I wasn’t too crazy about the first “Kick Ass.” The attempts to take Mark Millar’s homophobic misogynistic fantasy and tame it for broader audiences failed. And it failed fantastically once it watered down the cynicism and introduced that stupid rocket pack. I never understood the appeal of adapting the comic, either. Since I never really bothered to finish “Kick Ass 2” the mini-series (Millar’s “edginess” gets exhausting after the thirtieth anal sex joke), my frame of reference is nil, so “Kick-Ass 2” is a fairly fresh experience as a sequel to a movie that could have done without one.
Category Archives: Action Packed April
Mutant Hunt (1987)
I love in “Mutant Hunt” how after the hero Riker fights off the goons who can stretch their arms, cut off their limbs, smash walls, and explode when stabbed, the heroine looks on and proclaims “They’re not human.” NO SHIT! You think?! And you also have to appreciate a guy who lives in a house with white concrete walls, but still finds the time to hang weapons along the walls. All of which can work when he wants them to. No replicas for this schmuck. And seriously, who the hell hangs machetes on their walls?
Showdown (1993)
In the eighties and nineties, there were tons of movie studios trying their hardest to create their own versions of “Karate Kid.” The movie made Ralph Macchio a star for a while, and helped fuel America’s love for the underdog. So naturally, someone had the bright idea to cast Billy Blanks in a lead role for their own “Karate Kid” movie. Like Macchio, Blanks was a celebrity for a short while before becoming a fitness guru, and here he basically plays Miyagi, except as a washed out janitor for a high school filled with students all of whom look well in to their twenties.
Re-Thinking My Stance on "Fight Club"
I remember the first time I ever sat through “Fight Club.” Like many of American audiences I expected an action movie about brawlers and didn’t see this gritty, ugly, and grimy tale about psychos and self-mutilation coming to me. And I hated it. Not just that, but I despised it. And the larger my internet presence became, the more it became something I was largely about. People always questioned by credibility through my hatred for “Fight Club,” and once I even received an e-mail from a reader begging me to post his own review for “Fight Club” on Cinema Crazed since he insisted I missed the entire point of the movie.
And perhaps I did.
Charlie Chan Collection (Shadows Over Chinatown / Docks of New Orleans / Shanghai Chest / The Golden Eye) (DVD)
Charlie Chan is a great character I’d love to see depicted by an actual Asian man someday and as a brilliant detective surrounded by a world of racists who assume him an ignorant little Oriental man. I’d cast a wonderful Asian actor, and create a very elaborate murder mystery for the resurgence of Charlie Chan. If handed the reins I’d certainly aim for a character that strays from his racist roots, whole hog.
Iron Man: Rise of Technovore (2013)
Marvel and MadHouse team together to offer fans of Iron Man a really fun and unique animated adventure with Tony Stark and Iron Man. And while it’s short on plot, it more than compensates for that short coming with some dazzling animation, and an excellent sense of pacing that keeps “Rise of Technovore” absolutely engrossing. Though most of the anime efforts from Marvel with Madhouse have the capability of slowing down, “Rise of Technovore” is always moving and always fun.
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Director Shane Black loves Christmas. Hell, the finale to “Iron Man 3” is a loving tribute to the classic “March of the Wooden Soldiers,” but in the end what makes “Iron Man 3” is not the finer Shane Black touches, but the purely intelligent and utterly volatile commentary on terrorism and the American government that really plants this final entry as the most mature of the “Iron Man” films by far. While “Iron Man” is the most entertaining, “Iron Man 3” has a lot to say about the war on terrorism.