Jan 18 2022

ABC Film Challenge – Catch-Up 2021 – R – Redemption Day (2021) Movie Review

Director: Hicham Hajji

Writer: Lemore Syvan, Sam Chouia (Screenplay) Hicham Hajji (Story)

Starring: Gary Dourdan, Serinda Swan, Andy Garcia, Brice Baxter, Martin Donovan, Ernie Hudson, Robert Knepper

Plot: When the love of his life is kidnapped and held for ransom by terrorists, a war hero Brad Paxton races against the clock to rescue her in a daring and deadly operation that pits him against the most powerful and shadowy forces.

Tagline – Taking his wife was their last mistake.

Runtime: 1 Hour 39 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Redemption Day starts when war hero Brad Paxton (Dourdan) has been struggling in the aftermath of his heroics, Brad’s wife Kate (Swan) an archaeologist is offered a discovery of lifetime in Morrocco, which will see her accidently cross the border to Algeria, getting kidnapped and held for ransom.

Brad will look to use his skills to go to Algeria to rescue his wife, learning that they are in the middle of a bigger battle for power between the countries.

Thoughts on Redemption Day

Thoughts – Redemption Day is an action movie that will show us a heroic soldier fighting back against terrorist that took his wife. When it comes down to the basic rescue mission, we get everything you would expect to see, the connections from the past coming helpful, while the people in the position of power are trying to solve the problem in a different way. We do find ourselves going into a bigger picture situation, which is a political power play, between every country involved, which does take us away from the action too often. The performances in the film are what they need to be, without seeing Gary Dourdan as a future lead action star, with Andy Garcia and Martin Donovan in the political power positions, being the strongest of the performances. This is a by the books action movie that will do all it needs to, giving us the entertainment value we need.

Final Thoughts – Redemption Day is an easy to watch entertaining action film that is what you would call a Late Night Action Film.

Jan 14 2022

ABC Film Challenge – Catch-Up 2021 – N – Nobody (2021) Movie Review

Nobody – Action Blast

Director: Ilya Naishuller

Writer: Derek Kolstad (Screenplay)

Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Aleksey Serebryakov, Connie Nielsen, Christopher Lloyd, Michael Ironside, Colin Salmon

Plot: A bystander who intervenes to help a woman being harassed by a group of men becomes the target of a vengeful drug lord.

Tagline – Never underestimate a nobody.
Runtime: 1 Hour 32 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Nobody starts as we meet mild-mannered Hutch Mansell (Odenkirk) whose everyday routine has become like clockwork. When his family are targeted by a robber, Hutch looks to unleash a secret from his previous life, one that will see him go after the people who robbed him.

After Hutch unleashes his pent up rage, he finds himself being targeted by mobster Yulian (Serebryakov) who wants him to pay for what he did to his son, but Hutch isn’t just a random guy, he has plenty of deadly skills to defend himself.

Thoughts on Nobody

Characters & Performances – Hutch Mansell has been working through an everyday job, with the routine to keep him in a quiet life away from his past, though he is starting to get tired of this routine and after an incident in his home, he looks to unleash all the rage built up, leading him to need to cover up his tracks when mobsters target his family. Bob Odenkirk is the star of the show here, getting the deadpan behind the action star, without needing to be all out action through the film. Yulian is the mobster that is hunting Hutch down, he is everything you would expect from a European mobster using his position of power to make sure he stays ahead of anyone in his field. The supporting cast don’t add too much to this film with the exception of Christopher Lloyd as Hutch’s father in a nursing home, which won’t see him move much, but he gets a couple of funny sequences.

Story – The story here follows a mild-mannered man that gets drawn out of his quiet suburban life to return to life of violence when a mobster targets his family. When you look at this story, how the man gets bought back into the world is very similar to John Wick, which shows us first how you will never know your neighbour and secondary, people will always defend their family. The story does seem to take a much more deadpan approach, which works with how almost reluctant Hutch is to get back into this world. It is an easy watch action film that never lets you down.

Themes – Nobody is an action thriller that will show a man with a secret past thrown back into the underworld of violence to defend his family, one which is filled with plenty of fights, both hand to hand and firearms that feels non-stop. The settings are used to show the quiet life Hutch lives, that gets interrupted when the mobsters come into his life.

Final Thoughts – Nobody is an easy watch action blast that has a deadpan style which is unlike anything we have seen before.

Jan 13 2022

Killing Field (2021) Movie Review ‘Standard Action Film’

Killing Field – Standard Action Film

Director: James Cullen Bressack

Writer: Ross Peacock (Screenplay)

Starring: Chad Michael Murray, Bruce Willis, Swen Temmel, Michael Sirow, Kate Katzman, Sean Kanan, Simon Phillips, Zack Ward

Plot: A man’s life on his farm is interrupted when a cop and a pair of dangerous criminals show up.

Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Killing Field starts when cops David (Willis) and Cal (Temmel) follow a drug deal, planning on making a bust, only for everything to go wrong, David left injured and Cal in pursuit of the criminals.

The chase will see them end up on grieving farmer Eric (Murray) farmhouse, which will see him team up with Cal to take down Frank (Sirow) and his men who are waiting for the boss to arrive to deal with the problems.

Thoughts on Killing Field

Characters & Performances – Eric is the grieving farmer who has recently lost his wife and daughter in an accident, he is on the edge, with this attack on his land being a chance to face death. He will team up with the detective to fight to protect his land from the criminals, using his knowledge of the land and his skills are a former army ranger. Chad Michael Murray does bring the grieving figure to life, while his combat skills work for what is needed in the film. Cal is the younger partner of David, he is looking to track down the criminals, needing to use stealth to stay ahead of them, so they can finally bring them down, teaming up with Eric to make it happen. David is the senior partner of Cal, who has been after the family involved for years, now coming face to face with the son who has his own reason for coming after him. Frank is leading the hunt, he is calm and calculated with his threats, while answers to the real boss along the way. When it comes to most of the performances in this film, we know what we are going to get, Bruce Willis on set, a villain in Michael Sirow who is trying to make himself standout in the film and the rest of the hench people having weird quirks about them.

Story – The story here follows a group of criminals that look to take shelter in a remote farmhouse, only to find themselves bring track down by a cop and the farmer looking to escape his painful life. This is a story that will see the law needing to fight back against a larger number of criminals to do the right thing, the story is built for a major change in the narrative, which never seems to come. The story does give Eric some closure in his life, while the rest of the characters don’t get much to do, which will make the story feel flat by the end.

Themes – Killing Field is an action film that will use the isolated farmhouse and surroundings to create the different action sequences, with each putting our heroes against the different hench people, with different styles involved. The action is by the books, with a series of lazy feeling car chases that are shot badly.

Signature Entertainment presents Killing Field on Digital Platforms 17th January and DVD 24th January.

Final Thoughts – Killing Field is a by the books action film, never offering anything edgy enough to elevate it.

Jan 9 2022

ABC Film Challenge – Catch-Up 2021 – I – Snake Eyes (2021) Movie Review

This is under I because of star Iko Uwais.

Director: Robert Schwentke

Writer: Evan Spiliotopoulos, Joe Shrapnel, Anna Waterhouse (Screenplay)

Starring: Henry Golding, Andrew Koji, Haruka Abe, Takehiro Hira, Eri Ishida, Iko Uwais, Ursula Corbero, Samara Weaving

Plot: A G.I. Joe spin-off centered around the character of Snake Eyes.

Runtime: 2 Hours 1 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Snake Eyes starts when a young Snake Eyes sees his father murdered, with him left to fend for himself, growing up Snake Eyes (Golding) became an underground fighter where he gains the attention of Kenta (Hira) a clan boss smuggling weapons into Japan.

When Snake Eyes helps a friend in this business Tommy (Koji), he learns he is part of a rival clan, offering him a chance to earn a place in the clan, as he is caught in the middle of the battle between the two.

Thoughts on Snake Eyes

Thoughts – Snake Eyes will look to give us an origin story behind Snake Eyes, the G.I Joe character in a fresh attempt to bring the franchise to life on the big screen. In what is a fresh reboot to create the rivalry between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, we go down a strange path that could have been any action film, because the most part of the action is everything we have seen before, while the technology behind the bikes looks completely out of place in the world the film is set in. the performances are fine, nobody ever reaches the true potential in this world and when you cast Iko Uwais as just a trainer for a clan, a mistake must be made, with his unquestionable combat skills. This does end up coming off like the standard forgettable action reboot that was never going to be able to get the franchise going.

Final Thoughts – Snake Eyes is a standard action film, that will entertain, but will struggle to breath life into the franchise.

Jan 2 2022

ABC Film Challenge – Catch-Up 2021 – B – Becky (2020) Movie Review

Director: Jonathan Milott, Cary Murnion

Writer: Nick Morris, Ruckus Skye, Lane Skye (Screenplay)

Starring: Lulu Wilson, Kevin James, Joel McHale, Robert Maillet, Amanda Brugel, Isaiah Rockcliffe

Plot: A teenager’s weekend at a lake house with her father takes a turn for the worse when a group of convicts wreaks havoc on their lives.

Tagline – There once was a little girl…

Runtime: 1 Hour 33 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Becky starts as we meet 13-year-old Becky (Wilson) who has been struggling with the death of her mother, as her father Jeff (McHale) is looking to start moving on with their lives, inviting his new girlfriend Kayla (Brugel) and her son Ty (Rockcliffe).

When prisoner Dominik (James) plans his prison break, he is joined by Apex (Maillet), Cole (McDonald) and Hammond (McDougall), as they end u finding the remote home that Becky is spending the weekend, holding the family hostage, while Becky alludes capture.

Thoughts on Becky

Characters & Performances – Becky is the 13-year-old girl that has seen her mother die from cancer, leading to her becoming distant from her father. She doesn’t want to let anyone into her life, especially a new step mum. When prisoner invade her home, she looks to fight back after they target her father and beloved dog, showing skills with the environment around her. Lulu Wilson does come into her own in this role, moving away from the previous victims in horror to the strong fighter. Dominik is the prisoner that has planned his escape, letting the people around him will do anything he asks, he is a calm presence unless he doesn’t get what he wants, when he will kill someone with his own decision. This character does start pure cold, which makes him feel more dangerous, because once he starts speeding the process up, he ends u looking like he has lost control of the situation. Kevin James is in career changing levels of performance, being terrifying in every seen, a huge improvement from his comedy missteps. Jeff is the father trying to rebuild his life with his daughter, taking her away to their family getaway. The rest of the prisoners all work to help Dominick get what he wants, apart from Apex the friendly giant figure, the others are the typical disposable figures.

Story – The story here follows a grieving 13-year-old girl that is put in the difficult situation of a potential new stepmother, only to see this weekend turned into chaos when a group of prisoners take the family hostage and she looks to fight back. This is a story that we have seen the fightback against criminals before, with the only change coming from the motivation behind why Becky needs to unleash her pain. The story makes it an easy watch and you can easily tell the order the deaths would happen, but it doesn’t try to complicate anything.

Themes – Becky is an action thriller that puts a teenage girl up against a group of criminals who are holding part of her family hostage, giving her a chance to unleash her pain in her different traps, like a more violent Home Alone in the open forest. The location is used to put the family further away from safety, which works for the criminals too.