I'm at least glad to see they didn't try to do a straight remake of the original movie. It's set in a very different location but takes the same idea of an incredibly rough bar that needs a strong bouncer to take care of violent gangs. The plot was decent. And most of the acting is pretty good but it is horribly let down by the dreadful Conor McGregor, who's neanderthal strutting, and Madonna level of acting drags the entire movie down into the mire. Every time he appears on screen are taken out of the movie and into real life to realise that he has escaped his MMA cage and burst his way onto the Hollywood screen. Hopefully they throw them back where he belongs.
Reviews
47 Reviews
The Beekeeper
(2024)
Goofy villains undercut Statham's attempt to be serious
8 February 2024
Goofy villains undercut Statham's performance as a tough guy in a silly over the top action flick. We've seen it before, retired tough guy pulled out of his quiet life, whether he be a beekeeper or a gardener or a bricklayer, for personal reasons to show his human side. Im willing to go along with the action trope and as a recent convert to a Statham fan thanks to Guy Richie I'm reminded why I was not a fan originally. I like his performance but the quality of the storylines and directing are often a letdown. In a misguided attempt to create a fast moving stylised action movie the director has produced a mismatch of tone and intention.
The Ark
(2023– )
It's Deja Vu all over again
9 February 2023
It's no surprise that this show comes from the creators of Stargate. If you've watched any space oriented sci fi over the last decade this sub genre has been explored in movies and TV so much there's been comedy and romance versions of it. I didn't see a single original idea in the first episode nor were there any interesting characters to add at least a distraction from the formula. It most likely got the green light as shooting everything on the space ship/same set will make it extremely cheap to produce. Sadly I can't think of a single redeeming feature to make it worth your while watching.
The Undeclared War
(2022)
Boring until the moment it became so awful
3 July 2022
A British spy show? I'm in. Simon Pegg? I'm in. Hackers and the new Cold War? I'm in. Dull dialogue and no action and yet another woman suddenly and unconvincingly becoming lesbian on screen in her time of grief. I'm out.
Morbius
(2022)
Sony, you can't do Marvel. Give it up for our sake.
22 May 2022
I was a huge fan of this comic and the B&W magazine Marvel put out back in the day so I thrilled that he was making a screen appearance. But this really is an unimaginative cut and paste blockbuster storyline. As far as plot is concerned it's a predictable snooze fest. And there is no progression from the early character of the villain to the later stage as Morbius's nemesis. He's just suddenly a bad guy. Sony, really? Have you not ever watched a Marvel movie? It's a well directed, beautiful looking movie but as empty inside as a vampire's soul.
Year of the Dragon
(1985)
Epic action movie but has not aged well
12 April 2022
This is old fashioned filmmaking at its best and worst. It has an epic storyline, dramatic larger than life characters, large scale action sequences and real crowd scenes before CGI created crowds for directors. But... it is old school film making. The fight sequences are not choreographed well, Mickey Rourke fires his gun in all directions as if he's never held one before and the gunfire soundtrack appears to have been lifted from a Western. And if you thought the zoom shot had been left back in the 70s you are in for a treat. But it's an epic tale of violence and romance well worth watching - if you can ignore the general poor quality of the soundtrack.
Black Crab
(2022)
Beautiful but fades towards the ending
10 April 2022
This visually unique movie with beautiful cinematography started off well and held my interest for quite a while but in the end it slid off the rails. It is one of those big concept sci-fi movies with a mortal dilemma but in the end becomes trapped and confused by it's own storyline and ends with a whimper rather than a bang.
Agent Game
(2022)
Agent Gamey
10 April 2022
I have to admit I only watched the first 10 minutes of this movie. But there was something off about it from the first second. The lighting was weird, the cinematography a little bit off and storytelling already lacklustre. It has the look and feel of something short on video of old even though there were wide street scenes at the beginning it had the feeling of an interior set, a very peculiar feeling for such a movie. When nothing happened and I didn't seem to care about anybody I decided life is too short and cut it off after 10 minutes and watched something else instead.
All the Old Knives
(2022)
A fresh cut on the spy genre
9 April 2022
Just when you think you've seen every spy twist. This is a nice suspense, spy, thriller with a personal touch. Some good acting, Chris Pine is proving too be more than a pretty face. Very well directed with lots of tension even in the taking head scenes. And a hurtful twist at the end.
Harry Brown
(2009)
One of the least enjoyable good movies I've ever seen.
8 April 2022
Downbeat does not even begin to describe this movie. Lowlives, thugs, drug addicts, mindless violence and dirty depressing locations occupied by losers and deadbeats adorn the first 10 minutes of the movie to set the mood - and it never gets much more cheerful. It's a great performance by Michael Caine and a good story but I felt like taking a shower after watching it to scrub the grime off. A very good movie but a tough watch.
The Ipcress File
(2022)
Better than the original movie
11 March 2022
Despite being a huge Michel Caine fan I was never impressed with The Ipcress File. It was a huge hit back in it's day but it has not aged well. The cinematography, if you could call it that, it shoddy and the action sequences are un-choreographed scuffles in the dark - which is often how the storytelling feels too. This more modern version, though set in the original time period, is full of twists and treachery as any good spy film should be. It's far more engaging and dramatic than the original with more fleshed out characters and all their follies. It does seem to borrow ideas from the Manchurian Candidate but they may have been in the original book so I can't criticise it too harshly.
Pagan Peak
(2018–2023)
A great show the fizzles out towards the end
1 March 2022
It's a good TV cop drama with interesting characters, well produced and acted. It's involving with its many characters. Unfortunately it's one of those shows that wants to give us something different and consequently sacrifices good story telling to pull it off. It reminds me of the second season of True Detective where tension and momentum just fizzle away toward the end and doesn't pick up again.
From
(2022– )
It's not deja vu, you've just seen it all before.
23 February 2022
There is nothing new under the sun and the town you can't leave certainly offers nothing new. You've seen it all before in various horror/hostage movies and TV shows. Archetype characters' feelings and philosophies manifest as different reactions to their situation and unite and divide them depending on their inclinations while fighting an external force, yada yada yada.
Reacher
(2022– )
A weak performance from a sack of muscles
11 February 2022
A lab grown slab of meat manages to speak and deliver weak dialogue to unrealistic characters in ridiculous situations. I have never read the books so I'm reviewing it as a stand alone TV series and unfortunately it doesn't have a leg to stand on. It's shame that muscle has replaces charm for this show's main character. I have seen swinging doors in dodgy diners with more character. I briefly considered watching the second episode but I decided against it - life's too short.
The Book of Boba Fett
(2021–2022)
High Noon a low point for Star Wars
11 February 2022
I really enjoyed The Mandalorian and hopes for the follow up The Book of Boba Fett but there were two let downs in this series. The first was the mysterious maverick enigma that was the bounty hunter Boba Fett is revealed to be a middle aged overweight man without much direction or guile. He was in fact a bit of a loser. The second was the heavy handed Western analogy that I've seen done better in Sci-fi before. A rudderless mess and damp squib of a show.
The King's Man
(2021)
An excellent return to form
11 February 2022
Although this is a prequel it is a great return to the atmosphere and tradition of the original film. I loved the first movie and despised the second for its attempt to give quiniticeitlally British quirkiness with an American twist, which fails every time. In this very involved story we have a great origin involving Kingsman infused versions of historical figures and a few shocking twists. It was far more enjoyable than I expected it to be and I look forward to the next instalment of the modern-day Kingsmen.
Sneakers
(1992)
Too much 90s humour weakens an otherwise decent thriller
25 January 2022
I just rewatched this in 2022 so the long 'humorous' sequences are extremely dated and sometimes cringingly so. However it's a good thriller otherwise with an excellent cast and any fans of Mr. Robot will be in for a big surprise with the core concept behind the villain's scheme. Almost Wirth watching if you can inform the imbalance between humour and thrills.
Eternals
(2021)
The best marvel movie of 2021 but it requires patience
17 January 2022
This is one of my least favourite formats for movies. You have to spend first part of the movie building their entire world and history to frame the characters and their situation. Of course it pays off later in the movie but I would have to consider the first 30 minutes of this movie to be quite boring. After the first act it does pick up pace but also fails to get interesting quickly as I did think this movies plot was going to be quite predictable. The latter half of the second act and a third - proved me completely wrong and there are plenty of surprises and twists. And for anyone who ever read the comic quite a turnaround on some of the characters. It is a slow boiler and while some of the comedy misses it's target quite enjoyable but with an excellent and dramatic ending. I would also have to question some of the accents which makes no sense considering the age of the characters. But I certainly hope to see future eternals movies.
Foundation
(2021– )
Apple's first hit for me
4 January 2022
I have found to date all of Apple's offerings to be tediously slow and extremely boring. I haven't made it through most of the first episodes of any series. In particular their other sci-fi offering Invasion was like watching paint dry on a wall. It was horrifically boring. Comparatively speaking this is like high octane action movie. The story is always moving forward even when there is just conversation happening there are plenty of surprises and lots of tension and a nice helping of treachery as you would expect with such a subject matter. Highly entertaining engaging characters great acting.
Hawkeye
(2021)
Bullseye (I'm sorry)
30 December 2021
An excellent marvel series with just the right balance of action and humour. I was a big fan of the comic in which this is based so it was nice to see a version of it on the screen 'bro'. Many so called comedies could learn a lot from the wit in this series which hits the target (sorry, last one) perfectly.
Don't Look Up
(2021)
Too on the money to be truly funny
29 December 2021
There's an old saying about comedy: it's funny because it's true. In the case of this satire it's not funny because it's true. About half way through this movie I stopped laughing because I believe this is exactly what will happen. Other satires have also fallen victim to the real world becoming more frivolous and absurd than the satire of the reality. Still a good movie but painfully funny rather than just funny.
The Matrix Resurrections
(I) (2021)
Why did they bother?
27 December 2021
It didn't take too long to realise that this whole movie was going to be a rerun of everything we've already seen played out with differed actors portraying far too familiar Matrix stereotypes. Perhaps it was an experiment to see how The Matrix would look with todays CGI. But there was really nothing new here either in concept or execution.
Hellbound
(2021– )
Shocking and original
21 December 2021
I'm not a huge fan of Korean TV shows. I've taken a look at a couple before end passed on them. But Hellhound is a different show by any standards. I'll give you a waring though it is stressful to watch, it goes to place and put is characters through experiences and forces them into decisions that are uncomfortable to watch. It's compelling and fast moving, perplexing and exhausting. Very original and quite violent. The violence though bloody is more shocking because of who it is being visited on and how rather then the violence itself. You won't see a show like this anywhere else.
Good acting but predictable from the first 5 minutes.
18 December 2021
I don't know whether it was heavy handed directing or too strong characterisation but minutes into the very first episode I could see exactly where what they were setting up with the introduction to the main characters. Almost immediately upon introduction to one of the characters I knew who had really committed the murder. It made the whole experience quite dull and frustrating to watch knowing exactly where It was going.
War of the Worlds
(2019– )
No understanding of Wells's original
8 November 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Part of the success and genius of The War has of the Worlds was the terrifying alien giant tripods stalking the landscape and destroying people with their death rays. In this banal adaptation they are replaced by tiny robo dogs that are highly unoriginal in design and could be a child friendly monster from doctor who.
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