Paris, the anti-gang squad does things their own way, causing much in collateral damage and related costs. A group of highly organized robbers is hitting banks and jewelry stores around the city. The squad goes after them but is stop when a change in management benches them in favor of a more by the book squad. As things are escalating, the original squad decides to go after the robbers even though they are banned from doing so. All kinds of action film goodness ensue.
What almost ruins the experience of “A Sister’s Nightmare” is its pacing. The pacing and tension are glacial to the point where I wondered if writer Shelley Gillen had any idea where it was going. Thankfully sticking with it leads in to a very interesting pay off in the finale where events unfold in to a welcome twist climax. I pretty much anticipated what would occur, but in the end I appreciated that the writers opted for a twist rather than simply turning “A Sister’s Nightmare” in to a typical protective parent thriller we’ve seen a thousand times. I’m not saying “A Sister’s Nightmare” is top notch thrills and chills, but it definitely builds up to a neat bang that compensates for the general mediocrity of its storytelling.
I wish “The Crow” sequels took as much of an advantage with a creative premise as director Michael S. Ojeda does with “Avenged.” While his film isn’t exactly a revenge masterpiece, it’s a strong contender for one of the finer revenge films of the past five years, working as a tragic love story, and a vicious horror themed tale of vengeance. Amanda Adrienne Smith is rather compelling as the victimized Zoe, a deaf mute who ends up at the wrong place at the wrong time.
One thing I can say for “Aloha” is that it’s a beautiful film. If you put it on mute and watch it the whole way through, you can at least appreciate the lovely sights of Hawaii and Emma Stone, with her piercing large eyes, and adorable lisp that rival anything in Hawaii. With the volume on, it’s a horrendous mess that Cameron Crowe bungles up. It’s jumbled, hard to follow, and ultimately feels like three pretty mediocre movies mashed in to one trifecta of incoherence, sugar coated by a great cast, a killer soundtrack, and wonderful cinematography.
“A Christmas Horror Story” tries to do for Christmas that “Trick r Treat” did for Halloween, and really just ends as a mediocre effort with best intentions. While the efforts of the collective filmmakers to deliver a Christmas anthology for the horror crowd isn’t an awful movie by any means, it’s still a mixed bag of stories, all of which vary in tone and leave the overall film feeling bipolar in some respects. It even reaches for a clever surprise ending that just felt like a cheat for the sake of an obligatory “Gotcha!”
“Ant Man” seems like a stand alone superhero effort at first, but it fits comfortably in the pegs of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It also introduces us to a wonderful superhero who, by all logic, should not have translated in to such a great film. Surely enough, with a script by Edgar Wright (and various others) and an excellent cast (including a welcome Hispanic presence), “Ant Man” is one of the best adaptations of Marvel’s Phase Two in their Cinematic Universe. Like every hero in the Marvel Universe, “Ant-Man” is just an average man thrust in to great circumstances, and he has to earn his stripes as a crime fighter while overcoming his own flaws and insecurities.
With “Age of Ultron,” Marvel and Joss Whedon essentially pave the way for a series of films that will make “The Avengers” the enduring franchise that fans have always wanted. It’s made abundantly clear that not only is the movie series here to stay, but we can expect a roster of rotating superheroes in the future that will create new conflicts and brand new dynamics. While “Age of Ultron” sags in certain places, it’s a superior follow up to “The Avengers” which was much more simplistic and aimed more to establish the crossover. “Age of Ultron” garners higher aspirations, constructing new story lines and setting up foreshadowing for future films. It also greatly raises the stakes for our team of flawed superheroes, all of whom are still learning to work as a unit. Set almost immediately after “Iron Man 3,” and “Winter Soldier,” we meet the Avengers, all of whom are back in combat fighting Hydra and taking on the elusive corporation’s hideout.