Werewolves (2024)

If there's one classic monster that has been underserved by modern tech in movies it is the werewolf. Vampires can take on many forms, as can Frankenstein's creation. Zombies can look much more rotting and emaciated. But werewolves have always worked best when presented as a practical creation, which means we've seen far too many that have been ruined by attempts to harness CGI. That's why I kept my anticipation for this film in check, especially after watching a trailer that had me thinking it could easily be a SyFy Channel release. Not that it didn't look fun. It just didn't look as if it had the money to make the most of the fun central premise.

What you have here is, basically, The Purge with werewolves. A supermoon event caused most humans to turn into werewolves one night. Another supermoon event is about to occur, which isn't good for anyone who wants to stay indoors and avoid being eaten by the howling predators. Frank Grillo is Wesley Marshall, a military man who ends up out on the streets with Dr. Amy Chen (Katrina Law). The two of them have a spray that stops you getting hairy and wolfen for about an hour, and they have some weaponry they hope will help keep them alive as they head to the two people that Wesley cares about, his sister-in-law Lucy (Ilfenesh Hadera) and her young daughter, Emma (Kamdynn Gary).

Werewolves is a lot of fun when it's all about Grillo being tough and trying to work his way through city streets that could have werewolf danger around any corner. It's also pretty good when it makes things personal, in the shape of a neighbour who is turned furry and is identified by the body armour he is wearing. Matthew Kennedy can write in broad strokes, and director Steven C. Miller can deliver some treats for genre fans, but both of them get quickly out of their depth when things require either a little bit of intelligence from the main characters or a sequence which isn't full of lighting and lens flare that can guarantee headaches in all but the hardiest of viewers. Seriously, Kennedy seems intent on making Hadera portray the stupidest person to ever wander around a werewolf movie and Miller makes J. J. Abrams look positively anti-flare with his display here, and it never improves the visuals of the film. 

Grillo is as good as he usually is. I always believe that he can handle himself, he could certainly knock me into next week with one light slap, and he's allowed to play his part with skill and confidence. Law doesn't suffer too much alongside him, although she's clearly not allowed to outshine Grillo, and has to be saved once or twice (of course). Poor Hadera though, who has to go through most of the movie doing almost the exact opposite of what she has been told to do in the earlier scenes, and pretty much the exact opposite of anyone with a shred of common sense. Gary has to be sweet and vulnerable, which she manages, and she's excellent motivation for all of the adults willing to risk lycanthrope attacks as they try to keep her safe. James Michael Cummings and Lydia Styslinger do fine in supporting turns, as do the many performers credited as some of the various wolves.

The cinematography is bad, the effects aren't great (although one or two moments work well), and nothing in the movie really lives up to the potential of what we're shown in the first few scenes (all about the upcoming supermoon event and people creating various home defence systems), but there's still enough individual moments here to enjoy if you're after a werewolf movie that at least tries to show you one or two things that you may not have seen before. Or if you just want to see Frank Grillo ready to punch a werewolf in the snout.

5/10

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Noir-vember: Copshop (2021)

Director Joe Carnahan, who co-wrote this with Kurt McLeod, likes a certain kind of movie. They usually feature macho males. There’s a lot of violence. There’s plenty of dark humour. And he isn’t afraid to wallow in the classic crime movie tropes we have seen hundreds of times before. Copshop is absolutely in line with so many of his other movies, yet it somehow lacks that Carnahan touch that have made his other movies so enjoyable.

Alexis Louder plays a law enforcement officer named Valerie Young, about to have a busy night at her police station thanks to some guy who hit her during a call to a disturbance. That guy is Teddy Murretto (Frank Grillo), and he has had himself arrested deliberately, thinking a cell will be the safest place for him. Because there’s a price on his head. Some time later, Bob Viddick (Gerard Butler) is placed in a cell, caught in a flagrant DUI incident. But Bob isn’t actually drunk. He is there for Teddy. As if that wasn’t problematic enough for everyone in the station, Anthony Lamb (Toby Huss) is also after Teddy. And Anthony Lamb isn’t bothered by the idea of killing anyone else who might get in his way. Caught up in this crazy scenario, Valerie has to decide who she can count on to help her survive the night.

The character of Valerie may be the lead here, but the main pull is Butler, a killer with a moral code. He is the one you end up rooting for, because Teddy seems to be a scumbag who has run away from his responsibilities and Anthony Lamb is an absolute (hilarious) psycho. I think that’s the problem though, the fact that the film doesn’t decide to stick alongside Butler’s character from start to finish. That was the obvious through line, but we get a lot of set-up in the first act and too many scenes lacking his charisma and energy.

Louder is fine in her role, delivering dialogue and moments that foreshadow what viewers can sense coming along in the third act. She’s easy to like, and easy to root for. Her biggest problem is just the fact that she isn’t Butler, who swaggers through every scene that he steals. Grillo is stuck playing someone who is too difficult to like or trust, so it’s not one of his best roles. Huss, on the other hand, raises things up when his character crashes into the film and starts killing off everyone else around him.

Carnahan usually does well by reworking classic movie moments within his stylish and self-aware brand of cheery nihilism, but it doesn’t work as well here. The action beats aren’t as satisfying, the dialogue isn’t as clever as it should be, and the whole thing fizzles when it should spark and crackle. With a different cast this would have been almost unwatchable. As it is, it’s one that you can convince yourself was worth a chunk of your evening, even as you try to swallow and destroy that small, heavy ball of disappointment that settles in your stomach.

It’s sadly just not much cop.

5/10 

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Prime Time: Boss Level (2021)

We really need more films from director Joe Carnahan, because I cannot think of anything from him that I have disliked. He may not aim for subtlety (although more people also need to watch the excellent Narc), but that’s no bad thing when you get such inventive ways to use and remix standard action movie tropes. 

Boss Level is, essentially, a timeloop movie. Written some years ago by Chris and Eddie Borey, and then rewritten by Carnahan, it is the story of Roy (Frank Grillo), a man unexpectedly reliving the same day over and over again. And that day is the day he dies, for reasons he is unaware of. As the plot develops, Roy starts to piece together a bigger picture, an actual explanation for his dilemma, and there may be a slim chance to eventually break the cycle. Roy certainly has the skills, being your typically talented ex-special forces type, but the odds are very much stacked against him, with the sheer number and variety of killers aiming to end his life. He also wants to ensure that his son (played by his real son, Rio Grillo) is safe, and maybe even hopes to avenge the death of his ex-wife, Jemma (Naomi Watts) when he starts to suspect that she wasn’t involved in the fatal accident he was told about by her boss, Col. Clive Ventor (Mel Gibson).

Starting right in the midst of an action moment that shows viewers how well Roy knows the routine of his day, Boss Level soon shows that it is made by someone who wants to maximise the potential fun of the premise. Roy dies in a variety of ways, and there’s usually a mix of gore and humour in every death scene, as he makes a number of mistakes on his journey. That’s okay though, because many of his mistakes provide an important learning moment.

Unlike many other timeloop movies, Boss Level minimises the timestamp details. Rather than specific repeated moments, although one or two do stay the same, we get shown the shape of a day, and that shape changes, and extends, as Roy learns more and more, and adapts his strategy accordingly. Some days he just wants to reach a diner and get drunk (with Ken Jeong playing the boss there, and Sheaun McKinney playing a fellow patron who happens to have a useful knowledge base), some days he battles villains until eventually (inevitably?) being bettered, and some days he just decides to take some time to connect with his son.

Grillo is perfect in the lead role here. He has a morbid sense of humour, an understandably flexible grip on his sanity, and a convincing physical presence. He also has a sense of pure grit. Jeong and McKinney are both fun, and the early appearance of Michelle Yeoh, as another diner patron, bodes well for fans who want to see a bit more of her later in the film. You do get that, but it’s sadly only a minute or two. Gibson is an enjoyable big villain, allowing himself a moment or two to deliver some great dialogue when people are right where he wants them, and Will Sasso is a solid henchman. The other highlight is Selina Lo, a sword expert who delivers a fun signature line every time she kills off our hero. Young Rio Grillo and Naomi Watts are involved in the moments that give the film some real heart, and both do well in roles that could have been totally thankless.

I heard the premise of this movie and thought it sounded great, but it also sounded as if it could be very silly, in a way that would make it hard to care about. It IS silly, but in a way that just helps you warm to the main character, and it turns into something more interesting, and deeper, than you might expect. It’s not exactly Kramer Vs. Kramer with added timeloop shenanigans and gunfights, but it’s quite a bit more than the opening act sets it up to be.

Another winner from Carnahan, and I eagerly await whatever he does next. Maybe I will just watch this one repeatedly until then.

8/10

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Shudder Saturday: Demonic (2015)

I think James Wan tends to get a bad rap nowadays, mainly for his part in creating the moneyspinning cinematic blend known as "the Wan-iverse". It is wildly inconsistent, as often happens when movie studios can sells something based on brand recognition rather than actual quality, but Wan himself remains a guy who seems to have taken all of his success with gratitude and an attempt to help lift others up as he continues to scale ever upwards.

He didn't direct Demonic, that job is given to Will Canon, who also co-wrote the script with Doug Simon and Max La Bella, but I have started with some praise of his work because his name looms large here (in a "James Wan presents" capacity). Or I should say that his name looms large here and Demonic is a bad film, the kind of film that represents what many horror fans view as symptomatic of the worst in modern horror movies.

The story is hard for me to convey while retaining any pretence of interest. Some young lad has been having dreams about his mother, who died in a strange way in an old house. And that lad is persuaded to go to that same house, in the hope of recording some supernatural activity. It didn't go to plan. We know this quite early on, because a cop (Frank Grillo) is called to investigate an incident at the house, an incident that resulted in a number of dead bodies, and he calls in a psychologist (Maria Bello) to assist him in his investigation. There are predictable twists and turns, all leading to an ending more tiresome than remotely terrifying.

As much as I like Wan, I like Frank Grillo even more, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that he was in this. The same goes for Maria Bello. Which should have made me suspicious from the very start, Demonic featuring both of them and yet not having appeared on my radar once over the past few years. They're both perfectly okay in their roles, and definitely help to make the film more watchable, but the rest of the cast are generally poor. They're so bland and interchangeable that I cannot single out everyone. Dustin Milligan is a rather horrible nominal lead, and Scott Mechlowicz and Cody Horn are the two main supporting actors who are roughly on a par with Milligan.

It's hard to be too critical of the cast though, who are all dragging around the dead weight of a script that somehow seems to think it is being entertaining and scary, when it is actually just packed full of jump scares, overdone tropes, and a plot twist that you will have seen in at least a dozen movies over the past few decades.

Canon doesn't help anything with his flat direction. It's unsurprising to see that this is only his second feature, and his first set squarely in the horror genre. He takes viewers through the very familiar territory with the strange confidence of someone who thinks they are showing you a whole new world of strange visions, not bothering to add any showmanship or real style, beyond what he's seen in a number of other poor horror movies in the 21st century.

3/10

Beyond Skyline (2017)

Remember when Skyline came out? Remember how many people agreed that it looked great, especially considering the budget, but was really didn't have anything more going for it? Which perhaps explains why Beyond Skyline now comes along as one of the most unexpected, and unwanted (for many), sci-fi sequels in recent years.

It was even more surprising when people heard that it would star Frank Grillo, Iko Uwais, and Yayan Ruhian (the latter two most famous just now for their roles in The Raid movies). But could it pull off the ultimate surprise move and turn out to be a good film?

The plot concerns the same alien invasion that we saw during the first film. We're just seeing things from a different perspective this time. Grillo is Mark, a tough detective who starts the film picking up his son (Trent, played by Jonny Weston) from jail. When all hell breaks loose, Mark tries to protect Trent from the alien invaders. And so begins a tale that will throw some hardy humans together with some advanced tech that may just help them defeat the aliens, or may just delay the inevitable as Earth is overpowered and drained.

Written and directed by Liam O'Donnell (co-writer of the first movie), Beyond Skyline is a film that certainly seeks to make up for the failings of the first instalment. If the first film had nothing much beyond the great FX work, this one wants to throw in a whole boat-load of new ideas. Taking the key moment from the end of the first film as a starting point, it naturally progresses things in a way that could have worked well if O'Donnell wasn't determined to expand everything at the same time: the scale, the cast of characters, the implausibility, the wavering focus of the film.

The fact that Frank Grillo must be used to being wasted in the few main roles he gets doesn't make it any easier to see him wasted once again. He's a good choice for the role, and easily the best thing in the film, but his character is almost rendered invisible by everything that's going on around him, both in terms of onscreen activity and the frantic plotting. Bojana Novakovic is similarly wasted, given the deep and resonant character of . . . female. Weston isn't onscreen for that long, which is something you could also say of Uwais and Ruhian. Both of those impressive fighters get one or two decent moments, but it's really too little too late when you think of the movie that could have been built around their skillset. At least Antonio Fargas does as well as he can with his small role.

A lot of people have enjoyed this movie more than I did, and it's definitely a better attempt to work a plot into the special effects this time around. But just because it's better than the first film doesn't make it a good film. The flaws drag this down to average, at best. It's a mess, there's nobody to really care for (despite having more characters to choose from), and any sequel to a film starring Brittany Daniel loses a point for not bringing back Brittany Daniel. That's my rule anyway.

5/10

Buy the bluray here.
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The Purge: Anarchy (2014)

The Purge was an okay movie. It was a decent idea marred by poor execution. Written and directed by James DeMonaco, the central idea was all about an America which allows any crime to be committed on one night of the year. There is no police, no medical assistance, and no way that you want to be caught out of your home, unless you're out to commit crime. It's The Purge.

This sequel, with DeMonaco back at the helm, moves away from the household setting of the first film. It takes viewers on to the dangerous streets. Subsequently, thanks to a nice building of tension and craziness, and a great main role for Frank Grillo, this is a much better film. Yes, it's a sequel that greatly improves on the original film.

The plot is pretty simple. It is, once again, time for the annual purge. One man (Grillo) heads out on a specific mission, but he ends up sidetracked when he spots a mother and daughter (Carmen Ejogo and Zoe Soul, respectively) being manhandled by some soldier types. Allowing them to accompany him for a short while, the three soon become five when they find a young couple, Shane (Zach Gilford) and Liz (Kiele Sanchez), who had some car trouble that left them stranded outside on a night when they really want to be hiding indoors.

Aside from the solid lead performances (and a turn from Grillo that puts me in agreement with everyone else who thinks he should get the next shot at playing The Punisher), The Purge: Anarchy really benefits from two things. First of all, there's a real sense of danger throughout. It's not just danger specifically aimed at the main characters. As DeMonaco shows snapshots of the night unfolding it soon becomes clear that, as cliched as it seems, danger really does lurk around every corner. Second, there's the madness of it all. While watching this movie you may start to feel as if you've been locked inside a lunatic asylum, despite being completely sane (okay, relatively sane,in some cases). Rather than treat the premise as something pretty standard, as the first movie did, this sequel encourages many more questions. The morality of it all was always dubious, of course, but this also mixes in much more commentary regarding the class divive, and the effective use of The Purge as a tool to maintain a balanced society. This aspect was inherent in the first movie, but here it's put to the front and centre, although it never detracts from the sheer entertainment value of the film.

Everyone does well, especially Ejogo and Soul, with a fun, small role for Justina Machado leading to a memorable sequence, but this is Grillo's movie for every moment that he's onscreen. He is, as he's so often been in other roles, a believable badass, and the journey that his character goes on takes one or two interesting turns before the end credits roll.

All credit to DeMonaco, who very possibly had a lot of this planned as he worked on the first movie. He knows that taking the action to the streets creates a huge amount of potential, and he realises a lot of it. Snipers, roving gangs, rapists, rich people arranging their own "safe" purges, family disputes that can turn deadly, boobytraps, and much more. All come together to ensure that this purge is a memorable night indeed.

8/10

http://www.amazon.com/Purge-Anarchy-Blu-ray-DIGITAL-UltraViolet/dp/B00LWLX99A/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1408177898&sr=1-1&keywords=the+purge+anarchy

Homefront (2013)

Jason Statham plays, surprisingly enough, a tough guy in this standard action vehicle that allows him to do what he does best. Kick ass. This time around, he is a former DEA agent, named Phil Broker, who moves to the country for a quiet life with his daughter, Maddy (Izabela Vidovic). Things don't start off so well, however, when Maddy deals with a bully by using some of the moves that he daddy taught her. The parents of the lad are furious, and they're not the type of people to let things slide. In fact, the mother (Kate Bosworth) enlists the help of her drug-manufacturing brother (James Franco), which then leads to Phil's past being discovered, putting both him and his daughter in great danger.

Based on a novel by Chuck Logan, Homefront is simple stuff, yet it feels a lot better than many other standard action thrillers I've seen over the past few years. A part of that is down to the sparse, but effective, script by Sylvester Stallone, and a part of that is down to the solid direction from Gary Fleder, who does especially well during the vicious fight sequences that are peppered throughout the movie. He also paces the whole thing perfectly, from a prologue sequence that quickly establishes the basics, to the character introductions, to the tense and enjoyable final act. Everyone involved knows what viewers expect, and they deliver. In spades.

The cast also do their bit, of course. Statham has been doing his tough guy act for years, and he's damn good at it. I like him onscreen, even if he's trying to do an American accent, and he always brings a believable physicality to his action roles. Vidovic is great as his daughter, a winning combination of cute and tough. Bosworth feels as if she's overdoing her "white trash" act at times, but she gets better as her character is allowed to take things down a notch in the second half of the movie, and Franco has a lot of fun as a rather unlikely villain for Statham to clash with. Marcus Hester, Winona Ryder, Frank Grillo, Chuck Zito, Owen Harn and Stuart Greer play an assortment of supporting villains, and all do good work (Grillo doesn't get a lot of screentime, but he still makes one hell of an impression). On the side of good we get Clancy Brown as a local sheriff, Rachelle Lefevre as a caring teacher, and Omar Benson Miller as a young man helping Statham to fix up his homestead.

One of many movies that you will probably know beforehand whether you're likely to love or hate it, Homefront shouldn't be quickly dismissed just because it takes standard, familiar elements and puts them together for a great end result. I'd argue that it should be applauded for exceeding expectations, no matter how low some of those expectations might be.

7/10

http://www.amazon.com/Homefront-Two-Disc-Combo-Pack-UltraViolet/dp/B00HEPCRLE/ref=sr_1_2_bnp_1_blu?ie=UTF8&qid=1405285617&sr=8-2&keywords=homefront

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Warrior (2011)

Directed by Gavin O'Connor, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Cliff Dorman and Anthony Tambakis, Warrior could just as easily be a greatest hits megamix called "Now That's What I Call 101 Cheesy Fight Movie Moments".

Tom Hardy stars as Tommy Conlon, an angry young man who returns to see his alcoholic father (played by Nick Nolte). He blames his father for a lot of things, especially driving his mother away and leaving him to watch her die slowly from a terminal disease. Tommy also blames his estranged brother, Brendan (Joel Edgerton). Brendan chose to stay close to his father because he'd just met a young woman that he'd fallen in love with. That woman would become his wife (Jennifer Morrison) and his happy family life with his wife and kids causes yet more resentment. Tommy considers himself alone. The only thing he shares with his brother is a strong dislike of his flawed father. Well, they also both happen to be pretty handy at fighting in a cage which leads them to enter a MMA tournament with a $5 Million prize. Tommy wants the money for reasons that will become clear as the movie unfolds while Brendan wants to avoid losing the family home.

So what does this all add up to in terms of the viewing experience? We have the family drama, the personal problems and the far-fetched nature of the whole thing. It's ridiculous, almost childishly simplistic in places and only ever gets into top gear when the vicious fights are taking place. Yet I still enjoyed myself and I still had a tear in my eye by the time the end credits rolled, even while I was cursing the movie for being so bloody manipulative.

Tom Hardy puts in a good performance but I remain unconvinced of his greatness. In this performance he mixes elements from Bronson with his performance in The Dark Knight Rises and it all just starts to feel a little too familiar already. Joel Edgerton is easy to root for but completely unconvincing as a potential MMA champion (though I'm sure that he could kick my ass if he ever felt the urge, along with 75% of the entire population of our planet). Nick Nolte is excellent in a role that easily gives him the opportunity to . . . . . be excellent. Jennifer Morrison, Frank Grillo, Kevin Dunn and Bryan Callen all do good enough in supporting roles and there are also a number of muscle-bound men out to hurt each other en route to the big finale.

O'Connor directs the whole thing competently enough. The soundtrack and score may be a bit underwhelming but all of the shots and scenes are generally well presented and the film overcomes the problems inherent in the unoriginal material by simply giving time over to every cliched aspect and treating each one as if it deserves inclusion. Strangely enough, this means that by the time all of the elements come together at the very end of everything they DO all deserve inclusion.

Okay, so it's easy to believe that before writing the script for the movie everyone involved simply sat down and watched all of the Rocky movies, each instalment of The Best Of The Best and a few older Jean-Claude Van Damme films for good measure. But that doesn't necessarily make for a bad blend of movie moments. In fact, on this occasion it makes for something overwrought, cheesy and, dammit all, solidly entertaining.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Warrior-Blu-ray-Tom-Hardy/dp/B0063H2ZS4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1344271119&sr=8-2