Tag: Action

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Catch-Up 2019 – Q – The Quake (2019) Movie Review

Director: John Andreas Andersen

Writer: John Kare Raake, Harald Rosenlow-Eeg (Screenplay)

Starring: Kristoffer Joner, Ane Dahl Torp, Edith Haagenrud-Sande, Katherine Thorborg Johansen, Jonas Hoff Oftebro, Stig R Amdam

Plot: In 1904 an earthquake of magnitude 5.4 on the Richter scale shook Oslo, with an epicenter in the “Oslo Graben” which runs under the Norwegian capital. There are now signs that indicate that we can expect a major future earthquake in Oslo.


Tagline – The Wave was only the beginning.

Runtime: 1 Hour 46 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Set Piece Disaster Film

Story: The Quake starts one year after the events of the Wave, Norway is remembering the tragedy, while preparing for any other unexpected disasters, with belief there could be an Earthquake in the near future. Geologist Kristian Eikjord (Joner) is still feeling guilty for the number of people who died, despite saving his family from the tragedy.

When one of Kristian colleagues dies looking into seismic activity, it brings he out of his research to follow up on the information he has received and now in the Oslo, his worst fears look like they might come true.

Thoughts on The Quake

Characters – Kristian predicted the tsunami in the Wave, he couldn’t save everybody, now he is still feeling the guilt of not saving everybody, now he believes there could be an Earthquake hitting Oslo, one that could take more lives, he wants to find evidence to prove this, even if it means he is becoming more distant from his own children. Idun is the ex-wife to Kristian who will give him chances when it comes to their children, but doesn’t want to forgive him for become distant from then in the past. Julia is the daughter that wants to spend time with her father, she is getting pushed away by his own guilt, she will be the one that needs to be rescued the most in the film. Marit is the daughter of the colleague, that starts helping Kristian with his research understand that his work meant something more and his death can’t be in vain.

Performances – Kristoffer Joner does return as does the most part of his family actors, he is the best performer in the film, with her desperation, while the rest of the cast don’t seem to get as much impact in the film.

Story – The story in the film does follow the guilt of surviving a disaster and the fear another one could come, before it does hit showing the desperate actions of one man to try and save his family. The story does follow the same formula as The Wave, so we know we are getting into a debate between characters about whether it could happen or not, before the event, the event itself is big and the battle to survive likewise, even if certain parts of it are repeated. It does feel slightly too random that everybody else does just vanish after the quake as we solely focus on the four trying to figure out how to survive.

Action – The action here does wait for the big event to happen, which is a big event and doesn’t hold anything back.

Settings – The film does take us to a new location, a big city in Oslo, with the big disaster sequences happening within the skyscrapers, with so how dangerous they would be in an Earthquake.

Special Effects – The special effects are used for the destruction sequences, which do look terrifying, it shows the pure amount of destruction a city will face and fires up the tension in the film.


Scene of the Movie – The Quake Hitting.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Trying to survive in the quake is slightly too repetitive

Final Thoughts – This is a nice sequel to The Wave, the disasters are still big and the determination to survive is the most important part of the film.

Overall: Big Disaster Movie.

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Movie Review

Ground Control (1998)

Director: Richard Howard

Writer: Mark Shepherd, Robert Moreland (Screenplay) Talaat Captan, Robert Moreland (Story)

Starring: Kiefer Sutherland, Bruce McGill, Kristy Swanson, Robert Sean Leonard, Kelly McGillis, Margaret Cho, Ruben Paul

Plot: A disgraced former air traffic controller is called back into service when the airport’s traffic control system malfunctions.


Tagline – No Radar. No Contact. No Control.

Runtime: 1 Hour 33 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Nice Smart Thriller

Story: Ground Control starts as air traffic controller Jack Harris (Sutherland) loses one of his planes in an accident, with nothing being his own fault. Jack is out the game working on developing a video game in air traffic controlling when his friend T.C. Bryant (McGill) comes to him in need of help because of the workload thrown upon his team.

When Jack reluctant agrees to work for one night, he must face his past, even with hot shot new trafficker Cruise (Leonard) not wanting to work with him and rookie Julie (Swanson) willing to learn off Jack.

Thoughts on Ground Control

Characters – Jack Harris was once one of the best air traffic controllers in the business, he does suffer the nightmare of all the air traffic controllers have, losing a plane, turning to the drink to blame himself for what happened. He has turned to designing video games, but it talked into return on a business night, where he must finally face his own past and deal with the pressure once again. T.C Bryant is the friend of Jack’s who has turned to him for help deal with the added pressure piled onto him, he controls the team with his work, which sees him showing off his micromanagement skills. Julie is the rookie on her first night in the team, nervous at the start, Jack offers to help her, while Cruise is willing to put her under pressure. Cruise is the hot shot that gets through the day with his abilities that could make him the best in the business, his attitude has been the one thing that has always held him back, where he is the closest to a villain we have in this film.

Performances – Kiefer Sutherland was a strange choice for this role, when it comes to being in the controller persons, he is great to watch, but when it comes to the unsure nervous filled with regret side of the character he does seem slightly miscast. Bruce McGill, Kristy Swanson and Robert Sean Leonard are all great to watch in their roles in the film.

Story – The story here follows one night in an air traffic control station which has had increased number of flights thrown onto them and the pressure forces the boss to turn to his old colleague to help even though he has been battling his own problems. This is a story that does come from a strange angle because instead of doing anything glorified or over the top, it simply just looks to focus on the pressure these teams will be facing while working on daily basis. We do have the incidents that will show how calm they need to be and how easily they can work to solve the problems they face and by the end you will find yourself gripped to what is happening.

Action/Adventure – The action involved in the film is mostly off camera, it follows what could happen with the planes during difficult decisions, while it does have an adventure tone through how Jack wants to overcome his problems.

Settings – The film is set within the air traffic control station which shows us how close the team must work together for when the pressure grows.


Scene of the Movie – The last plane to land, it is an intense scene.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Sutherland doesn’t seem to fit the nervous unsure figure.

Final Thoughts – This is a tidy thriller that does keep us guessing just to what will happen next with the pressure being piled upon the team, it does keep everything feeling realistic too by only showing the team at work.

Overall: Air Traffic Thriller.

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Catch-Up 2019 – M – Miss Bala (2019)

Director: Catherine Hardwicke

Writer: Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer (Screenplay)

Starring: Gina Rodriguez, Anthony Mackie, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Aislinn Derbez, Matt Lauria, Damian Alcazar, Ricardo Abarca

Plot: Gloria finds a power she never knew she had when she is drawn into a dangerous world of cross-border crime. Surviving will require all of her cunning, inventiveness, and strength. Based on the Spanish-language film.


Tagline – Ordinary Becomes Extraordinary.

Runtime: 1 Hour 44 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Miss Congeniality 3?

Story: Miss Bala starts when makeup artist Gloria (Rodriguez) visits her friend Suzu (Rodlo) in Mexico only for a night out to end up with a shoot out and Gloria finding herself being dragged into the criminal world by Lino (Cordova) threatening to kill her and Suzu if he doesn’t help.

Gloria is also recruited by the DEA and she is caught in the middle of both worlds trying to decide what is best to do, while she just wants to keep her loved ones safe.

Thoughts on Miss Bala

Characters – Gloria is a simple make up artists that is always dreaming of getting higher up the business, she has friends both sides of the American border, which sees her visiting Mexico a lot, including seeing her best friend. She gets caught up in the middle of a shoot out and becomes the target for the Mexican cartel who want her to help them transfer across the border. She needs to do what she can to remain alive, whether it be illegal or not. Lino is the runner that has the ruthless gang that forces Gloria into working for him, he offers the most human emotions of the people trying to push her around. Jimmy is one of the connections on the American side, he believes there is a problem within the gang.

Performances – Gina Rodriguez does a solid enough job in the leading role, though it does seem like she doesn’t know this world is happening in her character. Anthony Mackie does feel more like a cameo that an important role in the film. Ismael Cruz Cordova is the best performer in the film

Story – The story here follows a makeup artist that gets drawn into a criminal world where she is forced to complete illegal actions to make sure her friends are kept safe, while learning more about the corruption within the world she has been thrown into. This does show us how one person can be thrown into a world they know nothing about, while it also shows us just how the world is both corrupt and one that can swallow people whole if they don’t fight back in their own way. We do only learn what is happening through the eyes of Gloria, which helps keep certain parts more of mystery, though being a remake, it does seem to lose a big part of the story.

Action/Crime – The action is just wild shootouts which don’t feel like they are as tactical as both sides think not being the most entertaining, while the crime world is everything people imagine the cartels to be.

Settings – The film does show us just how close the two worlds could be despite being two different countries.


Scene of the Movie – Final shootout.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – We have seen this story before.

Final Thoughts – This is an unimaginative action crime that we have seen before, it doesn’t reach any levels of intensity which it should, with the performances just not making the film any better.

Overall: Basic Action.

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Catch-Up 2019 – G – Gemini Man (2019) Movie Review

Director: Ang Lee

Writer: David Benioff, Billy Ray, Darren Lemke (Screenplay)

Starring: Will Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clive Owen, Douglas Hodge, Theodora Miranne, Benedict Wong, Ralph Brown

Plot: An over-the-hill hitman faces off against a younger clone of himself.


Tagline – Who will save you from yourself

Runtime: 1 Hour 57 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: By the Books Action

Story: Gemini Man starts when government assassin Henry Brogan (Smith) is looking to retire after his latest job, but his latest job might not have been as clean as he thought, with the target turning out to be a specialist not a criminal terrorist. With his government turning on him, he meets rookie DIA agent Danny Zakarweski (Winstead) who was assigned to watch him, when they are all burned, Henry and Danny go on the run.

Henry must use all his connections including Baron (Wong) to stay ahead of Clay Verris (Owen) and his latest project, Junior (Smith) a younger, faster version of Henry, only one that finds himself in a pawn in the bigger scheme.

Thoughts on Gemini Man

Characters – Henry Brogan is a government assassin, the best assassin, only now he wants to retire because he doesn’t want to make a mistake, which he saw nearly happen on his last mission, he finds himself targeted by his former bosses that want to eliminate any loose ends, he uses his skills to fight back and stay alive. Junior is the cloned version of Henry that is younger fast and trained to be just as good if not better than Henry, he never knew this about himself and now he is stuck in the middle of completing his mission or learning the truth. Danny is a young agent that started as surveillance of Henry, but ends up fighting next to him to remain alive. Clay Verris runs the Gemini Project, he has raised Junior to be his own son and will do anything to keep America safe from anybody he sees as a threat.

Performances – Will Smith in the leading role or roles, here is trying his best to recapture the magic that once made him the biggest star in the world, sadly he just doesn’t seem to be able to play the serious action roles the way he can handle the funny ones. Mary Elizabeth Winstead does well in her supporting role, handling the action well through the film, while Clive Owen just becomes the typical villain he can do in his sleep.

Story – The story here follows a former government assassin that gets burned when he tries to retire and now he must go on the run with the very man hunting him being his younger clone from a project he never knew was real. This does try to spin another way of doing the burnt assassin who wanted out only to see his employer coming after him. We have seen the double idea before too, so we lose the originality idea too. We do have a lot of go to one location before heading to the next after having an action sequence of some sort. By the end of the story we just do the basics to give us a chance at a new technology rather than a new story.

Action/Sci-Fi – The action scenes are interesting to see, we do get a great chase sequence through Columbia, while the rest are all designed to feel a lot more deadly than the last one, while the sci-fi side of the film seems to follow the idea that clones could be the future.

Settings – The film does use plenty of settings, with each being used to give us a new action scene and that is about it.

Special Effects – The effects are used to put the two Will Smith’s on screen together, which at times don’t look as good as they should be.


Scene of the Movie – Columbia chase.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The story just seems too slow.

Final Thoughts – This is just another action film that is trying too hard to be different and only ends up failing to capture the magic of an action film.

Overall: Simple Action Film.

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Catch-Up 2019 – A – Avengement (2019) Movie Review

Director: Jesse V Johnson

Writer: Jesse V Johnson, Stu Small (Screenplay)

Starring: Scott Adkins, Craig Fairbrass, Thomas Turgoose, Nick Moran, Kierston Wareing, Leo Gregory, Beau Fowler

Plot: After years of assaults on him in prison, Cain escapes for avengement on those responsible.


Tagline – He’s Out On Bad Behavior.

Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Bloody, Brutal and Bad Ass

Story: Avengement starts when harden criminal Cain Burgess (Adkins) escapes from prison heading directly to his brother’s pub, holding the group including Hyde (Moran), Tune (Turgoose) and bar tender Bez (Wareing) as he waits for his brother Lincoln (Fairbrass) to arrive to settle a score.

While waiting for Lincoln, Cain has a story of how he was abandoned in prison to fight for himself becoming a deadly weapon that can beat any man in a solo fight and when it comes to numbers, they still don’t have an advantage against him.

Thoughts on Avengement

Characters – Cain Burgess was a small time criminal before he got caught and thrown in prison, here he became a fighter, finding a target on his back, becoming a man with scars on his face and revenge in his blood. He heads straight for his brother and the members of the gang that caused in prison sentence, he is tough fighter that literally won’t stay down. Lincoln is the brother of Cain that has been running a loan shark business for years, his reputation has seen countless people suffer and pay for failing to repay him. Tune is the member of the gang that will talk the biggest game, while being just another idiot member of the group. Hyde is the man under Lincoln in the organisation, he knows how to work people, being able to remain calm even with a shotgun in his face.

Performances – Scott Adkins gives the best performance of his career to date here, he has always been brilliant at the combat scenes, but when it comes to the pure emotion behind the character, he has struggled before, he shines on both fronts. Craig Fairbrass does bring the villainous character to life, though we don’t see enough of him at times. The rest of the cast do bring their aggressive gangster figure to life.

Story – The story here follows a brother that escapes from prison to go on a revenge mission against his brother the leader of a loan shark ring that has seen countless people suffer after he gets abandoned to fight for himself in prison. This does keep the story simple it is a revenge story, we do start with near the end as we do flashback through the incidents which explain all the scars and disfigurements that Cain has suffered. We also get to look at different motivations for what Cain is up to. The warning going into this story must come from the aggressive British gangster language, which is used to put extra point on the swearing.

Action – The action in the film is brutal and hard hitting with fights in all locations becoming longer and bloodier through the film.

Settings – The film uses the settings to help with a large part of the film being in the bar waiting for the big blow off scene, while each other location explains how we ended up here.


Scene of the Movie – Bar fight.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The rest of the gang seem almost pointless at times.

Final Thoughts – This is a truly brutal action film that doesn’t hold back on any of the fight scenes and gives Scott Adkins the best performance of his career.

Overall: Brutal Action.

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Movie Review

Beyond the Law (2019) Movie Review

Director: James Cullen Bressack

Writer: Chad law, Johnny Martin Walters (Screenplay)

Starring: Johnny Messner, Steven Seagal, DMX, Bill Cobbs, Zack Ward, Randy Charach, Patrick Kilpatrick

Plot: A former mobster turned businessman and a police detective must contend with a dirty ex-cop looking to bring the killer of his son to justice.

Runtime: 1 Hour 29 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Revenge 101

Story: Beyond the Law starts when Chance Wilson (Rushing) is murdered by mobster Desmond Packard (Ward), this grabs attention of businessman/mobster Augustino ‘Finn’ Adair (Seagal), Detective Ray Munce (DMX) and his disgraced father Frank Wilson (Messner) who returns to town to learn about the killer.

With Frank tracking leads, his reputation proceeds him, with Finn wanting to clean up the mess before it gets out of hand and Ray wanting to stop the bloodshed too, who will be the last man standing between the three.

Thoughts on Beyond the Law

Characters – Frank Wilson has a reputation for being the dirtiest cop on the force, that is why he is out of the game, he returns after his son is killed forcing him to reconnect with people both sides of the law to get revenge for his son’s death. Augustino ‘Finn’ Adair is a former mobster turned businessman, he has never bought caught which made his turn to the clean even more difficult to take, his son is the catalyst to the problems as he gets to learn who he can trust now. Detective Ray Munce is one of the few people that Frank trusts, even though he isn’t the man he once knew. Swilley does fill in the blanks in Frank’s time away, he wants to see Frank get his revenge along the way.

Performances – Johnny Messner, Steven Seagal and DMX in the lead roles are all strong enough, we see the older generation character showing the loss of control, while the young stars show the reckless nature they have turned too in their characters.

Story – The story here follows a father looking to get revenge after his son is killed by a local mobster and he returns to his old stomping grounds to get the person responsible. While this might seem like a by the book revenge film, this does have a difference, we are in a complete corruption filled world of characters, be it dirty cops, mobsters or reckless gangsters. This does change things because usually the revenge story is following somebody good who is pushed over the limit. Outside of this, we get everything unfolding just like you would imagine, waiting for a big blow off in the final acts of the film.

Action – The action isn’t as big as you would imagine with Steven Seagal involved, everything feels pretty routine, but didn’t need to get out of hand.

Settings – The locations used show Frank returning to an area he knows well, which sees him using his connections to get the answers he requires.


Scene of the Movie – Showdown.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Not too much new to the genre.

Final Thoughts – This is a by the book revenge thriller, it does put us in a complete world of corruption, otherwise, we know how this will unfold.

Overall: By the book.

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Movie Review

Samuel L Jackson Weekend – The Spirit (2008) Movie Review

Director: Frank Miller

Writer: Frank Miller (Screenplay) Will Eisner (Comic Book)

Starring: Gabriel Macht, Samuel L Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Eva Mendes, Sarah Paulson

Plot: Rookie cop Denny Colt returns from the beyond as The Spirit, a hero whose mission is to fight against the bad forces in Central City.


Tagline – I’m gonna kill you all kinds of dead.

Runtime: 1 Hour 43 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Style Over Substance

Story: The Spirit starts as former cop who survived against death’s will, The Spirit (Macht) continues to chase crime against the ruthless crime lord known as Octopus (Jackson) where the two fight against each other for years, Sand Saref (Mendes) is also interested in becoming rich, which sees her cross paths with both.

With both Spirit and Octopus chasing down Sand, she continues to try and improve her riches, even if the two are just waiting for the battle which will end the war between the two men once and for all.

Thoughts on The Spirit

Characters – The Spirit fights crime around his city, he has cheated death, who is waiting for a chance to take his life, he has been fighting Octopus for years now and is trying to find a way to get rid of him once and for all. He is trying to solve why Sand is committing crimes and what the Octopus is up to this time. Octopus is the crime lord of the city, he wants full dominance and enjoys the battle against Spirit, he has a big plan for the city that only Spirit can stop. Sand is the former childhood friend of Spirit’s, she has turned to a life a crime, where she steals whatever she wants to build her riches, she doesn’t kill cops though, which makes her different type of enemy for Spirit to face. Silken Floss the sexy assistant to Octopus that has been working with him to create something new and isn’t afraid to use her looks to get an advantage.

Performances – Gabriel Macht is an actor you must feel bad for, he took a shot at something different, only for the film to be received so badly, his performance isn’t bad in anyway, much like most of the performances from the men, they just seem bland characters. Eva Mendes and Scarlett Johansson ooze sex appeal with the comic character bought to life here.

Story – The story follows the town’s vigilante Spirit as he goes up against his arch nemesis before he gets to release a new deadly threat on the world, all while the wild card of a thief is getting in the way of both of their plans. This is a comic book adaptation which is why the story does have a unique style to everything going on. The main story does seem to fill the idea of a hero needing to fight against a villain who wants power without it being anything we haven’t seen before. It just doesn’t work however much the story wants to try to be different to anything else out there.

Action/Crime/Fantasy – The action side of the film is very simple stuff despite being a comic book, it never becomes style it wants to be, with the fantasy side of the film showing us just strong both Spirit and Octopus are.

Settings – The film keeps us in this fictional city where everything is happening, it does feel like a comic book city for the most part.

Special Effects – The effects in the film are used to try and add the style to everything we are seeing, most don’t work as well as they could.


Scene of the Movie – All kinds of Dead.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The style just doesn’t work on the levels of Sin City.

Final Thoughts – This is a comic book movie that just doesn’t hit the style it wants to by the end of the film, we can’t complain because it is different to the usual films we are seeing in the comic book genre.

Overall: Style is different.

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Movie Review

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.

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Movie Review

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.