Prime Time: Wildcat (2025)

I have tended to enjoy Kate Beckinsale in many of her movie choices, no matter how dubious they have been. Wildcat feels like a low point though. It's a horrible slice of mockney nonsense so dire that it will make you wish you could go back in time and enjoy the many other Guy Ritchie imitators that you once thought were scraping the bottom of the lock, stock, and two smoking barrels.

Beckinsale plays Ada, a woman who has to come up with a plan to pay off debts accrued by her problematic brother, Edward (Rasmus Hardiker). No worries though, because Ada knows just what to do, and she'll pit a couple of criminal giants against one another. Those criminal giants are Mrs. Christina Vine and Frasier Mahoney, played by Alice Krige and Charles Dance, respectively. 

I almost gave up on writing that all-too-brief plot summary. The very thought of this film has me wanting to put my head through my laptop screen. It's THAT bad. Writer Dominic Burns takes every cliché in the tough geezer/audacious robbery playbook and mixes them all together without an ounce of wit or intelligence. He's obviously relying on his cast, but they seem unable to figure out exactly where they should pitch their performances.

Director James Nunn has some decent stuff in his filmography, and his next film, Hungry, is one that I am hoping will be a bit of fun. This has to be a strong contender for the worst thing that he's helmed, and I am saying that with the knowledge that he also directed The Marine 5: Battleground and The Marine 6: Close Quarters. I can see where this could have been turned into something moderately amusing and fun, but almost everything is ruined by the laziness and ineptitude of the writing and performances.

Beckinsale is a particular liability, considering that the film seems to have been crafted to be carried along by her name. She never feels like a believable character, and actually seems to be tired of the whole thing by the time the first scene plays out. I don't know why Krige and Dance agreed to be in this, and they're so far removed from doing what they're capable of that I wish they'd been able to refuse whatever pay they were offered for this. Lewis Tan tries to do well in his main supporting role, and is believably smitten with Beckinsale's character, but he's the only one who seems to be making any effort. Hardiker does nothing with a nothing role, and I'm going to do everyone else a favour by simply not mentioning them.

I worried when this ended, partly about the damage I had inflicted upon my own psyche and partly about the fact that people involved in the making of this may have thought they were working on something good. If they thought they were doing good work then they should be kept away from most future features. If they knew they were making trash then . . . they should be kept away from most future features.

2/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing. All links are HERE.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews

Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice (2026)

Mike (James Marsden) is looking to quit his job. He's enjoyed it for some time, but wants to move on. He doesn't want to be "Quick Draw" Mike any more. He's not sure if his boss, Nick (Vince Vaughn), will take the news well, but it's an easier conversation to have than the inevitable one about confessing to being in love with Nick's wife, Alice (Eiza González). Not that Nick and Alice have any real happiness left in their marriage. The thing that Mike doesn't realise is that Nick already knows everything, about Mike wanting to quit and him being in a relationship with Alice. He was initially pretty angry about it, which is why he framed Mike as a grass. Mike now has a hired cannibal killer after him, thanks to a job ordered by Sosa (Keith David). He also has Nick on his side though. Future Nick. Yes, this is a time travel movie, and things start to become complicated when Future Nick requests the help of Mike in capturing Present Nick, all with the aim of saving Mike's life and putting a number of things right.

Written and directed by BenDavid Grabinski, Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice is a lot more fun than I expected it to be. I liked the concept, and generally like the leads, but I assumed I would be watching yet another straight-to-streaming movie that might hold up, at best, as a fun time-waster. It's better than that, and I'd happily watch something that reunited everyone involved in this. 

What Grabinski does so well is to ensure that every different genre component works well enough. The comedy may not be hilarious, but it's constantly amusing, particularly when certain characters are interacting with one another (there are some great exchanges between Vaughn and Marsden, but it also helps that Jimmy Tatro has a main supporting role, and does the kind of oblivious idiocy that he does so well). The sci-fi aspect is good enough to keep the plot moving, but nobody gets bogged down by the details or potential paradoxes. And there are a couple of gunfights that are excellently staged and maintain a real sense of danger for our leads.

Vaughn is a bit less motor-mouthed than usual, and works surprisingly well in his two roles. It helps a lot that he's paired up with Marsden, who has become a very dependable talent lately when it comes to portraying characters with a strong moral core of goodness. González is positioned well between the two of them, showing her distance from one and closeness to the other without it becoming some melodramatically overdone soap opera. Keith is believably fearsome, Tatro (as mentioned) does his usual schtick, and there's also room for fun performances from Emily Hampshire, Stephen Root, and what amounts to cameo appearances from Ben Schwartz and Dolph Lundgren. Yes, Dolph Lundgren.

There's a chance that I am overrating this because of going in to it with such low expectations, but there's also a chance that this is just a really good bit of genre-blending fun, helped by a great cast all doing great work. I would rewatch this already, I'll hold out some hope for a sequel or spin-off, and I recommend it to everyone else.

8/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews

Prime Time: Mortal Kombat (2021)

I may have said this before, but I have always been a Mortal Kombat guy. I like Tekken, I was always frustrated when playing against people who knew more than me on any incarnation of Street Fighter, but Mortal Kombat was MY fighting videogame. It had the special moves, had plenty of blood and gore, and had great characters. And, against all odds, it was turned into one of the better movie adaptations.

A lot of people were excited when they heard that it was being rebooted in film form (or whatever phrase fits best for this incarnation), but I wasn’t too bothered. I already had a fun Mortal Kombat movie. The second one wasn’t great, but I also had some animated adventures, and the game series has endured throughout the past few decades in a way that I think may have surprised many.

A feature debut from director Simon McQuoid, as well as a debut for writer Greg Russo (although his co-writer, Dave Callaham, has plenty of credits under his belt), Mortal Kombat is a slice of action that feels very much like a film placed in the hands of a very capable stunt team, and that’s no bad thing. In fact, I wish there had been time made for even more fight sequences. Why let plot get in the way of a good Mortal Kombat movie?

Speaking of the plot. It’s time for the big battle that will decide the fate of Earth, of course. Some people who have been chosen to fight are unaware of the full situation, despite being marked with the symbol that tags them as a participant in the tournament, and Cole Young (Lewis Tan) only starts to become aware of his fate when he and his family are threatened by Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim). Coke encounters Jax (Mehcad Brooks), who sends him to connect with Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee). Sonya might be able to help, but she also has her hands full with Kano (Josh Lawson), a man she is keeping on a short leash while using him to get to the tournament. Other familiar faces who appear here are Liu Kang (Ludi Lin), Kung Lao (Max Huang), Lord Raiden (Tadanobu Asano), and Shang Tsung (Chin Han). You also get screentime for Goro, Reptile, Nitara, Mileena, Kabal, and quite a few other moral fighters, and Hiroyuki Sanada gets to portray the legend we all loved to play . . . Scorpion.

This is a perfectly enjoyable film, with some decent fights that occasionally include a decent bit of blood and nastiness. I just don’t know why so many people raved about it though. It’s slightly overlong (clocking in at 110 minutes), some of the editing could have been improved to give the fights more fluidity, and to showcase the talented physical performers, and, as so many others have mentioned, it is a Mortal Kombat movie without the actual Mortal Kombat tournament at the heart of it. That is the aim, yes, but Shang Tsung wants to break the rules, which means being able to fight in a variety of locations that aren’t within the standard tournament environments. On the one hand, I can understand why this choice was made. On the other hand, Mortal Kombat should feel like Mortal Kombat. This doesn’t. It feels like what it is - a way to use the characters and fight moves in a rather standard action movie storyline.

Technically competent throughout, and the score does well enough, overall, to make you forget just how much you are missing the bombastic theme song from the first movie, there’s nothing particularly wrong here. The cast fit their roles well, and I believe every one of them could beat me up in a matter of seconds, and the special effects enhancing their capabilities are spot on. It just doesn’t have quite the right tone and narrative thrust to feel like the definitive Mortal Kombat movie. Maybe they will do even better with the next outing.

I will revisit this, it’s got enough good action and is entertaining throughout, but I will undoubtedly revisit the 1995 movie more. It is less polished, but just a bit more fun. And, despite inputting a code to get the maximum amount of blood ‘n’ guts, playing Mortal Kombat was always fun. 

7/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews