“Death Warrant,” “Undisputed,” and “Enter the Dragon.” If you’ve seen those films then there’s a good chance you won’t need to see the oddly titled “Ring of Death” which is a simultaneous nod and derivation of the aforementioned with none of the charm of either of them. “Ring of Death” is a movie with every such potential to be a fun guy’s action film, and fails to be nothing more than a sub-par television movie with the illusion of edge embedded into its rather predictable story. The writers never really provide us with the slightest bit of originality, opting instead to rely on our familiarity with the action genre.
Tag Archives: Gangster
In Plain Sight
Ah yes, it’s another show on cable about a super woman who is really just a regular person when she’s with her family, or in her personal life. She mothers everyone, talks back to her superiors, and even has a “Moonlighting” relationship with her hunky partner. And on the outside, she’s a professional risking her life as a Witness Protection Officer relocating witnesses who, well, witness something corroborating, and must be relocated. She’s a not so nice person though, and prefers to act on her gut instead of follow procedure (you know how the song goes!), and this gets her into trouble. But I wasn’t too down on “In Plain Sight,” because while it’s better suited for Lifetime, Mary McCormack finally gets a good vehicle that allows us to see what her supporting performances over the years, haven’t.
Hawk Jones (1986)
And now for a trip down memory lane: Back when I was a young lad, my dad used to look for kids movies we could watch whenever we were up to no good and around our block there was a store that had an incredible collection of movies for sale. The selection was absolutely fantastic, with movies that were very hard to find and rare, and became even more so once the Blockbuster’s and Netflix’s of the world choked them out. Either way, he bought us this movie called “Hawk Jones” on VHS for a mere five bucks and boasted about its surefire entertainment value. Well, he wasn’t incorrect.
Batman Double Feature: Mask of the Phantasm/Mr. Freeze – Subzero (DVD)
On the cusp of the upcoming “The Dark Knight,” Warner Bros. has taken the two best animated Batman movies ever made, and re-packaged them together for a double feature DVD with the extras. Now I bet you’re fuming that you spent ten bucks on “Mask of the Phantasm” when you can now get it for essentially the same price but with another movie, and I don’t blame you, but I don’t have either of these movies, and for someone like me looking for a Batman fix before “The Dark Knight” juggernaut slams onto the big screens, this double feature DVD comes with convenience, and good timing. Timm did Batman like no one else did Batman, and that’s a true caveat as well.
Shoot 'Em Up (2007) (DVD)
A man sits on a bench drinking coffee and eating a carrot, a pregnant screaming woman runs by. As does a man wielding a gun prepared to shoot her. Mr. Smith is now involved. Thus begins a sudden mission to protect a newly born child from a massive conglomerate and a surprisingly interesting reason why this child is wanted. I theorized all throughout Davis’s raucous action comedy and really wasn’t prepared to find a devious plot as complicated and absurd as the one explored here. “Shoot ‘Em Up is yet another variation on “Lone Wolf and Cub” with a mysterious warrior leaving a body count in the triple digits to protect a child, and though Davis derives from the concept, “Shoot ‘Em Up” is its own twisted animal. There’s really no point in hating “Shoot ‘Em Up”; it’s a ridiculous, idiotic and fantastical cartoon mixed with a formula video game, and it makes no presumption to pretend otherwise.
American Gangster (2007)
I wonder why it hasn’t been further emphasized that Ridley Scott’s “American Gangster” marks the second meeting between Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. Perhaps it’s because during “Virtuosity” Crowe was barely a star, or perhaps it’s because “Virtuosity” just wasn’t that good. True, this second meeting is not as notable as Paul Newman and Robert Redford’s, but I wish it were. We have a slew of incredible actors, some favorites, some up and comers, and two of the current best actors in Hollywood meeting. Yet again. The hook for this crime thriller is capitalism. Capitalism, Zaillian insists, however criminal or legal, is still nothing but deception and appealing to consumers in spite of the sleazy methods in which we act out the primary principle of business in America.
The Killer (Dip huet seung hung) (1989)
Chow Yun Fat is probably one of the best action stars I’ve ever come across, and the thing I love about John Woo is his utter ability to bring the best out of Fat, regardless of the film. Woo’s crime drama “Hard Boiled” is similar in many ways. It’s about a hardened killer with demons outrunning a rebellious cop, but that’s not a caveat in any sense. Because at the end of the day “The Killer” is a rather fantastic piece of crime cinema that really warrants its place as a masterpiece. I’m sad to say I never gave Yun Fat too much of my attention in the past, but thanks to a friend passing along “Hard Boiled,” I’m suddenly very interested to see what else this man has up his sleeves.