Reviews

A sequel to 2021's sleeper hit The Dry, Force Of Nature: The Dry 2 once again follows brooding detective Aaron Falk where after his informant (Anna Torov) gets lost in the forest on a work retreat he joins a search and rescue team to help find her. Along the way he's forced to confront more of his childhood trauma.

Unfortunately the title for this movie sets the stage for what is a pretty convoluted and muddled movie and is overall a step down in my opinion compared to the first. There are three competing storylines here, the group of women, Aaron's trauma from his past and a serial killer subplot that literally goes nowhere. All of these storylines compete for attention but in the end they all end up falling flat. Also with the exception of Eric Bana as Falk almost every other character in this movie is unlikable (with maybe the only other exception being Mortal Kombat's Sisi Stringer.) With so much going on here it's surprising how unsatisfying and bland this movie was. Three stars for Bana though who is pretty much the only reason this might be worth your time.

Jane Harper wrote a third and final Aaron Falk book that was published last year so I feel like it's inevitable that it also gets adapted to make a trilogy out of this. Hopefully it's more in line with the first movie compared to this and it can finally give Bana's Aaron Falk some sense of happiness because the amount of past and present trauma he's endured throughout both Dry movies is kind of crazy.

"We all work in the darkness, you don't got to let it inside you."

Asphalt City is directed by Jean-Stephane Sauvaire and stars Tye Sheridan, Sean Penn, Michael Pitt and Mike Tyson.

Based on the book called Black Flies the long in development Asphalt City originally had Mel Gibson attached in the Sean Penn role back in 2019 before he dropped out or was replaced for unknown reasons. This movie tries to present the harsh reality of what it's like to be an EMT in a big city like New York and while watching I was reminded of three separate and better movies. This movie sort of has the same kind of stress and dread a Safdie Bros movie would have because every scene a character is pretty much involved in a stressful situation and there's this existential dread hanging over this movie. Then this obviously bares comparison to Scorsese's Bringing Out The Dead and in the last half it turns into Training Day with the movie making us question the morals of Sean Penn's character and if he should have his job or not.

Performance wise Penn and Sheridan both do a good job. However Mike Tyson whenever he does pop up was more distracting than effective in his role. Michael Pitt didn't really need to be in this movie either. Overall I'd say this is a somewhat effective movie that is worth watching once, it kind of loses itself because it gets overly consumed in dread and darkness like Tye Sheridan's character does here but in the final five minutes I'd say it kind of works it's way back and presents an overall positive message where you'll finally be able to breathe a sigh of relief.

"I thought I was going to change the world, until the world changed me."

Lights Out is directed by Christian Sesma and stars Frank Grillo, Mekhi Phifer, Jamie King, Dermot Mulroney and Scott Adkins.

Follows Michael "Duffy" Duffield (Frank Grillo) a homeless ex soldier who is riddled with PTSD and who also happens to be a great fighter. He ends up attracting the attention of Ex-Con Max Bomer (Mekhi Phifer) who encourages him to start underground fighting to "let his anger out". Duffy quickly strikes up a relationship with Max's sister, Rachel (Erica Peeples) and her young daughter. It's also revealed that Max owes money to local LA crime boss Sage Parker (Dermot Mulroney) and things go from bad to worse once dirty cops (one of them played by Jamie King) start messing with Rachel.

For a B movie I thought this was above par and better than I expected. Frank Grillo is an underrated actor and if he wasn't the lead of this I don't think this film would have worked as well. The chemistry that him and Mekhi Phifer have together is probably the best part of this movie, they make for good co leads. It's rare to see DTV directors improve but between this and 2022's Section 8 I think it's pretty obvious that director Christian Sesma improved here or maybe working with Grillo and Adkins forced him to up his game. If you're watching this for Scott Adkins he has a very small role and only two scenes with Grillo here really. Also Dermot Mulroney seems to be in everything as of late but I thought he did a good job with his role here.

Where this movie falls apart is the whole dirty cop angle it becomes way too convoluted and I think that whole storyline could've been cut out of this movie entirely and Dermont Mulroney's character could've just been the main threat. Also Jamie King who plays one of the dirty cops wasn't really convincing in the role and never came across like a real threat. Overall though this is a fun, action filled B movie and if you just want to see Frank Grillo kicking ass you'll likely enjoy this. Also in my opinion this was a more enjoyable watch than both Madame Web and Argylle which are in theaters now so that has to count for something.

Don't let the January burial deter you from THE BEEKEEPER, a wild action thriller that works by enthusiastically embracing just how ludicrous it is, with every member of the cast, even down to the smallest role, knowing exactly what kind of movie they're in.

In one of his best films, Jason Statham *IS* Adam Clay, a loner beekeeper renting a barn on the property of elderly widow Eloise Parker (Phylicia Rashad). When Eloise commits suicide after losing her entire savings in a computer virus phishing scam, Clay vows that those reponsible will pay, and he'd preferably do so without the involvement of Eloise's FBI agent daughter Verona (Emmy Raver-Lampman). Clay manages to find the office complex of the data mining outfit that conned Eloise, takes out several security goons and burns the place to the ground. All of this happens in the first ten minutes, which gives you an idea of just how hard THE BEEKEEPER hits the ground running and never stops. The data mining outfit is one of many overseen by Derek Danforth (Josh Hutcherson), a douchey, skateboarding billionaire tech bro rich kid who leaves the legalities and the paperwork to absurdly-named trusted family friend Wallace Westwyld (Jeremy Irons), a former CIA director who has agreed to run the Danforth dynasty in the place of Derek's absent mother. When Westwyld reaches out to the current CIA director (Minnie Driver) and is told that all evidence points to Clay being a "beekeeper," she wishes Westwyld the best of luck and extricates herself and the agency from the situation.

What follows is absolute madness that almost makes this Statham's PUNISHER: WAR ZONE. It's the best film in years from either director David Ayer, who's a much better writer (TRAINING DAY, DARK BLUE) than a filmmaker (HARSH TIMES, SABOTAGE, SUICIDE SQUAD, BRIGHT, THE TAX COLLECTOR) or journeyman screenwriter Kurt Wimmer, who's never lived up to the promise of 2002's EQUILIBRIUM. There's a jaw-dropper of a reveal midway through that I won't spoil, but this is Statham at his stoical, vengeful best, a welcome return to form after last fall's unwatchable EXPEND4BLES fiasco.

THE BEEKEEPER is impossible to take seriously on any level, other than the palpable rage it shows toward greedy tech outfits that would con the elderly (it also doesn't seem likely that the FBI would let Verona work a case that indrectly involves her mother), but once all the pieces are in play, it also takes some pointed jabs at much bigger subjects. With perhaps the fewest lines he's ever had in a movie, Statham creates one of his most memorable and merciless characters, and the over-the-top, cathartically crowd-pleasing ways The Beekeeper comes up with to dispose of the bad guys had the small matinee audience rolling with laughter. Yeah, CGI explosions are apparently always gonna blow, but we've already got a contender for the year's most stupidly entertaining movie.

Directed by Courtney Paige, who wrote the script with J. R. Reher, Chapel starts with Cohen Black (Jeremy Sumpter) waking up in a hospital, unsure of who he is, where he's been and why a fisherman found him nearly drowned five months ago. He's helped by a nurse named Sofia Bloome (Pardis Saremi) to learn who he really is and what the name Ethan Tucker means. Filmed in Utah, this movie is referred to as a country crime thriller. Once Cohen wakes up, he becomes a suspect in a serial murder case and followed by Detective Wyatt. He also has a series of memories that flood back in which he is surrounded by a table of women, which includes Grace Veum (Taryn Manning). Whatever the past is, Cohen is drawn to a rundown motel where he meets 10 o'Clock Jack (Lochlyn Munro) and despite his relationship with Sofia, he falls for a girl named Misha (Carol Anne Watts).

For a direct to Tubi movie that was dumped in January this is better than I was expecting. The premise for the first half of the movie is actually intriguing and Courtney Paige as a director was actually able to make this seem like a semi professional movie with good shots and directing throughout. Unfortunately the longer this movie goes on the more confusing and convoluted it gets. Jeremy Sumpter as the lead came off good in some scenes and poor in others. The script for this movie ultimately needed more work because like I said the longer this movie goes on the more confusing and convoluted it gets which I'm sure wasn't the intention. But overall compared to most other Tubi movies this was at least watchable and had a strong first half. I'm intrigued to see what Courtney Paige does next as a director.

One More Shot is directed by James Nunn and stars Scott Adkins, Michael Jai White, Alexis Knapp and Tom Berenger.

Scott Adkins is back with an American accent for a sequel to his 2021 movie One Shot. Taking place directly after the events of the first film Navy SEAL Jake Harris (Adkins) is ordered to escort terrorist suspect Armin Mansur to Washington D. C for interrogation.

I think Writer/Director James Nunn should be applauded for pulling off something so ambitious without it ever feeling gimmicky (the use of vertical space is impressive), especially on what must be a small budget, but the film never quite makes a case for it being one fake take beyond "Hey! That sounds cool." (which, if it gets the project funded, is good enough, I guess!). These One Shot movies to me are somewhat comparable to Chris Hemsworth's Extraction movies on Netflix and that's definitely a compliment considering those movies have a Netflix budget behind them.

The story here is also way more ambitious than the 2021 original, but a pace killing torture scene and an anti climactic ending hold this back. There's also not enough Michael Jai White here. All his scenes come across like they were shot in a day and he only shares one scene with Adkins at the very end. Also as much as these movies look and feel like video games I'm pretty sure the intention also isn't to have your lead character come off like he's ripped out of a video game as well. It would be nice to give Adkins some type of emotional depth to work with in the inevitable third movie just to make the character feel more human.

Either way, sign me up for ONE LAST SHOT or whatever the next one is.

The Bricklayer is directed by Renny Harlin and stars Aaron Eckhart and Nina Dobrev.

This week is The Bricklayer next week is The Beekeeper. Going to be honest for a direct to video action movie dumped In the first week of January I was expecting a lot worse. Don't get me wrong this definitely has a lot of issues but for a DTV movie this looks pretty professional likely due to veteran action director Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2 and Cliffhanger) behind the camera and the Greece location actually gives this movie a sense of vibrancy and color throughout.

It was nice to see Aaron Eckhart in something again. Although after watching this I was curious on what the hell happened to his career and upon further investigation I found out that Eckhart is actually a notorious method actor so my guess is he rubbed some people the wrong way and he can't get any mainstream work anymore which is sad if true because I think he is talented. Counting this I've now seen Nina Dobrev in three movies and I'm kind of suprised she's not a big mainstream actress by now she possesses all the qualities to be one in my opinion but when she has movies like XXX: Return Of Xander Cage, The Out Laws, and now The Bricklayer on her resume you got to wonder if her agent is the problem.

So two likable lead actors, and a well shot and semi professional looking movie but unfortunately the overall story is what lets this movie down. It's just very cliche, very paint by numbers you've seen this a million times before and it's not done particularly well here either. There's a third act twist that you could see coming a mile away if you know how basic storytelling works also. Not sure if Renny Harlin and Eckhart will want to reunite for a potential sequel but honestly why wouldn't they because what else do they have going on these days.

"I loved her more than you ever could."

Mayhem! Is directed by Xavier Gens and stars Nassim Lyes.

We're only about 7 days into 2024 and I think we already have a contender for best action movie of the year. Mayhem! Also known as Farang (Foreigner) is like if you combine Taken and John Wick and The Raid movies and you blend them all together.

Sam (Nassim Lyes) is a guy who's taken a lot of punches both mentally and physically. When we first meet him he's an ex-con just getting out of jail trying to get his life together and escape his local gang. He eventually does build a life for himself and wants to buy a house for himself and his wife however Thailand's laws and a powerful real estate developer get in the way. As you could guess one thing leads to another and Sam is on a warpath for revenge.

Despite the story being so cliche I appreciate Xavier Gens as a director for essentially showing all of Sam's struggles for about the first half of this movie and showing the pain and hardship he has to go through so when his wife is eventually killed it's his breaking point and the Sam we get for the rest of the movie is cold and brutal when he has to be. The grounded approach of the movie's action design, combined with fight scenes that get more gory and brutal than the last really make this great. Sam also isn't invincible here making all the fight scenes feel genuinely dangerous. Xavier Gens (Hitman, Gangs Of London) is also a second unit director on the upcoming Gareth Evans, Tom Hardy movie, Havoc as well so if you already weren't excited for that this movie is even more reason to be.

This movie was a huge suprise for me and is easily a contender for best action movie of the year already with a star making performance from Nassim Lyes. Unfortunately I feel like this film will probably get buried because of its DTV release through IFC Films. Xavier Gens is certainly a name to watch in the action space going forward.

From the outside looking in this movie appears to be an inferior version of Cape Fear. However this is a well made indie movie that is equal parts mystery and thriller.

The story is engaging enough to also keep you hooked all the way through. Performance wise Dermot Mulroney maybe gives one of his best performances ever as Ray and director James Rowe probably watched Cape Fear before making this because Mulroney's performance here reminded me a lot of De Niro's from that movie. Alyssa Goss also does well with her role. Daren Mann as Dovey is the one who really gives a breakout leading role performance here and I hope to see him in more things going forward.

The film sort of feels rushed in the last 15 minutes however and the ending could've packed more of a punch. Overall though for a direct to video indie film this was above par mostly due to the strong performances from both Mann and Mulroney and the strong direction from James Rowe.

Ruthless is directed by Art Camacho and stars Dermot Mulroney and Jeff Fahey.

What should've been a competent Taken/ Death Sentence ripoff instead becomes one of the most poorly made and laughably incompetent movies I've seen this year. Dermot Mulroney stars as Harry a high school wrestling coach whose teenager daughter was murdered. He takes matters into his own hands when one of his female students is kidnapped and sold into a child trafficking ring in Las Vegas by her mother's abusive boyfriend.

Aside from numerous plot holes this movie has (like Mulroney's character not getting CPS involved from the start.) and the horrible dialogue and artificial supporting cast of actors (excluding Jeff Fahey) where it feels like this is their first ever acting gig. Director Art Camacho has been working in the industry for years as a stunt coordinator so for him to deliver a movie on this level is just sad. He ain't no David Leitch or Chad Stahelski unfortunately. Also I have to mention for a movie called Ruthless Mulroney's character isn't ruthless at all here and doesn't kill anyone he just breaks a lot of arms and fingers. Granted I should've known what I was getting into because most films that are distributed by Saban Films are on this level or worse but I was at least expecting something more competent than this.

If there's any reason to watch this movie it's for Dermot Mulroney who has always been one of those actors who consistently delivers good performances in everything they do but never really had a breakout role. He elevates the bad material he's given here the best he can but there's only so much he can do. He deserved a better action vehicle for himself. I can only hope he had a better time making this movie than I and probably anyone else will have watching it.

"No one gives a damn. Why should you?"

Walden is directed by Mick Davis and stars Emile Hirsch, Shane West, Kelli Garner and Tania Raymonde.

When small town court stenographer Walden Dean discovers he has a terminal illness he decides to become a vigilante to punish the people who deserve it. Emile Hirsch gives one of his best performances here as what I could only explain as "Dexter if he was on the spectrum." Seriously he really sold this role. His performance might come across as grating to some but I thought it worked for this movie.

Overall this movie isn't great but for a DTV thriller this was engaging to watch and competently made. The ending also sets up a sequel which I would be down to see.

"I'm nothing like my father."

Power Book 2: Ghost was created by Courtney Kemp and 50 Cent and stars Michael Rainey Jr, Mary J Blige, Gianni Paolo, Paige Hurd, Woody McClain, Latoya Tonodeo, Method Man, Alix Lapri, Lovell Adams Gray and Larenz Tate.

Tariq St Patrick has to grapple with his new world order. His father "Ghost" is dead and he pulled the trigger. On his own for the first time Tariq is forced to balance his college life, family affairs, drug operations and love life. Tariq soon realizes that the only way to avoid the same fate his father met is to become him, only better.

Lead actor Michael Rainey Jr went on record saying when he first heard he was getting his own spin off series that he didn't see how it would work and said that the Tariq character at the time seemed unredeemable. Lucky for him he was able to prove himself wrong and everyone else because this went on to become the most popular show currently airing on Starz and has consistently broken viewership records for them. Academy Award Nominee Mary J Blige stars as Monet Tejada a ruthless Queenpin who heads up the Tejada family which consists of her kids Cane, Dru and Diana and who Tariq finds himself entangled with. Aside from him they are probably the second biggest focus on the show.

In terms of performances I'd say Woody McClain does a great job playing the hothead character Cane here. The real standout and true revelation for me is Michael Rainey Jr as Tariq here. It's not easy to go from a supporting actor in someone else's show to leading your own not everyone can pull it off but he does seamlessly. He does a great job here and because of the writing and his performance you'll find yourself rooting for him. Each season of this show seems to get better than the last in my opinion with one being the weakest, season 2 being a significant improvement and season 3 which was helmed by new showrunner Brett Mahoney after Courtney Kemp left to make original content for Netflix being the best so far.

Season 4 started filming January of this year and added Michael Ealy to the cast. Luckily it managed to finish filming before the current actors strike. With any luck we'll get Season 4 in early 2024. Wish we could get it sooner after the cliffhanger Season 3 left us on.

"Be careful what you search for."

Outer Banks was created by Jonas Pate and stars Chase Stokes, Madelyn Cline, Jonathan Davis, Madison Bailey, Carlacia Grant, Rudy Pankow and Drew Starkey.

Not what I would call a great show the writing on this show is extremely questionable but in my opinion the cast is what saves this show. Chase Stokes who is 30 years old stars as 17 year old teenager John B where after discovering a clue to a treasure that has ties to his father sets off on a quest to get it with his three friends JJ, Pope and Kiara. This show is entertaining at times but dumb and if it wasn't for the Rafe character played by Drew Starkey who gives a level of commitment to his character that this show quite frankly doesn't deserve I'm not sure if I would've ended up binging all of this.

I kind of have to wonder if Netflix lucked out with this.

The first season for this show premiered back during the peak of Covid in 2020 and with everyone stuck inside this show blew up as a result. This was renewed for Season 4 earlier this year and it began filming earlier this year before being shut down by the current actors strike. Who knows when we'll see it now. Also take a shot every time someone says "John B" and you'll probably be blackout drunk by the end of the first Season.

The Retirement Plan is directed by Tim Brown and stars Nicolas Cage, Ashley Greene, Ron Perlman, Jackie Earle Haley and Ernie Hudson.

This is the fourth Nicolas Cage movie of the year following The Old Way, Renfield and Sympathy For The Devil it's not his last either as he has A24's upcoming Dream Scenario (which has been getting great buzz from TIFF by the way) dropping in early November.

Unfortunately The Retirement Plan isn't that good and it's mostly entirely carried by Nicolas Cage who never turns in a bad performance or phones any role in. Sadly this feels more like an excuse for the cast/ crew to take a mini vacation to the Cayman Islands for a week or two then for a good reason to even make this movie. It's fun and good enough for a one time watch but that's about it.

"I want every last dollar, until I'm running it."

Power Book 4: Force was created by Robert Munic and stars Joseph Sikora, Lili Simmons, Tommy Flanagan, Shane Harper, Issac Keys and Kris D Lofton.

After being the breakout star of the original Power series Starz decided to give Joseph Sikora his own spin-off series focusing on his Tommy Egan character after he cuts ties with New York and moves on to dominate the Chicago drug world after the events of the original Power.

If you're new to Power and you decide to just jump straight into this show the best way I can describe it is it's a mix between The Sopranos, Tulsa King and Gangs Of London. In terms of performances Joseph Sikora is the star of the show here this is his show and he makes for a good leading man and completely kills this Tommy Egan role. Other standouts are Lili Simmons (Banshee, Ray Donavan) as Claudia Flynn the daughter of the biggest Irish Kingpin of Chicago who takes an interest in Tommy. Tommy Flanagan (Sons Of Anarchy) is also good here as the jaded and bitter current kingpin of Chicago.

Out of all the Power shows this one is probably the most action packed but that's to be expected because trouble constantly follows the Tommy Egan character wherever he goes. Season 2 is already off to a great start.

Just finished watching this. Honestly this show exceeded my expectations as it did with most people it seems like. Of course there are going to be some people who won't like it but you can't please everyone.

I thought all the Straw Hats were perfectly cast and Inaki Godoy as Luffy was especially great he's literally perfect casting. Also shoutout to Emily Rudd as Nami she was also great. Great thing about this show is it's accessible to both people who know nothing about One Piece while also staying faithful to the anime and manga.

Hopefully this can get enough viewership from people to renew it for Season 2 it's very clear that everyone behind the camera and in front of it wanted to make the best show they could possibly make. Who would've thought that One Piece would be one of the few great anime to live action adaptations? Definitely not me.

If this does get renewed for Season 2 it'll probably be a while before we see it unfortunately because of the current actor/ writer strikes going on but I am looking forward to seeing who ends up playing Ace, Smoker, Robin, Vivi and Crocodile if this does get renewed.

"So the king does bleed."

King of Killers is directed by Kevin Grevioux in his directorial debut and stars Alain Moussi, Marie Avgeropoulous, Georges St Pierre, Frank Grillo and Stephen Dorff.

Shot in Canada back in early 2022 King Of Killers is the directorial debut of Kevin Grevioux who is mostly well known for being a producer on stuff like I Frankenstein and the Underworld movies with Kate Bekinsdale. Adapted from the comic book of the same name Marcus Garan's (Alain Moussi) worlds combine where his assassin life mixes with his personal which leads to his wife getting killed. Now left as a single father to a daughter who is having medical issues Marcus with nothing left to lose decides to take a 10 million dollar job to take out Drakos (Frank Grillo) who has the title of "king of killers."

This is a very basic assassin movie and unfortunately Kevin Grevioux as writer, director and an actor here doesn't necessarily excel at any of his jobs. For an action assassin movie this is kind of boring with a lot of scenes of people just sitting and standing around talking instead of you know fighting. This also is very predictable. Gang of killers try to take out the best and they all get killed one by one until suprise suprise it's only Alain Moussi and Frank Grillo in the end.

Oh and if you thought this movie dropped the "who killed my wife" revenge plot it comes back at the tail end of this. If you were wondering why Stephen Dorff signed up for this when he only has 5 minutes of screentime that were likely phoned in from his hotel room this movie gives you an answer at the end and sets up a sequel that sounds much more interesting and promising than what we got here. Certainly a watchable B movie that is elevated by Frank Grillo but whether the sequel set up at the end of this will ever see the light of day is another question all together.

"In that moment I realized, I didn't deserve her."

Inside Man is directed by Danny A Abeckaser and stars Emile Hirsch, Lucy Hale, Jake Cannavale and Ashley Greene.

Originally titled The Gemini Lounge but then retitled to the much more generic title Inside Man. The story (supposedly based on true events although to what degree I'm not sure.) follows Bobby Belucci (Hirsch) a disgraced police detective whose life spirals out of control once he discovers his wife (Ashley Greene) having an affair. After a public meltdown which leads to her leaving him for good and him being demoted as a cop he tries to seek redemption by going undercover to infiltrate the Gambino crime family's "DeMeo Crew."

Sort of a mix of Goodfellas and Donnie Brasco with Hirsch emulating both Ray Liotta and Johnny Depp but it actually works or at least for me it did. This is maybe his best role he's done since probably Alpha Dog or Into The Wild. Unfortunately not everything about this was strong because I actually feel like this lost steam as it went along and by the time the last 10 minutes rolled around and the ending happened I was kind of underwhelmed with how things ended. I feel like this movie missed a more interesting storytelling opportunity to have Hirsch's character break bad so to speak it sort of hinted at it but since this was supposedly based on true events I guess they wanted to honor the real life story.

Lucy Hale I thought was also really good here unfortunately I feel like she wasn't given enough to do and there was another storytelling aspect with her character that I feel like this movie should've taken advantage of but they didn't. If you decide to watch this you'll know what I'm talking about when it happens during the last 10 minutes or so. Overall Inside Man was better than expected and Emile Hirsch gives one of his better performances here so it's worth watching for that but overall even though this was based on real life events I feel like this movie played things too safe which led to this just feeling like a generic mob/ gangster movie by the end of this. Curious if other people have similar feelings that I did about this.

"No one, not even you, can kill everyone."

John Wick: Chapter 4 is directed by Chad Stahelski and stars Keanu Reeves, Ian Mcshane, Laurence Fishburne, Bill Skarsgard, Scott Adkins and Donnie Yen.

Was a little late to the party in regards to the John Wick franchise. I didn't discover it until 2019 before Chapter 3 and then I binged the previous movies before I saw that and instantly fell in love with it. On it's surface the premise of these movies could've easily turned out to be another generic action movie but what elevates these movies in my opinion is Chad Stahelski who with these movies has proved that he's one of the best action directors working in the business today. I'm definitely looking forward to whatever he does next as a director. The action here was phenomenal.

Honestly, this series really evolved like a video game. The first movie was, generally speaking, more grounded because the game was just beginning and John was low level. But then he survived and levelled up, so the second movie introduced upgraded armour and weapons and so on. That's why Wick was able to survive such ridiculous stuff in 3 and 4: he was a really high level vitality build.

The cast was great here obviously Keanu Reeves is always a delight but Bill Skarsgard and Donnie Yen did a good job here. It was also really cool to see Scott Adkins in a big movie like this I'm glad he got some much deserved attention in the spotlight even if he was hidden behind a fat suit. Without spoiling anything I will say that the end of this movie definitely surprised me as I didn't expect it to go where it did. After walking out I was conflicted on the ending but the more I thought about it the more It grew on me. I am intrigued to see where the franchise does go from here though. I assume Len Wiseman's Ballerina spin-off movie with Ana De Armas starring is next up and I would be lying if I said I wasn't slightly excited to see that.

"You promised to keep us safe. You didn't."

Shrapnel is directed by William Kaufman and stars Jason Patric and Cam Gigandet.

After releasing The Channel earlier this month William Kaufman is back with a revenge thriller in the vein of Taken and Rambo: Last Blood. Unfortunately I didn't think this was as good as The Channel but that was sort of a high bar to live up to well at least in terms of DTV movies. I didn't think this was a total misfire either there are definitely some redeeming qualities here.

I actually thought this movie was too short surprisingly and I feel like this could've benefited from actually showing Sean's (Jason Patric's) daughter getting kidnapped in the beginning or maybe a few more scenes between Gigandet and Patric to further flesh out their relationship. Unfortunately this also suffers from pretty weak writing and I blame Chad Law and Johnny Martin Walters for that. Johnny Martin Walters only other writing credit is a Steven Seagal movie from 2019. Chad Law is actually a pretty prolific writer in the DTV space having written last year's Ryan Kwanten led Section 8, as well as this year's Tubi Original The Getback and the abysmal movie The Flood starring Nicky Whelan. Luckily Law's writing is better here but it's still not great.

For the positives I thought Jason Patric was good here and he actually sold the emotional scenes pretty well. Cam Gigandet is also pretty good here and adds some charisma to this that's needed but he unfortunately barley has any screen time. Kaufman does what he does best and turns this into a pure home invasion shoot em up during the last 15 minutes which was the best part of the movie for me. All the action scenes here are good and Kaufman is the main reason for that but I feel like they were lacking compared to The Channel. With a better script and more emotional depth for the characters this could've been way better.

Til Death Do Us Part is directed by Timothy Woodward Jr and stars Natalie Burn, Cam Gigandet, Orlando Jones and Jason Patric.

What happens when you try to combine a Tarantino movie with You're Next and Ready Or Not? You get whatever Til Death Do Us Part is. This isn't a good movie but there are a few redeeming qualities about this that I'll get into.

There are two subplots in this one with the Groomsmen hunting down Natalie Burn's bride and another involving Jason Patric's character that didn't even need to be in this movie. This movie is also way too long and for such a simple premise it feels extremely dragged out. The writing by Chad Law and Shane Dax Taylor is also extremely cliche and filled with horrendous dialogue. On the positive side Natalie Burn in what I think is her first leading role is good here and Jason Patric who looks like he was interrupted during his vacation to film scenes for this also does a good job. The best part about this for me though was Cam Gigandet and his charismatic and zany performance got to give him props for at least trying to make this somewhat watchable.

How or why this managed to get a theatrical release I don't know. Ready Or Not with Samara Weaving which has a very similar plot to this is far superior.

"When we met, who'd you think I was gonna be?"

Power was created by 50 Cent and Courtney Kemp and stars Omari Hardwick, Naturi Naughton, Joseph Sikora, Lela Loren, Rotimi, 50 Cent, Jerry Farrara, La La Anthony, Shane Johnson and Michael Rainey Jr. It ran for 6 Seasons on Starz.

Binged this show back in 2021 but just now posting a review for it. This series was so successful for Starz that it spawned three separate spin off shows. Power tells the story of James "Ghost" St Patrick (Omari Harswick) a businessman by day and drug kingpin by night. "Ghost" has dreams of going fully legitimate unfortunately his wife Tasha (Naturi Naughton) and best friend since childhood, Tommy (Joseph Sikora) don't support his dream. When a chance encounter at his club with an old high school sweetheart, Angela (Lela Loren) leads to an affair "Ghost" decides he wants to rebuild a fully legitimate life with her and leave his drug dealing days behind for good. Since nothing is ever easy things get even more complicated when Ghost finds out Angela is actually a federal attorney and his past and present decisions come back to haunt him in the form of his old mentor, Kanan (50 Cent) among others connected to his drug dealing life. His son Tariq (Michael Rainey Jr) also ends up forming a grudge against him for leaving their family and having an affair with Angela.

The first 4 seasons of this show in my opinion are really good and worth watching. Unfortunately after that both Seasons 5 and 6 in my opinion get very sloppy and lazy in terms of the writing. The cast standouts here for me are obviously Omari Hardwick as the lead here who is really good in this role as well as Joseph Sikora as his hot headed best friend Tommy his character is not a good person in the slightest in fact almost no one in Power is a good person period. However Sikora is able to enfuse the Tommy character with so much charisma you can't help but root for him and I could see why he ended up getting his own spin off show.

Overall despite the weak writing in the two last seasons and some questionable leaps in logic at times Power is a show worth watching.

"Nothing is ever black and white."

Suits was created by Aaron Korsh and starred Gabriel Macht, Patrick J Adams, Megan Markle, Sarah Rafferty, Rick Hoffman and Gina Torres. It ran for 9 seasons on USA. The show took place in NY but actually filmed in Toronto, Canada.

After an attempted drug deal gone bad, Mike Ross who has a photogenic memory is able to con his way into working alongside hot shot attorney Harvey Spector. The series follows Mike and Harvey working on cases together and attempting to hide his secret (he's a college dropout who never went to law school.) As time passes they both gain respect for each other and become friends.

I originally started watching Suits back in 2020 when the entire world was shut down because I didn't have anything better to do I remember dropping it after Season 6 for one reason or another. Now flash forward to present day and with the series now streaming on both Netflix and Amazon Prime I didn't really have an excuse for not finishing the series. Well after watching the entire series here are my thoughts. Seasons 1-6 of this show are really good in my opinion and are worth watching. Season 7 there was a slight dip in quality, Season 8 was easily the worst season the series has put out due to both Megan Markle and Patrick J Adams leaving the show and Katherine Heigl joining. Season 9, the final season was a notable improvement over Season 8 which was near unwatchable. Although there are only four episodes worth watching in the final season but more on that in a bit.

Obviously the two stand outs here in terms of performances are both Gabriel Macht and Patrick J Adams as Harvey Spector and Mike Ross. As essentially the two leads here they carried this show on their backs for most of it. I also have to give Rick Hoffman credit who portrayed Louis Litt he served as excellent comedic relief in every season.

What stopped me from rating this series a 10 is this show in my opinion arguably went on two seasons longer than it probably should've. By Season 8 with the absence of the Mike Ross character the show started to feel stale and like it was going around in circles. So it's no surprise that in the final season when Patrick J Adams returned for three episodes they were arguably some of the strongest the show has put out in a while. The dynamic between Harvey and Mike and the chemistry that Patrick J Adams and Gabriel Macht had as actors was what made this show successful to begin with and I'm glad the writers realized that and capitalized on it for the final two episodes of this show so it ended on a high note rather than a sour one.

Side note: Gabriel Macht was so good throughout this series I'm surprised he hasn't gotten more work after it. Unfortunately after taking a look at his IMDB page he hasn't acted at all since 2019 when the series wrapped up. The reason I don't know maybe the pandemic and the current strikes going on slowed him down. Or maybe he just wanted to take a break after doing 9 seasons of television. Whatever the reason, I hope to see him headlining a new show in the future.

Joe Carnahan's Boss Level offers a premise we've seen countless times before, a retired special forces soldier tries to escape a never-ending time loop that results in his death. It's a premise that many have understandably got tired of. Yet I love it, time and time again these storylines have proven to be some of my favourites with Palm Springs, Edge of Tomorrow and Source Code being some of the best of the decade. Now Boss Level has come to join them. Throwing you straight into the action, offering an immense about of fun and some pretty enjoyable kills.

This is Grillo's film to carry, and he pulls it off with a combination of brute force and light charm that allows for one hell of a ride. He's always been an actor I've liked and in Boss Level, he gets you invested in the character, proving to be a lead role worthy of his talents. It might not break new ground, but somewhere inside its unexpected mix of chaotic violence, slapstick comedy and a heartfelt portrayal of fatherhood from the perspective of an absentee military father, it manages to be a thoroughly entertaining ride.

As a fan of both John Swab's work as a director so far and Frank Grillo I was looking forward to this. It didn't disappoint. Little Dixie is in the vein of things like Too Old To Die Young and Brawl In Cell Block 99 a slow paced methodical thriller that has you on the edge of your seat for the majority of the runtime.

As I said before I've been a fan of Frank Grillo for a while and if this was the 1980's I think he would be a huge star. He possesses all the qualities a movie star should have. Great looks, great actor and is charismatic and likable. Aside from having a leading role in two of The Purge movies Grillo has mostly been relegated to B movies where he's either criminally underused or completely wasted. With the exception being his collaborations with Joe Carnaghan in Boss Level and Copshop who knows Grillo is a skilled actor and charismatic and likable and puts him front and center and knows how to use him properly. Little Dixie proves that John Swab is the only other director Grillo has worked with so far that knows how to use him properly. He's front and center here and his name is the only one on the poster. Despite the cast containing some other recognizable names in Eric Dane and Annabeth Gish they don't overshadow Grillo or move him to the sidelines. Beau Knapp also gives a good performance here as the terrifying cartel member "Cuco".