Jul 16 2020

Spy Intervention (2020) Movie Review

Director: Drew Mylrea

Writer: Mark Famiglietti, Lane Garrison (Screenplay)

Starring: Dave Sheridan, Poppy Delevingne, Blake Anderson, Drew Van Acker, Lane Garrison, Brittany Furlan

Plot: When the world’s greatest spy meets the woman of his dreams, he abandons his adventurous existence and settles into the security of suburbia.

Runtime: 1 Hour 33 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Fun Spy Movie

Story: Spy Intervention starts when international super spy Corey Gage (Acker) who on his latest mission meets Pam (Delevingne) which leads to him moving away from the spy business, setting down to a simple life, only becoming too routine in his everyday life, which has added strain to his new romantic life.

When Corey’s partner Smuts (Anderson) returns to him with the desire to get him back in the field to complete his last mission, where he must go undercover with a sexy spy, even though the most important thing in his life, is fixing his marriage.

Thoughts on Spy Intervention

Characters – Corey Gage is an international Super Spy on top of the world, but a chance meeting makes him want to give up this life for a more simple life with a beautiful woman, only this has made him fall into a routine which sees him finding life boring. He reluctantly finds himself returning to the undercover world to complete a mission, all while trying to keep his marriage together. Pam is the woman Corey marries, giving up the life he once had for, she is also seeing the marriage become dull and notices that Corey is becoming more distant believing he is having an affair, needing to go undercover in search for the truth about her husband. Smuts is the partner that gets Corey to come back into the field one more time, getting sick of seeing him in the routine life. Alexandria is the sexy spy that is being pretending to be Corey’s wife for the mission, playing the part with ease.

Performances – Drew Van Acker as the slick super spy is very entertaining, he plays the role that does get to poke fun at the slick character. Poppy Delevingne is fun as the wife that believes her marriage is falling apart, she does show us how difficult it would be to process change on this level. The supporting cast do get plenty of laughs through the film too.

Story – The story here follows a once great spy that walks away from the business when he finds love, seeing him getting dragged back in for one more mission, only this could put his marriage in danger. This is a story that does get to poke fun at the spy genre, it brings to life the idea of trying to manage a personal life with a spy life and how difficult it could be to walk away and stay away with all the secrets. We get the awkward situations about where Corey finds himself in and how his balancing the two lives gets impossible. We might resort to everything looking like it is over reaction, only that does seem to be the point of how the story is set up tonally.

Action/Comedy – The action in the film doesn’t seem to get as much time as you would imagine, while we spend the time looking at the comedy, which falls into parody in places.

Settings – The film uses the two main settings, the everyday life ones where Corey is trying to live in, with the mix of the flashier spy life, which is more glitz and glamour.

Scene of the Movie – Dinner Party.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Not enough action.

Final Thoughts – This is a fun spy movie that gets the tone correct by poking fun at the bigger franchise in the genre.

Overall: Fun

Jul 16 2020

American Fighter (2020) Movie Review

Director: Shaun Paul Piccinino

Writer: Carl Morris, Shaun Paul Piccinino (Screenplay)

Starring: Tommy Flanagan, Sean Patrick Flanery, Christina Moore, Allison Paige, John Dubey, Anna Zielinksi, George Kosturos

Plot: A desperate teenager is forced into the dangerous world of underground fighting to win enough money to save his ailing mother. He finds out what he’s made of in the face of these violent hungry competitors.

Runtime: 1 Hour 38 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Underground Rocky

Story: American Fighter starts as Ali Jahani (Kosturos) a college wrestling student whose parents are coming to America before an incident sees his father killed and his mother stuck in Iran, with no help from the embassy, Ali needs to turn to other methods, one which sees needing to make money quickly.

Ali’s best friend and roommate Ryan (Craig) introduces Ali to illegal underground fighting, under McClellen (Flanagan) who will offer him the money he needs to get his mother to America.

Thoughts on American Fighter

Characters – Ali Jahani is an Iranian that has earnt a scholarship to a US college with his wrestling skills. His parents are due to join him only for that to come crashing down around him when his father is executed and his mother is stranded in Iran, needing medical treatment. Ali must make big money quickly to get his mother other out, which sees him shining in underground fighting, until he risks too much, he will stop at nothing. Ryan is the roommate introduces Ali to the underground fighting scene, he will help get the money, but is aware of what could happen with the wrong decision. McClellen is the runner of the illegal fights, he will offer fair odds, but if he sees a chance to make big money himself, he will take advantage of anyone who gets too good in his eyes. Duke is the drunk handler, he prepares the fighters both before and after the matches, he sees Ali with potential, wanting to fight for the right reasons and offers to help him, risking his position under McClellen.

Performances – George Kosturos in the leading role is good through the film, he handles the fighting well, while bring realism to the emotional side of the film. Tommy Flanagan is great as the promotor of the fights, he always makes us feel like he is a dirty character in the world. Sean Patrick Flannery brings us the man who has lost everything, that will help someone as his own way to recover from his past.

Story – The story here follows a college student from Iran that is waiting for his parents coming only to learn he will need to make a large amount of money, which will see him needing to turn to illegal fights to make quick money. This is meant to be based on a true story and does follow the path of someone needing that would help him through illegal fights, it shows him needing to start up against tougher opponents, risking more to make more money. It does follow the same ideas of any of the inspirational fighting movie without needing to do too much to hit home on these ideas.

Biopic – The biopic side of the film shows the difficult situation that Ali and how he will do anything, we don’t get the complete story of what happened next though.

Settings – The film does use the settings to show us how the fights are contained within the dark buildings away from the world, next to the college setting which should be filled with hope.

Scene of the Movie – The final fight.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The romance storyline feels like we don’t need it.

Final Thoughts – This is a by the book inspirational fighting movie, showing one man that will need to fight against the odds for the greater good, it is an easy watch, though it doesn’t bring anything new to the table.

Overall: Enjoyable.

Signature Entertainment presents American Fighter on Digital HD from July 20th

Jul 16 2020

ABC Film Challenge – Romance – P – Passchendaele (2008)

Director: Paul Gross

Writer: Paul Gross (Screenplay)

Starring: Paul Gross, Carolin Dhavernas, Joe Dinicol, Michael Greyeyes, Meredith Bailey

Plot: The lives of a troubled veteran, his nurse girlfriend and a naive boy intersect first in Alberta and then in Belgium during the bloody World War I battle of Passchendaele.

Tagline – in love, there is only one rule… don’t die.

Runtime: 1 Hour 54 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Too Much Love Not Enough Reality

Story: Passchendaele starts when Michael Dunne (Gross) returns from war injured, he comes back to his home town, where he meets a nurse Sarah Mann (Dhavernas). Sarah’s little brother David (Dinicol) is trying to go figure out how to get the love of his life Cassie (Bailey) to be allowed to see him because of his class in society.

When Michael gets forced to return to duty, his first assignment is to help recruit from his home town, only he won’t let David get involved, until a twist in the family name of the Mann’s puts both Sarah and David’s lives in danger, with only Michael wanting to defend them.

Thoughts on Passchendaele

Characters – Michael Dunne is a war veteran who killed a young man at war before he got injured himself, returning home he battles with his own mental health which does brand him a coward in the eyes of many, until he falls in love and is forced to return to war to protect her brother. Sarah is the nurse that helps Michael recover from his injuries, who just so happens to be from the same town, she lost her father to war and now her brother wants to fight, she will do what she can to prevent him, only her father’s history puts her place in the town in question. David is the younger brother of Sarah, he wants to go to war to impress the people of their town and follow in his father’s footsteps, he doesn’t care how it happens and knows if he does this, he can marry the love of his life.

Performances – Paul Gross takes a couple of roles both on front and behind the camera in this film, he doesn’t make the impact we would like for many of the war movies we do see which disappoints. Caroline Dhavernas and Joe Dinicol both are basic solid supporting performance who both don’t get the impact they need to in the film.

Story – The story here wants to show us how the Canadians were involved in one of the biggest battles of World War I, which is an important story that needs to be told, only we get a love story between a veteran a nurse and her little brother’s desire to go to war. While we see how Michael must deal with the horrors of the consequences of his action in war, it just gets pushed aside, which would have been the attitude at the time. We don’t seem to learn enough about the battle from the action involved, which is the most disappoint part of the story telling. The love side of the story does drag the story down way too much.

History/Romance/War – The history side of this film should be much better, this shows the involvement of the Canadians only doesn’t seem to show us just how big their part was. The romance is the weakest part of the film only dragging it down, while the war side once we get there could challenge many for the brutality of visuals involved in war.

Settings – The film does use the settings at a mixed level because the town could be anywhere, while the war moments look like the real war happening.

Scene of the Movie – The battle.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The love story.

Final Thoughts – This is a brutal war story that shows us the true reality of war, only for it to waste too much time on a pointless love story.

Overall: Brutal war sequences saves this dull romance film.

Rating