstie Alley) are now an item. There's another baby on the way. It's a girl. So Mikey (still voiced by Bruce Willis) has to figure out what is required of him in his new role of big brother to Julie (voiced by Roseanne Barr). Meanwhile, things start to become strained between James and Mollie, a situation not helped by the arrival of Mollie's brother, Stuart (Elias Koteas).

With Amy Heckerling returning to the director's chair, this time co-writing the script with Neal Israel, you would hope that she had an idea good enough to help her recapture the magic of the first film. That's not the case. Look Who's Talking Too isn't without very occasional moments of fun (one being the unexpected treat of watching Gilbert Gottfried dancing alongside Travolta), but it generally tries to rework elements of the first film with less wit and smarts. That's what many sequels do, of course, but it's harder to enjoy something that feels a lot lazier and poorly handled.

The adults don't do a bad job. Travolta and Alley still work well together, and I am always happy to see Koteas have some screentime. The aforementioned Gottfried cameo is as bewildering as it is highly amusing. If the film somehow managed to sideline the kids and stay focused on the adults then it could have been an okay, if unspectacular, comedy about parents dealing with the various issues that life throws at them. But this is a film trying to focus on the kids, and it's the kids who do the worst work. To be fair, they're not exactly to blame. Remember when Mikey seemed a bit too old by the end of Look Who's Talking to continue communicating with the inner monologue of Bruce Willis and not his own words? Yeah, that's a much bigger problem here, what with him being an older character, and the child seemingly unable to stop wanting to babytalk to anyone close enough to him in every scene. Although Julie is younger, it also feels as if she has already gone beyond the point of just having an inner voice. Willis and Barr deliver their lines in a fairly perfunctory manner, which also doesn't help, but there are a couple of fun voice cameos from Damon Wayans and Mel Brooks, with the latter portraying a bizarre "talking" toilet.

It's a shame that they didn't decide to either do away with the inner voice gimmick, or perhaps mix that inner voice with whatever the kids might have been able to say in person, because this could have been more bearable if that hadn't been the focus. As it is, you will end up smiling far too infrequently, rolling your eyes at the contrived finale, and being glad when it's all over.

3/10

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Look Who's Talking (1989)

I was about thirteen or fourteen when I first saw Look Who's Talking, which is just about the perfect age. This is a family film, but it's from a time when you could start and end such things with footage of sperm swimming merrily on their way to tray and fertilise an egg. I was old enough to realise what I was seeing, realise that this was the result of *gasp* sex, and appreciated every time the film gave me a scene that presented a mix of simple guffaws and some mildly risqué humour.   

Written and directed by Amy Heckerling, this is best summed up as the comedy about that baby voiced by Bruce Willis. That's all there is to it, basically, but it also has so much more. Kirstie Alley, who doesn't get nearly enough credit for her enjoyable comedic ability, is the Mollie, woman who gets pregnant by her married lover (George Segal, playing an amusingly selfish and obnoxious ass), and then finds her life intersecting with the taxi driver, James (John Travolta), who ends up speedily driving her to the hospital and helping as much as he can during the delivery of baby Mikey (aka voice of Bruce Willis).

There are a number of factors here that help to keep Look Who's Talking almost as much fun today as it was when it was first released, despite the dubious "the best thing I can do for my baby is find him a worthy father" motivation of the central character.

First of all, the cast are all great. Pulp Fiction may have been the more solid resurrection of John Travolta's career, but this role makes better use of his particular mix of charisma and his cheeky, rugged charm. He's always done well at roles that show up his flaws, often as he tries to put on a front in front of others, and this is no exception, although his flaws are largely only flaws in the eyes of a woman who is being a bit too critical and judgemental. Alley is a lot of fun, whether she's suffering the symptoms of pregnancy, being fed line after ridiculous line by Segal, checking out how much her own breasts have swelled, or just being worn down by a baby that has figured out crying gets him fed. Some of the line delivery from Willis isn't as good as I can imagine it being from some others who were considered for the role (Steve Martin, Robin Williams, etc) but his smirky sassiness generally suits the script. Segal is ridiculous and fun, Olympia Dukakis is an over the top movie mom, and Abe Vigoda gets a couple of nice moments in his role as the grandfather of Travolta's character.

Second, the writing and direction from Heckerling are just what you want for this material. She takes the concept, makes a lot of the obvious gags (that still raise a chuckle), and expertly keeps everything moving along nicely for the perfect popcorn movie runtime of just about 90 minutes (IMDb has it listed at 93 minutes, the main point is that this film starts, entertains you for the duration, and ends before overstaying its welcome). Although coming hot on the heels of a number of other movies from this time focusing on the joys/perils of sudden parenthood (e.g Baby Boom, She's Having A Baby, Three Men & A Baby, and, well, Parenthood), this doesn't feel like a cash-in on the trend. Heckerling was inspired to make the movie by her own experiences with parenting, including the way her husband would make up a voice as he pretended to relay what their child might want to say, and that inspiration takes this on a different path from those other movies, even if there is some crossover. Point me towards any comedic look at parenthood and I will eat my hat if there's not a scene in which a parent at one point has to deal with a stinky nappy.

Third, and connected to the previous point, the high concept here is centred in something that all parents can identify with, whether it's wanting to know what your baby is desperate to communicate with you, being worn out at the end of a long day, or even trying to arrange date nights around the schedule of a little one you cannot just entrust to the care of any babysitter.

There's also a decent selection of hits on the soundtrack, a few good nods to Travolta's past, and special effects showing Mikey in utero that hold up surprisingly well. I think people, for a variety of reasons, like to dismiss some of the hit films of years gone by, viewing them as something they enjoyed at the time but not worth revisiting. Look Who's Talking is still worth your time, even if it is perhaps not quite as sophisticated or smart as it could have been. It isn't aiming for that. It just wants to entertain, and make you laugh. It succeeds.

7/10

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Mubi Monday: Death Becomes Her (1992)

Although you may worry whenever you hear the words "a film directed by Robert Zemeckis that also serves as an FX showcase", there's really no need. In fact, it's worth remembering that Zemeckis spent many years perfectly marrying entertaining concepts to the latest technology that would help him best present things. Then he got a bit carried away with himself.

Death Becomes Her is the tale of a man (Dr. Ernest Menville, played by Bruce Willis) who leaves his girlfriend (Helen Sharp, played by Goldie Hawn) to embark on a life with a famous and beautiful actress (Madeline Ashton, played by Meryl Streep). This changes all three individuals for the worse. Ernest becomes bitter, and drinks excessively while he works on dead bodies. Madeline is afraid of ageing, and seeks solace in the company of at least one younger man. And Helen is just miserable at what she lost, and wants some revenge. When the day comes for that revenge to take place, everything is complicated by the fact that Madeline has managed to get her hands on a potion that will give her immortality. But being immortal means you really need to look after the one body you have.

Written by Martin Donovan and David Koepp, this is a wonderful black comedy that blends The Picture Of Dorian Grey with no small amount of Sunset Blvd. Although these three characters could have been from any walk of life, the fact that one is a doctor and one an actress allows for some more pointed digs at the notions of vanity, the pressures on so many in the entertainment industry to have cosmetic surgery, and the attitudes and failings of people who cannot find themselves content with all of their blessings in life.

Zemeckis does a great job here. Using the first half of the film to weave lots of fun jokes in between the character development (there's not much, but it's there) before treating the halfway point as a turnstile into the FX-laden second half, which leads to plenty of superb visual gags working alongside the dialogue. The special effects, a mix of practical gags and computer work, hold up brilliantly. Almost thirty years later, this is better than even some major films released in the last decade.

Although she didn't enjoy the experience of working with all of the special effects, Streep is on top form in her role. All three leads are great, with Willis being atypically schlubby and Hawn a bit more calculating and sharp than usual, but Streep stays just a little ahead of everyone, thanks to it being quite a different role for her and the fact that she's the focus of many of the memorable effects. Ian Ogilvy also raises a smile in his brief appearance, and Isabella Rossellini is the mysterious and alluring woman who offers up the chance of immortality before belatedly adding words of caution.

Not entirely dissimilar to many short tales that have warned us against the perils of trying to gain immortality (from the many miserable vampires who have found the experience lacking to the kind of stories you get from Ray Bradbury and Tales From The Crypt, to name just a couple), Death Becomes Her is slick, macabre fun that also proves to be eminently rewatchable.

7/10

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Glass (2019).

Okay, there's no way for me to discuss my biggest problem with Glass without it seeming slightly spoilery so I would ask you to stop reading this review now if you have yet to see the film. I still dislike spoilers, and I am not one of those people who thinks it is okay to spoil movies for other peopler if it is a movie that I personally disliked (and I did dislike this), but I was rooting for Glass to win me over for about 3/4 of the runtime. Then the finale locked all of the pieces into place, and that's where it lost me. Because after giving us a great, unique, superhero origin tale with Unbreakable, M. Night Shyamalan decided to make Split a surprise supervillain origin tale connected to that movie. It wasn't as good as Unbreakable but the cast helped to make it work and the ending had a lot of people (including myself) quite excited. So you have one origin story, another origin story, and then M. Night Shyamalan squanders the opportunity to make something truly memorable by cheekily turning this third entry in what is now a trilogy into . . . a third origin story. Yep, that's really what this is. And that may please Shyamalan, but it's less likely to please those who expected something more.

Here's the basic story. David Dunn (Bruce Willis) now patrols the streets and tries to seek out, and stop, criminals. He is helped by his son, Joseph (Spencer Treat Clark returning to the role that last saw him acting onscreen as a child), and all is going well until he bumps into the dangerous multiple personalities of the character, Kevin/Dennis/Hedwig/etc, played by James McAvoy (let's just call him Kevin from now on). Caught in the middle of a fight, David and Kevin are locked up in a mental health institution, where another notable patient is Elijah Price (AKA Mr Glass, Samuel L. Jackson). Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson) wants to convince them that the ideas they have in their heads, the notions that they have superpowers, are merely delusions, potentially dangerous ones. The doctor may soon find herself out of her depth.

Shyamalan still has talent. That's what perhaps remains the most frustrating thing about him, the biggest obstacle to his success is himself. Of course, I am saying this without knowing the general majority opinion on this movie (which, for all I know, could be loved by many people). But his good points are as obvious as his failings. The guy does well with plotting, the look and feel of his films, and I'd argue that he is often also very good at being able to get the pacing just right. Shyamalan rarely makes films that hurtle from start to finish, but he shoots the quieter, slower, moments so well that they are still engrossing in between any more exciting sequences. He also tends to get great work from composers, and the score here by West Dylan Thordson is no exception.

On the flipside, he often creates scripts that seem designed to showcase how good he is with his words and ideas (as good as he views himself, anyway), and he often builds his movies around one major idea or twist. That's all well and good when everything works, as happened with his solid run of four movies spread out around the turn of this century, but not so good otherwise. He's a gambler who continues to bet big with the hope that the last card turned over will be the one to give him the unbeatable hand. That card isn't always drawn, leaving him with a large investment on the table and nothing good enough to lay down at the end.

The cast all do well here, with McAvoy arguably getting to play around even more than he did in Split (and he's the best person onscreen). Willis at least looks present for a number of his scenes, which is more than can be said for many of his other performances in recent years, and Jackson clearly loves the chance to reprise the role of Price. Paulson is fine as the doctor, Anya Taylor-Joy (who was so good in Split) continues to prove herself as an intriguing and excellent screen presence, and it's nice to see Clark as the boy still trying to look after his "superdad".

Breaking everything down to their basic elements, Glass is not a bad film. There are a number of good moments throughout, the script is serviceable, it often looks great, and a couple of the leads are giving it their all. It just fails to come together by the end, and it fails in such a way that genuinely sours the films that came before it, which surely couldn't have been Shyamalan's intention. That failure is enough to drag it down by some margin, and I almost considered going even lower with my final rating.

5/10

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Death Wish (2018)

I was not looking forward to Death Wish, the remake of the 1974 Michael Winner film, for a number of reasons. Despite me enjoying a number of his films, I didn’t think director Eli Roth would be a good fit for the material, Bruce Willis in any leading role nowadays gives me concern, and there were trailers that didn’t look promising. The one small shred of hope I had was that they’d kept enough of the ideas contained in the original script, by Joe Carnahan, to make this more interesting and relevant for a new generation.

Willis plays Paul Kersey, a surgeon who we first see losing his battle to save the life of a shot police officer before heading off to try and save the life of the man who shot him. That’s what he does. He saves lives. When not saving lives, he spends time with his family (his wife, Elizabeth Shue, and daughter, Camila Morrone, and also his brother, Vincent D’Onofrio) and seems to have everything in place for a content time. That all changes when a robbery leaves his wife dead and his daughter in a coma. Frustrated by the fact that it looks as if the police won’t make much progress, Kersey becomes a deadly vigilante, unsure of his own capability at first but quickly becoming more confident in his role.

There are a number of plus points here. Making Kersey a surgeon, rather than the architect he was in the original movie, is a good move. It further illustrates the transition from peaceful family man to gun-toting “grim reaper”, and it allows him to do more to cover his own tracks (he picks up clothing that is due to be disposed of by the hospital, he can treat some of his own wounds). There are also a couple of good points made about modern attitudes and accessibility to dangerous weaponry and information. These points may be hidden away beneath the sheen and the montage moments that throw AC/DC alongside the visuals, but they’re still there nonetheless, adding at least a modicum on intelligence and commentary that didn't have to be included.

Willis is slightly less comatose than he has been in so many other roles in the past decade, but he’s still the weakest link of the main cast. One moment that has him trying to convey the pain at what the criminals did to his loved ones is almost laughably bad, but he's better when growing more at ease with the death-dealing vengeance. D’Onofrio is as good as he always is, Shue and Morrone do well in their supporting roles, and Dean Norris puts in yet another great turn as the main investigating officer, a man who seems to be earnest in wanting to help and also starts to put two and two together as the criminal bodies start to pile up.

Roth does well in the director's chair. Everything moves along quickly, and predictably, enough and there are a few impressive moments of grue that serve as a reminder of who is at the helm. He makes some mis-steps, as he is won't to do in most of his movies, but makes a better fist of things than many other directors I could have considered for the job.

It's not as good as the original, which is expected, but this ends up being a perfectly serviceable reworking of the material for those who want to give it 100 minutes of their time (or thereabouts).

7/10

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Netflix And Chill: Acts Of Violence (2018)

Cole Hauser plays Deklan, an ex-military man struggling to deal with PTSD (as shown in a scene with him talking to arguably the worst psychotherapist I've ever seen in a movie). Deklan has two brothers, Brandon (Shawn Ashmore) and the soon-to-be-married Roman (Ashton Holmes). All should be happy in their household, but it takes a dark turn very quickly when Roman's fiance, Mia (Melissa Bolona), is kidnapped by men who specialise in trafficking young women they keep drugged and enslaved. The police (even a determined detective played by Bruce Willis) have their hands tied, so it is up to Deklan to lead the trio on a mission that will return Mia alongside her loving partner and eliminate the ruthless head bad guy (Mike Epps).

There are a lot of scenes in Acts Of Violence that feel weak, including that introduction to the character played by Hauser. The script, by Nicolas Aaron Mazzanatto, is a grab bag of cliches and improbabilities. It's hard to believe that any villains would want to keep Mia alive when she keeps doing her damnedest to cause them so much trouble (she's shown as a beautiful woman who is also admired for her fighting spirit). But accepting improbabilities is often par for the course when it comes to action movies on the lower end of the budget scale. Considering the decent cast, I can only imagine that the money not spent buying another lazy turn from Willis had to be spent wisely.

Director Brett Donowho is comfortable enough at this level of moviemaking. I've seen at least one other movie from him, A Haunting At Silver Falls,  enough to know that he can take average materal and turn it into an average feature. There are good moments here, and the action isn't done too badly, for the most part, but he can't ever do enough to raise the material up.

The good news is that some of the cast try harder than Donowho. Hauser is great in his role, and his journey is sketched out in a surprisingly believable way, for the movie he's in. Ashmore is also very good, and Holmes isn't bad, although he's the weakest of the three. Bolona struggles to make a decent impression because she has to work in some of the more ridiculous scenes, but everyone else onscreen shows that they have a stronger pulse than Willis, who is onscreen just enough to remind viewers that he's constantly teetering on the brink of going full Seagal with every role that he is given nowadays. Epps is a decent baddie, and has a number of suitably loathsome henchmen helping him, so that helps.

If you're looking for an action thriller with a plot based around a good dollop of righteous vengeance then this will do the job. There are many better films you could choose, but also many worse ones, so this should be almost slap bang in the middle of any list of potential viewings you might prepare for yourself.

5/10

You can buy the movie here.
Americans can buy it here.

Sin City (2005)

Cool, stylish, almost perfectly cast, and with many frames that look ripped straight from the pages of Frank Miller's original work, it's hard not to consider Sin City as one of the best comic-book movies of all time.

Director Robert Rodriguez, helped by Quentin Tarantino, also wrote the screenplay, and sets out from the very beginning to immerse viewers in a stark, black and white world of anti-heroes and villains. There are splashes of colour here and there, depicting bloodshed, strong feelings, or even just a nice pair of eyes. One other bonus, this was one of the last few films made to star Bruce Willis before he decided to sleepwalk into every paycheck.

There are little extra bits interspersed throughout, but the move iss mainly made up of three tales. In one, Bruce Willis plays an old cop who wants to get his man (Nick Stahl) at any cost. His perp is a sicko, but he's a sicko with a rich, influential father (Powers Boothe). In the second tale we get to meet Marv (Mickey Rourke), a big, brute of a man moves to action when he's set up for a murder he didn't commit. The murder of a woman that he felt great affection for. Clive Owen clashes with Benicio Del Toro in the third tale, leading to a situation that could cause a lot of trouble for the deadly working girls of Sin City. And then it's back to that dogged cop, many years later but no less determined.

As well as those mentioned, Sin City also features Josh Hartnett, Jaime King, Michael Clarke Duncan, Rutger Hauer, Elijah Wood, Rosario Dawson, Brittany Murphy, Jessica Alba, Carla Gugino, Alexis Bledel, Michael Madsen, Devon Aoki, and many more. It's certainly a star-studded cast but, more than that, everyone feels perfect for the role given to them.

Featuring his usual cool soundtrack accompanying the visuals, this manages to feel both like a great Frank Miller film and also a great Rodriguez joint. It's almost a perfect marriage of material and director.

Unfortunately, it doesn't hold up quite as well on repeat viewings. It's still very enjoyable, and consistently gorgeous to look at (seriously, freeze frame it at almost any moment and you get a gorgeous comic panel), but the pacing could have been tightened up slightly to bring the movie in under two hours, with the Owen/Del Toro section of the movie dragging things down badly.

For those who like their movies steeped in traditional aspects of cinema, this is a love or hate film. Shot almost entirely on green screen, with only a few real sets utilised, it's a unique experience, but one that absolutely works, in my opinion, due to the nature of the material.

If you want nuance and realism then feel free to reach for a thousand other movies before this one. But if you want something cool, visually stunning, and with moments of painful ultra-violence, then this might just be the ticket.

8/10

http://www.amazon.com/Sin-City-Blu-ray-Powers-Boothe/dp/B00FAHYNYC/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1408780621&sr=1-1&keywords=sin+city

And UK folks, don't forget to check out a double-bill at the cinema this weekend, while a lot of venues are showing this and Sin City: A Dame To Kill For. Such tickets can be found at sites like this one - http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Cameo_Picturehouse/News/item/Sin_City_Sin_City_A_Dame_To_Kill_For/

Ani-MAY-tion Month: Beavis And Butt-Head Do America (1996)

I was never a fan of Beavis and Butt-Head. I have to start off this review with that confession. I'm still not a fan of their TV work, but that's because I have never gone back to give them another chance. I watched some clips years ago when MTV was still a bit of a novelty to us here in the UK (well, still a bit of a novelty to me, at least) and I just didn't find them that amusing. I'd rather watch the music videos that were featured on their show without any surrounding distractions. When this movie came out I had no interest in it at all. Then I started to hear some good word on it. And then some more, and some more. It seemed to be winning over even people, like myself, who didn't expect to enjoy it. So I took a chance and bought it. Thankfully, I ended up really enjoying it.

The story starts with our two main characters (both voiced by Mike Judge, who also directed and wrote the movie, with help from a few others) at a loss when their TV is stolen. On a quest for a replacement TV, they end up in the same motel room as Muddy Grimes (Bruce Willis), a man waiting for the strangers that he has hired to kill his wife. Misunderstanding the request, Beavis and Butt-Head are only too eager to accept the opportunity to "do" Dallas Grimes (Demi Moore). They immediately embark on a trip across America, and it's not long until the authorities are hot on their tail.

It might seem like Mike Judge is a one-man band at times, but he's helped here by Mike de Seve, Brian Mulroney and Yvette Kaplan in the directing department, and Joe Stillman and Brian Mulroney (again) helped with the script. That may explain why this movie is so enjoyable, but it may also be the case that Judge does better in the feature film context. Having enjoyed Office Space, Idiocracy and Extract, I suspect it may be the latter.

The main characters here are still as stupid and immature as they've always been. Judge is sensible not to change them too much, but the many supporting characters add a lot of humour. Cloris Leachman is a sweet old woman, unaware of the mindset of the young men who keep ending up beside her as they head towards the same destination, Robert Stack is a stern and determined ATF agent, and Eric Bogosian also provides a few different voices.

The animation style is in line with the TV show, the soundtrack has some great rock tracks on there (as well as the beautiful ballad, "Lesbian Seagull"), and there are a lot of laughs to be had as our two juvenile, horny teenagers wander around in a state of blissful ignorance while dangerous situations develop around them.

And I'll admit it, I crack up every time that Beavis has an identity crisis and starts to refer to himself as The Great Cornholio. It's not big, it's not clever, but it's damn funny.

8/10

http://www.amazon.com/Beavis-Butt-Head-Do-America-Various/dp/B00BTYIHY2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1399587887&sr=8-2&keywords=beavis+and+butthead+do+america

G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013)

G.I. Joe: Retaliation is the film that most people expected G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra to be. It's brainless, full of characters that it's hard to care about, and full of action sequences that are hard to watch due to the hectic over-editing. Of course, some people are already saying "but Kevin, that's exactly THE SAME as the first movie." Well, I disagree. I thought the first film was a blast. This, however, is a big disappointment.

Channing Tatum may pop up at the start of this movie, but it's not long before he's sidelined in favour of a new bunch of Joes, with the main one being Dwayne Johnson. There's been a mission to wipe out the unit, allowing the President Of The United States (Jonathan Pryce, playing a fake version of himself due to the events of the first movie) to move on with his dastardly plan, a plan that may leave a lot of countries seriously damaged by Project Zeus, which can cause all of the destruction of a nuclear blast without any of the fallout.

Leading man Johnson is accompanied on this adventure by Adrianne Palicki and D. J. Cotrona, two attractive people to appeal to any teenagers watching the movie. Unfortunately, neither of them have much screen presence. Thankfully, Lee Byung-hun returns in the role of Storm Shadow, Pryce is having a blast and Ray Stevenson gives a performance that, for all its faults, is at least fun and never dull. Walton Goggins is great in a small role, and RZA fans may enjoy his turn as Blind Master. The addition of Bruce Willis in a small role was, I guess, a big coup, but the character that he plays, and how he plays it, just ends up feeling smug, which is becoming a bigger and bigger problem with anything that Willis has been doing over the past few years.

The script by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick is disappointing, with the humour feeling a lot more forced this time around, the plot never having any real sense of urgency (the whole thing feels like viewers are killing time until the good guys blow up some more stuff and win), and everything just feeling distinctly . . . . blah.

Director Jon M. Chu does nothing to help the situation, of course. He still has some good material to work with, in the shape of main characters such as Storm Shadow, Snake Eyes, Roadblock and Firefly, but he very rarely uses them well. A fight sequence involving Snake Eyes (Ray Park in the suit once again, returning from the first movie) and Jinx (Elodie Yung) against a number of soldiers on the side of a mountain looks nice enough, but is completely undone by just how far-fetched it all is. Yes, this kind of stuff IS allowed to be far-fetched, but it's still grounded in a real version of our world, even if it's a heightened reality.

I'm sure there will be some people who will like this film as much as the first movie, or maybe even more so. My advice is to give it a wide berth. It has some good moments, but doesn't make for a satisfying experience, overall.

4/10

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The Siege (1998)

The Siege is an interesting thriller that may seem overly familiar to viewers now, but certainly seemed quite unique and daring when first released back in 1998. I'm not going to say that it was the first film of this kind, but I will say that after the real shock of 9/11 and then the subsequent escalating war on terror it has become a movie unfairly overshadowed by many more recent releases (including, for example, the thought-provoking Unthinkable).

The basic plot of The Siege concerns retaliation against America, on American soil, by a number of terrorist cells who want one of their leaders returned to them unharmed. That would be all well and good, but nobody is admitting that they actually HAVE the leader in their custody, which makes for quite a stalemate. Caught up in the middle of this tension is staunch federal agent Denzel Washington, working alongside his partner Tony Shalhoub, and a CIA operative (Annette Bening) who keeps clashing with them as she works on her own agenda. Bruce Willis plays Major General William Devereaux, a man who may prove useful or may, in fact, prove to be the most damaging individual in the city.

With Edward Zwick in the director's chair you know that this isn't going to be a vapid and glossy action movie, though perhaps they tried to market it that way when it was first released (I really don't recall). Zwick is the guy who will take a closer look at courage and morality and will make it interesting, entertaining and invested with emotion. That blend isn't always appealing to some, and he doesn't always get it right, but I've enjoyed many of his movies BECAUSE of the mix of emotion and intellect that I'm sure provides plenty of ammunition for his detractors.

Bruce Willis isn't given too much screen-time here, so don't let his presence put you off if you're not a fan (I usually quite like him, but realise that many don't). The main focus here stays on the triangle formed by Denzel, who is on his usual good form, Shalhoub, who is given one of his better movie roles and does great with it, and Bening, who is the weak link, despite how much more interesting her character could have been. I've liked Bening in a lot of movies and tend to think that her weak turn here is more the result of some poor writing than any major failing on her part. And it's not that she's bad, it's just that she should have been better. Sami Bouajila does okay as Samir Nazhde, who might be able to help the good guys stop further attacks if they can keep him in the game long enough, and David Proval does well as another agent doggedly trying to get information that will help break the case.

The screenplay by Zwick, Lawrence Wright and Menno Meyjes is surprisingly good. While the first half of the movie seems to hit standard beats and be walking a well-worn path, the second half takes a different direction and looks at things from a completely different angle. The fact that it was a very prescient movie also adds to its interest. Protests were held by many Muslims and Arab groups when it was initially released, but the film has an ace or two up its sleeve to counter the criticism it received. One of those comes in the shape of Tony Shalhoub's character, a Lebanese-American who is undeniably a good guy through and through. The other ace? Well, I wouldn't want to give too much away. Needless to say, the film shows racial profiling and stereotyping as both a tool used by government agencies and also a mistake made by people driven to distraction while something possibly much worse transpires before their very eyes.

It's a flawed film, as most of Edward Zwick's movies are, but it's also well worth watching, especially in light of events that we've seen since the turn of the 21st century.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Siege-Blu-ray-Edward-Zwick/dp/B002M4CF0A/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1361828833&sr=8-5