I guess we all have to have our stumbling blocks to get to the top, and Hilary Swank has what is one of the more tepid reboots ever concocted. I’m not above a reboot of “Karate Kid” with a girl this time. I’d actually prefer a gender swap in the interest of a new character dynamic. It’s just sad that said reboot completely misses the point of the original film. And kind of drags Mr. Miyagi out from the eighties to deal with a frustratingly annoying main heroine this time around.
One of the most idiotic moments in “The Expendables 3” is when villain Stonebanks is taunting our heroes on a television monitor, explaining that he’s wired the stronghold where he has the Junior Expendables with C4. While watching on the monitor, character Wifi (Glen Powell) completely overrides the C4 from blowing everyone to smithereens. If that’s not enough Barney plans the get away operation for the group while Stonebanks watches on the TV. So how does he still lose if Barney is stupid enough to plan an escape while the bad guy is watching only a few inches away? It’s moments like that that show Stallone really isn’t interested in details with these movies anymore.
It’s about time we return to the basics with Batman and “Assault on Arkham” gets down to the nitty gritty. Batman is a bad ass lone wolf not chasing after a snot nosed brat, his villains are vicious thugs, and the Joker is terrifying. “Assault on Arkham” is an admirably rough and tumble action film focusing on the baddies of the Batman universe, and less on the dark knight. There’s just something about the Suicide Squad I’ve always liked. I enjoyed “Assault on Arkham” mainly because of its sleek and simple storytelling and ode to “The Dirty Dozen.” It also focuses on the demented somewhat perverse nature of Batman’s rogues, all of whom have to work together or die under a clandestine government.
I really appreciate how director James DeMonaco has a second chance to fully embrace his absurd premise of the Purge a year later, and now seems to finally get it. The only way a film like “The Purge” could be any kind of fun is if it embraces its exploitation and darkly comic roots, and “Anarchy” achieves just that. DeMonaco also makes a case in the opening that you really don’t need to see the first movie to understand what the film is aiming for. Truthfully, unless you have a real weakness for home invasion films, “The Purge” can be skipped entirely. Director James DeMonaco blames a lot of the first film’s problems on budget constraints and really gets to explore his premise more with a wider scope, and better grasp of his own idea this time around.
J.R. Bookwalter‘s movie about a comic book artist that becomes a superhero seems to have had a budget of fifty bucks. Because of that much of the movie’s elements are sacrificed. This includes common sense, continuity, logic, a coherent story, tolerable acting, and even the most fundamental special effects. Somewhere embedded in the seams of this nearly unwatchable farce is a good movie. But the director spends more time trying to get mileage out of the cameos by Linnea Quigley and Burt Ward, than he does trying to elicit a genuinely good narrative. Who can blame him when the movie garners a cast of terrible unknowns? I’m surprised Ron Jeremy doesn’t pop up at some point.
Way too often have I invested time in a martial arts film only to find the sequel is pretty much just a repeat of the same beats from the original. Thankfully “The Raid 2” is a wonderful and seamless extension of the original Gareth Evans’ crime thriller. Evans returns to deliver what is now a much more complex narrative based around deception, the mafia, and a very elaborate revenge ploy that promises to bring down even the most valiant heroes in the story. Evans manages a very fluid timeline that makes “The Raid 2” a very good chaser for the powerful first action entry. Immediately after the massive raid in the first film, we find out that things never quite worked out too well for hero Rama.
It’s surprising that for a movie about anthropomorphic talking turtles that director Steve Barron takes the premise with as much seriousness as possible. Director Barron just seems to get the appeal of the Ninja Turtles, walking the line between the mainstream versions and the original Eastman and Laird R rated comic book. The turtles here have a hard edge, but are entertaining sympathetic heroes, and they’re the center of what is still a damn good action film about family, revenge, unity.