Netflix And Chill: Family Switch (2023)

Jennifer Garner is Jess, a busy mother with a successful career. She doesn't really like her daughter, CC (Emma Myers), focusing on playing football matches ahead of other ways to fill her time. Jess is married to Bill (Ed Helms), and neither of them seem to realise how their son, Wyatt (Brady Noon), is doing at school. Wyatt is a very smart young man, but he's very uncool and a bit miserable. There's also a baby. And a dog. This is the family at the heart of Family Switch, a film in which a familiar Freaky Friday scenario happens to the mother and daughter, to the father and son, AND to the baby and family dog.

Based on the book "Bedtime For Mommy", by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Family Switch is brought to the screen by writers Victoria Strouse and Adam Sztykiel, and director McG. While none of these names tend to instil pure joy in the hearts of most film fans, I would say that all of them have had times when they have managed to deliver decent entertainment (and McG has been working particularly well on Netflix projects). Sadly, Family Switch fails in almost every way it tries to work.

It’s a Christmas film that doesn’t make any decent use of the holiday, a bodyswap movie that mistakenly assumes more is better, and a star vehicle that wastes the more established names in the cast. And you just know that everyone involved thought they were making something in line with the classics of this particular sub-genre, which explains the scene in which the characters onscreen cheekily reference a number of other titles that are all much better than this.

Garner and Helms get the worse end of the stick, perhaps simply due to them having to act like teenagers for most of the runtime, but both Noon and Myers improve every scene that they’re in. Both of the younger screen stars are likable and funny, and I will look forward to whatever is next for them much more than I will look forward to whatever Garner and Helms line up. There aren’t many standouts in the supporting cast, although both Rita Moreno and Matthias Schweighöfer have fun in their small roles, and the less said about the CGI helping to visualize the swapped behaviour of the baby and the family dog the better.

There are a couple of laughs here and there (I don’t mind a heavily-signposted fart gag on occasion), a dance number that feels shoe-horned in to remind you of other dance numbers we have seen in this kind of fare, and a very safe and predictable finale you could almost write up once everything has been set up in the earliest scenes.

Not a good Christmas movie (I really wouldn’t even count it, considering the lack of holiday spirit, and I am very easygoing with movie labels), not a good bodyswap movie, and not a very good comedy. It’s just not good.

3/10

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Netflix And Chill: The Babysitter: Killer Queen (2020)

Everyone was surprised by just how good The Babysitter was. Despite my own ability to tolerate his work, even I could see why McG had become so hated by film fans. Perhaps now is the time for some to realise he's actually never been THAT bad. Although it doesn't change the fact that he credits himself as McG.

Anyway, this sequel to The Babysitter brings back all of the main players. That may surprise people who remember the events of the first film, but the trailer gives you all the info you need. There's a deal with the devil that allows the dangerous youngsters from the first film to return for one night and once again terrorise Cole (Judah Lewis). There are also some new extra characters involved in the madness this time, including an attractive and resourceful young woman named Phoebe (Jenna Ortega).

The approach may not work for everyone, but The Babysitter: Killer Queen has a lot of fun trying to cram in as much fun, and as many movie references as possible, into every scene. Whether it's a running comment about the very few sequels that surpass the originals, the use of "Apache" in one key scene, or the evocative score from Risky Business underpinning some scenes in which we see Cole both afraid and yet also enjoying his time with Phoebe.

Brian Duffield may not have returned to the writing duties, but Dan Lagana, Brad Morris, Jimmy Warden, and also McG himself, do well by all of the central characters, maintaining the tone of the first film, peppering everything with a mix of new gags and fun callbacks. This may not be better than the original, but it comes close enough to be rated on a par with it. It's just a shame that the excellent Samara Weaving has a lot less screentime this time around, understandably so.

The direction is as lively and irreverent as it was in the first film, with the subtitles returning when a point is being made, and some quick flashbacks for most of the main characters. It's not quite as successful this time, simply due to the familiarity with the form, but McG definitely seems to be having fun, which is passed on to viewers.

Lewis and Ortega are a decent pair of leads, with the former having the added characterisation now of working through the PTSD of a traumatic incident that so many people don't believe. Emily Alyn Lind is a lot of fun as Melanie, another girl that our lead character likes, even if his chances of anything actually happening with her look slim to none, and it's hard to pick a favourite from Robbie Amell, Hana Mae Lee, Bella Thorne, and Andrew Bachelor, who are all generally involved in some fun and gory death scenes. It's also worth mentioning the increased screentime for Ken Marino and Leslie Bibb, with the former managing to deliver many more laughs with his wonderful narrative strand.

It's not better than the first film, but if you liked that then you're bound to enjoy this. And patience is rewarded whenever Weaving appears. Her shadow falls over the whole movie, but it moves up a notch whenever she's there in person. I am glad we got a second outing for these characters. I hope they don't try to stretch things for a third outing though.

8/10

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3 Days To Kill (2014)

Directed by McG. A story by Luc Besson. Kevin Costner in the lead role. I can see 3 Days To Kill being a movie that many people are predisposed to dismiss, or avoid, but I ended up having fun with it. A lot of fun.

Costner is Ethan Renner, a CIA agent who remains the best man for the job whenever people need to be killed. Unfortunately, he's diagnosed with an illness that only gives him weeks to live, which leads to him desperately trying to rebuild some bridges with his daughter (Hailee Steinfeld) and wife (Connie Nielsen). The CIA have a lot of resources, however, and a woman named Vivi (Amber Heard) approaches Ethan with a proposal. She will offer him a treatment for his illness that isn't even on the market yet, if he helps her to kill a major target. And anyone else who gets in their way. Ethan agrees, but his job ends up being complicated by his attempts to enjoy some quality time with his daughter.

Co-written by Besson and Adi Hasak, 3 Days To Kill is enjoyably quirky stuff, anchored by a performance from Costner that may well remind viewers of his oh-so-cool turn as Frank Farmer in The Bodyguard. He may be many years older, and his character may be suffering from failing health, but he still has the confidence and the intelligence to be the most dangerous man in any room.

The rest of the cast don't fare as well, but all is forgiven whenever Costner is doing his thing. Steinfeld, in particular, suffers, due to the fact that her character is written as too moody, weak, and just bloody unappreciative (although she has some good reason to be lashing out). Heard is decent, strong and sexy as the woman who is now the boss of Renner. Nielsen is slightly sidelined for most of the movie, and Richard Sammel and Tomas Lemarquis are okay, if pretty unmemorable, as the main villains.

McG actually does fine in the director's chair. He's shown over the past few years that he isn't tied to the over-the-top style used in those Charlie's Angels movies, and the action beats here are nicely choreographed and edited. It's slick stuff, but smooth, reminding viewers that the main characters is cool and in control, for the most part. There may not be quite enough action moments for fans, but the quirky comedy is also nicely played out, making the whole thing a fun time for fans of the main star.

I'm sure I'll be in the minority with my love for this one, but I hope there are some other viewers out there who end up enjoying it as much as I did. Costner is, in my opinion, always worth your time. Even if he doesn't always pick the best movies to showcase his talent.

7/10

http://www.amazon.com/Days-Kill-Blu-ray-Kevin-Costner/dp/B00JA3RPAG/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1406370305&sr=1-2&keywords=3+days+to+kill