Plot: In this undersea thriller, a United States chemist is captured by terrorists. But a rescue attempt by an elite group of Navy Seals goes wrong when they are captured. Now they must wage a silent war beneath the waves.
Runtime: 1 Hour 34 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Steel Sharks starts when Commander Bill McKay (Busey) and Admiral Jim Perry (Williams) plan a rescue mission. Their team of navy seals must get behind enemy lines to rescue a scientist from terrorists. The fear is his information could start a new war and the seals must use their skills to complete the mission.
When the team gets captured, they must navigate the enemy submarine to escape. However, they are stranded underwater and their own country plans for the worst. It becomes a race against time to save the day and escape.
Verdict on Steel Sharks
Recap
The movie follows a team of Navy Seals who go on a rescue mission. They get captured on an enemy submarine and must use their skills to escape and rescue the hostage.
Best Parts
This tense thriller uses the tight submarine to show the problems the seals must overcome. For the runtime it does everything you need a late-night thriller to do.
Worst Parts
The weaknesses come from the bigger names that are only ordering the mission. While the actors in the seal roles are good, they lack the star power Gary Busey and Billy Dee Williams present.
Final Thoughts –Steel Sharks is a simple late-night thriller.
Plot: A man heading to Vegas to pay off his gambling debt before the Russian mafia kills him is forced to stop in an Arizona town where everything that can go wrong does go wrong.
Runtime: 2 Hours 5 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: U Turn starts when Bobby Cooper (Penn) is trying to get to Vegas to pay off a gambling debt. He breaks down in an Arizona town where he looks to get his car fixed. However, he meets Grace (Lopez) and learns about her estranged relationship with her husband Jake (Nolte).
Meanwhile, he finds himself stumbling into a range of problems and needing to get more money. Can he do the right thing and get out before it is too late?
Verdict on U Turn
U Turn is an action thriller following a gambler travelling to pay off his debts. However, he breaks down in a small town and finds himself caught up in the middle of a string of events. It causes him to find the best way to escape but never knowing who to trust.
This movie tries to give us a what is the worst that can happen situation. It ends up feeling long and not getting very far. This overcomplicates things and becomes a mess to watch. The characters have too many twists and turns in decisions, which creates a slow painful pace for the movie.
Plot: After an accident that left murderer Jack Frost dead in genetic material the vengeful killer returns as a murderous snowman to exact his revenge on the man who sent him to be executed
Runtime: 1 Hour 29 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Jack Frost starts when serial killer Jack Frost (MacDonald) tries to escape before his execution. However, he gets melted by an acid, although, he doesn’t remain dead. He comes back as a genetically modified murderous snowman. Meanwhile, Officer Sam (Allport) has nightmares of the threats Jack promised to do to him or his family.
After a series of murders, Agent Manners (Mendel) arrives in town, forcing Jack to hold the city together. However, when he becomes the main target, he must find a way to stop the killer mutant snowman.
Verdict on Jack Frost
Recap
The movie follows a small town targeted by a serial killer who has become a mutant snowman. He picks off the residents as he searches for his prime suspect, the officer who caught him.
Best Parts
The movie dives into dark comedy horror with the mutant snowman. A lot like how Child’s Play put a serial killer in a friendly object, we get a snowman running rampage. The movie embraces the crazy idea, which only helps it become more entertaining. There are some funny kills and plenty of snowman puns.
Worst Parts
One kill designed for humour for the era leaves question marks over the choice now. It is also a movie that is only going to appeal to people who enjoy cheesy horror comedies.
Final Thoughts – Jack Frost is a wacky, entertaining horror comedy.
Plot: A group of martial-arts warriors has only six days to save the Earth from an extra-dimensional invasion.
Runtime: 1 Hour 35 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Mortal Kombat Annihilation starts as Liu Kang (Shou), Kitana (Soto), Sonya Blade (Hess) and Raiden (Remar) face a new threat. They believe the world to be safe after winning the last tournament, however, Shao Kahn (Thompson) has other ideas.
Now Liu Kang, Sonya Blade and Raiden must assemble a new team of fighters to save Kitana. It sends them on journeys of self-discovery to make themselves fiercer warriors than before. All leading to a final showdown to save the world.
Verdict onMortal Kombat Annihilation
Mortal Kombat Annihilation is an action-adventure movie following on from the first movie. It follows the fighter facing a new threat that could see the world’s end as we know it. They must come together to fight this threat if they are ever going to save the world.
This is a weaker sequel; however, it keeps the banging soundtrack. The fights are entertaining, but the bigger story goes in a more complicated direction. We get characters recast which doesn’t help either as it feels more like a reboot than a sequel for some characters. You can see why we never got another movie in this universe and it took 25-odd years before Hollywood tried again.
Final Thoughts – Mortal Kombat Annihilation is a weaker sequel with wacky fight sequences.
Plot: Rick Harding is a former Marine officer, now working in the FBI as a chemical weapons designer. While packing up for the night, a group of armed soldiers led by wanted criminal Carlos Gruber, break into the FBI research lab.
Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Executive Command starts when a group of terrorists led by Carlos Gruber (Norton) steal a chemical weapon. Dr Rick Harding (Dudikoff) must retrieve the weapon before it is used for anything dangerous.
Carlos hijacks a plane filled with powerful people and Rick’s wife. Rick is assigned to lead the mission to rescue them, using his military background. Can he save the day and thousands of lives before it is too late?
Verdict onExecutive Command
Executive Command is an action thriller following a marine who must stop a terrorist group. They have hijacked a plane with plans of destruction over a major city if their demands are not met. However, he must overcome the odds to achieve a rescue mission.
This movie does feel like a lower budget ‘Executive Decision’. It has the same concept of boarding a hijacked plane to stop a terrorist and a race against time to achieve it. This creates a problem because this isn’t as good as the original idea and ends up feeling like a cheap knockoff. Even having an early Bryan Cranston role can’t help this movie stand out.
Plot: Batman and Robin try to keep their relationship together even as they must stop Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy from freezing Gotham City.
Runtime: 2 Hours 5 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Batman and Robin starts when Mr Freeze (Schwarzenegger) has started committing crimes in Gotham. Batman (Clooney) and Robin (O’Donnell) have been trying to stop his attacks. Meanwhile, Poison Ivy (Thurman) arrives in Gotham looking to work with Bruce on her latest project.
Once Ivy gets rejected, she finds Mr Freeze has the same problem, as Batman. This leads to the two teaming up to take on Batman and destroy Gotham City. Meanwhile, Bruce has his own problems back home, as Alfred (Gough) is getting sick, and his niece Barbara (Silverstone) arrives at the mansion.
Verdict on Batman and Robin
Batman and Robin is the fourth action adventure in the franchise. It sees Batman facing off against three more enemies Mr Freeze, Poison Ivy and Bane. They want to destroy Gotham and Batman. As Batman continues to deal with enemies, he finds his own team continuing to grow to aid in his fights.
This might well be the most criticised Batman movie ever. It does embrace the comedic side of the comic book movie. Sure, the comedy does come too often, leaving us not getting any action. However, this does make this a bonkers movie you will never forget and still, to this date, the only one to have Mr Freeze and Poison Ivy in for the modern audience. This is a lot more fun than it should be, just don’t take it too seriously.
Final Thoughts –Batman and Robin is bonkers and entertaining in so many different ways.
Plot: A reporter is on the trail of a vampiric murderer who travels by plane.
Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: The Night Flier starts when a reporter with no morals Richard Dees (Ferrer) gets his latest investigation. He works on supernatural cases, with the latest case being about a mysterious plane. The pilot uses the name Dwight Renfield (Moss) and seems to be leaving a trail of bodies behind him.
Richard dives into his investigation pushing out rookie reporter Katherine Blair (Entwisle). As his investigation continues, he goes deeper into his past until he learns the truth about the pilot.
Verdict on The Night Flier
The Night Flier is a horror mystery following a reporter investigating a mysterious pilot. It sends him down a path around the mysterious night killer that he learns is a vampire. As the mystery about his connection to the reporter grows.
This is one of the many forgotten Stephen King stories. It brings his own vision of a vampire to life, with a unique twist. The idea that a vampire flies around in a unique plane makes this very interesting. This also gets a message about how reporters can cross the line to get a story. The movie is very slick and gets to give us a surprise with how everything ends up unfolding.This movie also has a great leading performance by Miguel Ferrer.
Final Thoughts – The Night Flier is a dark twist on the vampire figure.
On October 3rd, 1997, Kiss the Girls was released in the cinema. Kiss the Girls was directed by Gary Fleder who was fresh from Things to Do In Denver When You’re Dead. He followed this one up with Don’t Say a Word, Runaway Jury and Homefront. The movie is based on the Alex Cross character created by James Patterson. Kiss the Girls screenplay came from first-time writer David Klass, who only has a couple more credits to his name. They include, Desperate Measures, Walking Tall and Emperor.
The Story
Kiss the Girls sees Dr Alex Cross (Freeman) heads to North Carolina and goes in search of a serial killer that has branded himself Cassanova. The local detectives Ruskin (Elwes) and Sikes (McArthur) have been coming up short and Cross knows his niece has become one of the latest missing girls.
When Kate Mctiernan (Judd) is the latest woman abducted by Cassanova. She learns about the others being held captive and uses her own skills in self-defence to escape. After Kate escapes, she teams up with Cross as they search for the location, she was held captive.
This is an intense story, that deals with a serial killer and the hunt for them before they take their latest victims. It keeps us guessing and continues to bring twists along the way.
Box Office
Kiss the Girls was made from a budget of $27 Million and made $60 Million at the box office. This makes it the second most successful film in the franchise. Where Along Came a Spider brought in $105 Million, which does include the international box office, data not available for Kiss the Girls. The 2012 Alex Cross movie did a lot worse at the box office, only managing to make back its budget of $35 Million. Kiss the Girls was the 47th highest-grossing movie of 1997, again without international income. If we are generous and give it the same numbers as Along Came a Spider, it would put it around 36th for the year.
Alex Cross Legacy
Alex Cross went on to appear in two more movies, first Morgan Freeman returned for Along Came a Spider. Secondly, Tyler Perry took over in Alex Cross. Despite the strong Box Office return. It is strange that Morgan Freeman’s run never got to make another Alex Cross movie. The failures in the Box Office didn’t help the Alex Cross reboot get started.
Cast
Kiss the Girls did the right thing by bringing in Morgan Freeman for the role of Alex Cross. The 1990s saw him in many supporting roles, from The Shawshank Redemption to Se7en. This was one of his first truly leading solo roles. Ashley Judd was fresh off Heat and A Time to Kill. Before following up this role with a string of thrillers. The Princess Bride’s Cary Elwes had quite the following after that movie, despite it being ten years prior. He appeared in some of the most successful 90s movies before this with Liar Liar, Twister and Robin Hood: Men in Tights. There are also smaller roles for Entourages Jeremy Piven, Fresh Prince of Bel Air’s Tatyana Ali and American Pie’s Mena Suvari.
Critic Response
Kiss the Girls only received a 33% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, Roger Ebert was one of the fresh reviews quoting ‘Freeman and Judd are so good, you almost wish they’d decided not to make a thriller at all — had simply found a way to construct a drama exploring their personalities.’ USA Today critic Mike Clark was less favourable though quoting ‘Even those engrossed by the build-up here are likely to kiss off the rest after suffering through Girls’ groaner of a wrap-up.’ The Rotten Tomatoes scores are nearly identical for both of Morgan Freeman’s outings.
Metacritic uses a different formula. One that gives films a chance to be more average, instead of only good or bad. 17 reviews, the score is 46, with 10 reviews being mixed, three negatives and four positives. The positives include Roger Ebert’s previously mentioned review with a score of 88. The scores match up with Along Came a Spider too, being only a couple out, with more mixed reviews than anything else.
Cast: Tim Abell, Jeff Rector, Lisa Mazzetti, Arthur Roberts, Don Scribner, Harrison Ray
Plot: A terrorist creates a biological weapon in an abandoned undersea lab. A government operative is dispatched to confiscate the weapon and eliminate the terrorist. This lone Navy SEAL must undertake a dangerous underwater mission to stop a madman from unleashing a deadly toxin that could destroy the world.
Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Rapid Assault starts in the aftermath of Lars Rynark (Scribner) stealing biological weapons. The government turn to Navy SEAL James Decker (Abell) to lead a mission to take back the weapons.
Decker is joined by David Phillips (Rector) as they look to infiltrate the base. Joined by escaped prisoner Angela Strichman (Mazzetti). They must navigate the base and elude capture. Looking to save the day from the terrorist waiting to use the weapons on US soil.
Thoughts onRapid Assault
Rapid Assault is an action thriller that looks like a cheaper version of ‘The Rock’. Seeing a Navy SEAL pair needing to get into a base, to stop a biological threat. It will offer up twists along the way, without being anything we haven’t seen before.
When it comes to the action, we have the safe action. Decker needs to take on more difficult threats as the film unfolds. The military watching on, waiting for the right thing to do, works well, even if they look helpless.
The performances in the movie are fine. Nobody shines, Tim Abell isn’t the cool or ruthless leading man. Don Scribner isn’t the most menacing villain.
