Category: Film Review

In 2023, “M3GAN” took a release slot during the first weekend in January, and like so many other horror movies, it managed to do some business in the dead of winter. The feature turned into a hit, but perhaps more importantly to Blumhouse Productions, “M3GAN” managed to capture the attention of social media users who became captivated with the film’s weirdness and meme-able offerings. Of course there was going to be a sequel, and director Gerard Johnstone returns with “M3GAN 2.0,” taking over screenwriting duties from Akela Cooper. One could debate that everything about this story was successfully covered in the first picture, but that’s not stopping Johnstone, who does away with any type of suspense or eeriness in the effort, going full speed into campiness instead with a more action-oriented and slapstick-heavy continuation. The meme-ification is prepackaged this time around, and the entertainment value takes a serious hit. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Somewhere in the middle of all the Liam Neeson actioners, 2021’s “The Ice Road” was released, offering the usual in the star’s growly screen presence, but placing him behind the wheel for an unusual thriller about navigating wintry, unstable driving conditions across Canada. The feature found a somewhat captive audience during pandemic days, giving Neeson something of a hit during his “say yes to anything” phase. Four years later, and now there’s “Ice Road: Vengeance,” an unexpected follow-up that takes the main character from the slippery terrain of North America to the perilous mountain ranges of Nepal. It’s a big change of scenery for writer/director Jonathan Hensleigh, and, well, there are no ice roads involved in the story. However, there’s roughly the same mix of passable excitement and B-movie silliness to provide an entertaining sit, and while Neeson may be on autopilot at this point, he remains an enjoyably gruff action figure. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2022’s “Jurassic World: Dominion” was intended to be a massive conclusion to the second trilogy of “Jurassic Park” movies. It blended casts from both sagas to deliver gigantic action set pieces to go with its Big Idea on the ways of science and the world we all share. Sadly, the feature came up a little short when providing dino action, also struggling with overlength and a surplus of characters to deal with. “Jurassic World: Rebirth” isn’t a sequel to “Dominion,” but it inhabits the same world as the previous effort, with screenwriter David Koepp challenged to keep the franchise going without committing to a new arc of danger, crafting a standalone story about jungle peril that’s meant to vaguely resemble the original 1993 Steven Spielberg film. Director Gareth Edwards (“The Creator,” 2014’s “Godzilla”) is no Spielberg, but he’s darn good with large-scale mayhem. Koepp isn’t quite as disciplined, delivering an offering that takes its time to get to dino rampaging, while the script is determined to handle too much, including personalities and backstory, limiting the usual cinematic rush one expects from the brand name. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Dale Dickey has been a highly respected actress for quite some time, entering her fourth decade in the film business. She’s been impressive in various pictures, attracting special acclaim for her turns in “Winter’s Bone” and 2022’s “A Love Song.” Dickey’s a reliable talent, and she receives another opportunity to shine in “The G,” though perhaps “shine” isn’t the right word to use in this cold-blooded crime story from writer/director Karl R. Hearne. “The G” is being sold as a revenge story, but it’s not entirely a thriller, as Hearne favors a slower creep to the effort, creating something that’s more Cronenbergian in tone and shock. Once again, Dickey offers commanding work in the feature, and while “The G” takes time to get where it’s going, the march to doom is interesting, especially when Hearne goes pitiless, preferring a chilling viewing experience over an action-packed one. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Danny Turkiewicz makes his feature-length directorial debut with “Stealing Pulp Fiction,” which is an adaptation of his 2022 short film. And it probably should’ve remained a short film, as the screenplay doesn’t exactly provide grand ideas worthy of a lengthier screen examination. The story concerns dumb people getting in too deep when electing to collect Quentin Tarantino’s personal 35mm print of “Pulp Fiction,” which is a very strange idea for a movie, but perhaps there’s some madcap potential in the execution of such a weird plan. Turkiewicz tries to mimic Tarantino loquaciousness when it comes to his characters, but there’s just not much here to hang an entire movie on. Efforts to turn the offering into something madcap fail, and the central caper isn’t very striking, forcing the actors to go big to help Turkiewicz find a bit of life in a fairly sedate comedy. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Johnny Martin did okay with 2020’s “Alone,” which was a pandemic horror movie actually released during the early months of a pandemic. Timing was a bit eerie, but Martin managed to sell a small-scale understanding of a zombie apocalypse with some skill. He’s back with “Off the Grid,” which shares the same budgetary restrictions as “Alone,” only this time out the production tries to create a “First Blood”-style display of rural intimidation and survivalist violence. The screenplay by Jim Agnew (“Kill Em All 2,” “Rage”) doesn’t color outside the lines, setting up a basic confrontation between a man in the wild and the corporate stooges coming to get it. Perhaps more twists and turns would’ve been welcome, as “Off the Grid” visibly struggles to get any suspense going, watching Martin oversee a lifeless, poorly edited endeavor that also serves as something of an overacting competition. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Luc Besson has been working to rebuild his career after dealing with scandals, and the monster-budgeted box office wipeout of 2017’s “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” severely limited his professional opportunities. He’s been moving into smaller films to help with his rehabilitation, but offerings such as 2019’s “Anna” failed to attract much attention, and 2023’s “Dogman” was mostly ignored. Besson goes even more modest with his latest, turning to the power of a smartphone to photograph “June and John,” trying to launch a tale of free-spirited lovers with as little technical polish as possible, aiming to keep a sense of spontaneity to the endeavor, mirroring the energy of the lead characters. It’s a U.S. tale of attraction and impulsiveness for the French director (who also scripts), but his sense of storytelling is seriously out of whack. “June and John” hopes to be cute and meaningful, but the whole thing is bad poetry as the helmer strands his actors with impossibly lousy material. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The title “Bride Hard” is obviously a play on the 1988 action classic, “Die Hard,” and it represents the height of the production’s creativity. Instead of doing something inventive or propulsive with the one-woman-army concept, the picture remains content to be a Rebel Wilson comedy, which is a signal to the audience that laughs won’t be happening in this effort. Screenwriter Shaina Steinberg is tasked to create a “Bridesmaids”-like endeavor that highlights character banter and quirks, while director Simon West (an uneven helmer who recently did okay with last winter’s “Cleaner”) is in charge of exaggerated physicality, setting up Wilson to play a master spy aiming to wipe out a criminal enterprise. “Bride Hard” (which was shot two years ago) doesn’t have a brain and it’s not exciting, stuck with dismal slapstick and mostly flat performances while West periodically breaks out some violence to act as smelling salts for the offering. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2002’s “28 Days Later” offered director Danny Boyle an opportunity to purge his system of Hollywood habits after the troubled releases of 1997’s “A Life Less Ordinary” and 2000’s “The Beach.” Returning to his low-budget roots, armed with crude cameras to complete his mission, Boyle teamed with screenwriter Alex Garland for an updated take on the viral outbreak/zombie film, creating an adrenalized, down-and-dirty horror experience that delivered some feel for imposing atmosphere, and also helped to popularize the sprinting undead movement. “28 Days Later” was a hit, helping to readjust the helmer’s antenna, and a Boyle-less sequel, “28 Weeks Later,” eventually arrived in 2007, also managing to make a profit. Almost two decades later, Boyle and Garland return to this post-apocalyptic world for “28 Years Later,” though they come armed this time with a sizable budget, which doesn’t always fit the weirdness of the offering, as the filmmakers go semi-comedic with the second sequel, but still try to deliver acts of wild, vicious violence. “28 Years Later” gives the moviemakers full creative control of the saga, and they don’t really advance the storyline, preferring to linger on oddity as the endeavor makes its way to a ridiculous non-ending. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The worlds of music and monsters collide in “KPop Demon Hunters.” It’s a musical from co-writers/directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, who seek to explore pop culture trends through the world of animation, allowing fantasy to flow a bit more freely. The material isn’t exactly striking while the iron is hot, but the production has a vision for slickly designed action set pieces and plenty of musical performances, as selling a soundtrack is a top priority for the effort. “KPop Demon Hunters” obviously has a target demographic, and they should be pleased with this overview of heated fandom and band interactions. Outsiders might be a bit more bewildered with the particulars of this story, but the basics in struggle and sensitivity are noted, and the animation remains lively, keeping the endeavor moving forward with energetic visuals and pop star sheen. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After revisiting the inner world of “Inside Out” in a blockbuster 2024 sequel, Pixar Animation Studios goes to outer space for “Elio,” but they remain attentive to the sensitivity of emotions. While the picture has endured a rough production journey (a teaser trailer for a different version of the film debuted two years ago), the endeavor doesn’t come across as hastily reworked or slapdash. Actually, it’s extremely appealing, with directors Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi pulling together a grand alien adventure that delivers all the laughs, love, and gorgeous animation Pixar is known for. “Elio” deals with heartache, as all of the company’s offerings do, but the material (credited to Julie Cho, Mark Hammer, and Mike Jones) isn’t overwhelmed by sadness, keeping the eponymous character’s journey flavorful and packed with interesting and endearing characters. It's a delightful movie, and another reminder of Pixar’s creativity when they inch away from the financial lure of sequels. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A martial arts champion, Cynthia Rothrock moved from competition to the big screen in the 1980s, quickly becoming the highlights of the Hong Kong productions she appeared in. Supporting roles quickly turned into leading ones, extending her career throughout the 1990s before the action movie business died off. Rothrock has been working on different projects over the last few decades, taking small parts in family pictures and B-movie tributes, but she claims creative control with her latest endeavor, “Black Creek,” making her directorial debut, also taking co-writing and starring credits on the project. It’s a western, but, never fear, there’s a strong martial arts component to the material, which puts Rothrock’s character on the path of revenge, facing an evil casino owner. “Black Creek” intends to pay homage to genre influences and action history, with Rothrock getting some of the old gang back together for another presentation of butt-kicking. Intent is there, but execution isn’t, as the helmer doesn’t prioritize pacing on this unexpectedly glacial effort. Fans of Rothrock’s previous work in bruisers might find their patience tested in full by this overlong (115 minutes) feature. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

35 years ago, producer Jerry Bruckheimer attempted to bring the intensity and competitive ways of NASCAR to the big screen in “Days of Thunder.” The feature wasn’t very compelling and didn’t light up the box office, but Bruckheimer isn’t done with car racing, returning to even bigger screens with “F1” (a.k.a. “F1: The Movie”), this time offering the world of Formula One to viewers. And he comes heavily armed to help sell such cinematic power, reuniting with “Top Gun: Maverick” director Joseph Kosinski and writer Ehren Kruger to supply a big, fat, juicy audience-pleasing movie highlighting perhaps the most popular motorsport in the world. “F1” isn’t going to win on originality, but it’s often gloriously adrenalized and bigger than life, delivering an underdog story with high-tech filmmaking and the simple pleasures of star power, working to make sure everyone who invests in a ticket is sufficiently wowed. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Don’t Tell Larry” began life as a 2018 web series, offering a no-budget take on workplace politics and relationships, sold with some wackiness. Writer/directors Greg Porper and John Schimke certainly feel confident enough to expand on the original idea, giving the concept a feature-film treatment. Escalation is the name of the game here, putting Porper and Schmike to work dreaming up ways to test the main characters while they endure a hellish week of misunderstandings, accidents, and mistakes as they try to realign office hierarchy, screwing something up at every turn. It’s the stuff of farce, and “Don’t Tell Larry” has its moments, doing just fine with leads Patty Guggenheim, Kenneth Mosley, and Kiel Kennedy. The material isn’t steady and takes too many detours into lazy stupidity, but there’s enough here to entertain for those in the mood for an offering that’s darkly comedic and decently paced. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Improvisational comedy. It’s regarded by some as a breakthrough in funny business, while others view it as the worst the world of humor has to offer. It’s certainly become a major force in screen comedies, and it serves as part of the plot of “Deep Cover,” which is actually credited to four writers, including co-producer Colin Trevorrow, and features very little improvisation. The picture uses this subculture as a way to refresh the crime movie, following the panic of three improv players pulled into a scheme to become undercover cops in London, using their wits to deal with criminals. It’s a fun concept that becomes a mildly amusing offering from director Tom Kingsley, who toys with the unscripted ways of panic and presence, going for a more madcap tone as a potentially simple situation snowballs out of control. “Deep Cover” is kept alive by alert performances, as the story tends to feel overstuffed, finding the writers laboring to extend a short film idea. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While a few movies didn’t quite meet financial potential, Disney has managed to sustain audience interest in their run of live-action remakes of animated classics. These things have made a ton of money for the studio, and DreamWorks isn’t about to pass on an excellent opportunity to exploit arguably their finest animated film. “How to Train Your Dragon” managed to capture critical acclaim and box office success in 2010, paving the way for two sequels, T.V. shows, and a ton of merchandising. There’s even an entire “universe” based on the franchise at a Universal theme park. And now it’s back, in the flesh (and CGI), with writer/director Dean DeBlois returning to transform a cartoon world into something a little more real, following the Disney template as most of the story, characters, and tone are revived for a redo. While so much of “How to Train Your Dragon” is the same, there’s still life in the brand name, providing a suitably epic return to Berk that’s not as delightful as the 2010 effort, but it does the trick, especially for younger audiences who can’t get enough “Dragon” in their lives. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Two years ago, writer/director Celine Song made her debut with “Past Lives.” It was an offering about longing and life, sold with an indie film tilt that secured sterling reviews and impressive box office, helping to launch her career. She’s back in the thick of yearning in “Materialists,” examining a different processing of love and attraction, which the lead character turns into a type of math to serve her job as a matchmaker. The picture is being sold as something frothy and lively to help lure audiences into theaters, but “Materialists” isn’t a romantic comedy. It’s a more severe understanding of relationships and people, with Song once again refusing to butter up her material, preferring to go to some extremes to fully illuminate her ideas. Tonally, the movie is all over the place, but there are a few wonderful performances to keep the endeavor upright, and the writing contains moments of clarity when it comes to the ways of romantic expectations, providing more sting than sugar in this oddly conceived feature. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

With a few possible exceptions, Scott Adkins has managed to become the best thing about the movies he appears in. Perhaps that’s damning with faint praise, as these productions aren’t always created with the finest filmmaking minds around, and budgets are typically very small, but Adkins keeps moving forward in B-movies, usually prepared to put on a show for action fans. “Diablo” is his latest endeavor, and Adkins nabs a co-story credit for this rescue picture, which pits a desperate American ex-con against waves of Columbian enforcers out to prevent his reunion with a daughter he’s never met. Screenwriter Mat Sansom and director Ernesto Diaz Espinoza (“The ABCs of Death,” “The Fist of the Condor”) understand the mission, trying to deliver hard hits and near-misses in the offering, which carries an interesting viciousness. “Diablo” isn’t slick or swiftly paced, but it does retain intensity at times, and there’s always Adkins, who delivers a pleasing turn as a desperate man who’s always ready to fight. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Unholy Trinity” has the structure of an epic, arranging a war of personalities all vying for a hidden stash of gold, willing to kill one another to achieve their claim on a fortune. However, the film doesn’t look all that big and mighty, presented as a low-budget display of western formula that put up enough money to acquire the attention of two name actors. Director Richard Gray (“Robert the Bruce,” “Murder at Yellowstone City”) attempts to sell a battle of men dealing with their past, greediness, and guilt, but a gritty sense of hostility doesn’t emerge in the feature, which has its troubles when trying to sell a more dramatic take on the central conflict. “The Unholy Trinity” has some thespian emphasis to power a few scenes, but there’s not enough to cover the whole picture, which gradually comes to a stop as banal speeches compete with disappointing action for screentime. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The trials of parenthood are explored in “Echo Valley,” but not in full. Screenwriter Brad Ingelsby (“Out of the Furnace,” “The Way Back,” “Mare of Easttown”) examines the increasingly hostile relationship between a mother and her drug addict daughter, but the material isn’t a dramatic understanding of such particular suffering. Ingelsby is more interested in creating a thriller out of the situation, and not an inspired one with intriguing turns and corrupt characters. Director Michael Pearce (“Encounter,” “Beast”) has a committed lead performance from Julianne Moore, but not a firm grasp on suspense in the feature, which has a throttled sense of escalation and a screwy appreciation for its central crisis of motherly love. “Echo Valley” commences with some interesting illness, but once the writing starts to reveal its ultimate destination, it loses almost all of its appeal. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com