Tag Archives: Action

Dec 13 2019

6 Underground (2019) Movie Review

Director: Michael Bay

Writer: Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick (Screenplay)

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Adria Arjona, Melanie Laurent, Ben Hardy, Dave Franco, Sebastian Roche, Corey Hawkins, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo

Plot: Meet a new kind of action hero. Six untraceable agents, totally off the grid. They’ve buried their pasts so they can change the future.


Tagline – They Say No One Can Save The World. Meet No One.

Runtime: 2 Hours 7 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Completely Bonkers Entertainment

Story: 6 Underground starts as we meet the agents, One (Reynolds) the billionaire, Two (Laurent) the Spook, Three (Garcia-Rulfo) a hitman, Four (Hardy) the skywalker, Five (Arjona) the doctor and Six (Franco) the driver, whose latest mission in Italy has gone sour, seeing them use their skills to escape the threat coming their way, only to lose a member of the team, needing to find a new member to become a seven.

Recruiting Seven (Hawkins) we learn about the plans they group have, they look to eliminate dictators that nobody else would touch, placing the rightful person in charge of the country, with the latest mission being to head to Turgistan.

Thoughts on 6 Underground

Characters – One is the leader of the squad, he is a billionaire that faked his own death to build the squad which will fight against the dictators of the world, he recruits the very best, he uses the code name, he wants to use his wealth to solve the problems in the world, in a way being known really works, often given commentary on what is going on. Two is the ex-CIA spook that is the most deadly with a weapon, she is willing to lead any assault the team goes on. Three is a hitman that has been given a new life, he is the most reckless of the crew, he will break the rules, but give him a gun and he will get the job done. Four is known as the skywalker, he parkour skills are unbelievable, he will run through building roof tops, searching for routes for the team, getting involved when required, he is easily the most entertaining character of the squad. Five is the doctor, while she might have the weakest character development of the whole squad. Six is the driver that enjoys the thrills that come from the high speed chases. Seven is the newest member of the team, a former soldier bought in for his own skills, he does question the true identity of One, unlike anybody else.

Performances – Ryan Reynolds, is like he always is, wise cracking, fun to watch and always confident, something he needs to be for this role, thinking Deadpool, without the costume. Melanie Laurent does an excellent job in the spook role, with Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Adria Arjona, Dave Franco and Corey Hawkins are strong too, though it is Ben Hardy that seems to steal the show.

Story – The story here follows an elite group of soldiers that have come from around the world to work together to stop dictators from maintaining their reigns of terror over their nations. While this story is hugely ambition and original, it shows how wealthy people could use their money for the right reasons, to help the world instead of just watching it get destroyed. Outside of just dealing with the problems in the world, the story is very simple, go from one mission to the next, with plenty of banter between the squad, usually revolving around film references, which if you understand add humour to scenes through the film.

Action – The action in this film is massive, it is almost relentless for large parts of the film, we see so much happening, from car chases, the gun battles, parkour on rooftops and that boat sequences, well wow.

Settings – The film does take us all over the world, with the main country being fictional, it is implied which country we are seeing wanting to have a change. The film does make the most of the locations, with the environment playing a big part in how each scene can be won.


Scene of the Movie – The Parkour rooftop.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Sometimes it does feel like it is just Deadpool commenting on an action film.

Final Thoughts – This is a truly bonkers action film that you can switch off and just let everything unfold to the crazy levels it is meant to reach.

Overall: Wildly Over the Top.

Oct 25 2019

ABC Film Challenge – Horror – Y – Assassination Nation (2018)

I am totally clutching at straws on this one, but we are using Odessa Young’s surname for the Y for the ABC Film Challenge.

Director: Sam Levinson

Writer: Sam Levinson (Screenplay)

Starring: Odessa Young, Abra, Suki Waterhouse, Hari Nef, Colman Domingo, Danny Ramirez

Plot: After a malicious data hack exposes the secrets of the perpetually American town of Salem, chaos descents and four girls must fight to survive, while coping with the hack themselves.


Tagline – You asked for it, America.

Runtime: 1 Hour 48 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Social Media Nightmares

Story: Assassination Nation starts as we meet the four high school friends Lily (Young), Em (Abra), Sarah (Waterhouse) and Bex (Nef) who enjoy to party most nights and are stuck in social media crazed world, using the internet to get their thoughts over, when the Mayor of their town gets hacked, they along with the rest of the town get his dirty photos and personal information, which leads to him being disgraced committing suicide because of it.

The next target hit close to home, the principal who falsely sees his life come crashing down because of the mob mentality and they Lily gets her own warming she is next, making the friends the target of the next hate mob.

Thoughts on Assassination Nation

Characters – Lily is the leader of the four friends, she has a secret form the rest and pushes the rest to be more open and pushy in their relationship, she is one of the few people that sees the bigger picture about the controversy hitting the town, she has become a target which will see her life change forever. Em, Sarah and Bex are her best friends, they don’t have much more about them, they have small parts about who they are, they will stay loyal to Lily through the problems.

Performances – When we look at the performances, the four girls do have genuine chemistry, which is important to everything going on, Odessa Young in the leading role shows just how confident the girls can be and how quickly this can become shattered through social media and finger pointing.

Story – The story here follows a teenage girl that sees her life turned upside down when she becomes the latest target of a social media hack which is crippling careers in the town and now ruining her reputation. The story does get to look at just how dangerous social media can be, how quickly people will believe and jump on any bandwagon against the person being targeted even if they have done nothing wrong, one character gets branded a child abuser for having photos of his own daughter in the bath from infant age. This story does contain the extremes of how far the people will go for this to become bigger than it needs to be and shows how fighting back is the only way to make it out with any reputation left in tack. I am still not completely sure why this ended up going towards murder though, it seems too extreme.

Action/Horror – The action here follows how the fight to survive becomes a reality for the girls, when they become targets of the mob, this does show the extremes in the horror about what is happening to the girls.

Settings – The film is set in a town called Salem, which is slightly on the nose because of the whole witch trial behaviour being thrown out by the locals.

Special Effects – The effects used are saved for the horror elements, which get to focus on just how deadly everything ends up becoming for the girls.


Scene of the Movie – The fact that this could easily become a reality.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The sudden extremes seem to happen way too quickly.

Final Thoughts – This is a warning shot a social media, showing us just how quickly things, rumours and crowds can jump on people looking to ruin their lives, when there is an easier answer to what has been happening.

Overall: This is a pure social Media warning.

Oct 24 2019

Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) Movie Review

Director: Tim Miller

Writer: David S Goyer, Justin Rhodes, Billy Ray (Screenplay) James Cameron, Charles H Eglee, Josh Friedman, David S Goyer, Justin Rhodes, Gale Anne Hurd (Story/Characters)

Starring: Linda Hamilton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mackenzie Davis, Gabriel Luna, Natalia Reyes, Edward Furlong, Tom Hopper

Plot: Sarah Connor and a hybrid cyborg human must protect a young girl from a newly modified liquid Terminator from the future.


Tagline – Welcome to the Day after Judgment Day.

Runtime: 2 Hours 8 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Blast!

Story: Terminator: Dark Fate starts when Dani Ramos (Reyes) sees herself being targeted by two strangers, Grace (Davis) and a Terminator (Luna) both sent from the future, one to protect her the other to kill her, after finding themselves in a corner Sarah Connor (Hamilton) saves them, preparing them for what will happen next.

While Grace and Sarah clash other styles, they are lead to a mysterious location where The Terminator (Schwarzenegger) offers to help them, despite having problems with Sarah’s past, anything to eliminate this new deadlier Terminator before he stops a future where Dani has an important role, just like how Sarah did before.

Thoughts on Terminator: Dark Fate

Characters – Dani is the sweet Mexican girl that keeps her family organized with everyday events, making sure her father gets to appointments and her brother joins her for work, her family means everything to her. When Grace turns up, she finds her perfect life ruined, when she needs to go on the run with her from a Terminator, not knowing why a normal young woman has been targeted, she will learn her importance to the future and learn skills alone the way. The only negative side for Dani, is that we don’t learn enough about her before the events happen, it is hard to figure out just how old she is too. Sarah Connor hasn’t stopped hunting Terminators, she is prepared for them all and saves the day, she knows how to stay off the radar, well for the most part one giant plot hole with her talk here, but is a bitter hard as nails woman. The Terminator has many surprises this time, he helps, gets plenty of laughs and as always will fight the superior model. The bad Terminator can fuse with anything it touches, being able to break into more than one threat and isn’t going to stop for anything, he is relentless and on a similar mission focused level as the first two villainous Terminators. Grace is the enhanced soldier sent back to protect Dani, she does need to be kept alive with medicine, proving to be a different level of protection then we have seen before, she has all the human traits, she has lived, fought and battled through the future and knows why she is here and how important this mission is.

Performances – First we will go through the returning cast, Linda Hamilton is wonderful to watch, not only is she perfect here, she lets the new cast members shine, which was one of the weakness of a film that did the same trick, Halloween. Arnold Schwarzenegger gives his best action performance since his return to acting, not only does he still have the fighting down, he has got perfect dead pan comedy down too. Mackenzie Davis might well have just made her an action star for years to come here, giving a performance that could be a star making one. Natalia Reyes does everything right for her character, it isn’t her performance that lets her down, it is certain developments in her character that hold her back. Gabriel Luna as the new Terminator is great too, it is nice they picked a lesser known actor, because a big name would have shifted focus on them instead of a faceless killer.

Story – The story here follows a young Mexican woman that has been targeted by a Terminator, for a reason she doesn’t know, she has a super soldier and Sarah Connor to protect her, as she learns about a future, where like Sarah Connor, she will have a big part to play in the war against the machines. This is a sequel that feels like it has re-imagined the original, mixed with the second one, this is all good because having a new face that needs to learn their part in the future is what makes Terminator different in story, the idea that technology has moved on, also helps this story unfold nicely showing us just how much we are going to see. For a story that is 2 hours long, this barely feels that long if we are being honest and by the end you will be wanting to see more, because even though we have returning characters, they don’t feel thrown in like Arnie’s in the last film.

Action/Sci-Fi – The action here is massive, this shows some great teamwork from the stunt teams too, the fights are people bashing the hell out of an indestructible robot, which means we can hit harder and it not look stupid, while we might have a couple too many cuts during them though. The sci-fi idea has moved on from previous films, which shows us just how much could change in the future, the war will always be coming.

Settings – The film does use the settings are a plot point, where it is, we need to get here, then here, via here, all but the final battle seems simple enough locations.

Special Effects – The effects for the most part are wonderful, there are a few questionable moments, but when you see the Terminator get hit, the metal exposing, doesn’t look out of place.


Scene of the Movie – Opening Chase.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – There is one on the nose reference to gun control in America.

Final Thoughts – This is an enjoyable action movie that brings the Terminator back to life for everybody to enjoy, this is bar far the best Terminator movie since Judgement Day.

Overall: Excellent Movie.

Oct 13 2019

Transit 17 (2019) Movie Review

Director: Guy Bleyaert

Writer: Guy Bleyaert (Screenplay)

Starring: Guy Bleyaert, Zara Phythian, Lee Charles, Silvio Simac, Kimberly Stahl, Stefanie Joosten, John Flanders

Plot: After a virus infected France, Belgium and the Netherlands a team of resistance soldiers trying to safe a young girl who seems to be their last hope for a cure.

Runtime: 1 Hour 25 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Escape from New York Meets The Last of Us

Story: Transit 17 starts when Tex (Bleyaert) and his team Eve (Phythian), Brad (Charles), Deena (Stahl) and Daniel get assigned to a rescue missing in Belgium, in a world where a virus has wiped out most of the population. The team knows the threats they will be facing, with infected hunting them down, but the mission is worth the risk, as it could lead to a cure to save the whole world from becoming completely wiped out.

Thoughts on Transit 17

Characters – Tex is leading the team on the mission, the rest of the crew will trust him to make the right decisions no matter what, he does have to make difficult decisions, but knows that this mission could change everything. Eve and Brad are both big parts of the team and feel like most soldiers we have seen in most film like this, the characters we do meet are soldiers and military people that are preparing for the operation and add in the 15-year-old they must try to save.

Performances – This is a film where the performances are not going to be seen as it strength, one of the problems here comes from nearly all the characters being portrayed as serious, which makes everybody too similar, not letting any of the actors make their character standout in anyway.

Story – The story follows a group of soldiers who go on a mission to save a teenage girl in an infected virus world that could hold the cure for the world. The story does seem to borrow from the ideas behind Escape from New York, with the team needing to rescue somebody in danger and also the game The Last of Us, which focuses on the idea one person could be immune, which would be key to the survival of the rest of the humans. While the story flows well enough, the characters just feel under developed, with them being too similar and most situation being simple action that just ends up coming off like something that doesn’t want to risk anything.

Action – The action doesn’t get to any level of intensity, which does leave us not getting excited about the bullets flying around.

Settings – The film tells us we are going through parts of Belgium, only we don’t really get to see anything other than strongholds in the survival from the infected, using now iconic locations through the film.


Scene of the Movie – Look at the bite.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – We just don’t get the level of intensity we could have.

Final Thoughts – This is a simple action film that borrows from a couple of major properties, only it just doesn’t end up getting to the levels of intensity that it could have by the end of the film.

Overall: Simple Action.

Sep 30 2019

Art of Deception (2019) Movie Review

Director: Richard Ryan

Writer: Richard Ryan, Michael Marcelin (Screenplay)

Starring: Richard Ryan, Jackie Nova, Nicholas Talone, Leon van Waas, Prince Toe

Plot: After uncovering the CIA’s ruthless master plan for world domination by gaining complete mind control over the entire population, top scientist Joseph Markham is ultimately left with a choice: save the lives of billions…or the life of his wife, who has been kidnapped, interrogated, and brutally tortured as she viciously fights for her life. As a nationwide manhunt ensues, deadly assassins pursue, and one man’s decision will determine the fate of the world, Art of Deception is about a fight for life, love and world dominance,

Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Late Night Action Treat

Story: Art of Deception starts as Joseph Markham (Ryan) and his wife Valentina (Nova) are planning their future, with Joseph’s work for the CIA coming to an end, he has been part of project which would redefine the world with the project leader Roland Smith (Waas) wanting to tie up all loose ends that worked on the project.

Joseph goes on the run after learning Roland wants to terminate both himself and Valentina, but Roland isn’t prepared for what is coming next, when he learns that both a highly skilled assassination that know how to survive against the odds, with Joseph needing to make a difficult decision on whether to stop the CIA plan or save his wife.

Thoughts on Art of Deception

Characters – Joseph Markham has been working for the CIA on a top-secret mind control project, it has reached the final stages with the final test being a success. He along with his wife soon become targets for the CIA who don’t want loose ends, which means Joseph will show his skills and training that his boss never knew he had, he will uses his training to stay alive and plan to expose the truth to the world. Valentina is the wife of Joseph, she is just as deadly, despite being held captive, she knows how the stay alive. Roland Smith is the project leader that wants to tie up any loose ends involved in the project, he doesn’t want anybody being able to spill the plans and puts all his effort into killing the Markham’s.

Performances – Richard Ryan in the leading role and on directing duties handles everything very well, with he combat scenes, showing his character’s deadly ability along with using the brains to stay ahead of the game. Jackie Nova brings us the feisty character that is the highlight of her screen time. Leon van Waas makes for the fun over the top villain through the film.

Story – The story here follows a couple that become targets of the CIA after their work for them, where they show their skills to survive and expose the truth about the project. This does follow everything we know from a late night action story, we have a skilled killer that must come out of his retired decision to protect himself, his wife and the world, when the moment comes for him to shine. We do have a villain that does following everything we are expecting to see with his evil plan that does need to be stopped. We can easily sit back and relax through this film, with the feisty dialogue being used through the film too.

Action – The action in the film is easy to watch, we deal with different fight scenes, with different fighting techniques being used to show skills behind the characters.

Settings – The film does keep the settings simple, we do have the CIA offices which sees the tight corridors when it comes to dealing with the fights and the secret locations where kidnapped people will be held.


Scene of the Movie – The plan to save the day.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – We could have had more combat sequences from Valentina.

Final Thoughts – This is a fun late night action film that could be enjoyed by all the action junkies, it keeps most things simple, without being down as plain.

Overall: Fun Action Film.