Tag Archives: Action

2025

Spoiler-Free Review: Supernatural “Sinners” Showcases Commanding Coogler 

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The auteur director behind Fruitvale Station deliriously detours from his Wakanda and Creed franchise universes for an original passion project: Sinners (A) is Ryan Coogler unleashed, a polished and imaginative production of a writer/director at the peak of his powers. There’s an extended sequence – and you’ll know what it is when you encounter it – of such accelerating atmosphere and transcendent beauty and surprise, you might feel like your mind just played tricks on you. Think “The Devil Came Down to Georgia” by way of Edgar Allan Poe. Coogler’s slow-burn placemaking of the American South in the 30s lends both specificity and spellbinding otherworldliness to his mystery box of a genre-hopper. The filmmaker’s man-muse Michael B. Jordan is terrific in the dual role as twin brothers Smoke and Stack, former soldiers and Chicago gangland fixtures with something to prove as they return to their rural hometown origins to ostensibly stand up a juke joint and mentor their musically gifted cousin, a sharecropper and preacher’s son played by R&B prodigy Miles Caton, one of the film’s exquisite sonic discoveries. Incidentally Jordan’s two characters are two sides of an unlucky penny and splendidly rendered, high on the actor’s double star wattage. Some other ensemble members are blissfully reborn in their roles, namely Hailee Steinfeld and Wunmi Mosaku as feisty connectors between cultural worlds. Delroy Lindo is a welcome veteran portraying the town drunk trope with Shakespearean panache, and Jack O’Connor gives lulling lift to a character conjuring cinematic spirits in what feels like nothing short of a battle of the bands in its undercurrent. Coogler applies his eye for epic storytelling in a film marked by characters with preternatural abilities colliding with supernatural scope. Ludwig Göransson’s blues and bluegrass fusion score is intoxicating, as is the sound design undergirding each dramatic line of sinister and sometimes sexy dialogue. The film’s characters are wily magnets for fascinations of the flesh, and its world builder rarely holds back in pursuing his pulpy ambitions. Autumn Durand Arkapaw’s superb cinematography, shot on 65mm film using a combination of IMAX 15-perf 70mm and Ultra Panavision 70mm cameras, with alternating aspect ratios, provides the perfectly shape-shifting proscenium for a night out like no other. Suffice it to say this film is a no holds barred powder-keg of cinematic excellence with layers of sly subtext fit for decoding and an entertaining surface to simply be relished. Experience this communal discovery in as colossal a theatre as you can access. 

2025

Jason Mamoa Salvages Comic Gold from Mayhem of “A Minecraft Movie”

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Director Jared Hess, cult auteur of films such as Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre, helms a high-concept studio movie based on what’s considered an “open sandbox game,” meaning he could choose his own adventure and use IP freely in the box trot of world building. Hess generally fares better in sequences set in his already off-kilter human world, even though most of the plot stays firmly planted in the cubic region. His approach is as tentative as the title: Sure, he’s ostensibly made A Minecraft Movie (C) populated with denizens, domiciles, atmospheres and accessories which a nostalgic generation will find familiar, but equal parts whimsy and writer’s block make quicksand of the situation. Of the misfit protagonists who journey Jumanji-style into the unknown, only Jason Mamoa gets an interesting character: As a paunchy, washed-up gamer-bro from the days of standing arcade championships, he is channeling a go-for-broke humor that lifts most of his sequences to a higher plane. Alas the child actors don’t stand out with inert characters amidst low-stakes peril. Jack Black brings only the screech of high decibels, and a game Danielle Brooks does what she can with a cheery throwaway role. Always funny Jennifer Coolidge makes the most of her divorced schoolmaster character on a date with a “Villager,” and her scenes feel like they’re as much from a different universe as he is. The movie has fun with creative crafting and contraptions, and there are a few funny and exciting sequences leveraging science and gadgetry, especially a flight of fancy with Black riding Mamoa’s back Pegasus-style through a sky battle. The subtext to make stuff not war and to wield one’s imagination to solve challenges has occasional appeal, but the jaundiced journey and strained visual pallet reeks of warmed-over Super Mario Bros., which looks like a high watermark in comparison. Black’s half-baked songs show further desperation in a meandering story that at least answers the question about whether pigs will fly (they do). Despite its box office potential, this is a bricklayer of the bracket season when it comes to much appeal for the adults who accompany the little ones who will undoubtedly will want to see it.

Note: “The Creeper” echoes this review on TikTok at FilmThirst.

2025

Hearty Foal Becomes Party Foul for Quirky “Death of a Unicorn” Denizens

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Protruding from its mythical head is a dubious “L.” A24’s anticipated creature feature debuted at South by Southwest; and in one sour swoop this mediocre movie diminished both the lure of an infallible indie studio’s track record and the lore of its buzzy film festival launchpad. A vehicular collision with a mighty beast possessing a horn of plentiful power presents complications for an ensemble of morally dubious characters in Alex Scharfman’s comic cautionary tale Death of a Unicorn (C). It’s a film that rarely lives up to the convictions or creativity of its outrageous high concept, despite some initially funny flourishes. As father and daughter at the movie’s core, both Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega fail to showcase why they are usually regarded as such agreeable stars. Their uninspired characters could no sooner train a dragon or drain a unicorn of its majesty than deliver a compelling line of dialogue. Thankfully two supporting characters living a life of leisure, mother and son played by Téa Leoni and Will Poulter, understand the assignment and provide the story’s main laughs with outrageous affronts to dignity and decency. Scharfman rarely sharpens the teeth or social commentary of his “eat the rich” and “don’t mess with Mother Nature” parable platforms, simply rehashing Jurassic Park style chases but with underwhelming visual effects. He ultimately abandons the wit of the successful first act for a series of stunts and silly sequences representing diminishing returns. A few fun kills provide brief thrills, but the movie lacks imagination and surprises. The film’s novelty is initially nifty but then is revealed for what it is: all horned up with no place to go. 

Note: Our partner TikTok channel FilmThirst features a brief review of this film as well.

2025, Rent It Tonight

It’s Spy vs. Spy Times Three in Sleek Caper “Black Bag” 

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Fair warning to moviegoers with short attention spans, audiences expecting a thriller with rollicking action or viewers opting to experience this film streaming rather than in theatres: this isn’t for you. Steven Soderbergh’s Black Bag (A-) is a brisk and efficient espionage caper that demands, nay, requires your attention to appreciate the art and slow-burn of its double crosses and droll wit. An impeccable British sextet of spies engage in enjoyable mind games resembling a whodunit in one of David Koepp’s most nuanced scripts. Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett give restrained but memorable performances as the central married couple who are also British intelligence operatives. This duo’s marital bond is eclipsed only by devotion to their fidelity to their nation. Marisa Abela and Tom Burke bring humor and Naomie Harris and Rege-Jean Page bring solemnity to the table as the London-based characters engage in a metaphorical chess match. Pierce Brosnan also has a small but pivotal part in the ensemble and gets some nice grace notes. Soderbergh clearly relishes his role as a veteran cinematic showman and purveyor of a terrific twisty story. The plot is contained to just a handful of days and a few nifty locations, but it contains multitudes in a streamlined package. The polygraph sequence alone overshadows the creativity of most movies’ gadget lairs. This is the kind of well-crafted drama for adults Hollywood rarely doles out these days. Soderbergh has made dozens of movies, but it plays like a brand new discovery. See it; it’s clutch.

Note: Our partner TikTok channel FilmThirst features a brief review of this film as well.

2025

“Novocaine” Painlessly Pulls Off Action with Charm and Surface Fun

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Doused with deliberate doses of both sweet and sadistic sequences, co-directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen’s action comedy Novocaine (B) offers constant injections of surface fun in a high-concept package. Durable actor Jack Quaid plays a bank executive with a rare condition: he is incapable of feeling physical pain. He’s also smitten with his co-worker and emerging girlfriend played beautifully by Amber Midthunder, but the burgeoning courtship is hastily interrupted by the actions of a criminal ring led by the very charismatic Ray Nicholson. Spidey saga sidekick Jacob Batalon is also effective as the film’s amusing wingman. Quaid fully commits to the peculiar physicality of the role, and the story keeps upping the ante in terms of its Everyman ensconced in epic urban action. Mostly the story is outrageous, but the joke of being immune to a constant cavalcade of tortures keeps delivering. Early sequences between Quaid and Midthunder portend a more romantic, possibly better film; but pain is so close to pleasure as silly adventure ensues. It’s a giddy, guilty pleasure experience.

Note: Our partner TikTok channel FilmThirst features a brief review of this film as well.

2025

Oh “Mickey 17,” You’re So…Fine???

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Mickey 17 film

When presented visionary new work by a filmmaker with such creative feats of derring-do as Bong Joon ho, you grant grace to aspects of the movie more successful than others. But the director’s latest science fiction black comedy Mickey 17 (C) swings and misses in equal measures and ends up in the “mildly unrecommended” category. In a dehumanizing future, our hero Mickey is an “expendable,” a kind of human lab rat dispatched for dangerous intergalactic tasks; and if any of those fool’s errands turn out fatal, voila, we print out a new Mickey clone with a brand new body but memories intact. Robert Pattinson plays all the Mickeys and gives special manic attention to two of them. He’s a lot of fun with his Everyman accents and aw-shucks mannerisms. Naomie Ackie plays a fellow voyager, security agent and love interest and is a delight making the most of her role opposite the protagonist. Steven Yeun gets a bit less to do as a pilot and childhood friend. Then there’s Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette, who seem to be acting in a whole other universe as a devious political couple who appear to be channeling a mash-up of Jim and Tammy Faye Baker and The Trumps. Their sinister sequences are grating and misbegotten more than enlightening or funny. So after a promising opening salvo, the movie actually becomes a bit tedious and ultimately lands in a moribund final act on an ice planet filled with rather uninspired wiggle worm inhabitants. So we are left with an enthusiastic series of central performances by one talented actor and a clever foil and not much interesting going on around them. The lavish production design and effects are all vintage Bong Joon ho (food never looks very good in his steampunk future) but the commentary about capitalism and worker’s rights are mostly muddled and rarely come into farcical focus. Often bombastic and bloated, the film’s themes start gnashing and clashing into a dystopian doom scroll. It all looks like one of the director’s films, but something is off.

2025

“Captain America: Brave New World” Shields Viewers from Much Fun or Fantasy

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The 35th Marvel Cinematic Universe film mixes Tom Clancy style espionage with the increasingly complicated trappings of serialized superheroism, and the whole hulking smash-up faces an identity and creativity crisis. Julius Onah’s Captain America: Brave New World (C) chronicles two characters in the honeymoon periods of newfound careers: Harrison Ford as newly elected and problematic U.S. President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross and Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson who assumes the mantle of the Captain America persona with a touch of imposter syndrome. A proposed team-up between commander-in-chief and the newly coronated Cap is quickly jeopardized by a series of meddling menaces plus raiders of a lost “adamantium” element that proves to be a MacGuffin most mid. The story fails to transport viewers to interesting places despite the fact that one location is intriguingly titled Celestial Island and then not developed in the slightest. Conversely the production devotes multiple minutes to a junkyard fight and one single row of cherry blossom trees shot from various angles. A presidential security advisor played by Shira Haas is furnished limited lines when there could have been a smart political subtext unfolding. Danny Ramirez coasts on charisma as Joaquin Torres/Falcon, a sidekick who’s both silly and sentimental and generally the most genuinely entertaining part of the movie. The action sequences move fast, largely masking any real momentum, while generally the film’s pace crawls. Much of this installment plays out like a chore with phoned-in performances, despite the participation of multiple past Oscar nominees. Ford and Mackie are game for the drama, but the temperamental POTUS and the bearer of the shield can only wield so much life out of this flimsy episode.

My “FilmThirt” persona reviews this movie on TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT2fKCpmM

2024

TSA Thriller “Carry-On” Gifts Taron Egerton a Christmas Eve Crisis of Confidence

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The square-jawed protagonist of a new Yuletide actioner is equal parts dubious and daring, and he’s definitely in danger. Director Jaume Collet-Serra’s Carry-On (B-) puts substantial decision-making on the shoulders of a humble LAX TSA agent played with aplomb by Taron Egerton, whose character is mid at adulting even as his pregnant girlfriend (Sofia Carson) shares he’s on the brink of zaddy-hood. But when an earpiece emitting the somber, sinister and sus voice of Jason Bateman comes through the conveyor belt tray with very specific instructions, it’s Nick of Time slash Die Harder vibes for our reluctant hero rizzing to the occasion to outwit terrorists commandeering a prominent plane on a Christmas Eve crash course with destiny. Meanwhile in what at first occupies a completely distinct tonal universe, Danielle Deadwyler is doing the most as the LAPD agent connecting a series of homeland homicides with the action afoot at the airport. Things get more interesting when hunty gets stunty. The film flashes some creative communications and surveillance graphics and waves some wondrous wands once the plot finally progresses into full cat and mouse-dom. It’s familiar stuff, to be sure, and it’s not quite as funny or fleet of foot as Egerton’s committed central everyman performance or American accent. It also feels Bateman’s screen time is so slight, he may as well have been contracted via Cameo for his flash of a part. Overall, expect a slightly better than average good time out of this thriller with just enough EQ in the eggnoggin to please those gathered for the holidays.

2024

“Gladiator II” a Strong Companion Piece to Oscar-Winning Original

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The palace intrigue and visual effects both get mighty upgrades — albeit with fewer iconic declarations of dialogue — as Ridley Scott returns to the ring for a highly enjoyable Gladiator II (B+). While many of the story beats represent a retread of the Best Picture winning 2000 original film, Paul Mescal steps comfortably into the sandals of the protagonist role and draws viewers in as his character watches Roman emperors (Pedro Pascal among the leaders) conquer his homeland before he endeavors to return a legendary land to glory. As an empire-adjacent antagonist, Denzel Washington is also a highlight as a complex power broker with constant surprises around every turn. His scenery chewing rivals Joaquin Phoenix from the first film. The sequel’s action set pieces including a clash of warriors on ships within a coliseum are stunning. After one questionable sequence involving fake CGI monkeys early on, the film’s visual effects are roundly glorious. There’s a lingering feeling of wanting just a little more emotionally from this film, but it’s hard to argue with the brutal bacchanal of pulpy violence and vengeance on display here. Overall the film is a marvelous and rousing adventure.

2024

“Alien: Romulus” Delivers Style and Action

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Our human protagonist embarks on a “too good to be true” mission in a film that is often stylistically a good bit better than one would expect. 2024’s Alien: Romulus (B+) directed and co-written by Fede Alvarez, is the seventh installment in the long-running series as well as an “interquel” set between the events of the 1979 Ridley Scott original and the James Cameron 1986 sequel. In this film, a group of young space colonists scavenging a dilapidated space station confront one of the most terrifying life forms in the universe. Fascinating actress Cailee Spaeny is the head and shoulders standout in an otherwise unremarkable ensemble, and the dialogue isn’t going to win any awards; but the production design, spectacle and action sequences are all dynamite. Alvarez definitely makes his distinctive mark with a top-tier entry in the saga, buoyed by sinister cinematography courtesy of Galo Olivares, nimble editing by Jake Roberts and gripping orchestral music by Benjamin Wallfisch. As far as the film’s twisty plot points, there’s enough toxic masculinity and planned parenthood to fuel a national political campaign. There aren’t a lot of wasted shots once the action fully whips itself into an interstellar frenzy; then it’s almost too much of a good thing with a barrage of impressive stunts and sensational chases. This movie offers an entertaining thrill ride with plenty to enjoy for fans of the franchise.

2024

M. Night Shyamalan’s “Trap” is a Slow-Burn Setlist in Search of Thrills

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Want to know the identity of serial killer The Butcher, who smothers and scatters frightful fragments of his helpless victims for the world to witness? His name is M. Night Shyamalan, and two and a half decades since his brilliant trick ending Best Picture nominee, he’s been consistently guilty of serving up large helpings of uneven cold product. The promising premise of his paranoid thriller Trap (C-) is that Philly police know a multiple murderer is at large and planning to attend a major concert, and the squad endeavors to contain and apprehend him in the arena before the show is over. Josh Hartnett and Ariel Donoghue play the zany zaddy of a father and the eye-rolling daughter at the center of the action in the general admission pit of the music event, with Hayley Mills as a mysterious sniffer of sociopaths leveraging her nose for this nuisance (please tell me she wasn’t cast in the film because she starred in the original Parent Trap, and it just seemed like too good a play on words!). Shyamalan stages a mild fantasia of a show-within-the-story on the stage with R&B singer Saleka (she’s perhaps the sassiest discovery) parallel to the pressure cooker of the coliseum as its own experiment for an escape artist. What starts out not feeling particularly well acted or authentic simply gets more preposterous by the final act. It’s poorly written and paced and rarely ratchets up the action or trademark turns to much significant effect. Parts of the movie are suspenseful and others boring, and the far-fetched elements fail to work as a cohesive whole. Nobody wins in this slow-burn setlist, especially the audience. This moviemaker needs someone who can control his inner demons which keep getting manifested as feature films.

2024, Rent It Tonight

Spoiler-Free Rave as “Deadpool & Wolverine” Match Wits and Weapons

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In the service of a more mature and madcap Marvel installment, Disney has cracked open its most violent and vulgar vaults to unleash a buddy comedy adventure with its own crass love language. The mouse is definitely out of the house with superkillafragilistic, zipadeedickjokes, hakunayomama abandon. Except for over-staying its welcome by a short hair, Shawn Levy’s Deadpool & Wolverine (A-) is an absolute laugh machine throughout with a singularly sensational “meta”-morphosis of the superhero form. If there were a fifth and sixth wall to break, consider them toppled. The plot involves snarky mercenary Deadpool (a series best performance by riotously funny Ryan Reynolds) recruited to safeguard the multiverse by uniting with his would-be pal Wolverine (Hugh Jackman, in great stoic form for action and comedy) to save the world from an existential threat and villain (Emma Corrin at the height of her powers). Despite their outward swagger, both titular costumed crusaders must overcome a crisis of confidence, and it’s in their tentativeness and vulnerability that many of the film’s most delicious zingers and gags are born. It helps to know comic book, movie studio and pop cultural lore to fully follow some of the funniest and most subversive laugh lines. The stunts and action choreography are top-notch with excellent needle drops and kick-ass sass rivaling the first film in the series. The film outwardly acknowledges past Disney/Fox rivalries and casting incongruities, and it remedies some of the vexing variances in clever and convincing ways. Expect some stale conventions to get upended and some new directions for the franchise to come of age based on this fierce installment.