Precious Cargo
Precious Cargo, a cheesy caper directed/co-written by Max Adams, is simultaneously occupying theatres and on Demand. It was also released a day after my birthday, which is fitting since it made me feel my age.
Action
Hardcore Henry
Some frenetic films have been described as live-action video games, but Ilya Naishuller’s Hardcore Henry takes that criticism up a notch by actually strapping viewers into a live-action video game. We act out all of the disorienting, brutal action sequences. It’s the gimmick behind Man Bites Dog injected with Crank’s epinephrine.
The Divergent Series: Allegiant
The Divergent film series – based on the Young Adult trilogy by Veronica Roth – immediately felt like a cash-in on the success of The Hunger Games film franchise. Divergent is painful in its complexity: set in a typical YA post-apocalyptic future, Tris (Shailene Woodley) must navigate the walled city of Chicago, where factions are systemized by certain characteristics – Erudite is made up of the intelligentsia, Dauntless are warriors, etc. Initiates take a test…
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny is okay, which would be tolerable if it wasn’t associated with such an imaginative predecessor.
London Has Fallen
In 2013, audiences were treated to two movies involving hostage situations in the White House: Antoine Fuqua’s Olympus Has Fallen and Roland Emmerich’s White House Down. The former performed well enough at the box office to merit a sequel, while the other languished in obscurity, likely due to its director’s notorious incompetence. And yet, much like its predecessor, London Has Fallen shows that in terms of quality, White House Down triumphed where Olympus had fallen.
Bad Night
By: Addison Wylie Bad Night is that sleepy student who draws open eyes on their eyelids to convince you that they’re interested. But, if you were to poke them, they would fall backwards like a flimsy stage flat – likewise for this detatched action/comedy starring YouTube stars Lauren Elizabeth Luthringshausen and Jenn McAllister (aka. Jennxpenn). The film has been brought to us by Chris and Nick Riedell – the directorial coupling who also brought us Camp…
Toronto After Dark 2015: ‘Gridlocked’
By: Addison Wylie I don’t consider it a good sign when a film makes you consider similar movies of its kind that you’ve given bad reviews to. Take Allan Ungar’s Gridlocked. I not only didn’t like it, but it made me wonder if I was too harsh on other action copycats like Olympus Has Fallen. However, I’m not going back on my word. Olympus Has Fallen is as much of a Die Hard ripoff as…
The Transporter Refueled
By: Trevor Jeffery Class-act driver-meets-reluctant enforcer Frank Martin returns (slightly younger and prettier than before) in The Transporter Refueled to yet again move things from one place to another, such as a man’s head to the parking garage floor. Frank (Ed Skrein) is never late – except when it’s to pick up his newly retired father (who was not a secret agent, wink wink). While sharing a meal with Frank Sr. (Ray Stevenson), Frank gets…
No Escape
By: Shannon Page John Erick Dowdle’s (As Above, So Below; Quarantine) action/thriller No Escape is about an American businessman named Jack (Owen Wilson) and his wife (Lake Bell) who, along with their two young daughters, are caught in the middle of a violent coup in an unnamed Southeast Asian country. The film is surprisingly well-constructed and nuanced – all things considered. The script, which was co-written by Drew Dowdle and John Erick Dowdle, manages to be more self-aware…