I have you covered over at BacktotheMovies for the perfect Predator series re-cap, keeping the fun going until August for Prey.
In anticipation for the upcoming Prey coming out in a few months to a streaming service near you, lets briefly go over the Predator film history whether you are a fan of the law or not.
Head on over atBacktotheMovies to get a nice and gentle read-through over some of Prey’s production details and the critical history of the franchise and how this new film will hopefully be different. Fingers crossed it delivers.
I’m sure this article will begin to get the blood flowing just in time for this new film, one thing is for certain is that this series needs new blood and fresh talent behind camera.
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football.
This review got a mention on the talented Stella Velon’s website, I encourage viewers to give the review a brief read as a nice taste for the thematic importance of the film, thank you.
Plot: A new and accomplished actress (Stella Velon) undertakes an interview where she unwillingly confronts shades of her past.
This review is special because it was featured on the talented Stella Velon’s website available here, with the below being quoted, take a peek as it nicely sums up my views on the film.
Review: The Critic plays out as an intriguing look at a compelling character, showcasing a dark and daring study full of different complexities. These are shown in a build-up of tension between an actress and a harsh interviewer. It’s the perfect setup for an unpredictable climax.
The film pays homage to the life of an actress and the demanding pressures of being in and out of the spotlight. Her spotlight is revealed in an interview, which acts as a gradual echo of her internal struggles. The film knowingly steers away from other typical actors/actress depictions…
Almost 10 years since A Good day to Die Hard and several more Bruce Willis straight to DVD action films, Die Hard 6 would be his perfect comeback whether for theatrical or streaming release and here is why.
From stopping planes, jumping off buildings, car chases, puzzling mind games, techno terrorists, Chernobyl, the Die Hard series has seen it all, giving audiences golden blockbuster entertainment for 25 years and the series is’nt finished yet. The release of Die Hard 6 may just be a matter of time. A down to earth cop getting stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time, never gets old, leaving him to find a way to bust himself to safety and save the day.
In terms of a realistic and relatable action series, Die Hard remains right at the top in that rare category of action films, with intelligence, quick wit and a delicate focus on family keeping the franchise going. The character of John Mcclane is one of cinemas most beloved action heroes of all time, belonging in the field of Rambo, Terminator, John Wick and pretty much most of the 80’s/90’s action heroes, but there is something special about John Mcclane. Even the soundtrack for these films have been a mighty success.
The Die Hard films are entertaining action films that have fairly realistic action scenes and scenarios. I actually like to think of the first film as more of a drama, with its intense situations and family element. This is helped because of the villain relationship with Mcclane, the dialogue is very smart. It is noted that the series evolved to be more ridiclious as the series progressed with Die Hard 5 being the one that took away the element of realism with the explosive, Behind Enemy Lines director John Moore controlling and orchestrating the feature to critical downfall. The car chase stands out for me for being the scene that took it a bit too far and one that didn’t quite belong in the Die Hard series, yet its still fun to watch.
Bruce Willis isn’t getting any younger but this could work for his benefit. We have seen Stallone’s Rambo age like a fine wine, morphing into the realm of Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino character, which is a pretty good compliment. Even the Rambo series provided some intelligent contextual post-war commentary on vietnam vets but in a cinematic setting.
The good news about the Die Hard series is that because they haven’t been narrative focused, the films always leave room for more films because its mainly the character that audiences love and after 5 films, the character has enough layers for more films, but only one more to finish the series off in my opinion.
It would great to see an older John Mcclane who reflects on the life and experiences he’s had, but yet still have that charm that audiences love. What works in the Die Hard series is that if you take away the action label and look at the character and situation, its those elements that really sell the picture.
This character is stuck in a situation he didn’t ask for and has to use his wit to get himself out of it and usually save the world. Its intelligent action scenes. A great example would be Die Hard 3, which had a few puzzles for Mcclane and Jackson to work through.
Despite some use of CGI, the Die Hard series usually prides itself with practical action scenes, there is a real care and attention to detail that each director has brought to the series, even the fifth film had a car chase with real vehicles, despite it feeling out of context, making it rather humorous as Mcclane nearly ends the lives of a few hopeless passengers. Although, the better car chase belongs in Die Hard 3.
A Good day to Die Hard
John Mcclane is a great character who everyone can relate with. Although Die Hard 5 received poor reviews, it was still the series third highest grossing film, earning over twice as much as 2019’s fifth installment,Rambo Last Blood. This to me shows that audiences would still be interested to see Mcclane in another adventure and the series is financially profitable, but this time due to his age and experience, the film could be shot around this element and I would love to see it as the films main selling point.
I think some film franchises remain timeless in each generation, whilst some simply die. John Mcclane and the Die Hard series is timeless. Each installment offers a different action scenario that I think still works today for the action audience. Some 80’s/90’s actions films haven’t aged as well as what they could have been. The Die Hard series has a degree of intelligence and tries to be more than a standard B film, except for the fifth installment, which at least had a father/son dynamic, titled A Good Day to Die Hard which was more of mind numbing action.
I really believe that the Die Hard series is for all audiences, you don’t have to only like action to get on board with the series. As I said, there is a dramatic element to each film, providing the character with a different obstacle in each film. With that, there is some vulnerability that you can get behind. Its more believable action than the Rambo films and perhaps Terminator because its plot’s context is more fantasy and science fiction driven. Die Hard sits right at home with you on the couch as you sip a cold one with a bag of crisps after a hard days work at the office.
We’ve seen John Mcclane be a father, hero, husband, cop, buddy and now we may see him as a man who has seen it all and ready to retire with a beautiful legacy that spans across nearly 25 years of cherished cinema. I can’t think of a more juicy premise for a Die Hard film, it just works on all levels.
We know Bruce Willis can act and be this character, there is no one else to play him and this series needs and deserves the perfect send-off to one of cinema’s coolest characters of all time and that you cant deny. John Rambo got his and now John Mcclane is ready.
Bruce Willis’s performances have been centered around disgruntled masculine characters, such as Looper, Glass and even some of his streaming action films, including First Kill. His next career moves hopefully begin to resemble the Gran Tarino character protrayal, only this time with the wit and charm.
This character certainly isn’t ready to Die just yet, with 5 established films giving the character several layers, audiences are more than pumped to see this series conclude in fine fashion, it seems to be more fitting and natural than needing a beverage after a long and satisfying run in the heat.
Die Hard 6 would be unique and original which is just awesome to think of in today’s age of cinema. We have’nt seen an action character last this long in cinema and still maintain the interest of audiences and directors in Hollywood since 88.
As it stands, I’m afraid to say that Die Hard 6 hasn’t been confirmed, but this may not last forever. In this day and age of cinema and covid, we really can’t say no to any project. The Expendables 4 was actually canceled for many years and now we have it flying into cinemas this year, with a cast of serious talent including Andy Garcia.
We know Disney canceled the project a while ago, but after Bruce Willi’s iconic Die Hard car battery commercial was released, audiences were pumped to see that action iconography back on the screen. All we need now is a brave director, someone who really understands the character of John Mcclane, give him a nice character focused story with heart stopping action and now we have our picture. There is a lot of talent floating around Hollywood and I am more than sure that one of them would be keen to get their hands on this project at some point in the future.
Most of the rumours surrounding the sixth film had Die Hard 4’s Len Wiseman returning as director and a story that told John Mcclane’s backstory. This seems fun and different for the series, yet I still want to see a more veteran John Mcclane, who has this rich legacy that will entertain audiences for generations, I really believe that this is a project that Hollywood should be serious about pursuing. Its the sixth film but yet it would still be as fresh as a brand new bag of lettuce, ready to slot itself nicely in a juicy burger.
With Disney’s streaming services and market growing by the second, it certainly is’nt impossible for them to renew their interest in the project. Disney are interested in targeting a larger audience by showing films and TV across all genres and franchises to audiences. Die Hard to me fits in with their ambitions to grow, it could be the perfect opportunity. It looks like Disney have begun taking control over the Predator series, which shows that creative control for franchises is of big interest, even Netflix would be interested.
For audiences who dismiss these films for just popcorn entertainment, it is worth noting the intelligence of the action scenes where Mcclane has to be smart enough to get himself out are very noteworthy and keep this series a notch above the rest. The action scenes do genuinely feel grounded in reality and come across as natural to how the plot progresses.
Considering it’s one of Hollywood’s most successful franchises, upon taking apart each film, they are not as Hollywood as you may think, with each film containing elements of real drama and chaos.
Even to this day, the Die Hard series seems to tick all of the boxes of what makes a great action concept, explosive action, family, villains, relatable hero and a touch of brains sprinkled in its utter madness. Although, the fifth film was more of a downer, I have really enjoyed each Die Hard film, even the fourth Die Hard has gotten better with age. The series has maintained a fairly high standard and there is no reason why it cant re-innovate this idea and concept.
It has to be said this series has acquired a collection of mighty directors and writers, which include, John Mctiernan (Predator), Len Wiseman (Underworld series), Steven E. de Souza (48 Hours) and Jeb Stuart (The Fugitive), who is writing the upcoming Assassin’s Creed series.
With Terminator, Blade Runner, Rambo, Mission Impossible, Alien, Predator, Indiana Jones, Top Gun, Bond, Mad Max, surely Die Hard deserves the right to extend its legacy into the medium, whether that’s TV or film, lets hope and find out.
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football.
In preparation for Night has Fallen, lets re-cap on the has fallen series starring Gerard Butler and Morgan Freeman.
Long are the days of the 80’s action parody, the has fallen series is a modern dramatic action series, redefining the modern action hero with terrorism plots. With a series that dates back to 2013, it’s fun to look back at how this series has evolved and spawned so many sequels.
Perhaps, hollywood’s most predictable action franchise, with the title for each film giving away the plot and situation, has enough elements going for it to make a fun ride each time. Let’s discuss.
It was 2013 that started Olympus Has Fallen and it was about time that an action director had a go blowing up the white house in a die-hard fashion. The film took itself very seriously but did genuinely manage to squeeze in some high octane moments with Gerard Butler as the lead.
Due to the film’s financial and even critical success, it was no surprise that its sequel was greenlighted, London Has Fallen. Continuing the trait of 80’s action, the film threw Gerard Butler into the rainy streets of London, relying on him to save the day once again. Its third installment, Angel has Fallen is the most developed installment in the series from a character point of view, blending drama and action as its main niche and selling point.
With all this said, its very rare for Hollywood to produce a franchise based of a stand alone action film. The only franchises that have done this are The Expendables, John Wick and now the has fallen series. Lets go over the series and extract what worked for each film. I don’t think these films are perfect in any way whats so ever, however, we have to look at what worked in this franchise and there are several components because if the audience didn’t click with these films then we wouldn’t have had a trilogy and certainly not a TV series.
With each film, you know what you are getting into. These films have prided themselves for being fairly serious and dramatic action films that put focus on loss and destruction, in thats I think the film begs you to have an emotion towards the buildings and location in decay. The only real fun of the film comes from the scenes with Gerard Butler, where he is working on his own, like a lone modern Chuck Norris. These films are surprisingly a lot more serious than what we might expect, even more serious than the slick style and nature of John Wick.
The character development in this series has been pretty good. For a start, the series directors and produces didn’t go into this franchise with the intent of creating the new and next John Mcclane. The series isn’t concerned about creating a Rocky or a Rambo, and this point I don’t even consider Gerard Butler as a typical action character, he is as human as you can get. His fight scenes are never glamorous and overly positive, he moves on very quickly. In the best way possible, there really is nothing special about Banning’s character and that’s what works about this series.
I feel very strongly towards the idea that Gerard Butler is’nt doing any Bruce Willis impression despite what some film critics have said towards the original, he is strictly serving a different character, someone that isn’t capable of doing some of the stuff in the Mission Impossible, John Wick and Die Hard franchise in a good way, the action resembles the fight scenes from the Taken series with Liam Neeson, even after the third film Angel Has Fallen, the film crew hasn’t gotten too ahead of themselves with the action, whereas the Die Hard franchise saw several more unbelievable action scenes that even Batman or Superman could survive. With that said, lets take a look at the series best action scenes.
As much fun as these films are and can be, the biggest glaring problems that these films have, mainly the first two is that at times the serious political drama side to the plot can overshadow the more enjoyable elements of the film, being the action scenes, which also can get very grotesque.
These films are very serious and in that you have to know what kind of film you want to see. Most action films now a days have a goofy tone, the has fallen series are as serious as you can get. In fact, these films can get too serious for its own good.
The seriousness of the plot is what sells the threat of the force that they are up against. A lot of action films now a days have tame villains, however, the violence and drama of these films are so heavy that you never really know if our leads will make it alive without a scratch and they certainly don’t achieve the kills with ease, like we see in the Rambo series.
The violence in this series is fun at times, however, some of the kills are truly brutal leading to on occasion unnecessary kills, which may cross a moral line for some audiences. Action films never really cross any moral lines today, the has fallen series has had a controversial reputation for its violent presentations. The first film established the tone, with its violent white house attack.
A lot of the seriousness of the film can be due to the cast, thanks to Morgan Freeman, Aaron Eckhart and Gerard Butler who are all formally dramatic in these films, leaving little room to squeeze in some top quality laughs and banter, as it may feel completely out of place in a terrorism plot and so it should be. Morgan Freeman is so good he can be in any film and sell his performance.
Most of the laughs come before the explosions and are present once the film gets the action established, usually in the middle of the picture for those that are wondering. In this series, no shirtless action heroes, no vests and capes, they all wear formal clothing like suits, even blood splatters don’t stop them from taking their shirts or ties off, they’re just too cool and good for that nonsense.
With London Has Fallen being the series highest grossing and a carbon copy of Olympus Has Fallen, Angel has Fallen has re-inovated the franchise, developing the character of Mike Banning to a whole new level of action cinema, drifting past his generic action star label to a man with an interesting relationship with his dad, played by the perfectly cast Nick Nolte who appears to have appeared from no where and he is just brilliant, literally. He once played a serious role in 2011’s hit sports drama, Warrior. Angel has Fallen serves Mike Banning with a more personal threat this time around and this theme hits home hard.
Angel Has Fallen was directed by Greenland’s Ric Roman Waugh and certainly continued the tradition of making these films to be more focused on the actual situation and characters than the action and that’s important. I like the fact that the action wasn’t Angel Has Fallen’s main selling point, it’s the situation that Banning is up against, which has a dramatic underpinning with his father relationship. At this point, the has fallen series ceases to become a comedy or a parody, which many audiences saw in the first two because the plots were completely ridiculous.
However, with all this said, you have to take this series seriously, that is the only real way to enjoy and get the most out of it. Hold back any rationality and attempt to be absorbed in the characters and what they are going through, this is how the series is designed to be. Forget the charisma in Die Hard and John Wick, Gerard’s has fallen series gets the drama going in suit style, take it away Gerard.
The future for this series looks very promising, sometimes an action series runs dead after 2 films let alone 3, but this series looks to have a fourth in the works titled, Night Has Fallen and there have been rumours flying around that a TV series is in the works, introducing new characters to the universe, wow what a day for Gerard Butler and his crew in the white house.
Its a shame that this series got the greenlit ahead of the White House Down flick in 2013, which I absolutely loved, being one of Emmerich’s most enjoyable films more so than his recent flop Moonfall.
Above all else, the character of Mike Banning is relatable and that’s what counts when the action is getting off. Liam Neeson is’nt universaly relatable because he’s just too good for anything, an expert, whereas Gerard can still sell the masculine vulnerability in these action scenes that are hard hitting and somewhat regular in a good way.
As I said, this series is a drama action kind of deal and if you take the films seriously just as they want you to do, you will appreciate the characters and story on screen alongside exciting action scenes that feel grounded in reality.
I recommend watching all of these films in order, grab some pizza and leave your plans free for Friday and Saturday night, you are all settled for an enthralling action experience.
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football.
A modern commentary on cinema’s status on the war genre.
From science fiction, character, true story, the war genre has seen it all and lets explore how it has been represented in the history of cinema.
The war genre has been around as way back as the world wars begun, we have seen the high’s and lows of the genre, with Michael Bay, Spielberg, Mel Gibson, Oliver Stone, Sam Mends and now Christopher Nolan whose film, Dunkirk, is as fresh as bag of ice cube lettuce, lets discuss.
Orchestra and theatrical performance in war, the director allows actors screen time to develop their emotion on screen, with some of the best and well-known examples being Apocalypse Now with Martin Sheen and Marlon Brando. However, the genre has depth and range, providing directors the opportunity to execute the genre differently, either through extreme violence, an original narrative or in our case study, the sublime editing of Dunkirk.
Another example could be Jarhead. Jarhead doesn’t particularly have a story but it has character, even when these characters are’nt fully developed, their screen time and presences allow us to learn a lot about them and who they are. In that case, the war element feels close to home, very relatable about a film that gets the most out of the characters before war even starts.
Platoon, on the other hand, blends both character and war together, we get the violence which is used in conjunction with character development. jarhead just does;not have the focus on the war effort, in fact, it purposely avoids it for thematic effect.
It’s one of the best subtle anti-war films ever made, a film that celebrates characters who are obviously opposed to the fighting war effort, but don’t actively say it or express it, they keep this frustration to themselves for it to only come out in outbursts and conflict between their crew.
A modern contrasting example is Dunkirk featuring less emphasis on character, which I believe could be “this decade’s quintessential war film”. Every decade has been met with an outstanding war film, yes we have experienced several low-budget war films that have stood on their own including Kajaki. Every decade has had their Saving Private Ryan.
Saving Private Ryan is more narrative driven, it has supposedly an original narrative that takes the viewer on an emotional long journey following the rescue of a brother who lost his family in combat. The film feels like its own theatrical picture rather than a piece that is made to just represent war alone, Saving Private Ryan takes it up a notch with character and story.
Dunkirk will be the war film of the late 2000s, more specifically the WW2 film that dominated the 2010’s, with its close competitor being Hacksaw Ridge, which was more story and character driven but perhaps Dunkirk’s technical charm, universal appeal with Nolan’s experienced yet down to earth wizardly approach outruns the heavy and dramatic Hacksaw Ridge, told by the knight Mel Gibson.
Another film that follows Dunkirk in its tradition is Black Hawk Down, a war film that is so situated in realism, that the approach allows for tight editing and sound effects. The crew are concerned with making sure the situation hits, which means that the film is light on character, however, its action scenes really make the characters stand out as heroes.
In terms of Dunkirk’s lack of grotesque imagery, this is a contradiction to Saving Private Ryan, as that film didn’t hold back on its violence. However, Dunkirk’s 12a/PG-13 rating is really important in drawing in a much larger audience, a film that could be seen for the whole family, Saving Private Ryan and Hacksaw Ridge are both brutal at times, urging younger viewers to perhaps take a backseat.
Dunkirk has established WW2 as a cinematic language and art form in the hands of Nolan and his editing team who have tightly knitted a tense situation from beginning to end. Although the cast is talented, the film pays homage to the battle and soldiers of Dunkirk more than anything else. This approach is incredibly contained and focused, leaving little filler and crust for anything else.
Dunkirk’s execution was a sight to not forget, but its story is remarkable and inspiring. Unlike Saving Private Ryan, where its narrative is more controlled, the story of Dunkirk actually happened, which really turns up the authenticity. Its inspiring, remarkable, and a testament to the thousands who risked everything.
Its visuals are a testament of how wonderful war cinema can get, its images belong in the same iconography as some of the images in Apocalypse Now I believe, take a peak. Its worth pointing out that Dunkirk excels in the plane action scenes, there are unlike any other war film.
Cast your mind back to Saving Private Ryan, another film with a great cast, but you forget about the celebrity status aspect as soon as that first bullet flies past the soldiers. As classic Spielberg tradition, he transports you’re attention into the scene and situation.
Dunkirk is strictly depicting an event that took place during WW2, its execution is simple and solid. It wastes no time with character development and its story is situated in plot context. The film has restablished war on the big screen, not many WW2 films in recent years have achieved a similar acclaim, Dunkirk may be the main WW2 film that younger viewers grew up with and connect with. Its story is fantastic and heroic, but its not too gruesome and the film never gets too dark.
Its thematic conclusion is uplifting when you consider what the soldiers had been through and the cinematography is a vast improvement from war films in the past, to not put any of those films down today but the technology that film crew have now means that the film will always look better than amazing at home on blu ray or 4K, Dunkirk is a must own in that regard and older war films just can’t compare in the same visual quality.
When Saving Private Ryan broke out in the late 90’s, it re-established war violence in a way that cinema had’nt seen before. In that regard, it was ambitious and took a lot of risks. When you go for hyper realistic violence, there is always a risk that the audience gets turned off because its just too much. Just like Spielberg fashion, the director likes to takes risks and sticks with his decisions. Nolan’s interesting cast is a hybrid of celebrity and newcomers, with the likes of Tom Hardy, Harry Styles, Cillian Murphy and the magnificent Kenneth Branagh, whose performance is one of my favorites from him.
Nolan on the other hand, has a more delicate brush to the war genre, utilizing the audience as a spectator in an exhibition, taking us along the way of the events of Dunkirk. Dunkirk is more of a museum, whereas Saving Private Ryan is a rollercoaster. I believe that Dunkirk will be the quintessential WW2 film for young audiences for the next couple of decades, but we will see. Considering the depth of its story, its perhaps the genre’s most down to earth representation.
Although, its spectacle is truly impressive, it never seems to take away from the core essence of Nolan’s themes. We have seen plenty of war films loose the plot with its action, which causes irregular pacing, editing and tone. Dunkirk is as fresh as a perfectly sliced tomato, yes the tomato may not be as exciting as passionfruit, but it’s well preserved, finely cut and ready to order…Dunkirk ladies and gentlemen.
Even though Dunkirk is our main case study, After looking at these war films, we have 4 dimensions of the genre on display here. These include, character in Jarhead, Performance in Apocalypse Now, story in Saving Private Ryan and plot in Dunkirk. These are 4 lovely combinations of the genre, just like a perfect chicken sub sandwich. For those that want the character and the action, Platoon is right up that angle.
As a standalone film, Dunkirk is an absorbing ride, however, I invite you to watch a number of the war films discussed before seeing Dunkirk, as it may just blow you away that little bit more, once you know how unique its approach is, lets find out.
As Dunkirk was our case study, you can pick the film up on blu ray here.
However, what is your favorite out of the bunch?
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football.
In Preparation for The Expendables 4 , a film with the series’s highest budget, lets go over the series top five best action scenes.
It would be 2010 that would be the start of 3-part trilogy. Whilst some have disliked the idea and execution right from the get go, others have been able to get on board with the concept and embrace its utter ridiculousness.
Whether what side you are on, this franchise has boasted some remarkable moments from most of the cast members, to the point where you just can’t believe how any them survived, but remember, The Expendables bridge that fine gap between ordinary and superhero.
If you are considering checking this franchise out then perhaps these 5 moments may convince you or give you a better idea of what to expect. It’s true these films have never been rewarded for character development and writing, but the iconography alone is still entertaining enough.
Most importantly, the action set pieces have been well put together in each film, with director Simon West (Con Air, Tomb Raider, The Mechanic) and Patrick Hughes (The Hitman’s Bodyguard) both having their say on how the film should look and feel, but it was the experienced Stallone that set the standard for the series with the first film, offering more of a dramatic and realistic take on the action. To be fair, the series has maintained this tone in its sequels.
However, to this day, I still don’t know whether some of the kills are supposed to have a sense of self-aware humor to them or if they are meant to be just plain violent.
Here we go!
Starting off with number 5.
5. The Expendables: Ride and Die. Catching a flight!
This scene is pulled straight out of the first film. This had all the makings to be an interesting action scene on paper. It’s a scene where it develops the chemistry between Statham and Stallone even further as the two have to work together in a pretty extraordinary situation.
Stallone and his crew definitely thought of several ways of how they can destroy enemies on a large scale, this method seems to be very effective. For any die-hard fans of planes out there, the plane they use is a Grumman HU-16A Albatross.
This scene will be especially problematic to execute in real life, but Statham and Stallone pull it off. They would later use it in the sequel, but it was at its most fun in the first film. A unique action scene, one which we had’nt seen before in the modern action genre category of films in the 2010’s and maybe even prior. Its retro old school action that for me worked a charm and a blast.
4. The Expendables 2: The Airport Scene
The sequel grossed more than its original and its for good reasons.
This scene comes from the second film, where newcomers Chuck Norris and Van Damme were added.What a way to conclude the sequel, featuring more stars and this time the tone is comedic but just as violent.
However, we see Bruce Willis make a comeback as well as more screen time with Arnie. It’s corny in places but it has the visual literacy of action icons at its peak. We get to hear several dialogue exchanges from their previous work. Some of the lines work and some don’t. The highlight is Bruce Willis driving a small car with Arnie as the passenger.
3. The Expendables 3 final act/Mel Vs Stallone
Its Mad Max vs Rambo and these two don’t like each other, if only they could work together they could dominate the world.
The Expendables 3 is probably the least violent in the series but the Stallone and Gibson rivalry is what keeps the film working and helps you to take the film seriously when the bloodless action occurs to fulfill its PG-13 rating. Given the critical and financial reception of this film, some would be surprised it’s this high on the list, but this fight is pretty cool.
They both had stunt doubles for some of this sequence, but a lot of it looks real for the most part. These are two actors who are in their sixties and are still giving convincing action. Harrison Ford will also get some screen time in the final act. Hovering above in a helicopter but not the Millenium Falcon.
In this last scene, we get some good action scenes from some of the younger cast crew who are all very tough, Arnold can be seen using his AA-12. This finale is good because it is’nt full of constant one liners unlike the finale of the second film. Its quick and snappy.
2. Stallone Vs Van Damme
In terms of sheer brutality, this scene packs it.
The physical nature of this fight scene is on par with some of the fight scenes from The Raid (2011). You can feel every crunch and punch. Both of these actors have very different physical attributes which make this scene worth watching.
It’s two styles clashing together, the outcome is intense. Both clearly know how to prepare physically, making the scene just that more realistic. In contrast to the Gibson vs Stallone fight, this installment was given a hard R rating, whereas the third was PG-13.
1. The Final Act
For my number one spot, I wanted to put emphasis on the first film as it is still the best in the series. The final action scene is fantastic because it takes itself seriously, you feel the stakes and the threat.
Given it’s been a little over 10 years since its release. the final act of the first film is everything you want from this type of genre. You see explosions, knives, bombs and more use of the AA12. To me, the tone of this final act feels the most realistic compared to the sequels, which sounds a bit ridiculous but It has a sense of grit.
The whole sequence is around 25-30 mins long and it never felt too long or too short.It’s a group of around 6 men taking on a whole army. The camera work and stunt work are all top notch and there is great use of physical combat. In particular, look out for Jason Statham and Jet Li’s characters as both have their moments of fine armory.
Overall
These films work as an expression of mindless entertainment. The casting is different for each film, which gives the viewer a deeper incentive to be interested. I think they are good for Friday and Saturday night watches.
If you are looking for films that pull the heart strings, I would recommend steering away from this franchise, although lookout for the scenes with Mickey Rourke in The Expendables. One aspect I would like to point out is the soundtrack by Brian Tyler. Each of these scenes would not have been as effective without his soundtrack and input.
Brian Tyler would later compose the music for the Fast and Furious films and Iron Man 3. I recommend checking out his work, he’s very talented. Out of the three, the second one was the most financially successful, achieving a worldwide figure of $311 million. This film is also the only fresh entry on rotten tomatoes with a 67% rating.
Most importantly, check out the films for yourself, all three films are available on Amazon Prime. and you can buy the three film collection here.
Do you agree with the list?
What are your favorite action scenes from The Expendables?
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
The Mechanic Resurrection shows why sometimes you don’t always need the recommendation from film critics.
Jason Statham delivers a character in expert fashion in the Mechanic Ressurection. With a character that can do everything, when he gets hurt, he gets hurt bad in this film.
The Mechanic Ressurection may pass at first glance as a typical straightforward B action film, however, there is a slick character study of Simon Bishopat its heart.
One of 2016’s lesser known and discussed action sequels, The Mechanic Resurrection grossed almost twice as much revenue as its original, The Mechanic and it’s for some great reasons.
This being the sequel to 2011’s The Mechanic directed by The Expendables 2 Simon West, is a continuation of the character, using the same soundtrack and style of action, only this time, the plot takes the character to a whole new experience thanks to the addition of Jessica Alba. The writers for this sequel have a strong background and experience in the action genre, with Tony Mosher writing the Antonio Bandera flick Security only one year later in 2017.
The film was also produced William Chartoff who would produce Creed and Rocky Balboa as well as producer Robert Earl who produced The Expendables series. Its clear to say the film had the right backing in the action genre and its execution was just right.
Trying to make every assassination job look like an accident seems like an impossible obstacle to achieve, the Stath manages to do this incredibly but it comes with a price and these prices are a joy to watch in The Mechanic Ressurection.
The underrated complexity in The Mechanic Ressurection: A decent and interesting character study that expands upon its original form in Simon West’s slick remake in 2011. Jason Statham is a fantastic actor who has a great deal of range in the genre, even some soft romance this time around.
Its worth noting that Jason Statham is a serious action star, there are’nt many of these kind of stars left in Hollywood. Sometimes, you get action stars that swing the other way with their performance featuring more charm and wit like Dwayne Johnson. Jason Statham always looks impossibly convincing in the action scenes, this realism really helps sell his character and gets us to understand who this guy is and in that sense he feels very human on screen.
Most audiences tend to be unable to separate Jason Statham’s films and the characters he plays from one another. His character as Simon Bishop is very distinct and unique to other characters he has played before including the more outgoing Lee Christmas in The Expendables series, who shares a more deeper and humorous relationship with his crew men including Barney Ross played by Sly.
The fact that this guy is so efficient and works on creating these highly intensified and specific plans when he takes out the enemies, ultimately makes him more vulnerable and here is why. The scene below really showcases this theme of practicality very well, a man who settles for excellence as his minimum standard,
The way he plans out his kills are so specific and strategic that if one area of the plan fails the whole plan fails and he could loose his life in a heartbeat. He has to be on top form everytime and knows that he is going to succeed, in that he places himself in some pretty vulnerable situations, where the distance between life and death is short.
However, the film’s action sequences which have been bashed by most critics for being super generic are still a lot of fun to watch. They feel fairly realistic, although they escalate to more ridiculous circumstances. The action itself is realistic and it has a lot of close quarter combat where you can see real good stuntwork in place.
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The film really goes fo the violence which is really important, if the film had held back on the violence then that would be a problem because that’s when you become disengaged in the project. The violence is hard hitting and we see the blood just as you would in a typical Statham flick. This is helped because the costume designs of the villains and the choice of weapons all help ground the action in reality as much as possible.
However, the most intelligent aspect to the film is the manner of which Simon takes out his enemies, its the real USP, spice and flavour of the picture. The film’s cameramen do an excellent job of filming these scenes so that we can understand the whole plan taking place and we don’t miss a single aspect or shot, which is so important. Therefore, like Inception, we really have to pay attention to the expertise on screen when the action is taking place because it is helping progress the plot and developing layers to the character of Simon Bishop.
Its a fun concept to watch on screen, seeing someone who is so precise about what he does and when this is the case, when or if he crashes than he crashes hard. That way, these assassination scenes do a good job of holding your suspense as we see him do extradionary things.
This is ironically different to a lot of character driven action films because the manner in which Simon operates is on a whole new level of expertise and usually character driven action films would develop the character in a more emotionally dramatic way, The Mechanic Ressurection gets straight to the point and chooses to develop the character through its action, skipping all the emotional fluff, that’s the way I like it but yet there is vulnerability as we see real consequences to the fight scenes.
It helps to have Tommy lee Jones as the film’s villain. Obviously, the films main plot is full of action genre cliches and for the most part is’nt very interesting. However, when paired with Jessica Alba, the two have a very good screen presence and Jessica Alba is very good in this film as she can sell beauty and power all at once, she works with Statham with good chemistry, their relationship shows a different side to Jason’s character, which is what a sequel should do. In sequel terms, The Mechanic Resurrection does a great job in showing different types of action scenes, it really mixes up the bag.
Whats also great is that this film feels like a summer film, the locations are perfect to get you in the mood to watch a popcorn action film. With sun’s shining, beaches glistening, Jessica Alba and whole lot of guns and explosions but they are all worked together for a complete satisfying experience.
When you watch interviews from the director, Dennis Gansel, he really got the execution spot on and was the right talent for this project. He knew how capable Jason is at action scenes and knew the real essence of the film which for the most part are these intense and complicated assassination scenes that require 100% focus from the film crew. The director considered how he would want to see these action scenes from his and the audience point of view and he pulled it off. The action surprisingly doesn’t feel too over the top which is great to see.
Its a straight forward action flick but it cares about its characters just enough for you to be invested, what a smart move. for those that want to watch the film, pay close attention to the character of Simon Bishop, notice how his character is developed, you may see the film differently and a little more than your standard B action film. I always like to remember, just because a film received negative reviews doesn’t actually make a film bad, that’s for us to decide. In my eyes, you get your moneys worth.
You can buy the film’s steelbook hereand The Mechanic collection here.
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
Peter Berg is beginning to become one of Hollywood’s leading directors for true stories, lets’s take a look at his best work featuring a trio of top picks.
From directing the military-focused Battleship to working with high-list actors including Mark Whalberg in Lone Survivor, Deepwater Horizon, Patriots Day, Mile 22 and Spenser Confidential. In this article, we will discuss the work of Peter Berg and see where his films rank in no particular order.
Lets get ranking.
Context
Tarantino and Samuel L Jackson, Depp and Burton and now Wahlberg and Berg.
Although, Peter Berg has worked with a number of different actors and actresses, he has found a strong bond with Mark. The work of Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg has entertained audiences of most genres for the last 5 to ten years, with their first feature being the war film Lone Survivor, which was a terrific debut.
They would later be involved with Deepwater Horizon, Patriots Day, Mile 22 and the recent Netflix released Spenser Confidential.
Their body of work has always been in the action genre, even when they adapt true stories, Deepwater Horizon and Patriots day, although are made to be emotionally serious to viewers, they both contain a sense of visual awe that is supposed to be exciting as well as dramatic to audiences.
Mile 22 and Spenser Confidential were examples of them making more B action film material and it didn’t impress audiences. Generally speaking, Peter Berg enjoys strong characters as his leads, one of them being Mark Whalberg who is able to combine vulnerability and power.
He is usually thrown into an extraordinary scenario’s where he puts his life at risk to save others, this is a severe contrast to some of his other roles such as The Departed.
The characters that he plays in Peter Berg’s movies are usually very likeable, other than Mile 22 and Spenser Confidential, where he plays a more rebellious role, which is a lot more in tune with the reputation he created earlier on in his career.
With all this said, what films do I recommend you watch from Peter Berg’s mighty filmography?
Although, I enjoyed Hancock, lets narrow our focus down to the 2010 period, with his directed film Battleship. Battleship was a mindless yet at times entertaining film with a serious love for the American military. Watch the film for the action and its at times no brains approach, featuring a selection of hard rock songs when the aliens start invading, yep you know what kind of film you are getting.
Lone Survivor
We now get to the good stuff, Lone Survivor was a fabulous debut, being adapted from an incredible true story of military bravery, featuring fantastic performances from the whole cast including Mark Whalberg. It’s a war film that touches the heart strings and pulls you right into the thick of the woods. The action is hard-hitting and intense, unlike any other war film I have seen with soldiers falling of cliffs and breaking limbs.
Its a film you have to see from beginning to end and as soon as the guns stat firing, you are fully locked in. Its another example of how cinema can be viewed as a hard knuckled experience.
Showing in glorious 4K, Deepwater Horizon explosively arrived in cinemas in 2016, with a premise so shocking, it could only be told by Lone Survivor’s director Peter Berg.
Another fantastic film adapting from a true story, only this time, the scope and scale have increased. Deepwater Horizon is the perfect film to watch on the big screen as we this disaster so tragically unfold. Like Lone Survivor, there is a lot of focus on bravery and heroism in this film, but the action and effects really sell the film. Although the film is helped massively by a veteran performance from Kurt Russell, this being one of his more dramatic performances in recent years, after his wickedly cool role in Guardians of the Galaxy.
If you are going to do a film like this, let this film be the definitive example. You may shed a tear and also be enthralled when the disaster kicks off. Even better, the film is showing for free on Amazon prime in 4K, go ahead and give it a shot, it’s more than tempting at this point.
Deepwater Horizon is currently the best-received film by critics, scoring an 83% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is the cinematic depiction of the tragic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which saw the loss of 11 lives.
Completing this trio of top-notch recommendations, we have another Wahlberg and Berg project, Patriots Day, of course being the film that adapted the Boston Bombings. This film wins the award for being the most intense and a lot of the intensity and drama don’t come from the action scenes, unlike the previous two. There are plenty of exciting investigation scenes where the dialogue feels very real and close to home.
We also have an exceptional cast full of oscar talent. It’s very well paced and a focused film that gives you most of the important facts of the case in a little over 2 hours, Wahlberg’s performance is again very solid, serving a character who is vulnerable and at times frantic in attempting to make the right decision as we see the police force hopelessly chase one of Boston’s most infamous criminals.
The tone was perfect, a dramatic yet heroic telling which ultimately leads to a positive and thematic end. We get some messages about the power of teamwork and humanity in the film that audiences will be able to take from and that’s the power of cinema right there.
To this day, these 3 films are his best work, with Mile 22 offering mild thrills from an action point of view. These three films have heart, drama, scale, love and power embedded in each outing.
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football.
For those that are Titanic fanatics, ditch the books, films, videos and go straight to the exhibition in London.
As most of us know, the Titanic exhibition has landed in London for the duration of 2022 and it turns out its pretty good and here is why.
Even if you have watched the film or researched and studied the disaster a million times, you can never get as close to the disaster ever, there is no limit when it comes to understanding a historical event, there is something to learn, something new that pops up that either shocks us or intrigues us further, propelling us for a whole new level of experience and excitement, one that no book or youtube video can match which is the titanic exhibition.
Like most us, James Cameron’s mega budget Titanic took audiences on a journey to the ocean like no other film had done and the film was an experience. In terms of its history, it was pretty accurate according to most sources but like most historical events, experts are still discovering or at least trying to discover new pieces and facts about one of the most famous shipwrecks in history.
With all this said, how is the exhibition?
Very compelling and it pretty much provided me with everything I wanted. Prepare to take headphones as you will be provided with an audio recording, featuring the soundtrack from the 97 film Titanic composed by James Horner, walking you through the basic timeline of how the ship was created and got off running, taking on board thousands. We learn more of famous figures who built the ship and those who boarded the ship.
The fact that there is a very specific focus on certain individuals and their stories adds to the tragedy of the disaster, serving both as a failure of mechanics and the needless loss of thousands. It is tragic, but most of us know this before going so it shouldn’t be too much of a shock for most.
We get to walk through and witness items carried by those who passed away and survived the disaster and some of these items are fascinating to observe, it really takes you back or deepens your imagination for what was expected from a typical passenger on board.
Other items include replica products including cabins, chairs, watches and more. This combined with a numerical and chronological audio recording helps to absorb the information as best as possible.
Each image on display is big and shown in great quality. You will also have a chance to get a photo taken on the boarding dock if that floats your boat, ready for collection at the end.
For those that want to learn and gather a basic understanding of the disaster, this exhibition is perfect and will provide you with accurate figures of history for a very reasonable price for you, friends and family.
The exhibition is roughly an hour long, maybe a little longer but it gives most of us plenty of time to absorb the beautiful and dramatic scenery on display, at this exhibition you really feel welcomed and at home, with some projector’s showing footage of the shipwreck now and you even get a chance to touch an iceberg, giving an accurate temperature of how cold the ice and water was when the ship hit the iceberg.
The story of Titanic is one of those stories where there are several compelling areas of the disaster that are fun to study and engage in. From the tragedy of those who lost their lives, either by the cold or the lack of lifeboats, to how the ship was designed and how the ship hit the iceberg, scratching the heads for those who believe the disaster was preventable.
Of course, you have those at the bottom of the ship who were religiously pumping iron right until the very last minute, saving countless lives on board by giving them chance to get on the lifeboat and the two hopeless men on top who spotted the iceberg including Federick Fleet, what a story his life turned out to be.
Even to this day, Titanic and its legacy seems to have it all, including tragedy, drama, loss, love, sacrifice, bravery and a real practical history through its artifacts that we can still study today.
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
It’s the chemistry between Eddie and Venom that is most entertaining and relishing, showcasing a dynamic contrast of comedic and dark themes which we can all relate to.
With a film full of so many wicked and bizarre elements, audiences may find a lot of common ground in Venom as we see Eddie re-build his life for the better.
Coming off the 2007’s Spider-man 3, showcasing a timid Topher Grace Venom, Marvel studios brought in a bigger budget and scope to a character that has captured the minds of comic book fans from across the world, in Ruben Fleischer’s hit film Venom. Only this time, the character gets the screen time of a world champion.
With a budget of over 100 million and box office gross of 856 million, 2018’s Venom is turning out to be one of this decades most successful comic book adaptations of the ultimate anti-hero, here are some reasons as to why the film clicked so well with audiences.
Its no suprise why Venom succeeded all financial expectations and there are multiple reasons as to why. For the box office this film had achieved, it must have attracted fans across all platforms, even including those who haven’t read the comic books including myself.
There was a certain appeal to Venom that included interesting visual direction but also a relatable hook to the project, which was carried by Tom Hardy who is one of our generation’s most sought out male leads in cinema and he is the films brightest selling points or in this case a little more darker than bright, ironically.
You can definitely tell and feel the passion from the film crew of delivering the right representation of this character as we haven’t really seen this character done right for a full length picture before, prior to 2018.
Essentially, its the back and forth between Tom hardy and Venom which captured the interests of audiences around the world. This combined with some mighty action scenes of chaos and carnage resulting in a great well rounded viewing experience.
The film shows how far Tom Hardy has come in his talented range of acting performance, coming off the strong and stoic Mad Max: Fury Road to a performance concerning an everyman who is put in an extraordinary situation, where he is faced with Venom who is the ultimate contradiction to all forms of humanity.
An antidote to all forms of peace and tranquility, and we see these two themes collide in reality and there lies the appeal for audiences who aren’t familiar with the character, backstory and the comic books.
The film has a regular opening to middle section, where we are learning of Eddie’s job and personality. He is pretty much a regular guy, getting the most out of his job and eventually losing it, with a touch of romance from the well-cast Michelle Williams, who excellently brings out the warmer elements of Venom’s character.
The film in general is a tonal mess, a mish mash of several ill conceived ideas and concepts, colliding together matching the equal madness and absurdity of the actual premise, but within this combination there are several layers of joyful entertainment featuring performances from Hardy and Williams who both shine on some occasions.
The film was directed by Zombieland and Uncharted’s Ruben Fleischer who seems to be on the rise for both Hollywood and mainstream audience success. Most of the enjoyment from the film comes from Eddies’s relationship with Venom, its fun, exciting and there is something in that relationship that we can relate with.
That on going monologue between the two and the clash is what works on screen. We get to see plenty of outbursts on screen in front of the public and its a lot of fun because we often don’t come across a relationship as hefty as this one in cinematic terms. Their relationship has to go down as cinemas most chaotic pairing in history, its just completely all over the place, up and down as sung in Katy Perry’s hot and cold.
The film has a pretty dark visual look and tone, with plenty of shots of rain and Eddie riding his motorbike down the streets in fine style. With all this said, does Venom deliver on the action goods? the answer is yes, the action may not be as dramatic or compelling as some of the sequences in Nolan’s epic Dark Knight trilogy, but we are taken on some ride as we witness motorbikes flipping over, public outbursts, mass slaughtering, dark guts and plenty more. Most of the action scenes are shot and done on a grand scale which really sells the drama.
This relationship is made more effect due to Venom’s effects and voice, the creature is terrifying and relentless in almost every manner possible. As we have come to know Tom Hardy usually plays characters of great strength and power, including his roles in Warrior, Mad Max, The Dark Knight Rises, and Inception but here he reaches several breaking points in his career, romance and in himself, he looses his sense of control and security because of Venom’s nature and character. Their relationship is very unpredictable which always keeps the audiences interests.
We really feel his pain when Venom’s bad will and disruptive nature ruins his life one stage at a time as we see Eddie try to rebuild his life as we all do. The crew and makeup department made sure that Eddie looked hopeless with his messy hair and casual clothing. The weaker or less interesting parts of the film come from the scientist’s narrative and most of the scenes taking us outside their duo.
Like all entertaining superhero films, there needs to be a degree of relatablility attached to the characters. Both Eddie and Venom are flawed and if anything Venom is the ultimate anti-hero story which is a rare entity in today’s terms of superhero films. Venom represents the ultimate and heightened form of toxic masculnity as he carelessly infects Eddie’s life.
The best scene is where we first see Venom and Eddie fight a crew of guards in his apartment, it sets the scene to how dangerous Venom is. The visual effects are more creative than what we often see in other generic Marvel films. When we see Venom take out guards, left, right and centre, it is much more unique than in a typical superhero action flick, just check it out for yourself and you will notice the tonal change and difference, it just has that extra creative spark.
Its worth pointing out that Venom was written by Scott Rosenberg who wrote the 90’s classic Con Air with Nicholas Cage and Gone in 60 seconds.
It could also be true that its sequel was a better made film because it had a more consistent direction whereas Venom was like a painter splashing several paints of different tones, styles and colours all onto a canvas, and thats what Venom is essentially. There is something so tonally sinister about the concept of Venom, provoking and sparking different emotions from you which you wouldn’t normally get from a superhero.
Overall, Venom is still a mess of a film but those who want to watch an entertaining yet different take on the superhero, or shall I say anti-hero genre, Venom is a pretty good representation of this, with a wacky performance by Tom Hardy whose performance is contrasted with the more elegant Michele Williams. One thing is for sure, viewers will be in for a surprise with Venom. The film tasks itself seriously when it needs but has fun when it wants, a nice combination in there,
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football.
One of Amazon’s primes intelligent free action films, Escape Plan gets a quick rundown.
With the Escape Plan trilogy complete, lets take a look at the best one, being the original with Arnie and Sly that totally delivered.
After several decades of the two struggling to get a script on the table, Escape Plan caught the eye of the two stars because of its thought provoking and dramatic premise. All you need are two action legends who can really act.
Stallone and Arnold took a cinematic comeback in the 2010 period with films such as Bullet to the Head, The Last Stand, and The Expendables franchise. Then came 2013, where the two decided to star in a film together, with a more specific screen focus on their performances with a narrative written around the iconography of the two stars and what the fans want, this being Escape Plan directed by Mikael Håfström. A film made for action audiences, leaving critics at the front door of the screening room.
The film is showing on Amazon Prime for free UK and let’s discuss why the film is still their best film to date, with solid direction and a premise that delivers with intelligence. The film is a slow burner but we get a lot of scenes with real meaning, making the action count for something rather than mindless shoot em ups.
The action scenes have a needed purpose to the story, serving as real plot progression. There is a real reason for these two stars coming together in the film because they both need each other and that’s compelling.
Critically, Escape Plan is one of the better works from Stallone and Arnie and together their chemistry is pretty fun. The film overall has a more serious tone because the plot this time around actually counts for much more than some of their previous narratives.
You have to pay attention to how the plot unfolds because as the title suggests, there is actual planning and preparing for the two escaping the prison and it turns out that prison escapes aren’t easy, especially when you have Jim Caviezel as the villain.
After starring in their separate films in the 2010’s, Escape Plan saw the two finally team up and the premise on paper was perfect. Prison escape concepts are always exciting to watch. A prison break isn’t a genre-specific concept, it can work across all genres, making it dramatic, exciting, comedic, and tense. Therefore, the concept alone I think can appeal to a wider audience because it combines both the action, star status, and an intelligent plot and those three components are exciting on screen.
The film really gets going when the two have to plan their actual escape, there is a conflict and rivalry between the two that’s fun to watch and admire. Two action legends that have done it all in the genre other than star in a film alongside each other with a lengthy runtime.
The actual prison itself is hybrid of modern and old prison concepts. The prison looks modern but its breakout execution is old-school retro break outs, similar to what we have seen in other prison escape films.
One of the best elements going for Escape Plan is that we root for Stallone’s character. His character is likable as he is thrown into this situation against his own will and even with a lot of intelligence he struggles to work in this high-tech facility and clashes with Arnold at the start, its that understated competitiveness between the two that work and I think this even shows in the film’s marketing including interviews, which really builds the films anticipation.
The actual action scenes are cool because they are’nt too over the top or goofy, they are pretty solid and competent. Fairly realistic gun play and fist fights, which is always undermined by a tense plot. The best action scenes can be found towards the end with a thrilling finale where we see the two fight together.
This film really shows how good Stallone is as an actor. In this film, he isn’t playing a version of himself or referencing his persona, he is his own character who in this case is very intelligent and understated.
Its a film that came straight out of the 80’s in the 2010 period, a throwback but its own piece works perfectly for a Stallone and Arnie movie marathon, throw Escape Plan in there to get the whole experience.
My only real complaint about Escape Plan is that it could have used a lot more energy, I think some of the scenes had a very serious and grey look and feel to them, the film could have really gone for it in some scenes but chose to hold back to give off a more dramatic tone.
One of the writers, Jason Keller who wrote Gerard Butler’s Machine Gun Preacher and one of 2019’s best films, Ford vs Ferrari and gave Escape Plan a serious tone with moments of charm sprinkled in some scenes. It was the right approach, where you don’t want to go the other way with a goofy tone like The Expendables 2.
Escape Plan provides audiences with a more realistic example of how these two can act on screen where we see the two sit down and discuss each other’s personalities, the film takes its time to get the most out of their talents and the two can act beyond their cultural annotations. The clip below is the perfect scene to sizzle the bacon, to give away the essence of these two stars without giving away too much, take a peak.
The direction is very solid for the concept. The tone is consistent and you can tell exactly what the director wanted from the cast and story. In that sense, it’s very focused and direct. The film was successful enough to spawn two more sequels that were straight to DVD, both failed in comparison to the original.
Escape Plan may not blow you away with its spectacle and thrills, but it serves as a nice and intelligent outing that fits nicely in the marathon of Sly and Arnie’s body of work, acting as probably their last piece together, but we will see what happens in the future.
You can buy the neat Escape Plan steelbook here, showcasing fabulous artwork.
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football.
One of Netflix’s most enjoyable action films, The Last Stand gets a quick review
Upon establishing an impressive screen presence, creating the charismatic action hero status, Arnie’s comeback flick in 2013 has flown straight under the radar and it turns out the film has plenty to offer in its abundance of comedy, action, and drama, making it the perfect viewing experience for both action genre and Arnold fans.
The year of 2013 saw the much needed and deserved solo comeback of cinemas most cherished action hero of all time, Arnold Schwarzengger. His return and absence from cinema left fans aching for him to comeback on the screen, despite his brief role in Sly’s Expendables.
This time, Arnold chose to do a separate film from his franchises, including Terminator, with The Last Stand with a different story written around Arnie’s experience, background and iconography. He is not as young as he used to be, but his old age is worked in the story and there is some charm there, a different kind of self-aware charm that we haven’t seen from him, apart from his little screen time in the Expendables films. Get ready to root for the action hero in The Last Stand.
However, the star of the film, in my opinion, is the director, Jee-woon Kim who brings a lot of creative western genre blending style to the film, the action is very stylized in some scenes, with great use of location and the environment surrounding the action scenes. The director comes from a background outside of Hollywood, so he is bringing something new to the film, that never damages his auteur traits. Arnold wanted to make that clear when in pre-production for the film.
Another fun aspect of the film is the humour, Johnny Knoxville is very funny and we know he is funny because unlike quite a few comedians, Johnny’s humour works better when he is acting alongside other actors and actresses, that way, we really see his charisma come through and he shares some valuable screen time with Arnie and the team.
However, another notable cast member is the oscar winner Forest Whittaker, who is one of Hollywood’s most intelligent actors who seems to have worked in hollywood’s most golden years of filmmaking, dating back to the 80’s with Platoon being one of my favorites. Now, he is very reliable considering his screen experience and he is the films best aspects because he really can act and can give of drama when the film needs him to.
For a film like this, the tone needs to be just right, blend comedy with action. However, as an audience member we need to get a sense of the threat that Arnold and his team are facing and to be fair to the film, we get that throughout. The enemies have some tough resources of vans, cars and explosives and they are all relentless, but the film never gets too brutal and violent, which is good, it keeps the fun.
We see this in the opening scene of the film, with a lovely country song in the background, it was a nice setup for the bad guys to come destroying the scene in madness and decay.
The characters themselves are all generic, we have seen this plot done before a thousand times, but Arnold himself is pretty cool as he plays this retired sheriff, where all he wants to do is to grab breakfast. His veteran experience helps aid the at times goofy tone of the picture.
Arnold is goofy yes, but his charm is believable on screen as soon as he grabs hold of a big gun, showcasing his now undeniable visual iconography. However, I can take Arnold more seriously because he is beginning to resemble the makings of a Clint Eastwood and you can’t get better than that.
I think this film really shows how intelligent Arnold is in terms of picking the right story and director. He wanted to make a comeback, with a film that he thought was perfect for his fans. A film that would make use of his experience but also appeal to the modern audience.
The Last Stand is a fun action western with dashes of comedy throughout, with one of Hollywood biggest action stars. Therefore, it doesn’t just have one element going for it and its a collaborative effort full of wonderfully fun ideas.
We don’t often see films like this in Hollywood, which has that creative edge that separates it from other generic action flicks. The camera work feels very modern, with montages of close ups in the action scenes and uses of modern equipment of cars and weapons, with an ensemble cast of witty individuals including the wicked Luis Guzman.
The action is actually very impressive when you consider Arnold’s age. I am not saying that Arnold is old, but what I mean is that after all of these years, he still brings it very consistently in the ridiculous action set pieces in this film. Some of them are very creative in the pre-production, including a car chase towards the end, taking place in a cornfield. Of course, Arnold delivers some iconic one-liners in the film that are’nt related to his previous work which is refreshing to see as most of his appearances in the 2010’s were mostly references of his previous work, Arnold has his own character this time.
Whereas Stallone’s work could be seen as more hard hit and dramatic, Arnold’s work has more comedic elements, which I think means that The Last Stand can appeal to a wider audience with different tastes and interests. The addition of Jackass’s Knoxville certainly helps that as most audiences know of his humour and if you don’t, I certainly recommend checking out some of his gigs. Just like most Arnold films, The Last Stand is violent, very violent with shots of bullets firing into hopeless enemies, resulting in outbursts of blood and guts.
The film on the whole received mostly positive to mixed reviews with a 61% on rotten tomatoes, that being his second best film, right behind 2019’s Terminator Dark Fate. Obviously, The Last Stand is not Arnold’s best work, when we consider his career hits of Predator and Terminator 2, where the narrative context had more intensity and dramatic stakes, The Last Stand resembles the nostalgia of Commando, which really is a ball of laughs and elements of True Lies with the sense of smart humour.
Arnold would return in the further Expendables films, Escape Plan and the Terminator films, with Dark Fate being one of his best performances to date. He is set to star in an upcoming Conan film.
You can buy The Last Stand on steelbook here, featuring some classic retro artwork.
The Last Stand is showing on Netflix UK
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
One of Amazon Primes’ best free action movies, Bullet to the Head gets a quick review.
One of 2013’s lesser known films has real quality embedded in its core and it may not be Oscar material but its the right kind of quality, being a slick throwback to the old days of action cinema.
For a film as simplistic like this, it has a director with years of experience with an actor whose presence has dominated action cinema for decades, the combo is nothing short of meat headed fun.
Stallone gave a punchy career comeback back in 2013 with Walter Hill’s Bullet to the Head, starring the hot headed Jason Mamoa and the understated Sung Kang. The action is slick and punchy with Stallone’s clothing confirming the coolness, wearing a suit and rocking a dashingly cool and smart haircut.
For a film that is supposed to look and feel somehwhat independent, it has the backings and finance of Warner Brothers which is always a good sign, just giving this film a nice lift above the rest of forgetable straight to DVD action films of our modern generation.
The direction and the story are very simple, in fact, most of the film’s criticisms come from the idea that the film is so simple that it verges on being stupid and perhaps that’s the charm for some audiences.
Walter Hill who majored in history and even produced Ridley Scott’s Alien franchise gave the film an interesting visual look and taste, with a strong emphasis on realism with the action scenes being hard hit and bruising, where you feel every punch.
The action is designed to be simplisitc and thats the films USP, it has simple action but does it well, very well and the film certainly does’nt shy away from blood and voilence. Stallone gives audiences his hardest hits of his career in this film as we see hiim take on quite a few enemies of serious force, but this time its more face to face rather in the Rambo series, we see him take out thousands of enemies without that personal touch.
Physically, Stallone really pushed himself in this film, with muscles tougher with more experience than his physique in the Rambo films,I believe. His look has an edge that is very unique in this film. His character visually stands out as a seperate entity, just like the nature of this film, but it slots in nicely with his body of work.
Ironically, one of the best parts to the film is the runtime, its very short and it earns every minute, never going into any unnescessary areas of the story, therefore, the film is very focused and straight to the point, but it balances, drama, action and heart all fairly well. Each department of genre is given an appropriate amount of screen development, without burendeing the themes onto the audience.
There is a nice touch of comedy throughout the film, with a duo of Stallone and Taylor Kwon because the two stars represent a different time period, one who comes from an older generation who has developed a sense of resentment and Kwon who has this fresh and slick touch of a modern action star who outshines stallone on some of his moves.
The whole film is just relaxing to watch, like I said there is no overload on any theme including action, drama and comedy. We get scenes where characters are sitting down and just talking, and even those scenes are easy on the eyes, but the action delivers, both as a neat thowback but in a slick modern cinematic context of axes, suits, fist fights and gunplay.
Take notice of the soundtrack featuring a selection of perfectly selected rock songs, it compliments all of the scenes very nicely and adds a sense of fun to a film that truly is very voilent and dramatic. The film is shot very nicely and has a good sense of style.
However, like I said the best scenes in the film are the fist fights, they feel so real, even in todays terms of action cinema, Bullet to the Head serves as a real example of how fight scenes should look and feel on camera and there is no better actor to portray these than Stallone and Mamoa who clash so excellently together, throwing these self aware one liners to each other, with the Axe Fight scene being the films best scenes.
The film really gets going in the opening scene, where see something bad happen to Stallone’s partner. The film does’t shy away from the voilence which emphasises themes of revenge with more aggression, making the hunt to track down the bad guys just that more fun.
Despite getting a moderate screen release, Bullet to the Head is best served as a Friday and Saturday night dish, that has you relaxing and maybe throwing a few laughs as Stallone fights his way several men alongside Fast and Furious’s star Sung Kang who enjoys contradicting pretty much every line Stallone has.
The film takes place in a fantasy context, where the plot is not rooted with realism as its priority, but the characters, as Walter Hill as stated in interviews are real and thats the most important part to the picture and thats what we connect with as audience members.
The characters are likeable as they are placed in a story that is full of bad guys, which is what creates that ball of conflict and voilence, which is very entertaining to watch as a fan of action cinema.
For those that can cast their minds back, 2013 saw the release of Arnie’s comeback flick, The Last Stand, which deliverred in comedy and action, whereas Bullet to the Head is a little more serious, dramatic and its action hits harder than bullets themselves, quite literally.
Bullet to the Head certainly feeds of its nostalgia, but its nostalgia isnt dead yet, thanks to strong direction from Walter Hill and a Stallone performance tough enough to take down any enemy threat, but always having that relatable screen presence that has stood the test of time of cinema.
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
A series that has spanned across 30 years still has something to say about the character of John Rambo, with his legacy completed in the 5 part series.
With the Rambo series out on steelbook, the Rambo series has indefinitely come to an end and has completed its five-part saga. Let’s take a look at the narrative, yes there is actually a story that has developed across all five films, the story this time around is more to do with the character than the plot, but there is an evolution, a beginning and an end from the character. The action spectacle of the series has also changed and evolved since the first film and the changes are drastic beyond belief to suit what Rambo is going through.
Each Rambo deals with a different theme, showing 5 different sides to him and his life, combined with the crazy action.
A lovely comparison could be that of the Die Hard series and the Mission Impossible films, the Rambo series is surprisingly much more character-driven than those series and for that its much deeper and stands out in my opinion, surprise surprise. John Rambo is far more complex than some may think, with Last Blood solidifying his endless battle with PTSD and his quest for normality, showcasing this theme in horrific ways, thanks to the drug cartel of Mexico.
Lets take a look at how the character has been presented in each Rambo film, with a look at plot, spectacle and character presentation. Each of these components alter in each film. Lets take a look.
First Blood
The series best installment and one of Stallone’s finest pieces of work throughout his career. First Blood is really a drama and for that we get a lot less emphasis on action spectacle. The action scenes are hand to hand combat scenes and there is less use of explosives. The action scenes in the film are a lot more personal and contain a lot more dialogue. By far the best element of the film is the finale, where we see him break down emotionally.
Stallone didn’t bring out his big guns for this film and comes across as more of a scattered animalistic kind of guy. This theme does continue throughout the sequels, but it just presents itself differently. What we get here is a theme of injustice, a war veteran who gets his back turned on by society, leaving him to resort to the woods for hiding. Take a look at some of the film’s best shots, showcasing great use of location and clothing.
First Blood was made based of the novel written by David Morell who recently bashed the series last entry, Last Blood. There were rumours flying around of Tarrantino getting his hands on the project and remaking it with Adam Driver and Kurt Russell, what a film that could turn out to be.
First Blood Part 2
This is where the series took off financially, shooting Rambo straight to action hero status and iconography with James Cameron writing the screenplay and a pretty good screenplay of that. Other writers also include Kevin Jarre who also wrote the slice of Brendan Fraser gold that was 1999’s The Mummy, yep I still remember that film as one of universal’s best action Mummy adaptations, throwing 2017’s Mummy right to the bottom, sorry Tom Cruise, you have Top Gun and Mission Impossible.
The film was directed by George P. Cosmatos, who would make the cult hit, Cobra starring Stallone, which may have also influenced Ryan Gosling’s character in Drive, one of 2011’s stand out character dramas.
First Blood part 2 is more of a straight forward mega big action film, whereas the first film was a drama. First Blood Part 2 still carries the theme of injustice as he is left behind by his own men, leaving him abandoned on a jungle with hundreds of enemies hunting him down. The film increases the stakes and situation and the action is out of this world and I found myself rooting for John Rambo right towards the end.
First Blood part 2 we really see Rambo come out of his shell and begin to accept who he is and what he is capable of. First Blood he was cautious and perhaps even afraid of his own self, in the sequel he now has no choice but to kill because of the situation he is left in and really goes for it. Injustice carries right to the end, meeting the man who turned his back on him.
The actual plot and story is fantastic, I love the theme of social injustice being kept alive but the execution itself was a bit questionable, the film abandones the drama in exchange for mindless and mind-numbing action scenes, which although entertaining, contradicts the excellence of the first film. I would have liked to see these films as straight up dramas like the first film, but this film would make so much money that the studio continued this tradition of action spectacle in the next few films.
However, despite my film critic brain nit picking at the film, First Blood Part 2 is certainly an entertaining action film, whether you choose to laugh at it or go with it, its one of the those famous 80’s action films that I believe has become timeless for parody and thrills, but the actual story is fantastic and there is that theme of injustice, being so important to this character.
Rambo 3
Rambo 3, like Rambo 2, resembles a cartoon action film in the sense that the action is over the top, with thousands of enemies this time around. This time, Rambo is helping a friend and John is beginning to grow more confident and assuring of who he is, but gets sucked into the situation because of his own good will.
He is developing an important relationship with Trautman and its the only relationship of real quality that he has with any other human being, which makes it important and makes Rambo 3 stand out in the series for having this aspect. The action is even more ridiculous than in Rambo 2, with more guns, explosives and an even bigger location.
Stallone looks the most crazy in this film, with longer hair and tougher muscles. Take a peak.
Sylvester Stallone walks through a trench with Richard Crenna in a scene from the film ‘Rambo III’, 1988. (Photo by TriStar/Getty Images)
Pay close attention to the last third of the film, with Rambo taking out thousands of enemies in style, Its explosive, fun and John Rambo completes his mission for helping out a friend.
Rambo
This is the more realistic out of the four films in terms of plot context. It takes place in Burma, a war zone that is still in use today. The film is directed by Stallone. This time, John Rambo has grown older and resorts to a more private life, we see him keep to himself more than we have done to the other films in my opinion.
We understand his views on life now, the negativity of how his life has turned out since 1982 and certainly the attitude that he has now towards other people, those values and pessimism are so clear at this point. In fact, its the girl that gets the most amount of positivity from him. The action spectacle is much different this time around, more brutal and unforgiving then in the previous films. Its suppose to reflect the reality of war far more realistically.
What we learn from Rambo this time is his views on war. I think he still hates war, he has hostile views towards war and doesn’t want to engage in it, but he is made to. John Rambo believes that war never changes and I think his character has grown and evolved to be more resentful of war. This makes more sense when we think about the plot for 3, 4 and 5 as all of these films he is made to join the fight against his own will or at least never instigated it.
Rambo: Last Blood
Here we have the last installment in the series, with Stallone returning as the bruised John Rambo who at this point has seen it all, literally and this is one of the film’s strongest narratives in the series. John Rambo has been betrayed, battered, bruised and torn up and the only thing he wants is his family and he gets it, but its taken away from him in a brutal scene.
This film probably has the most heart out of the whole series because John Rambo is dealing with the only family he has ever had and for that his true colours shine for the first time in the series, even more so than First Blood. Last Blood like First Blood is a drama for the first half, setting his relationships and the betrayal, making the final act a lovely slice of revenge, with the violence verging on horror more than fun action.
The violence has escalated and the character of John Rambo is the most developed in the series. A man who has come to accept himself and the life he has, this is one of the reasons why the violence is very personal, every kill means something to him. Whereas, in the last few films, Rambo would take out waves of enemies in a careless manner, Last Blood has that personal quality due to the nature of the films plot. Its about revenge which includes injustice, but I think revenge is the more exciting theme.
The last scene really tells us how this character has evolved and more importantly how he has accepted himself, as he looks back at his life, whilst starring into the sunset after slaughtering Mexico’s most evil men. We know that Rambo cares about human beings or can develop a love for someone else, which makes him more than the killing machine that we have come to know.
John Rambo in Last Blood is vastly different than First Blood, a man with experience, regrets, layers of trauma embedded in his soul and he needs a companion. His PTSD is shown in every film but perhaps Last Blood hints at the idea that Rambo has developed a form of peace and acceptance over his mental state.
By the time Last Blood finishes, I think its natural for audiences and fans of the character to reflect on his experiences in combat in the previous films, he is someone that we have come to known very well as a figure fighting for justice, trapped in a violent context. If you watch First Blood and then Last Blood, you will find that there is a change in character, he is the same person, but there is a growth and a form of greater acceptance.
The watching order for the Rambo series could go like this, First Blood, Rambo and Rambo Last Blood, 2 and 3 felt like the more cartoony out of the series that were political representations of America’s situation in the 80’s. The first 3 I mentioned are more down to earth and realistic representations of who John Rambo really is at heart, enjoy.
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football.
Hollywood could’nt get enough of its favorite monster flick, Jaws, spawning the creation of three sequels, with Jaws 2 being the best of them all. Let’s discuss.
Hollywood cant re-create lightning in a bottle, it just doesn’t happen. This can be applied to Jaws and its infamous sequel, Jaws 2. You know you are in trouble when the film makers are trying to recreate the feeling and success of the first film. Sequels to big films should be made with a blank sheet, to make it fresh and stand on its own.
The best sequels in film history can stand on their own, including Terminator 2 , Aliens, The Godfather part 2, these films don’t rely on the original to entertain the audiences in my opinion. They re-create their own set of film rules in the context of their franchises.
Jaws 2 could capture the thrills and spills of the nightmare that is the Great White, but it couldn’t capture the magic chemistry of the original three with its cast of misfits and amateurs. However, most films in general dont have the magic chemistry of the three leads in Jaws, it’s rare.
With Jaws 2 easily being the best out of all three of the sequels, it’s a really fun film to discuss now, nearly 45 years since its release, back in 1978.
The film gathers a cliche plot that relies heavily on the love of the first film. The film itself has weak characters but Jaws 2 really does have some inventive and brutal kills, and I really mean brutal. There is a lot more fire and explosions this time around, a lot more, but there is actually a rather compelling character study this time around. We get to uncover more layers to Chief Brody and its pretty good.
His character arc revolves around him slowly loosing his mind to the point of putting his job on the line. He frantically tries to convince the board that there is a shark in their waters and these frantic outbursts begins to effect his family. This was a surprisingly good element to the film and this drama certainly helped keep my interest in between the madness when the shark was scavenging for meals around the beach.
Some interesting back notes on the film were that the film could have been made into a fantasy sequel featuring underwater creatures, separate from the original but with the same brand title, thank god that idea got scrapped.
The film gets off to a promising start, with a visually exciting opening title credits, closing in on two doomed divers, with the jaws music theme ticking along, its the classic Jaws scenario that has become very self aware and terrifying. We also get a lovely nod to the shipwreck of the original, a ravishing moment of us Jaws fans. John Williams return to compose the music for this sequel and it delivers.
Whether how Hollywood Jaws 2 gets, Great White Sharks can eat you alive and there is nothing more terrifying than that, other than terrible film sequels including Jaws 3 and Jaws 4.
For the most part, Jaws 2 doesn’t try to be anything more than what it is, a meaningless and predictable sequel that gets the job done with one competent performance right at its core, Chief brody. No disrespect for the rest of the cast, they’re fine but you don’t really remember them and the film slowly falls into the slasher horror flick concept, where characters exist only to be eaten alive one minute later.
Jaws 2 features more kills, but its effects are less meaningful, whereas in the first film, there would be more focus and concentration on one kill at a time, carefully building up tension leading to an attack. Jaws 2 wants to eat the whole cast and it nearly achieves this.
Come to think of it, it was a minor miracle that Jaws 2 could cast Chief Brody in its sequel. However, to give Jaws 2 credit, it’s pretty much impossible to make a monster sequel as good as Jaws was, it just doesn’t happen.
Jaws was one of the greatest films ever made, Jaws 2 could only be half decent, it would have to take something really really special to get the film to be even half good, but there are plenty of fans of Jaws 2 who would argue its a good sequel and fair play to them.
The sequel was made by Jeannot Szwarc, who has’nt exactly made anything noteworthy in the past, but the film does hold together fairly well, well enough for a fun Friday and Saturday night experience. Jaws 2 may belong on the verge of Hollywood sequel trash, but it’s the better kind, thanks to some lovely nods to the original, terrifying kills and spills and a compelling character arc of Chief Brody to help keep you emotionally engaged in the drama and chaos. For those that haven’t seen Jaws 2, give it a go.
The only Jaws films that exist in my opinion are Jaws and Jaws 2, leave the rest behind.
You can buy the Jaws series on DVD for a lovely price, hereand buy the book behind the films production here.
What do you think of Jaws 2?
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
With Uncharted out in cinemas, I thought I would give a look at a previous video game adaptation that also stars Mark Whalberg, John Moore’s dark, fantasy driven and now infamous Max Payne, released in the mighty year of 2008 to which The Dark Knight had dominated.
The film had a great story and fanbase but couldn’t quite deliver, what went wrong?
Just because the film didn’t do well financially and critically doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give a film like this a chance. I went in with an open mind having not played the game but have acquired knowledge of how loyal the fanbase are.
Thematically, It’s a dark film, but its darkness is mellowed by a sense of goodwill, Max Payne is driven to end the lives of people who are worse than him, a similar theme shared in Mel Gibson’s silent killer Payback in 99. It’s not a hollow dark film like a typical slasher horror flick, but what you have at its core is a great story with enough depth and simplicity for a solid action film, not just for fans of the game.
It has a moody visual board, but as I said, the moodiness is justified considering the plot of the film, which although generic, works in every scenario in film language because there is a sense of relatable humanity, a man who looses his wife and hunts for the killers. The term film language is used to equate to film reality, where the story is stretched to make it entertaining for audiences.
For a film and story like this, you need an experienced leading action star, one who can excel in the action scenes but can also sell the more dramatic moments in the picture. You cant have an action star who can only do the action and nothing else.
With all this in the picture, how is the film?
The film is a slow paced slog of a picture, with some impressive technical qualities including some well-timed action scenes and glimpses of an interesting and compelling idea. The better parts of the film include scenes with Mark Whalberg and his wife, its the only real meat of the film, the rest of the film seems to comprise of action scenes and classic FBI dialogue, where people are walking around and shouting at each other. But, I admired the slow pacing of the film, it at least allows us to take in how the plot was progressing. The film had some great posters, the one below is exciting.
The best parts of the film are Ludacris and Mila Kunis, who I both thought for the material they had were fairly solid. Ludacris looks very convincing in his role and this shows that you can take him seriously. The rest of the cast are very forgettable.
Marky mark’s best work would come 2 years later in The Fighter, showcasing a much more dramatic range in his performance. However, to give credit, Mila and Mark worked well together for the scenes they had towards the middle to end of the film, both are very capable action stars.
Mark’s overall performance has little depth here, it’s very much an on the surface type performance, which does work in some scenes, similar to the acting style of the Rock from films such as Faster and Walking Tall, that straight forward take no prisoners attitude.
Although, for a story with this much emotion, I was hoping he would make his performance have more weight, it didn’t have to be so straight- forward. Any relationship between a man loosing his wife can be so compelling, even shown very well in The Walking Dead, which takes place in a genre full of disbelief but yet there is real emotion there.
In terms of John Moore’s direction, its not his best work but the film keeps a consistent visual look and frame throughout, which was pleasing to see. To this day, Max Payne ranks near the bottom of video game to film adaptations, perhaps directors should give up on the idea as it’s just too hard to execute. Making a film like this for fans of the video game and non fans is a tough balance to get right, but John Moore was very right to extract a great story from this video game because there is a great concept in this game.
Maybe the best part to the film is that John Moore could get the film financed, cast and produced, he got a cast of high wealth and status and his film was greenlit, that’s a positive in itself but the overall film lacks all real emotion of any kind, as the audience passes through dark streets full of witchcraft and mayhem whilst Mark looks stern, gunning down anyone in his path, there just wasn’t enough and the director in his own right seemed to rely on nods to the game to keep the interest of the audience going throughout its very short runtime.
The actual execution of the film is painfully straight forward, never really delving snd exploring the areas of his life. The film could have spent more screen time in really developing Mark’s relationship with his wife, but there wasn’t enough of it. There was less of that and more shooting.
I just cant see anyone who has’nt played the game enjoying this film and that’s a shame. I haven’t played the game but I like the story, cast and I am open to elements of fantasy, but this film didn’t do it for me. It’s a film that works best having it on in the background whilst doing a bit of laundry or a film that just passes the time of a Friday night.
Perhaps one day, they could re-make this film with a different director and cast. If Uncharted does well at the box office, video game to film adaptations may gather a more prominent market and establish Ruben Fleischer as one of the industry’s leading directors of mainstream cinema, but we will see how well the film does at the cinema and at home.
For those who are curious, the film is available on Disney Plus and Amazon Prime UK.
What do you think of Max Payne?
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
Nearly 10 years since its release, Lets take a look at one of the worst-reviewed action sequels in history, John Moore’s mighty A Good Day To Die Hard.
I challenge you to find one positive review of A Good Day to Die Hard because the chances are that you will not be able to find or read a single one. For a film that was bashed so badly, is it time we gave it another shot? or a re-look for action audiences.
A Good Day to Die Hard has one unique USP, which is the father/son dynamic, take a peak.
A Good Day to Die Hard was the fifth installment in the series and before we get this re-look and analysis out of the way, how many good fifth installments have there been in film franchises and series? only a handful, right.
This film was bashed heavily by critics and even Die Hard fans calling it to be the worst one and some even saying it had been the worst action sequel of the 2010’s, but my question is the film really that bad? does this film really deserve all the hate, how can a film with this budget and cast be so terrible if true, this is where the fun part comes into picture.
On the whole, It’s ultimately very rare in Hollywood for there to be a good fifth film in a series, so before John Moore signed on to the project, perhaps he was doomed before he got the camera rolling. For a series like this, it’s especially difficult to come up with something new and original, especially with franchise developing in the action genre and this is a really important point.
Some notable good fifth installments are Rogue Nation, Fast Five, Harry Potter, Bond and Empire Strikes Back, I wonder where Die Hard fits into this mix, probably somewhere near the bottom but lets analyse this further.
A more realistic and notable comparison could be 2015’s Terminator Genesis which also starred the doomed Jai Courtney, both are examples of what I call franchise milking, but for the sake of this discussion I will putting A Good Day to Die Hard in industry context.
Perhaps, the Die Hard series was never meant and designed to go on for long as it has done, there is only so much you can do with the character and premise. The Fast franchise has gone on, not because of narrative purpose but that of financial reasons, in my eyes. Show a bunch of fast cars racing and crashing into each other, with Dom saying family and now you have your movie. Every Die Hard film needs to do something different and lets be honest each Die Hard film differs in plot situation. Die Hard 2 is similar to Die Hard, but Die Hard 3 and 4 are very different, even with the tone and direction.
For this fifth film, it attempts to shake the Die Hard formula up a tad, by taking us to a new location, that of Moscow with a different premise. This time, John Mcclane teams up with his son Jack and the two have to work together.
It’s the only Die Hard film to make the most of its location as if it is its own character, arriving in the promiscuous Russia and that’s where the problems start for A Good day to Die Hard. We get shots of statues and the city life throughout, it seems to be an odd place for John Mcclane to travel to.
The fact that the film was set in Russia, it lost that claustrophic sense of Die Hard, in fact the plot and location best suits a Bond film to which the director has admitted before in interviews.
In a picture full of ridiculous action scenes, but how is John Moore’s film direction this time around. Upon directing the flawed Max Payne and Behind Enemy Lines, the direction could be seen as sloppy but he had a tough job on his hands. Like I said, the film was the fifth Die Hard in the series.
However, to give the film some credit that big scope look was an attempt to freshen the Die Hard concept up, John Moore changes the concept for the fifth installment and can you really blame him?
Let’s look at the film’s cinematography and action scenes, as both may be the films more positive elements or negative depending on how you look at it. For a start, the film was shot in Moscow, and do we get some interesting long and wide shots of the city in its glory to some extent.
For this fifth film, it attempts to shake the Die Hard formula up a tad, by taking us to a new location, that of Moscow with a different premise. This time, John Mcclane teams up with his son Jack and the two have to work together.
In a picture full of ridiculous action scenes and solid direction in the previous Die Hard films, how is John Moore’s film direction this time around? Upon directing the flawed Max Payne and Behind Enemy Lines according to pretty much every film critic out there, the direction this time could be seen as sloppy in a few moments. In this Die Hard film, I really struggled to follow the rational progression of the films plot, we jump around Moscow in quick succession, never once taking a long and lengthy stop where John and Jack’s relationship doesn’t seem to flourish, in fact we never have time to.
The film has great size and scope but looses that classic contained Die Hard setting that we have come accustomed to at this point. That big scope look was an attempt to freshen the Die Hard concept up, but here is where we have a positive. John Moore changes the concept for the fifth installment and can you really blame him?
Despite all of the films negative feedback, it became the series third highest grossing film in the series, which is rather impressive for a fifth installment. The film keeps the franchise going at a rather lame pace, but our love for the character remains strong, with a budget of 92 million and a box office of 304.7 million worldwide, a fairly handsome financial summary for a fifth installment, the film must have done something right for Die Hard audiences.
Bruce Willis specifically chose John Moore to direct this film and I am guessing he probably could have chosen anyone in the action field. The writer is Skip Woods, who latest work includes Hitman: Agent 47 and others Sabotage, The A Team, X-Men Origins: Wolverine and more.
One of the benefits of the film and especially with the character of John Mcclane character is that this time we get to see a different side to him, the film shows him as more of a father figure than in any of the other Die Hard films.
A Good Day to Die Hard is’nt a film for critics, its a film made and designed for action audiences and fans of the John Mcclane character, thats the sweet spot and the film has to be made with the previous law construct established in the other films to make a solid Die Hard film and get its money back.
Fair play to John Moore, the film became the series third highest grossing film in the series after a 6 year wait between Die Hard 4 and Die Hard 5, the fans were hungry for another Mcclane outing and they got one with a runtime of only 1 hour and 30 mins, loosing the retro die hard buildup before the calamity starts.
Upon changing the film directors quite a few times at this point, they chose John Moore whose filmography has’nt quite impressed audiences and critics as of yet, but they still chose him. One would thought that his ability to bring out big action scenes was the reason and this is one of Die Hard’s biggest selling points.
Each film has delivered in explosions and gunplay, its a non obligation and John Moore does deliver this aspect. Here, there is no shortage of chaos and carnage, it gets right to the point of absurdity.
The plot was much more family oriented than in the last few installments, with a witty focus on John’s relationship with his son, Jack, we get a lot more screen time with them both. In most of the die hard films, John Mcclane is usually paired up with a buddy, but this time his buddy comes from a more intelligent and blood oriented background, no disrespect to Samuel L Jackson.
Their chemistry is very on the surface. What I mean by this is that I never felt that the writing allowed us to really understand these two in a developed way, they just made some jokes about each other and exchanged a few witty one liners in between the action. Its still cool to imagine John interacting with his son, Jack, its still a great concept on paper.
For the action, this where you get your money’s worth as a film director when making die hard, the action scenes need to live up to its name and brand. All of the die hard films have had excellent action scenes, but they are usually excellent because they put John Mcclane in unbearable situation of spectacle and he has to improvise his way out.
Most audiences enjoyed or at least appreciated the opening car chase which seems to go on forever and you can tell the production crew invested the most amount of time and money into this scene. It sets the situation between Jai and John in a very chaotic way and some of the car chases and crashes are spectacular, but they don’t seem to fit in a Die Hard film, it just seems out of place.
Take for instance the car chase in Die Hard with a Vengeance, that car chase was a lot more focused and less explosive, resulting in fewer casualties and injuries. A Good day to Die Hard certainly doesn’t lack for subtlety throughout its duration, but there is use of practical action which is always great.
Bruce Willis gives a more tame performance in the series, but his character is still entertaining to watch. Jai Courtney had all of the necessary traits of John Mcclanes son. Physically tough, smart but the only quality missing was his sense of humour, his dry wit and that to me is a large part of the process of the Mcclane brand.
If you are going to cast John Mcclane’s son, he has to be intelligent on par with or more smart than John. Thats a no brainer and Jai comes across as perhaps very one noted but very smart and stubborn, just like his dad and for that the film gets its credit.
The fact that he is built more physically than his dad creates a more vivid competition between the two, I believe. Its just that classic Mcclane wit that I thought he was missing.
A Good day to Die Hard is still the series worst Die Hard film but you do wonder how this film or any action sequel deserves the hate it has received. The film may not be as good as the first or any of the other Die Hard films, but upon putting the film into a bit more context, A Good day to Die Hard can be seen as a mindless entertaining ride with a love for its character, John Mcclane showing us a different element of his persona, which is fatherhood and for that its a different Die Hard experience for fans of the franchise.
When experienced on blu ray on the big screen, A Good day to Die Hard is an absurdly entertaining mindless action film, especially the opening car chase. It’s a roller coaster ride and a fun one for that matter.
You can catch A Good Day to Die Hard on Amazon Prime UK.
Do you think A Good Day to Die Hard deserves the hate?
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
Patrick Hughes brings old and new guns to a premise consisting of cinema’s most cherished action heroes and villains in The Expendables 3.
With The Expendables 3 still showing on Amazon Prime UK, I thought I would give a quick review of the third installment leading up to the mighty fourth installment with Andy Garcia and Megan Fox, what a strange combo for an Expendables flick.
This third installment was helmed by Hollywood newcomer Patrick Hughes, coming off his debut with Red Hill, he was in charge of steering a cast of action icons onto the screen with a narrative more personal this time around and the end result is at times a jumbled mess, but an entertaining ride with plenty of well-choreographed fight scenes, this time with Banderas, Gibson, Ford, Snipes, and the whole traditional cast as well as a new cast of world champions including Ronda Rousey.
This time around, upon experimenting twice with the tone, this third installment balances drama, comedy, and action fairly well together. There is some great use of comedy with Antonio Bandera’s character, whose backlog of work includes the classic shoot em up Desperado, and the film, in general, gets a lot of each of these characters, with references and winks to some of their best work without overloading us with references and that’s essentially what these films are about, nothing more and nothing less.
BRAY_20130822_EXP3_2096.dng
The addition of Mel Gibson really adds to the quality of the project as he really is a serious action star whose work has consisted of a lot of oscar material films, of and behind the camera. Only 3 years later he would direct Hacksaw Ridge, a hard hitting war film.
Mel Gibson is easily the best part of the film and perhaps the series best villain. He has the most amount of character development and has a long history with Barney Ross. Other slick additions include Arnie, who gets a lot of screen time in the action scenes, effortlessly blowing bad guys to the face just as he did in the Terminator films.
Mel’s character gets a standout scene in the middle section of the film where he talks to Barney about his experience in The Expendables crew and confesses his hatred towards him, as well as his fight scene with him in the final part of the film, which wasn’t quite as knuckle headed as it was in The Expendables 2 with Van Damme.
The biggest complaint that I have with the film isn’t the addition of the new expendables team or even the 12a rating. The overall cinematography of the film felt very watered down and tame. The final action scene has some thrilling moments, but its visual look mainly consists of a grey filter, which doesn’t exactly scream summer entertainment.
I think this really impacted the film, more so than its streaming release. The film could have used a more bright, colorful, and gritty edge as that could have really sold the action scenes. A similar gripe that I had with The Expendables 2, the overall look didn’t come across as exciting as it could have been. Much of the action scenes take place inside this big damaged building, which is a pretty dark and uninteresting environment.
The films runtime is long and we get a lot more character development than in the previous film, with Kelsey Grammer aiding Stallone in the process of finding new young talent. With this, the standout character is Kellan Lutz who resembles similar qualities to Stallone. Both have similar traits and it was fun to see a character resemble and sometimes challenge Stallone and his values.
That’s where the USP of the film starts, it’s the interaction between the old and new cast, which that dynamic really makes the old cast’s traits stand out. It would be interesting to see how this third film completes the trilogy and adds to the narrative of the films for action audiences.
The questions to ask is does it complete The Expendables narrative in a satisfying manner, does it add something more to the characters and their personas, setting itself nicely for the fourth installment. I’d say yes.
The first half is the most enjoyable part of the film with a really solid opening action scene involving the rescue of Wesley Snipes who looks like he has been absent from the screen in a while, but his presence begins to blossom when he meets his old gang. The actual action scene itself is long and involves car chases, shoot outs, boats and a whole list of fun, with Terry Crews showcasing why he is the king of big weaponry.
The second half mostly consists of the new talent. The new talent are pretty slick and add a sense of purpose to the team, but you tend to loose interest whenever they are on screen, you want to cut back to the old expendables crew because of their star status.
The scene takes place in a different location, with different outfits and enemies. The scene begins to increase in tension where we see Mel Gibson arrive in a helicopter and that’s when we know who the main villain is.
There is also a little more emotion and revenge this time when Terry Crews gets injured, the music and the way the scene is shot gives off a dramatic sense of loss, even though Terry Crews survives the gunplay, but Stallone is ready to fight back but old age seems to be a problem this time around.
However, I still believe that this may be one of Hollywood’s and Lionsgate’s most enjoyable and entertaining action series of the 2010’s. The action is well filmed and has a great sense of heroism attached to it, where you really want these guys to succeed in these epic and practical action scenes of car chases and gunplay. This alongside their banter in bars and planes gives the action that extra dash of charm.
The hand to hand combat scenes are some of the best in today’s industry, with each installment giving us the goods. But, equally the banter and comradery between these stars is always fun to watch and unique as you can’t experience this element in any other action film, making The Expendables a breathe of fresh air in the action genre.
With The Expendables 3, you need to know what you are getting, a big action film with a love for its own cast, providing self aware jokes that sometimes don’t land, with a villain who actually is giving a good performance. Its a real audience picture that ties a nice explosive bow over the action genre.
For a big action film like this with so much talent and screen presences, Patrick Hughes does a pretty solid job of managing a cast this big and making sure that each character has enough screen time to sell their performances. I think its well phrased, especially in the last action scene where each of the characters have their chance to shine and say a few funny one liners. It must be a challenge to balance all of these performances.
I highly recommend watching each of the character’s action films beforehand to get you in the mood to have a laugh seeing all of these legends just talk and fire guns, that’s the film’s sweet spot, purpose, and audience.
The Expendables 3 is best served as a self-aware picture that is a nod to the action genre and its history, if you watch with this in mind you will have a blast.
You can watch The Expendables 3 extended cut on Amazon Prime UK.
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
For fans of Michael bay, you’ve come to the right place. Here I present you with the Michael Bay visual’s look book of his cinema.
I don’t know about you, but I am starting to get a little tired of the critics of Michael bay, which is ironic because I am one of them or certainly used to be, but this article is about admiring the cinema that he has brought to us over the last 30 years in visual spectacle just for fun, not so much the story and characters.
Upon typing his name on google images, it doesn’t take long to discover his talents for action cinema, his images really stand out but the fun and discovery don’t stop there. He has produced several action scenes, available on youtube, that are a delight to watch in terms of the mechanics of cinema and visual composition. He certainly knows how to light a set of fireworks he wants to.
Ambulance
These images and clips are meant to completely disengage your mind on all forms of rationality, if you do this, the excitement may just blow you away with usually a pretty excellent soundtrack.
Whether or not you like the work of Michael Bay, it is really nice to admire his talent on occasion. His best scenes are when he combines a rather half meaningful plot with excellent visual mastery, this is sometimes rare to find and it’s just easier to extract just mindless action scenes. I have always enjoyed this scene below from Transformers: Age of Extinction, where we see the robots re-unite with an excellent soundtrack, this time we get a little substance.
Yes, you can criticise his films all day long for poor character representations, overlong runtimes, poor dialogue, boring plot, but the only film that I have truly hated is Pain and Gain, with this release being his most morally offensive work to date, with perhaps his most true to authenticity film 13 Hours, which is’nt saying much for the type of his work. Lets take a look at his most glorious images from some of his films and for those that hate his work, I’d encourage to stick around.
The Rock
Michael Bay’s best action film with a fun cast.
Armageddon
His films visual style is exaggerated for pleasure and effect, bright use of saturated colours and sunsets. But in this case, its being used to emphasize the theme of love and act as its cinematic orchestra. Its cheesy but it does look nice for sure, and this will not be the only time he uses the sunset in his pictures.
Pearl Harbor
A film that places more visual emphasis on drama, chaos and tragedy with explosions. Due to the nature of battle, we get a lot of wide shots.
Bad Boys 2
Michael Bay brought us his most action-packed sequel, with more car chases and thrills. Visually speaking this film resembled more of a music video which is disappointing but this was the trend in the early 2000’s with the release of 2 Fast 2 Furious but he still places the camera right in the thick of the action, capturing the full senses of pure action cinema.
The film provides us with plenty of action scenes to choose from with a long and entertaining final act.
The Island
Another film that re-establishes scope and scale.
The best action scene to watch is the highway chase scene, featuring plenty of road rage and crashes, it looks glorious in style and Ewan Mcgregor is put in one tough situation. The force was definitely with him for that scene.
Transformers Series
Each Transformers has a different visual quality to it, delving deep into different locations and characters, with the action scenes at times going bigger in scale. There also seems to be an emphasis on military personnel, with Josh Duhamel leading the way. In terms of pure action, Transformers 3 has the best action sequence in the franchise towards the end.
These are some of the series stand out moments and scenes in terms of visual composition. The opening fight scene in The Last Knight stands out the most because it’s so bold and you can feel the environment.
Pain and Gain
An immoral bombastic ride, but it was still a ride with a lot of colour. This is one of Michael Bay’s smaller pictures with a little less emphasis on action. But, we still see plenty of fast cars, sunsets and a lot of colours, a lot. With the camera and GoPro’s placed right near the actors.
13 Hours
A real life military depiction of true events. The film clicked well with Bay films as a true return to form coming off the weak The Last Knight. Like Pearl harbor, the film has more of a frantic look and feel to it.
You can catch Pain and Gain, Bad Boys, The Island and 6 Underground on Netflix UK.
What do you think is Michael Bay’s best cinematic shot?
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
With Nolans new Oppenheimer set for a 2023 release, let’s look at one of his crowning pieces of work,The Dark Knight Rises
Nolan’s career has grown extensively into bigger budget films from the days of Memento, Following, and Insomnia. He began work in the superhero genre with Batman Begins in 2005, taking the approach of an independent filmmaker to blockbuster acclaim.
The Dark Knight followed in 2008 with his highest box office revenue to date, but The Dark Knight Rises may still be his biggest cinematic release in terms of fan anticipation, the film’s climax, narrative, and the overall marketing campaign. Here’s why and let’s discuss.
By the time the third film was released in 2012, Nolan had gathered quite a loyal and large fanbase for his Batman flicks, dating back to 2005 and probably further back, making Batman one of the most sought out characters for filmmaking, yet Christian Bales performance felt the truest and most down to earth, breaking away the mold of some of the more tame representations of the character. Batman Begins got the character representation spot on with a heartfelt and powerful backstory, developing the character enough to make the sequels matter.
The Dark Knight completely changed the game for Nolan. Batman Begins had an independent look and feel to it, The Dark Knight was a blockbuster with thrilling action scenes shot on IMAX. The film was made for the big screen and of course, it featured a wild and oscar worthy performance from Heath Ledger. The film pretty much dominated the year 2008.
2 years later, Nolan would again establish himself as a director of mega-budget blockbuster entertainment, this time with the magnificent ensemble piece Inception. The marketing and release for the film were huge. Despite critical and audience acclaim, the film may not have been for everyone, mainly due to the complex nature of the plot and the fact that you really needed to pay close attention to every scene in the film.
This leads me to my next point, 2012 saw the release of Nolan’s most epic film to date, a film that would end Hollywood’s most successful superhero trilogies of all time and the anticipation was huge with Tom Hardy being cast as Bane, coming off his big performance in Warrior and his understated role in Inception.
Sam Raimi’s Spiderman trilogy could’nt quite land a satisfying finale, some of the X-men films flopped, Robocop sequels got worse, Superman 3 failed, the pressure was on The Dark Knight Rises but most of us knew the film would deliver with its action and emotion at its core, with Hans Zimmer returning to compose the soundtrack.
The film would attract non-superhero fans and even non-Nolan fans, because of the accessible and mainstream quality of the film, but more importantly, the film screams an event, a big cinematic event, and it creates this conversation from trailers, tv spots, talent on screen, and more to drive people to the big screen, with many not knowing who the writer and director of the films are. The trailers and TV spots were superb, giving us a glimpse of the situation between Batman and Bane but not giving away too much.
Back in 2012, I enjoyed Nolan’s Batman films but I wasn’t a die-hard fan, yet when the third film came out, I felt obliged to see it and get in with the conversation with fans about how and why the film was epic. This doesn’t happen often, the only times these events happen are with Tarrantino and I am guessing James Cameron’s Avatar sequels once they land after a decade of silence.
Back to The Dark Knight Rises, the film completely grew with scope and scale. The Dark Knight was still big, but a lot of the scenes were contained and close-quartered. The Dark Knight Rises has these scenes for sure, but its finale is beyond any climax in the last decade in superhero genre filmmaking, even beating the latest Avengers films.
The fight scenes are fierce, gritty and bold and the cinematography is relishing, with Wally Pfister returning, creating an environment made for heroes and villains. In all its madness in the final act, you feel completely focused on the fight between Batman and Bane, two opposing forces of physical and ideological strengths, surely beating the Batman vs Superman rivalry.
The question to ask is will Nolan ever reclaim the success and thrown of The Dark Knight Rises? will his films ever gather more wider fan anticipation? To do this outside the work of superhero genre filmmaking will be beyond impressive as both Tenet and Interstellar haven’t quite done as well, but both are exceptionally entertaining.
What you have with The Dark Knight Rises is a more complete picture for the audience and Batman fans, it really gives you everything that a blockbuster film can deliver but also as a third parter.
It builds on everything we have come to love about Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, with some backstory and nods of nostalgia, whilst giving us a new villain and a new threat, but the story and its representation of Batman is perfect. A man of such power and wealth, has threads of weakness more so than any other superhero.
Superhero films don’t usually get bigger or better than this, A list performances, groundbreaking action, epic score and climax. The Dark Knight Rises is Christopher Nolan’s crowning jewel, in the field of mainstream appeal and success. Its a film that balances the use of spectacle and emotion so brilliantly, I never once thought that Nolan’s love for action took away from the story and what he was really trying to say about the politics of Gotham and the arc of Batman.
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
With The Expendables 4 coming out this year, let’s take a look at the appeal of The Expendables (2010). The film that started it all for better or worse and became Lionsgates hit action series, with Stallone steering the ship into financial success and stardom.
Its time to think of The Expendables as an action drama with a group of real men at its core, having more development than one would expect.Ultimatley, its the scenes between the action that really stand out.
In 2010, came the unique and original concept of taking cinemas most cherished action stars, perhaps of the century into one film, bringing together a multi-generation fanbase of action fans, and the film itself more or less flopped with critics, but its box office was big enough to get the sequels in the making.
Take a group of well-acclaimed actors, fierce and powerful but show them as men, real men, that’s the niche and USP. The film works as one big success for the Box Office, but also as a great concept for a film, with down to earth characters with cherished experiences.
However, Stallone took a lot of hefty risks with this project, which includes some of the castign choices. He chose to select great action legends but also world champion athletes including the comedic Terry Crews who steals the show with his guns in the final act. What a way to save the day.
Back in 2010, The Expendables was marketed as a straight forward B action film, showcasing little to no substance. This was done intentionally to bring in a larger audience to generate higher box office growth, but actually the film deals with a lot more complex themes about manhood and life in general, with the carnage and explosions.
Its only the sequel that really blows the roof open with the ridiclious premise, showcasing a lot more self aware humour dating back to their iconic roles as Rocky, terminator, Rambo and the addition of Chuck Norris, who no one can take seriously, in a good way though.
The Expendables 2
Although the film has some flaws here and there, to me it’s a very nostalgic film that holds a nice place in my heart for love for explosive action scenes and just a masculine time at the movies. However, Stallone took a very unique approach to the film, one which I think threw audiences and critics off the project. Let’s discuss.
The tone of The Expendables was much more serious than we were expecting, actually involving a narrative that took place in the heart of Brazil, taking the crew to care about something far deeper than a typical B action shoots ’em up flick.
Some of the common complaints by critics was the generic nature of the film, Stallone leads his men through an onslaught of beautiful balleigh with bullets. There is some Lovely use of physical performance in the fight choreography, especially with Jet Li and Statham. Although, Stallones classic theme of mercenaries gets washed down by a generic plot setting, resulting in a film that you have probably already seen in the genre a thousand times.
Whenever the film takes us to the actual plot with Eric Roberts and Steve Austin, I found myself wanting to spend more screen time with the leads. The film also stars Mickey Rourke, who gets his supposed oscar written scene, where he discusses some of his regrets and how he wants to die for something that counts.
It’s a very well delivered scene, but it doesn’t quite fit in the film. Early on, the film establishes that reality is’nt really the selling point, with men being blown in half, literally. Perhaps, the film is an action drama with moments of comedy, but drama is the key word there, despite the blown to shreds action scenes.
The opening starts off as a realistic documentary, with the camera shaking and themes of pirates, but as soon as we get introduced to all The Expendables, that’s when the fun starts. Bullets start spraying, men start dying, knives start penetrating the bad guys, the crew fly away in their vintage plane with some rock and roll music, we now have our movie and I was totally on board and interested in these characters who have these quirky and dynamic qualities.
Heading straight into production, Stallone liked the idea of the ensemble western genre, taking a group of mysterious men who are legends in their own right, but they each have an understated appeal. Stallone wanted to share something in common to the audience and you do get that in The Expendables, it’s the idea of taking the whole crew into something dangerous, unfamiliar and unpredictable as they take down one huge army, making them essentially the underdogs, which is’nt the only time Stallone has included this theme into his films, other occasion includes Rocky.
The more familiar element on the film is the chemistry between Statham and Stallone, who are two action legends who have emerged from two different generations of cinema, one representing the more modern and mainstream aspect being Statham with his Transport action series and the other presenting the vintage mechanics of action cinema, Stallone, but the two can hold a screen very well and work together in some wickedly cool action scenes, including the plane scene.
Surisingly though, Stallone decides to focus more of the character development on him, Statham, and Lundgren. Dolph Lundgren’s character is very interesting, a very tough guy who has this unpredictable side to him that causes the crew a few nightmares, especially the fight he has with Jet Li.
Gunner has become the series most utlised and developed character of the bunch who really has a mysterious edge but knows exactly how to dismantle his enemies. He is one of the series most loyal actors at this point and is set to reprise his role in the fourth installment.
You get the sense throughout the film, excluding the finale that these guys are’nt really superhero’s, they are actually very damaged men who have a really important and shared commodity between each other. Its not until the end, where we really see them make the most of their lives, by coming together to fight against waves of enemies and it comes across as if they have accepted themselves and this deadly situation that they’re in.
Its a moral pull, as Stallone has stated excellently in previous interviews that these guys need friends at the end of the day, a lovely contrasting theme to the lonliness of manhood and washed away potential. All they have is each other, a theme we can all relate to in some way or another. They are all selfless and will fight for each other and for the better until the end and its sequel continues that in fine fashion.
If you attempt to take the film a little more seriously than you would expect, the film is easily the best of out the three and is far less cartoony then the latter sequels, which I think came across as more studio experiments rather than having a narrative that had a more deeper purpose, but they still work as solid entertainment, with some nice touches of drama here and there, thanks to the addition of better actors.
Obviously, the best part to this film, in particular, is the action, despite some exaggerated blood splatters it does have a very physical quality to it, with great stuntwork and very brutal kills. Stallone really put himself in the fight with Steve Austin, displaying crazy dedication to his role. The last action sequence is magnificent, showcasing a selection of hand to hand fight scenes, AA-12 weaponry, explosions, just a beautiful onslaught of well timed madness.
I think the realistic quality to the fight scenes can be thanked to the way that they are filmed including the lighting and framing, adds to stronger, more relatable characters, because you don’t feel that these scenes exist in an alternative reality without consequences. The cinematographer is Jeffrey Kimball who lensed previous action flicks Mission Impossible 2, Paycheck, and Top Gun. The Expendables has a more realistic and hard-hitting look to it.
Sonme audiences may have forgotten but the cast is full of very exceptional actors. Yes, Bruce Willis had starred in Oscar-worthy pictures, establishing himself at one point as Hollywood’s leading male actors. Mickey Rourke and Stallone are both very serious actors, who have happened to star in some ridiculous films one of them being the now infamous Cobra in 86.
But, Stallone can direct very well, he seems to love the idea of bringing together serious themes on manhood, injustice in the world and realistic and brutal action scenes. 2 years prior, he directed the series most violent entry, Rambo (2008), with a sharp focus on horrific injustice but a sense of doing the right thing and the inner conflict that may bring. Stallone loves character studies with violence, usually on a big scale.
The music is another brilliant element to the picture, with Brian tyler bringing his best work to date, with a magnificent soundtrack where you can feel and breathe the love for heroes in every track, giving the action scenes a masculine and tense edge.
The film concludes even better with a humorous scene where the crew have a go hitting the target with their knives. The music choice and banter between the group just feels so infectious.
The film has one of the best steelbook editions, with fantastic artwork and additional features with bonus content to keep you up all night. The film’s extended cut is more violent and you get to understand Stallone’s directorial choices from all elements of production. You can purchase it here.
With a premise sufficient enough to be completely mindless, The Expendables has a lot more heart and grit than one would expect, featuring an onslaught of practical action scenes and moments of strong character development.
These themes are carried through the further sequels, with the second about revenge and the third a more personal theme on betrayal, featuring several icons of action cinema who can carry the drama through.
You can watch The Expendables Extended Edition on Amazon Prime UK.
What do you think of The Expendables?
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
With the fun Uncharted coming out just around the corner, lets discuss the work of Ruben Fleischer, as he sets his talents into the adventure genre.
In Hollywood terms, a successful film is based on its financial success, not critical acclaim. Ruben Fleischer’s work is beginning to take shape and he is becoming more adaptable to industry demands and the audience’s tastes and flavors.
He may not be an auteur yet, but he is beginning to establish himself as one of Hollywood’s go-to men to bring in millions for a studio, his source material ranges from zombies, true stories, video games, and comic book characters, all of which have been mostly successful with audiences and box office results.
Director Ruben Fleischer (left) and Woody Harrelson on the set of Columbia Pictures’ comedy ZOMBIELAND.
Coming off the back of the charming Zombieland, Fleischer has directed several enjoyable yet flawed flicks that have proven well at the box office. A director who makes films for the audience, I believe that the turning point of his career was 2018’s box office smash Venom, solidifying him as a director that can bring in a studio millions based on a risky project with heaps of potential with a leading man of Tom Hardy and a fan base that dates back to generations.
Whether or not you liked the film, Venom was a huge success that spawned a sequel and is now probably a franchise that will intercut with the marvel universe. That’s impressive and this wouldn’t have happened without audiences liking Venom.
Audiences typically responded well to the back and forth between tom hardy and venom, a great dynamic that symbolizes perhaps an embodiment of mental health to which Tom Hardy has spoken about in previous interviews. He would then produce Venom’s sequel Let there be Carnage, which was more of a weird and wacky ride, expanding upon the madness of the original with the wickedly talented Andy Serkis in the director’s chair.
Venom was not only an audiences picture, but it put a lot of emphasis on physical performance. The film got a lot out of Tom Hardy’s strange and diverse performance, differing from some of his more straightforward tough roles in Warrior and The Dark Knight Rises.
His weakest film to date has been 30 minutes or less, but he bounced back with Gangster Squad, ensembling one of cinemas greatest casts since The Expendables. The film had a visual style and a story that was based on true events.
His highest-grossing film thus far has been Venom with a worldwide gross of $853,530,899 and more impressively his Zombieland sequel, Double Tap earned $122,266,018, more than the original back in 2009.
With Uncharted coming out, with all its promising marketing information, I think the film looks exciting and could hopefully break the trend of sloppy video games to film adaptations. Tom Holland and Mark Whalberg are set to be the film’s main leads, this not being the only time each actor has dominated the screen for a film.
Tom Holland is finally catching a break from flying through the streets of Atlanta as one of cinemas most beloved characters, Spider-Man and the career of Mark Whalberg speaks for itself, recently starring in the solid All the Money in the World and Joe Bell.
His use of genre has been mostly flexible, but it seems that he enjoys blending comedy with action and drama. Uncharted seems to be carrying that tradition through with an Indiana Jones cinematic feel, with laughs from Antonio Banderas. The writers have worked on the recent Transformers: The Last Knight, Iron Man, Men in Black International and Punisher: War Zone.
It seems that Fleischer’s work seems to be getting bigger and bigger, with more high list stars and budgets, but more importantly, audiences are enjoying his films. I believe that he understands what audiences want to see from films. I would not be surprised to see his name attached to more superhero projects as it seems only Zach Synder is working on them, as Fleischer seems to be a real actors director as well as craft visual action scenes, both being key components in superhero films.
The writer’s previous work for Uncharted may be considered a mixed bag for critics, but with good direction Uncharted is set to be a rollicking fun ride at the movies with a mega budget of 120 million, set to beat Moonfall, heading straight into financial decay.
Usually, a lot of talented film directors are one-shot filmmakers, meaning they direct a great film but they then fly off the radar and are never seen again. A similar scenario seems to be plaguing John Trank, who made the favorable Chronicle in 2012 but has since struggled to climb his way back into mainstream success with the poor Fantastic Four and Capone with Tom hardy.
Fleischer took a break after Gangster Squad but bounced back with Venom and then Double Tap, which was a sequel most liked and good horror comedy sequels are a rare breed and find in this age of cinema.
Both Zombieland films are available on Netflix UK.
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
Roland Emmerich takes a huge but rather tame swing at one of the year’s most disastrous film plots that never quite lands. Patrick Wilson is an upcoming star whose experience has been dominated by The Conjuring films, but this time he is written to hold the screen and become the leader in a trio whose chemistry never surpasses or matches the dynamic nature of the wolfpack.
You don’t remember who their characters were but at least you can recognize their faces. Whereas his forgettable Independence day sequel had a cast of mainly no names and that film bombed harder than the initial white house explosion in the original.
With every Roland Emmerich film released, you have to go into it with the right mindset and expectation. Emmerich has a funny way of getting you to completely suspend all forms of science before seeing one of his films and there is a charm in that, a form of self-aware cinema that I really like.
Although he places a lot of emphasis on the research he did when making the film to get it as accurate as possible and I am still confused by some of its plot progressions. For a film like this, you need charisma or you need to make it serious and make the drama land, the film achieves none of these. The drama is simply accelerated into space with no real effect.
The other problem is that the science element is stuck in a plot that evolves to become as generic as most of his films or films in a similar field. It’s a film that we all have seen before and it never attempts to break any new ground considering its genre.
In that sense, it really is stuck as it can’t escape the box it’s in. White House Down has a more balanced blend of comedy, action, and drama and could have a lot more fun with its simple precise. Moonfall, to some positive effect, has a more complicated narrative.
However, the biggest financial problem with Moonfall is that it doesn’t have a direct audience. This isn’t a true Emmerich film. Tonally, the film is all over the place. It’s not funny enough to be an action-comedy like White House Down, its drama isn’t serious enough for it to be emotionally compelling like Interstellar, so now you are left with a hollow film with only the action spectacle and actors to see it through.
This seems like a risky investment considering the hefty finance Roland pumped in. Its budget is 140 million and its box office has earned just 10 million in its opening, it’s scheduled to be a financial disaster.
The film has good actors but the casting seems a bit off considering the tone. Patrick Wilson hasn’t quite established himself as an action-leading man and Halle Berry has a more Oscar-worthy background, the third addition is John Bradley who most have never heard of, other than his role in The Brothers Grimsby (2016). Others include Michael Pena who is wasted and Charlie Plummer. Halle Berry is the best actress in the film by a long shot.
If you are going to do a film this big, you have to deliver on all elements, including the visuals, genre, tone, and more. Marc kermode recently pointed out that the film is the most ridiculous film ever made, this is some statement considering releases like White House Down, Independence Day series, Godzilla, 2012, and more.
I think the film’s greatest strengths lie in its tension. The film loses track I think with its humor, at least there is a sense of drama and stake when some of the more intense and weighty scenes are taking place. Especially towards the end, which I cannot spoil, but it was a little unpredictable to be fair to the film crew.
The biggest obstacle Moonfall faces is making its money back of a huge budget. When the film gets a little darker, it works a lot better compared to its uninteresting and dull plot exposition scenes where we have characters literally explain the plot, as if they are reading information of the backend of a piece of paper behind the camera.
Moonfall reminded me to some extent of the science fiction called Life in 2017 with Ryan Reynolds. A film that didn’t break any ground in the science fiction genre.
The most impressive element that Roland Emmerich could achieve is making a trilogy out of this film, that would be a career-high and if he does, fair play to him for getting the most out of on paper, a nothing and bland precise. Let’s see what’s in store for Moonfall, in terms of financial success and audience interest.
I think a sequel will be better, considering the first film is the hardest to make. It has to establish the world and the law, but more importantly, audiences need to like it. That, we will see.
Roland Emmerich has only made one film series with Independence Day, but he has expressed real interest to make more Moonfall films, which is ironic considering he doesn’t like the nature of sequels. He has expressed this in interviews regarding the independence day sequels.
As of yet, the film has received terrible reviews including a shocking 39% rating on rotten tomatoes and a 5.3 rating on IMDB. Although Collider saw Moonfall as his second-best film right behind Independence Day, you can read the article here.
However, should you see the film? I recommend waiting for it to stream when it comes out of the cinema. I don’t suspect this will be showing for a long time, even die-hard Emmerich fans could get a better product.
Have you seen Moonfall?
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
Cinemas most wonderful action hero, John Mcclane has a place in everyone’s hearts and it’s fun to explore this in all of the Die Hard films with a different scenario each time.
One thing is for sure, there is a john mcclane in every single one of us in life, we either know it or will explore it at some point in the future.
Some of cinemas greatest action heroes may wear flying capes, be millionaires, own modified vehicles and have wealth certain to serve them for life. John Mcclane is a more down to earth relatable man, even down to the clothes he wears.
Yes, sometimes he wips out the vest, but we can see him wearing either casual dad clothes or his work uniform. Ignore Bradd Pitt from Fight Club, John Mcclane is the true man that us men aspire to be.
Most superhoers always have a back up plan and most of the time have technology to safely ease themselves out of any situation that is thrown on their laps, yes I’m talking to you Batman, who has Alfred to help guide him through life and Superman who can fly himself out of any situation, quite literally.
When John Mcclane is in trouble, nothing will save him. Often he has to improvise in some pretty incredible moments. Take this scene below for an example. He decides to drive the car into the helicopter unwillingly.
What makes this character so likeable, is that if you take away the action and just look at the situation. John Mcclane really is in the wrong place at the wrong time, quite literally, he gets stuck in some of lifes most audacious and intense situations.
You then add the action sequences on top and now you have an action blockbuster mega hit but the character and the situation is there in at least the first four films, meaning the 5th took the concept abroad with a rather tame plot, but family was still at the core.
A Good day to Die Hard (2013)
John Mcclane isn’t just an everyday man, I’d argue he is as human as you can get with the occasional witty one-liners and action hits, crazy enough to wipe out cinemas most intelligent villains. Many view Die Hard as an action series, however, there is no reason why we cant see them as a drama series or a deep and rich character study of someone who just cant take a break and cant we all.
For all of the crazy situations he gets in, there is something we can learn from these scenes and most of the time these situations serve as great visual entertainment but also develop the character in some way and show us a different side to him, whether that’s his sense of humour or his moral integrity.
Upon watching all of these films, John Mcclane ironically gets a lot of decision making wrong, he sometimes opens the wrong doors and says the wrong things, however, you get the sense that he tries to do the right thing most of the time and is unintentionally thrown into these situations against his own will.
Take this scene below for example, a film that in my opinion I consider a drama, it makes the experience better. Here John Mcclane is trying to do the right thing and actually gets shot at, its the ultimate form of rejection towards active duty service.
Notice the way he talks to himself, ‘John, what the fuck are you doing’. He has that relationship with himself that we have, speaking the subconscious mind.
All of these films have these great standout moments, where John Mcclane is as vulnerable and as explosive as you can get. However, him getting his back stabbed is’nt the only time in the franchise. Take 2007’s fourth installment, Live Free or Die Hard, John Mcclane gets shot at by advanced jets with missiles, a techological nod and step up by from the scene in the first Die Hard. Take a look below.
Although, the fourth was’nt the best received, it is a film that has gotten better with age and I have grown to appreciate it a lot more, thanks to solid direction from Len Wiseman and Justin Long who provides us with a sense of charm to combat the stubbornness of John Mcclane. Its a nice contrast.
A sixth film was reported a while ago, but I believe it has been cancelled and Bruce Willis seems to found his feet in straight to DVD films. The Die Hard series in my opinion show us just how good of an actor Bruce Willis is. There have been millions of Die Hard rip off’s and general action films, most of the time we forgot who the action lead is but John Mcclane has this screen appeal that I think both women and men connect with.
Out of all the action films ever made that have spawned sequels, some of cinemas most famous action leads include Terminator, Rambo, Bond, Bourne, Luke Skywalker, Indianna Jones, Ethan Hunt, Rocky but John Mcclane may be the most human of them all.
The Die Hard films allow his colours to come through on screen and we see multiple different sides to him, whereas in some of the Bourne and Bond films, their characters appear to be at times one noted and straight forward, designed to serve the plot. John Mcclane expresses his emotions as we all do, especially towards the end in Die Hard 2 and there are multiple moment in the franchise where he appears to be a broken man.
One of my favorite scenes from Die Hard is the moment where John Mcclane is forced to walk on broken glass to hide from the villains. Its a great scene as he forgot to wear his shoes and the aftermath is just so unique for an action film, where we see his feet, covered in blood and he begins to take out the broken glass.
Most action films wouldn’t be interested in going this far, either because of a PG-13 rating or just having the lead to be indestructible. Its a perfect blend of violence and drama, making it compelling and another reason to love John Mcclane.
The series pretty much deals with all of the right components with action franchises, intense plots that are simple to get through that evolve in drama from film to film, a leading man who is father, husband, vulnerable but strong, a charmisic and comedic pairing to help ease the drama with humour, incredible action sequences that are actually intense to watch and family. What more could anyone want from this Die Hard series or any other action series for that matter.
Notice that the action set pieces aren’t tightly choreographed, unlike the Bourne or Rambo films. The action set pieces have more of a spontaneity quality to them, out of the blue yet they have real consequences. If anything, the director creates the orchestra of calamity and chaos and throws Mcclane into the situation. Its unchoreographed chaos at its finest and most enjoyable.
Some of the industry’s most proficient directors have worked on the Die Hard series, including Predator’s John McTiernan, Cliffhanger’s Renny Harlin, Underworld’s Len Wiseman and Behind Enemy Lines John Moore. It’s very common for an action series to stick with the same director throughout, Die Hard likes the mix-up the formula a tad.
As of yet, Live Free or Die Hard has brought in the most amount of finance with an impressive $382,288,147 of the series highest budget of $110,000,000, with a rotten tomatoes score of 82% and an imdb rating of 7.1. With the lowest being Die Hard with a budget of $28,000,000, scoring $139,434,346 worldwide. Although it has a rating of 92% on Rotten Tomatoes.
What do you think of the Die Hard series and John Mcclane?
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
For all film fans that love analyzing films and their creative decisions, you’ve come to the right place.
This time, we will be taking a look at arguably the best installment in the franchise, Furious 7. Upon re-watching the film countless times, I think there is much more substance to this film than one meets the eye, and it’s a film I would happily recommend to any action lover.
Furious 7 is the most character-driven film in the series, which in truth was aided by the tragic death of Paul Walker, making this installment just that more significant.
The 7th film in the franchise saw a drastic change in filmmaking creativity. James Wan, who comes from a horror background gave the film a whole different look and feel to it. Right down to the cinematography, editing choices, and overall style.
Let’s explore some of these elements in this article, with a special look at the duel between Statham and Diesel. I believe that this fight scene is shot so differently from some of the scenes in the previous fast and furious films, it’s very noticeable if you are familiar with filmmaking and the fast and furious films.
Before Furious 7, we had the fight scene from Fast Five between Diesel and The Rock. It was very tough and rough, with the camera placed right into the middle of the fight scene. That scene was less about filmmaking creativity and more about knocks, punches, and the two simply bashing into each other. However, the series has seen several more installments and the series has evolved.
For a start, it’s worthing pointing out that Furious 7 is the most character-driven film out of the series. It deals with revenge, tragedy, loss and the film’s visual style reflects this, even the posters. The film has a more tame and dramatic look to it, vastly different from the previous films.
This shows that this franchise has creativity embedded in its fabric, it’s so interesting to see how a franchise evolves over time when different directors come in and give the series a different and fresh take. It definitely maintains the interest of fans, including myself.
Every Fast and Furious film is the same in terms of subject material, but you hit the jackpot when each film has a unique quality to them. Furious 7 is the one that stands out in my opinion. Let’s take a look at a few scenes that really show this idea, including the fight scene and the funeral scene at the beginning.
Let’s start off with the funeral scene, which in some weird way ties into the theme of tragedy regarding the death of Paul Walker. The crew is mourning the death of Gal Gadot.
We tend to associate bright and colorful images with the franchise, on par with the classic blockbuster feel. Yet this scene differs in color contrast to typical blockbuster releases.
With a team of 4 talented editors, including Kirk Morri who worked with James Wan on The Conjuring, the film’s tone is consistent throughout the experience. On the image above, it seems like the colorist toned down all of the green images coming from the trees and grass, and focused on the greyer parts to the frame.
The whole crew is seen wearing all black, a rare image to behold in the franchise. They have ditched the jeans and white tee’s. The color of their clothing has embedded itself into the picture.
The camera work gives us long and wide takes slow zoom-ins coming from different angles. However, the scene kicks into gear when Dom gets driving. I truly love and respect that James Wan chose to have no music at the beginning of the chase scene,
it’s really brilliant and helps us to settle into the minds of the two characters. It reminds me in some way of the chase scenes from The Place Beyond The Pines, a masterpiece from the mighty year of 2012 for cinema.
The choice of vehicles in this scene is also really important, notice that both of their vehicles aren’t that colorful, a huge contrasting point to the vehicles of the previous fast and furious films, especially 2 fast 2 Furious where pretty much every car was glistening with colors that really stood out in the frame and that film wasn’t exactly tension fueled, more of a feature-length music video with bromance. Take a look below and how these two images differ.
2 Fast 2 FuriousFurious 7
These two cars have a more subtle yet underlining power to them, but they also don’t draw too much attention to themselves. We get a better close-up of the vehicles when the two stop in a dark alleyway.
The film really doesn’t like color, its very evident. the film certainly owns its furious tag when the two clash right into each other. Something that I hope I will never have to do in my life.
Take notice of the way the two get out of the car, Jason Statham gets out with ease and we get a full shot of his body. Dom stumbles out of his vehicles, barely able to stand up. Already, we get the sense that Jason is in charge and powerful, adding to more vulnerability to Dom.
It’s a very subtle edit, but it adds to the power dynamic between the two very effectively. A very common theme in the franchise, where power is a consistent theme.
I love the dialogue exchange between the two, who both come from vastly different backgrounds and hold different values in life. It’s the first time Dom gets challenged in this way.
The clothing of Jason Statham is just cool and neat. The long black coat gives off a really classy edge to his character and Jason Statham can certainly act. For those who don’t believe me, watch Hummingbird and Safe as well as Furious 7.
The next scene we will be looking at is the fight scene between Statham and Diesel, it just keeps getting better and bigger. The scene carries the tradition of a more bleaker visual look to it, nearly detatching all colour.
This scene is already more aggressive then the funeral scene, its more ruthless and less forgiving. You really feel that both are similar in ability and power, which makes you unsure who is going to win. A rather compelling fight scene. The location is also very different and much more open, unlike the funeral scene.
What I also like is that Dom is the first to shoot Statham, as Statham was the first to instigate the fight scene previously. It gives Dom a nice little character arc, gaining the upper hand. However the fight scene itself, its very intense and closely matched. The two have the same set of muscles, lets be honest and both have the same weapons.
This time around, Dom has a black muscle car, which ties into the visual theme of the scene which is coloured by darkness. Notice Dom’s clothing, he ditches the summer white vest for a long sleeve white t-shirt, giving off a more serious and dramatic tone.
This scene is similar to the funeral scene but raises it a notch. This time, the two clash together with a much longer distance and run-up, with Dom raising his vehicle upwards to anticipate the hit. Dom walks out of the vehicle with ease, unlike the previous scene where he stumbled out of his car.
Also, notice the two standing by each of their vehicles. I think it’s really important that there was a shot of the two in front of their vehicles, symbolizing values that they live by and the type of their cars that show this.
The music is far different to the typical music video esque soundtrack music in these films. The music is done by Brian Tyler who has worked on previous Fast and Furious films. The soundtrack in this scene is much more epic and has a degree of orchestra in its DNA.
We get a wide shot of the two clash together with mechanical weaponry. We also get a wide shot from a distance, sweeping past the two fighting. A shot is done even above, zooming down on the two.
The scene concludes with Dom gaining the high ground and nearly finishing the Stath off, which he thought, although little did he know that he would return for the next few installments.
A powerful closing shot, but not as memorable as the last scene in the film, honoring the legacy of Paul Walker, Brian O’connor. His character will live on.
It was a beautiful and genius move showing the two drive-in different paths. You can watch the film in 4K on Amazon Prime UK.
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
Are remakes becoming significantly unpopular and unremarkable?
The answer thus far has been a mixed bag. Let’s take the last 10 years of cinema, how many remakes have been good?
True Grit, The Departed, A Star is Born, Dredd, and more. Thereof course has been plenty of forgetful remakes, let’s look at the Total Recall remake in 2012.
The original did not need to be remade, however, Len Wiseman’s approach to the film is one to which I fully backed. Take a great story and make it serious, with a solid and modern visual look and feel to it.
A remake that most people have probably forgotten about, which is ironic considering the narrative of the film, but I would like to discuss why the film is frustrating because there is so much that is right with the film.
Len Wiseman who directed the fourth Die Hard film and the Underworld films was a good choice to direct the remake. He knows how to direct action and craft original sets. This time his niche is in science fiction and taking something that is already familiar to audiences. This isn’t the only time he has worked on a project that has an established fanbase. The fanbase of Die Hard is both large and loyal, there is always an expectation for a film like this.
He can make action set pieces work and stand out. Die Hard 4 had a selection of well-timed action sequences and if there was anything that could be altered about the original Total Recall (1990) it’s the aesthetics. The original had some practical effects that were great for there time but when you watch back, you may notice a few shots where the effects and sets don’t look as glamorous.
The original was goofy and some of the action scenes were played for comedic effect, the remake, however, drastically improved the visual look of the film and gave the action scenes a more modern and adrenaline-fueled kick with Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel fighting alongside the main action man Collin Farrell, who has a more everyday quality to him that I think Arnold didn’t have.
As soon as you see Arnold, you tend to think Commando, Terminator, Predator, those titles don’t exactly scream relatability. However, Arnold had a dominating screen presence that doesn’t quite compare to Collin and with that, something is missing from Total Recall (2012) but I think it comes to down expectations.
The original Total Recall was fun, however, I wouldn’t say I was a huge fan of it considering I didn’t grow up in the ’90s. It’s more of a cult film between 90’s audiences, critics did like the political and social satire from the works of Paul Verhoven, who previously directed Robocop (1987). He is a director that can do those themes very intelligently and turn them into a fun and explosive blockbuster with great humour.
The new Total Recall (2012) has amazing visuals. Take a look.
It really re-imagines the concepts from the first film and gives it a fresh new look and take. This is easily the best component of the film and makes me want to recommend the film to audiences and fans of science fiction action. With a budget this high, it was well spent.
It’s a shame that everything else didn’t quite land for me. The performances were good for the material they had. The fight scenes were all well shot and there was good stunt work. Although, the enemy troopers were terrible shooters, perhaps a nod to the troopers from Star Wars.
The film had a good selection of writers, including Mark Bomback who wrote Die Hard 4.0 and later writing the Apes films. Another director/writer pairing.
Collins Ferrell’s performance is similar to performances from actors such as Jeremy Renner from the Bourne films. Physically competent but never showing and peeling interesting layers of the character. There are a few nice scenes where he see a little from him, including a scene between him and a piano, where we begin to learn more about him and his past.
For a film that had such a low rotten tomatoes score, it’s rather baffling to see how amazing the visuals turned out to be. I know I am rambling on about how amazing the film looks, you have to see for yourself. Enjoy.
This clip showcases some cinema best visual work in years. Its cinema like this that really grabs my attention, a film is begged to be seen on the big screen. Although, Blade Runner 2049 is a far better film, the visuals in both are nearly equally impressive, I would say so, although many would argue 2049 is superior in terms of the cinematography and special effects.
The scene that gets me everytime is when Collin is looking out of his balcony, where we get a wide shot of the city in all its beautiful detail and imagery.
The use of real stunt work is evident, especially in the scene where Kate Beckinsale fights Collin Farrell in the early stages of the picture. The camera work never gets shaky and it’s all well shot.
I just didn’t take emotionally for the characters and story, Total Recall now exists as a forgetful remake but also just an unremarkable film, a water considering the talent behind the camera.
The question is whats next for Len Wiseman. A director who at one point was due to take over Die Hard 6 which fell apart. He is proposed to direct Ballerina with Ana De Armas. The plot is A young female assassin seeks revenge against the people who killed her family.
The film will be his first feature length picture since Total Recall, making it a 10 year absence from theatrical releases.
Total Recall is showing on Netflix UK
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
Most audiences loved the film, but I have one minor issue with it.
One of Rian Johnson’s best films and one of 2012’s best sci-fi flicks has gained a good reputation over the last 9 years with both audiences and film critics. However, despite all the great aspects of the film, I had one issue with the film.
With a rotten tomatoes score of 93%, most would struggle to find many negative things to say about Looper. It was a breath of fresh air in filmmaking terms, something that audiences had never seen before. Originally made into a short film, Rian Johnson spent years developing and expanding the project into a full length narrative with fleshed ideas and concepts.
This may be a case where the film’s concept is better than the actual execution. The film’s concept is smart, slick, and original, however, I did not care about any of the characters, and in fact, I think the film did not want us to and if this is the case, then fair enough. I will explore this in more detail later on, but for now, I would like to discuss the positive aspects of the film to which there are plenty.
Rian Johnson and casting director Craig Fincannon, have chosen an array of talent that all do a strong job of selling their characters. Emily Blunt, Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Paul Dano, and Jeff Daniels are working on a story that is unpredictable and involves to a large extent original world-building.
When we think about world-building, titans that come to mind are James Cameron, George Lucas, Michael Bay, Christopher Nolan, and more. Rian Johnson has excellently crafted a film with its own set of rules and language, which makes viewing it evermore exciting because you can really get immersed in this film because it’s so different and really going beyond what a lot of films do. Few have their own original universe.
The performances are fine-tuned to this concept, Gordon Levitt does a fine job of walking us through his job and explaining the basic rule settings of time travel. The film goes so fast that you don’t have time to catch up with the rationality of it all.
Upon countless rewatches of the film, the editing and cinematography are both infectious. The editing is most impressive, it’s stylized just at the point of cool but not ridiculous, unlike a Michael Bay or Zach Synder film. All of the technical elements of the film are almost flawless, including an interesting soundtrack by Nathan Johnson who is the brother of Rian.
The film looks amazing, with cinematographer Steve Yedlin working with Rain Johnson after Brick. He would later work with Rian on The Last Jedi and Knives Out.
The film is paced very well from start to finish, allowing the film to move fast and progress the narrative until its explosive climax, it provides a nice balance between exposition scenes and moments where we learn more about Gordon Levitt’s past, which is intertwined with Bruce Willi’s story and motives, but one huge piece is missing from is, which is the emotion.
It’s not like I didn’t like the characters in the film, in fact, I thought all of them were interesting in their own ways. Emily Blunt was a strong female lead, who is forced to make some hard choices in the film, never wanting to abandon her troubled son and certainly gives Gordon Levitt a good fight when he comes knocking at her door.
The only real moments of character development we get are the moments where Joseph Gordon Levitt is torn between two choices he has to make. Running away from his job and settling into a new environment, Bruce Willis has moments with his love interest who eventually gets taken away from him. The film deals with character conflict, but the emotional resonance was never as strong as I wanted it to be.
There is an element of tragedy in the film where the two characters are talking about their lives and how they’ve changed. Imagine talking to an older or a younger version of yourself in a diner, that would get quite intense and certainly interesting. You would probably spend hours just talking.
This is definitely the best Bruce Willis performance in a long time, he was perfectly cast and he came across as someone who had a lot of life experience and been through a lot, that’s a very hard act to play. The best scene is the diner scene, very well written dialogue between the two.
The film is intelligent, riddled with original ideas with fabulous themes, however, if I really cared about the characters, I wonder how much better the film would have been. It’s up there with some of cinema’s finest diner scenes including Pulp Fiction, Heat and more.
Going back to the point of the film lacking emotion, perhaps this film is made to be an observation of two complex lives of essentially one person, who’s time is spent flickering through the myths and wonderfully tragic yet complex nature of time travel in film and the reality it has over him. That’s probably the most relatable theme in the whole film, its the scenes between Willis and Levitt. Their scenes are rich in history and experience.
Although, time travel is complex, the film makes it fairly easy to follow, it’s only when you stop and think about it, the film may loose you. As I’ve said, the emotion never quite hit for me, I never deeply cared about anyone on screen but I was interested, deeply interested. Being interested and actually caring may be two different things.
Perhaps, if the film wanted to be more emotional it would have had to sacrifice or change the whole tone of the picture. For a film that is full of so many interesting ideas and themes, I really recommend watching Rian Johnson talk about it in interviews. Check it out below.
The interview above explains all of the film’s intentions really well, a great general summarization of whole picture in under 5 minutes. I would be interested in seeing a sequel, but that looks impossible considering Rian’s working on a new Knives Out sequel.
Whether you care about the characters or not, one thing is for sure is that you will get an action-packed ride with Looper. A film that will introduce new ideas and an original world.
Have you seen Looper?
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
Like Marmite, you either get his style or you roll your eyes, Let’s take a look back at his work.
One of Warner Brothers’ most successful film directors has established himself as one of the industry-leading auteurs in superhero filmmaking. You can feel every stroke of his creative paintbrush on screen and his visual storytelling is a talent to behold.
However, as fans of cinema know, filmmaking is about the whole picture. The talent of balancing wonderful visual artwork with character development. Throughout the body of his work, he has produced some outstanding cinematic images that have kept him unique and have retained the interest of Warner Brothers begging him to direct superhero flicks for comic book fans.
This brings me to my first point. His films are made for fans who love and empower the energy of comic books. His comic book adaptations have always been incredibly faithful, at times, a literal shot by shot loyal embodiment of the story. In my views, his adaptations have mostly been entertaining but never thought provoking and emotionally engaging. The best adaptations are the ones where the directors can pull non fans of the comic book into the screen, a fabulous example being Mathew Vaugh’s Kick-Ass in 2010 and not so much its sequel in 2013.
Man of Steel
Man of Steel till to this date has some of the best marketing ever in cinematic history. The trailer really sold the cast, story and of course Hans Zimmer’s work on the soundtrack.
Although, many audiences tend to favour 300 and Dawn of the Dead as Synder’s most notable and popular projects to date. The best analysis I think is Man of Steel (2013), an example of some breathtaking moments of visual storytelling coupled with moments of emotion, where Synder allows the camera to sit patiently with some of the characters. Some of the most heartfelt scenes are the ones between Clark kent and Jonathan Kent.
It’s a beautifully looking scene with uses of natural light, yet the camera never looses sight with the characters.
Lets put it this way, you know usually within the first few frames that you are watching a Zach Synder film, he has a clear style. However, his storytelling has’nt always gelled well with film critics. One of the criticisms is that he mistakes his love for action spectacle in exchange and a lack of clear character development.
Its like he has such a talent and perhaps a fetish for his visual trademarks that he looses the audience’s understanding and active involvement in the story he’s telling. Batman vs Superman’s narrative was mostly painfully unengaging and most audiences would agree with that point.
A same point could be mentioned in his recent directorial attempts with Justice League. A film that felt very wooden in its plot explanation.
Going back to his filmmaking style, this means that his films are really for one type of audience. Fans of comic book’s and action sequences. The only film that he has made that has appealed to a more wider and general audience, I would say is Man of Steel.
The ensemble cast is accessible and packed with oscar-worthy talent. As I mentioned before, there is a clear attempt to emphasize and support character triumph over spectacle in some scenes. Its themes are rooted in an emotive state of humanity. The film gets religious in some moments, but the Father/son relationships are evident throughout.
His visual style is hard to pinpoint exactly, as it differs between projects and the story he’s telling. However, he likes dark and bleak imagery, especially in comic book films. Its a trait you can probably notice in all of his films, there are usually scenes with dark lights, shadows and rain.
His visuals symbolize a more aggressive emotion, violence and revenge centred in its frame. His visuals are crafted around the characters and serve as plot progression.
If you haven’t enjoyed his work but want a good taste of his expertise, Man of Steel is worth a watch.
Man of Steel is on Netflix UK.
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
Exploring how family has been presented in each Fast and Furious film, this should be fun!
With Fast and Furious 10 expecting to be released in 2023, we have some catching up and reflecting as to how the family term has evolved in each installment.
When we think about the Fast and Furious films, the nature of simplicity pops to mind. Fast cars, music video esque scenes, and narratives that make no rational sense, however, throughout the saga we have been bombarded with the theme of family.
For better or worse, every single film of the franchise has dealt with a different aspect of the word family, and perhaps Fast and Furious has redefined what family means in blockbuster terminology. Even some of the best blockbusters ever made don’t put this much of an emphasis on a theme as important and relatable as family.
Deaths, betrayals, marriage, barbeques, the Fast and Furious family have stood the test of time and this is thanks to some hefty performances and a cast that have stayed loyal to the franchise since 2001, providing them with a paycheck to last generations, almost as long as the fast and furious saga, put together.
For the case of this article, I wanted to explore how family has been presented in each film and what the messages were. I believe the importance of family has evolved stronger in each film, either because of further character development or a plot that seems to escalate the stakes so much that no Fast and Furious modified brake could stop it, and yes I am even talking to the tech wizard team in the ninth installment.
The production team tends to create a chaotic orchestra around the themes of family, whether that means taking the crew abroad, cars smashing through buildings and characters leaping out of cars to land on another. It’s the scenario that is actually created first then the family is put right in the center, that’s how you get it as effectively as possible.
Despite some unfavourable reviews, I truly believe that if you erase all forms of film criticism and try to immerse yourself into the relationships of the characters in the family, then you can enjoy all of these films. Without getting on board with the concept of family, then the films will probably loose you at some point.
Whether how ridiculous these films have been, Vin Deisel’s commitment to the franchise has been admirable and he has been in pretty much every Fast and Furious film, taking charge of the crew in most installments. Let’s start off with the first film.
1)The Fast and The Furious(2001)
The first film is maybe the most important in the franchise, what we get is the theme of loyalty. I think the film is all about loyalty, staying loyal to the people close to you and not betraying them.
This theme of loyalty gets strengthened throughout the film when we learn of the chemistry between Paul Walker and Vin, who both challenge each others views on family and friendship. As soon as Brian crosses Dom’s family, we learn how important the crew are to him. It establishes a bond that literally cannot be broken, not even flying cars and bullets, that’s for sure. It sets the scene and gets the audience on board.
2) 2 Fast 2 Furious
Although 2 Fast 2 Furious is my least favorite installment, the theme of family can be seen in its bromance between Paul Walker and Tyrese Gibson, who form a close brotherhood, encountering numerous threats in the film including shootouts and gunplay.
Their chemistry is rather infectious, similar to the dynamic in the Bad Boys films. 2 Fast 2 Furious is more of a music video then it is a real fleshed out feature length narrative that challenges the concept of simple entertainment. It’s a short film that knows exactly what is it, perhaps the theme of family isn’t as strong this time around, but brotherhood seems to be the main pull.
3) The Fast and the Furious: Toyko Drift
This is more of a father and son relationship that reaches full circle at the end of the film. For those who havent seen the film, Lucas Black is sent over to Toyko after landing himself in some pretty voilent trouble at his previous school. His relationship with his father practically falls apart, but by the end, the two work together to build a car, designed to win every race. However, not without practice. Check it out.
4) Fast and Furious
The clip above is giving emphasis to Dom’s love to Letty, the series has given a lot of screen time to this relationship until 2009.
This installment is more of a tame reunion, a catchup if you like. The family haven’t seen each other in years and catchup to see how each other have changed and what they are doing now with their lives. Brian O Connor is working for the FBI and fully embracing it yet Dom still has a place for him.
We see conflicts between some of the members, a few clashes over past mistakes and career over family obstacles. Its the same themes in the first films but it’s tweaked slightly. The plot is also not as ambitious as some of the latter releases, making it more contained just like the first film.
What I like about this film is that it reunites Dom and Brian after nearly 10 years since the first film, it tells the audience how and why the two have remained friends, talk about loyalty considering what they have both been through all these years.
5) Fast Five
Talk about a family reunion, this film establishes that theme with amazing action sequences and an even bigger and talented cast. This barbeque scene is the series best family moment and yes the speech was well delivered by Dom. He definitely planned it out before or did he improvise on the spot?
Fast Five which I still think is the best one yet in the franchise, really raising the action sequences and introducing audiences to the whole family yet again since the 1st installment whilst introducing us to Dwayne Johnson, what a charm he turned out to be.
This time around, Brian has entered a committed relationship with Jordana Brewster, who is now pregnant with their first son. Imagine trying to maintain this whilst running and chasing from explosions, talk about marriage obstacles.
We get more scenes with the whole team this time around, interacting and working together on more risk tasking missions, with an onslaught of the term family shared amongst corona beers and plenty of barbeque food.
6) Fast and Furious 6
Dom’s moral values are challenged by Shaw who threatens to push every button.
This gives us more of what we liked from the fifth film, but there is a difference. Letty returns to whom Dom thought was dead. It gives a nice nostalgia nod to Fast and Furious and the 1st film.
This series finds away to always retain the legacy of the characters and to keep their energy pouring into each installment.
7) Furious 7
Furious 7 showed audiences the first real hand to hand combat scene. Yes, Diesel fought Dwayne in Fast Five, but the 7th film showed gave Statham and Vin hammers and various other mechanical weaponry, it’s an advanced showdown with two titans of the franchise, a character that stands for loyalty and the other seeking revenge, two massively contrasting themes coming together in an epic showdown to which we haven’t seen before, The music nearly crosses the line of parody, but it just about gets away it.
Dom acts out physically to Statham and completely goes for it in all meanings of the word action man.
8) The Fateof the Furious
Although, the 8th installment is not the strongest as its plot is probably the least plausible of all nine films. Dom goes rogue and we are meant to buy into that premise. The family element is the strongest when Vin meets his baby and calls him Brian. A nice nod to the late but great Paul Walker’s Brian O’Connor, making it a satisfying moment.
The highlight this time around is Dom’s characer arc, crossing between lines of betrayal to being accepted towards the end. Take note of the films finale, where we learn how important he is to his team and how they cannot afford for him to cross those lines again.
9) Fast and Furious 9
The recent 9th film was the teams most ambitious mission yet, reaching the heights of space and discovering that maybe each member has superhero like abilities. The stakes have increased but its sense and grounding of the characters remains true to blood yet again, with the whole crew returning.
It was great seeing Han return and reestablishes themes of friendship and loyalty once again in dramatic fashion. Dom’s relationship with his crew is the most strongest in this film. Each member cares a lot about each other and are forced to fight against the menacing John Cena.
The film carries the themes of the previous films, by letting the crew work and ride together through waves of advanced enemies. The dynamic between the crew have gone stronger but also the technological context, the weaponry and level of threat is the highest its ever been.
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
With Moonfall coming out in just under two weeks, what better to build up the anticipation by releasing clips. Lionsgate released the first 5 minutes a few months ago and we now have an official clip, which showcases humor and spectacle in true Emmerich fashion.
The clip has gotten me excited by the dynamic and chemistry between the leading three who are all stealing the screen. Of course, the visuals and spectacle are impressive.
This clip shows us that its all about the characters going into a terrifying situation, which is a great theme in Emmerich’s work. take a look!
The film stars Patrick Wilson, Halle Berry, Charlie Plummer and John Bradley.
Moonfall Clip, ” Lets Lose the Other Booster”
The film is set to be a big cinematic release, which we have been lacking since Dune. This looks like a film that needs to be seen on the big screen, a rollercoaster ride with charisma and action.
The film looks like a massive budget film, the visuals look out of this world, I am hoping they will be on par with films such as Interstellar and other projects. Its always interesting to see how the film is made, especially when it takes the characters out of earth. Check out the behind the scenes video.
We also have interviews from the cast and director including Emmerich and Patrick Wilson. Its worth checking out, it gives a great insight into the creative choices for the film.
Are you looking forward to Moonfall?
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
With Neil Blomkamp’s recent releases failing to impress audiences, I thought I would take a look back at his underrated film Elysium (2013), showcasing excellent visual effects and action scenes that have stood the test of time.
When I think about must-see films in 4K, Elysium comes to mind, Neil Blomkamp has such a unique perspective on film making and his visuals stand out amongst other creatives in the industry. With the cast of Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, William Fichtner, Diego Luna, Sharlto Copley and Alice Braga, Elysium is worth a watch.
Elysium is by no means groundbreaking Sci-Fi, but it’s cool and slick, a film that gets the job done with enough talent and grit from the team behind the camera. It’s a narrative told with passion, a sci fi film with brains with an emotional core at the center that keeps beating right until the last minute.
Its themes range from love, health care and sacrifice all told in just under 2 hours, with a solid performance by Matt Damon, whose character evolves to be one of a hero, a Luke Skywalker if you will. Here are the top five best scenes from the flick, featuring some masterful action set pieces, intimate character development, and cinematography that still impresses.
There are several scenes to choose from, evening the opening establishes the visual awe and scope of the film brilliantly, but my aim is to select scenes that have a story beneath the beauty on display. Let’s get started.
Plot: In the year 2154, the very wealthy live on a man-made space station while the rest of the population resides on a ruined Earth. A man takes on a mission that could bring equality to the polarized worlds.
5) Max vs Kruger. Let’s start off with the most satisfying scene in the film. We see the villain fight against Matt Damon and the end result is a thrilling close-quarter fight scene, with excellent camera work and some brutal and bloody shots. It’s gritty sci-fi at its very best, a duel between two titans.
4) Doomed to Die. Although this scene is hard to get through, I had to include it because it’s the turning point in the film. We see Matt Damon suffer in relentless ways in the hands of greedy corporation management. It’s just brutal, but it sets up his arc to become the film’s hero. We want him to succeed beyond all circumstances, well at least, I did.
3) Exoskeleton Surgery Scene. This is the scene we were hoping for. This is the moment where Max’s life changes for eternity, he becomes and embodies a figure of a fighting warrior. Pay close attention to the visual mechanics and the music, it’s motivating beyond belief.
2) Bot Combat Scene. This is the first real action scene of the film and its very impressive. The range of original firearms and vehicles. Cars are flipping, bombs are going off, bullets are firing, but we have a villain who is relentless. We understand the threat that Max is up against and it is very discouraging for Max and his team of tech wizards.
1)I will hunt you down. This is my favorite scene in the film, we see Max truly fulfill his characters’ destiny and become the warrior we wanted him to be. This time he is protecting his love interest and her daughter, it creates this interesting trio of characters, who are in a tragic situation. The thumbnail of the video is iconic, its a great shot.
There are plenty of other scenes that I could have mentioned including the crash landing scene, Max’s destiny, and plenty of others. However, instead of recommending the scenes, watch the whole film and you can choose for yourself what scenes and moments stand out.
For those who loved the visual look of the film, the cinematographer is called Trent Opaloch, who has lensed Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Endgame, Chappie, District 9 and more. I also really liked the soundtrack by Ryan Amon, with the track Elysium, beautiful.
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
In anticipation of Moonfall hitting cinemas in just under 2 weeks, I thought I would do a bit of re-analysis on his work, in the hopes of Moonfall delivering the goods. What I’ve learned is that his focus on the human triumph whatever the circumstance is a colossal charm, that has become his USP. Lets take a look.
Roland Emmerich movies work best when he injects a sense of fun in his projects, whether how tragic they get. We will be exploring why and how 2012 missed the mark. For this article, I will be referencing films like Independence Day, Midway, White House Down and others.
Let’s first start off with Independence day as it showed us that with the right attitude, resources and umph, humanity will always have a chance against an undeniably huge threat. 2012 on the other hand gives us an insight into the failings to combat the terrifying nature of the world coming to an end.
Emmerich wants us to have fun whilst millions lose their lives against a threat so huge no one can save them. The end result is more of a whimper than it is a triumph. It’s a stale ride that just manages to give the audience some brilliant explosions here and there.
The sense of fun is underlined by a sense of tragedy and a lack of uplifting comradery, thanks to some stale performances by John Cusack and a forgettable cast. It’s not that the actors are bad, it’s just the writing isn’t colorful.
In Emmerich fashion, the film does take you on a blockbuster ride, if so, a clumsy one at best. It takes you to different places and for that, the film is enjoyable, once you accept its journey. There are plane crashes, witty one liners, buildings crashing, underwater facilities, and moments filled with plenty of disbelief. I guess it is entertaining to watch the world end on a pure visual basis, which is a phrase I never thought I’d say.
To add this, if you compare the way the two films were shot, there is a huge difference. Independence Day had a visual glow, the explosions were fun and not tragic. From the first frame, 2012 has a more tame and grey look to it, it’s like the film is going for realism but it also wants to blow as many things up as possible. The drama collides with this which results in a confusing viewing experience. It came across as disorientating at times. The two tones don’t work.
However, this serious approach worked for other films such as his recent Midway. The serious visual look works better because the subject material is more serious. 2012, on the other hand, confused me, it’s a serious subject but made to be fun entertainment. It didn’t come across as natural. Whereas Moonfall has a plot that doesn’t feel so close to home, if executed right, I hope it doesn’t come across too tragic.
To say it again, when I say the film is tragic, it’s very tragic. There are some tear-jerking, heart- ripping moments, but not in a fun way. For example, this scene below is actually hard to watch, considering Emmerich’s body of work and his love for human triumph. Check it out.
This reminds me, I hope Moonfall contains the feeling of human triumph, it’s so important that this theme is in his films as I believe it has been a core component to his successful films, showing us that humanity is in charge and you feel a real love for the characters. A positive stride against any threat entering our planet. What a feeling.
White House Down, is one of his more underrated films, it does to some degree blend drama with comedy and action. White House Down had the wit of Tatum and Fox carrying the film forward, that’s what worked about the film and kept it engaging. The chemistry was fun and helped ease the drama.
We can look at other films such as The Patriots and Godzilla. Like Midway, The Patriot is based of history which usually results in a less humorous experience as it should be and Godzilla which I’d rather enjoyed had a good sense of adventure and wasn’t weighted by a severe sense of tragedy that it took away from the characters and the fun ride.
Are you looking forward to Moonfall?
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
As a lover of entertainment and an admirer of art, does film criticism still hold a place in the world of cinema with box office into account?
In the topic of film criticism, I am beginning to experience a revolution in the subject, one that you may agree or disagree with but certainly find interest in.
With the talent and scale of film criticism continuing to grow and on occasions dominate the success of films and influence the public whether or not they should pay their hard earned cash to see the film or not, I have a problem with film criticism. Let me explain.
For decades, since the late 1800’s film has been considered an art form and so it should be. A platform where creative individuals can articulate beautiful imagery on the screen, but then comes the story and characters and more importantly the idea of what exactly audiences want to see. It’s these factor that has made film distribution and sourcing a film hard, but exciting.
Whether how much talent there is behind a film, if the audience don’t click with it, they won’t see it and if they don’t see it, the film either won’t be made or will flop. For example, Blade Runner 2049 was a fabulous testament to the talent of Dennis Villueave abilities to create scope and scale, yet the film flopped hard and audiences generally speaking didn’t click with the film. Film critics loved the film and saw it as both artistic and engaging.
In contrast, the cinema of Michael Bay has produced millions every time or at least most of the time when he directs a film. I’am not a huge fan of Michael Bay, yet audiences generally find his films entertaining. What this may come down to is how you define art. Are Michael Bay movies pure cinematic art or just entertainment?
I’d argue that his films did what cinema should be to fulfill what audiences want to see. In this, there is a distinguishing line between utilizing the cinema in all its senses and glory or to produce material that audiences like and there is a difference. Romantic comedies usually don’t utilize cinema in all it senses, mainly because they don’t need to. The hard part is to combine both, cinema that utilizes technical qualities as both an art form and a thrilling narrative.
Chris Nolan’s cinema has been a consistent example of this theme as he produces thought provoking material with beautiful imagery, where he clearly thinks about the storytelling aspect and understands what audiences want to see. To put it clearly, he can establish new and original ideas to audiences, without it making it too pretenious.
With all this said, where do film critics fit into this topic?
The cinema was meant to be for audiences not critics, as the audience’s dictates the success of the film by how much money it makes. Therefore, the cinema was made and built for the audience experience and not exactly for the critics.
This doesn’t mean that art house films and through provoking indie films with low budgets don’t do well with both audiences and critics, but the answer remains clear, which is a film studio has more of a chance of being successful when they make the film for the audience and not the critics and that has been true for a long time.
I love film criticism and well written reviews that deeply analyszs the talent and the orchestra behind a film, it takes hard work, research and love for the industry and its great, but I am starting to believe that the film industry is an audience picture.
The fast and Furious films have sky rocketed to financial success and don’t represent film as an art form, but I guess it depends on how you define art in cinematic forms and that questions takes a bit of time to think about.
Sometimes when you want to make a film entertaining and for audiences, then you cant exactly construct the film that satisfies the critics, or at least, this is very hard to do. If the film does’nt satisfy the critics, then I think this does’nt mean that film does’nt contain talent. As ridiculous as the Fast films are, you cant deny a level of technical efficiency.
On the whole, I think audiences just want to relax and be entertained when watching a film, after a long hard day at work or a weekend break. Yet again, the majority of audiences who actually pay their money are’nt critics, only a small fraction are film critics.
To be a film critic, who can understand film making takes time to develop. You have to know your history and watch a lot of films, most audiences don’t have time to do this and fair enough.
Maybe, it doesn’t matter what a film critic thinks and maybe its impossible to successfully and accurately dictate if a film is good or bad, when and or if the film succeeds at the box office and is liked by audiences. To further this point, being a film critic goes against the whole idea of film being a completely subjective medium.
If there really was a right or wrong way of making a film, the effect of that would become subversive. Cinema should be a creative form where individuals around the world can give their say essentially and bring audiences and professionals together. I believe that cinema should be celebrated and you should never be limited by only one type of film.
I enjoy all films or least try to. Its great to watch oscar material and thought provoking narratives like Nolan’s cinema, but you know what, its fun to be immersed in all stories or at least be open to all films without the subject of film criticism weakening the experience.
In industry terms, making and producing a film doesn’t always involve art, it usually involves a series of well thought out financial motives to ensure profit. This process can be prioritized over the actual art involved in the filmmaking. This can be seen mostly in franchise building sequels, where the art of the moving image is usually abandoned for financial choices, although this is’nt always the case.
I don’t like Michael Bay films, but I will still give him a shot when his new film Ambulance comes out and even Roland Emmerich’s Moonfall, which I am sure wont be perfect, but you know what, its great to have fun.
The only few occasions when I think calling a film bad is appropriate when the film crosses moral boundaries and becomes offensive.
All in all, cinema should be everyone and I think film criticism is starting to limit this idea, but I am not in any way arguing against film criticism, I love it and I believe it says strong for generations. This article are for the audiences who love reviews and critics. On this topic, my faveourite critics are Marc Kermode, Richard Roeper, Roger Ebert and several more.
With all this said, do you really read film reviews before seeing a film?
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
One of the best action films ever made is set to be remade and the film has been in the work for years and years and finally, we have our director.
Patrick Hughes, director of action hits such as The Expendables 3, The Hitman’s Bodyguard series with Ryan Reynolds and the recent The Man from Torronto (2022) is set to direct this remake. He is a great Australian talent with a sharp eye for action set pieces.
The director of the original, Gareth Evans, is set to produce the film alongside the king of explosions Michael Bay. Patrick Hughes will be writing the script alongside Boss Level’s writer, Adam G. Simon, who also wrote the underrated Man Down and Netflix’s Point Blank with Frank Grillo.
James Beaufort will also be working in the script department, concluding his involvement with Patrick Hughes for a third time after his involvement in the Hitman series.
An evermore impressive addition is Frank Torres who will be joining as the stunt coordinator, whose previous work speaks for itself. Films he has worked on include The Revenant, A Star is Born, Terminator Dark Fate, Interstellar and several more.
3 production companies have joined the fight including Range Media, WarParty Films and XYZ Films….and Netflix is set to release and distribute the film on their streaming service. This could be good news for audiences as chilling in the comfort of their home could mean less stress and money for going out.
As commented by the production crew, “We’re incredibly excited about Patrick’s unique vision for this film”. “It’s a distinctly original take on the material, which promises to pay great respect to the original film while also bringing a fresh approach and perspective that will set its own course in the action genre.”
The film is set to shoot in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, the ideal location for this source material. It would be interesting to see what Patrick Hughes will bring to the film considering he usually likes to blend comedy with action, whereas The Raid in 2011 wasn’t particularly funny but extremely graphic.
For those who haven’t seen the original, it’s a must see with some of the best action ever filmed, a thrill ride from beginning to end with a touch of horror. Check out the trailer down below.
The film doesn’t have a release date but its heading straight into pre-production. I expect a release date sometime next year.
Are you excited for this remake or is it doomed to fail?
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
In celebrating the new and wonderful Titanic exhibition in London arriving this year, I thought I would look back at 97’s hit Titanic, with James Cameron steering the ship behind the camera into box office success with Dicaprio and Winslet making their blockbuster debuts. Here we go.
Story
With a story as mighty and tragic as Titanic, you have a blockbuster on the table. However, what made Titanic ever more successful was the romance. Out of the thousands on board, if you get the audience to be fully immersed in the lives of two people, you now have a central relationship to focus on when the drama is going down, its that direct focus that allows you right into the emotion.
Without the developmental relationship, the film may have lost the anchor for audiences and the film would have just been mindless chaos in screen, with still elements of tragedy.
For some the romance worked and others have questioned the dialogue at times between the two, more or less, the romance is a lot more convincing than it was in Michael Bay’s tame love triangle in Pearl Harbor, which I believe was the component that threw audiences off the project, despite some thrilling set pieces. The film came only a few years after the fun Armageddon, which also starred Ben Afleck.
Its worth mentioning that there had been a few films of the tragedy before Titanic. The film A Night to Remeber is one of the more famous depictions which achieved critical acclaim by Marc Kermode and others. In terms of documentaries, I recommend the documentary Ghosts of the Abyss (2003), which explores the wreck in more detail.
For 97’s Titanic, Its the love story that decides the fate of the ending which to this day lands itself amongst cinemas most riveting endings, the list will include Nolan’s Inception.
Over 20 years later, and the sign of the ultimate blockbuster movie, audiences and critics are still discussing why Leo didn’t survive. People still care about these characters or are at least invested. No ending in cinematic history will ever be as significant. Other than Christopher Nolan’s Inception.
What I took away was that James Cameron wanted Leo to die because it emphasizes how much these two were in love and the best way to show that theme is to have one of them die.
The romance gave the film a narrative focus and direction that stands out amidst the chaos amongst the thousands on board, that’s true filmmaking at its best.
James Cameron’s Investment
He has famously stated in interviews that he wanted to make Titanic so he could dive to the shipwreck and explore the history and real story as to why and how the ship sunk, exactly. That commitment, true dedication and passion to his work is gives the film a sense of authenticity. As a film director, this is one of the best goals to have when making a film that you have a true love for the source material and you engage with it physically and mentally.
I believe this came through on the screen very effectively. The opening of Titanic, see us explore the wreck of the ship just as you would do if you were to go in real life.
It takes a lot of bravery and a level of technical understanding of the equipment, for everything to go safely. When they visit the Titanic, it’s very compelling. Other components that go into making a memorable blockbuster is the reliance on CGI. CGI can look great but there is something very authentic to real practical effects. The attention to detail, when re-creating the ship is impeccable.
Titanic was concerned with really taking the audience on board the ship and you can’t do that with a fake ship. Once the ship hits the iceberg, the use of real sets come into play. A lot of the credit goes to the extras, they did a lot of running and screaming and were very convincing.
One element is for sure, I will be visiting the Titanic Exhibtion sometime next month and perhaps I will give Titanic a watch before hand to really prepare me for the experience.
Titanic Exhibition
The exhibition is available to book now on their website. The experience will include replica rooms, objects, audio recordings and more. For something that happened over a 100 years ago, it still holds a strong place in history as one of the worlds greatest tragedies.
I am going to be first in line when I get the chance. You can book tickets Here.
How about you?
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
Have you seen a good drama film that has elements of horror? The Little Stranger maybe that film. Take a read.
The Little Stranger is an excellent drama that keeps you hooked and guessing right to the end, with tightly knitted performances by Domhall Gleeson, Ruth Wilson, and Will Poulter but the star is director Lenny Abrahamson who so brilliantly blends several genres together.
Plot: During the long, hot summer of 1948, Dr. Faraday travels to Hundreds Hall, home to the Ayres family for more than two centuries. The Hall is now in decline, and its inhabitants — mother, son, and daughter — remain haunted by something more ominous than a dying way of life. When Faraday takes on a new patient there, he has no idea how closely the family’s story is about to become entwined with his own.
Analysis: With an all British cast, there is much to admire about The Little Stranger. My favorite aspect of the film is easily is the theme of genre-blending and manipulation. Director Lenny Abrahamson has explained in great detail how he approached the drama and horror genre with a serious undertone to it, which in execution distorts clear genre traits that audiences have come to know.
Comedy and romance are sprinkled throughout which helps keep audiences afloat when the drama and tragedy kicks off.
Recent horror releases include the Saw, Halloween, and Conjuring series which are all true horror series, with plenty of guts and core to penetrate any dramatic situation. The performances are very bold. Our lead is Domhall Gleeson who plays a very sturdy doctor with additional roles of Will Poulter and Ruth Wilson, who are all brilliant.
Our first introduction to the horror elements of the film comes very unexpectedly as the film takes the time to set the scene and lets us take in the environment of the house. You can feel and hear every crack and footstep in the house.
After a while, the house begins to take the shape of a mysterious and menacing character of its own, however, unlike most horror films, the horror is manipulative as we don’t always know what the intentions are behind various hauntings that occur throughout the film, which makes the characters completely at the forefront of the horror drama.
Several of the cast members have argued that the film is not a straight-up horror film and this is definitely true. The actual horror elements are always well balanced with character discussions, this is a more intelligent and thought-provoking version of a slasher flick where you feel that every character has an importance to the story.
The film is shot by Ole Bratt Birkeland who lensed such delights as Judy and the film has a very immersive quality to it which is important for a film like this. To get the record straight, the film is not trying to be a horror film, although the film is frightening at times because it blends gory images with character drama.
The filmmakers may not agree with me, but I’m hoping this form of filmmaking is the way forward for horror films in the future, rather than make a mindless gorefest, make the horror stand for something, give us a reason as to why we should feel invested in these characters, therefore the gore has an emotional impact that goes beyond mindless entertainment.
Don’t get me wrong, I love a good horror mashup when I see one, I really enjoyed 2009’s Friday the 13th and I actually found it very frightening, but films like The Others, Signs, and The Little Stranger place the characters at the forefront of the drama.
The Little Stranger I’m hoping paves the way for how the drama/horror genre innovates in the next 10 years. If horror filmmakers approach the genre to how the film unfolds, we might see more thought-provoking material which could be something new. The film asks you to get engaged in the story.
Lenny Abrahamson is set to direct the upcoming tv series Conversation with Friends (2022) with Joe Alwyn centered on the relationship that an Ireland duo has with a married couple. Maybe, there will be no scares this time around.
It appears that grief is the shining light for making the scares matter.
Let me know your thoughts.
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
9 years later, the film is one of Netflix’s best releases and I can’t recommend it enough.
When we take a look back at 2013, many films stand out, including the infamous Iron Man 3 and Brad Pitt’s box office smash World War Z. However, a film that achieved great critical acclaim may have completely flown past you, that film is the wonderful Philomena.
With a budget of 12 million, the film became one of 2013’s best dramas with a story enriched in tragedy but it’s coupled with a heartfelt sense of humanity with chemistry between the two leads that truly blossoms during certain scenes.
In the cast, we have Judi Dench and Steve Coogan steering the ship towards finding who and where her adopted son is after he was cruelly taken from her from birth by her nuns as a punishment of sin. Steve Coogan, a journalist, is on the hunt for a weighty story, the two meet and the film takes you on an emotional journey, full of hateful and wonderful flashbacks of her past and of her son.
Obviously, Judi Dench is outstanding in the film and shows audiences more range than her trademark role as M in the Bond series. However, her performance is married with an even better combo with Steve Coogan. His comedic background and smirky one-liners help mellow and tame the drama when it gets rough.
The two provide a great contrasting screen presence, of a mother who is mourning her son and a journalist who is focused on building a story. Some of the best scenes in the film are some of the flashbacks of her son. Images and videos begin to characterize someone who to her never really existed. As an audience member, you begin to be fully engrossed in Judi Dench’s story and her son’s story.
I found myself shedding a tear during the latter half of the film and that never happens….if you exclude Marley and Me all of those years ago. This is a hard story to tell, which is why you need a balance of drama and comedy, which the duo do a marvelous job at.
Another fine addition to the film is the soundtrack. In most blockbusters, you usually come away with a list of adrenaline-fueled soundtracks that you remember, it can be rare to remember the music in drama films like this, however, I thought the music was superb, and really bolstered the emotions and story. My favorite is landing in the USA by Alexandre Desplat. Lovely and bittersweet.
The film is brought to us by the consistent Stephen Frears, who is of great English talent and certainly knows a good story and how to tell it when he comes across the material. He is directing the upcoming The Lost King, which is due for a 2022 release, with Steve Coogan returning as writer and star.
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
We take look at some of the cinemas’ coolest bank robbery teams and duos, highlighting some spectacular individual performances and ambitious plans.
Cinema has seen some top-notch bank robbery films. It’s the genre where you either get away a winner or come to terms with the law. From the wild west, streets of Boston to the roads of Rio, we take a look at some fine Bank Robbery films with an ensemblement of a team that’s exciting.
To pull off a bank robbery so impressive, you need several things. A powerful car, weapons, experience, and a plan. Let’s delve into these films that show you how to do it and in some cases how not to.
Film selection will include classics such as The Town, Fast Five, Drive, Hell or High Water, and more. Although, the focus will be 21st-century releases, sorry Heat and Point Break.
Before we get going, take a look at the video below which will outline some of the best bank robbery films ever made to get you in the right headspace.
The Town
One of Ben Affleck’s best directed and acted films with a cast just as efficient and tough. However, this time around, Ben Afleck works alongside Hawleye, Jeremy Renner. The two pull of the heist towards the end in fine form and fashion. The slick outfits, the poker faces, it’s as cool as you like.
Although the heist begins to fall apart towards the end. At the start, it’s very impressive and slick. They are both a dynamic duo, with Renner easily being the more reckless of the two, little did he know that Ben would go on to fight Superman 6 years later and Renner would become Hawkeye. Talk about talent.
Fast Five
The plan towards the end of the film is beyond ambitious, in fact, it pretty much breaks every law of physics ever established, but the crew this time around has an arsenal of supplies.
Fast cars, experience, techno experts, yes I am talking about the bank heist scene. Usually, the scenario is a team breaking into a bank with a few weapons and face masks and taking the money, no big deal.
Fast Five crew on the other hand thought it would be a good idea to actually attach the bank halt to their cars and drive it around the streets of Rio. The music by Brian Tyler makes this sequence stand the test of time, with its rhythmic drum beat coupled with the acoustics of Rio.
Although, the fast family are behind the whole plan, the dynamic duo this time is Dom and Brian, two legends of action cinema who get the bravery award and perhaps the no brains award as well.
Drive
I picked Drive because of the individual performance from Ryan Gosling, an expert behind the wheel who knows exactly what he is doing. Yes, you have to watch his temper but he arrives on time every time with a car that doesn’t draw too much attention to itself. A loyal driver who takes the time to map out his plan and executes with precision…most of the time.
Drive was a brilliant art house film with moments of blockbuster carnage and chaos, but it’s handled with more delicacy than Fast and Furious. If you need someone behind the wheel, you need the Driver. It’s that simple.
Hell or High Water
The two gunslingers of the wild west have left a legacy in the western genre, for not going down without a good fight. I’m talking about Chris Pine and Ben Foster in the excellent Hell or High Water. The two have great chemistry and stick to their plans towards the end and end up in a violent gun fight against a large team of fierce police.
The film itself is an epic. The story appears to comes across as a long lost story, filled with rich western legacy about the two forgotten men of the wild west, the mystery of the genre is given an adrenaline rush.
Baby Driver
The driver this around is Ansel Egort, who has the same expert abilities as Ryan Gosling in Drive, however, this time he’s driving in style. The music choice makes the character this unique driver who is quite literally one of a kind. He doesn’t say much but his intelligence speaks for itself, oh and the film is brilliant, with Edgar Wright delivering the good once again.
Inception
To pull off a plan this daring, you need a team of highly intelligent individuals. This time around, the focus is not on an individual or a duo, it’s a collective effort of everyone in the team knowing exactly what part they are responsible for in orchestrating one of the greatest heists in cinema’s history, packed with scale and emotion, the stakes have not been greater.
Only this time, the heist is a mind heist….I will let that sink in a bit.
What’s your favorite bank robbery film or scene?
Streaming
The Town is available on Netflix UK and Amazon Prime UK. Baby Driver is available on Netflix UK.
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football.
Every online website needs to work on SEO. This means the use of keywords, meta titles, descriptions, etc. Branded content is amongst the most popular platforms to reach a wide audience if done right. However, we need to make sure that the content is working within the framework of current SEO trends.
Whether how well the content is put together. Working the content with up to date SEO trends will only boost the results.
Branded content still needs to attract the right organic traffic and SEO is a good answer to this. In this article, we will be covering 2 of the biggest SEO trends that branded content needs to comply with.
What is branded content?
I would like to first discuss what branded content is. Branded content is unique to most of the content we may come across. Our minds are used to seeing TV and social media advertisements. We see a lot of brand marketing, but this is where brand content differs.
Branded content bridges the gap between marketing and entertainment. Remember the lego movie that came out in 2014?
It was one of the best films of the year and proved to be very entertaining to audiences. This is an example of branded content. The keyword here is content. Content can be delivered to entertain or please an audience. Marketing, however, can be subjective because it has one purpose which is marketing your goods and you never know how your market will respond.
A brand’s content can be used to not only market their products, but to also entertain audiences, whilst incorporating the company’s values and latest products, without making it feel forced to the audience. You want to make the branded content feel as natural as possible. As an audience, you don’t want to feel that there is a clash of ideas between the brand and the content. The two should work together.
But, what about current SEO trends?
We need to look out for SEO trends in 2021. Not one year before or one year ahead, but what are they?
Here are some of the truths that brand’s need to know when it comes to SEO trends:
One of the most important SEO trends: user intent and behaviour
This is by far the most important SEO trend of 2021. The good news with this trend is that it will most likely never change. As a brand, understanding exactly what your customers are looking for in your industry should always be at the top of your priorities.
The even better news is that we can use specific tools that give us access to vital pieces of data, when it comes to understanding our target audience’s search intent. The concluding point is that Google ranks content based on keyword relevancy.
This emphasizes how important it is for the user to gain access to the websites they are seeking. It doesn’t make sense for a user to purchase a product that they were not looking for in the first place.
Your brand marketing strategy needs to align with your target audience because consumers will not purchase products that they don’t want or need.
The first step that brands can work on first is to find out popular search queries. This will help the brand understand what their consumers are searching for and how they can start to work on their products based on these search terms. Tools such as SEMrush and Google trends including Google search console keyword data can be useful to know not only what our customers are searching for but what they are asking for.
Remember, consumers use Google to find out more about products and may search questions to find out more.
Once you start to understand and craft your branded content around your consumer’s search terms, we can think about how we can maintain and create a long-term relationship with our customers.
But, how do we do this?
SEO trend: enhancing the user experience
From a consumer’s point of view, we want to find your brand easily. Brand SERPoptimization is a key area to look into. This involves working on how your brand appears on Google. This includes positive reviews, reputation, and a panel on the right-hand side. The below image displays the panels I am referring to.
When users type your brand name on Google, make sure to appear on the 1st page and have all the necessary information that best informs your user.
Your reputation doesn’t just come from Google, it can come from several different media outlets. These include Youtube, Facebook, and other social media platforms. Working on building a good reputation on these platforms is complying with an important SEO trend.
Another factor of user experience is your website’s layout and functionality. These areas include page speed, data & security, and other forms of SEO including a mobile- optimized website. Yes, a lot of consumers use mobile searches. Consider the stat below.
Every brand needs to look into mobile SEO as a means of attracting as much traffic as possible.
To conclude
Having looked at two of the biggest SEO trends for 2021. We can conclude that branded content needs to at least comply with the following areas.
Brand SERP optimization
User research
Mobile website
Website experience including layout and page speed
Keyword relevancy
These 5 areas are what brands need to focus on in order to be more intelligent when it comes to working on their SEO and their marketing strategy. Luckily, these trends may stand the test of time and are pretty straightforward to test on websites.
The concluding factor is understanding what the customers are searching for and want from the industry that the brand is working in. This will provide brands a good starting point to build their marketing strategy on.
Plot: A new and accomplished actress (Stella Velon) undertakes an interview where she unwillingly confronts shades of her past.
This review is special because it was featured on the talented Stella Velon’s website available here, with the below being quoted, take a peek as it nicely sums up my views on the film.
Review: The Critic plays out as an intriguing look at a compelling character, showcasing a dark and daring study full of different complexities. These are shown in a build-up of tension between an actress and a harsh interviewer. It’s the perfect setup for an unpredictable climax.
The film pays homage to the life of an actress and the demanding pressures of being in and out of the spotlight. Her spotlight is revealed in an interview, which acts as a gradual echo of her internal struggles. The film knowingly steers away from other typical actors/actress depictions, such as 2014’s Wicked and Wild Birdman, and establishes itself as a character drama with a clearer identity. It carries out its messages with enough intrigue right to the end. The standout scene is the interview itself, which is lensed as if it was a stage performance, credit to cinematographer Akis Konstantakopoulos, who shades a dark light over the interviewer. With there only being two people in the interview, it’s shot to give direct focus on the actress. Capturing the feeling of angst we all have during real interviews, but in this case, it stands for a much deeper subtext.
The performance is led by 2nd time director ‘Stella Velon’, whose previous effort was 2017’s Stella. She has built up several acting credits to her name, including a role in the tv series Baskets with Zach Galifianakis. This is another fine addition to add to her resume. It’s a performance of uninsured confidence. She portrays an actress with an interesting and muddled past, showing glimpses of a thrust for career ambition, which is then met with an ongoing and frustrating inner dialect, that is challenged by the interviewer. This is 100% a pure character study that shares similar narrative threads from previous films, such as Whiplash (2014). Only this time, it aims to break the surface of the star persona, but its hints are far deeper than what we see in reality TV.
The dialogue of the interview is complex, yet it’s written to near perfection. It works both as an interview that goes wrong and as a real-life look into a murky portrayal of someone’s past. Whatever way you look at it, it deals with weighty themes. These include the clash of personal issues with maintaining a career. This is helped by the editing which keeps the visuals in place. Here, it’s handled by Ivan Andrijanic, who worked on the horror remake The Omen (2006).
The tension begins at the halfway mark. The use of music follows in the same pattern. The first half is intentionally more silent, saving its hits for the second half. The film touches on the idea of overcoming personal obstacles to achieve triumph, although, I don’t think that is what the film is truly about.
The film’s perfect title captures what the film is really about, without spoiling too much. On that note, it gets its messages across quite solidly. I cannot deny that this is an important film, with its commentary on celebrity status.
Its depiction of celebrity status is far more compelling and thought-provoking than any material I have ever come across. Despite a powerhouse climax, I do think some audiences may leave feeling emotionally frustrated. Yet, the film is still thought-provoking from beginning to end and for that, I give it credit.
Huge thank you for having this review featured in Stella Velon’s website available here
For anyone who is curious of watching the film, check out Amazon and Youtube for more details.
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on his Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football.
“Tense, mysterious and emotional” ….that’s all I wanted.
For those who are still recovering from Halloween, there is one more scare lurking around the corner and that’s Shelby Oaks. After a long wait, its finally here in the UK and after seeing it, I have some thoughts, not only on the film but also around the direction of the Film Industry, let’s indulge.
Intro/Context
I have been waiting for this film for such a long time, ever since it was announced, it kept getting re-released and delayed, the trailer info wasn’t released until only very recently. So far, the reviews have been mixed, People who are not fans of horror, will be very dismissive about this film and not particularly impressed, but for people like myself who followed Chris Stuckmann’s channel for around 12 years and understands film making as an art form, I believe he is showing us just how much he loves films and is embracing that with the audience, and in the heat of franchise fatigue and the overload of streaming services and content, I for one love this intention as its a breath of fresh air in the industry. Long story short, I think Shelby Oaks reignites the long-lost found footage genre with a twist.
But, lets first understand the plot. The film follows a woman who is on the search for her long-lost sister who was a part of a paranormal investigator team, that vanished out of thin air, with no obvious leads, the search slowly becomes an obsession when she realizes a demon from their childhood may have been real, not imaginary. At the heart and center of this film, is a performance carried by Camile Sullivan, who showcases the love and vulnerability needed in a situation like this.
Other themes include the mysteries surrounding the paranormal, UFOS even and the role that the media plays in that frenzy. So, there really is something for everyone here.
Throwback to 90’s and 2000’s
Lets be real, the current state of Hollywood and the cinematic experience is kind of all over the place and a bit up and down, its rare that we get see a film whose director leaves a mark of passion through every written word, every shot and of course includes homages, while they might frustrate some, to me they felt fun and of good taste, because he is referencing classic relevant films of the genre.
On the media context side, where most of our content is consumed either through online or streaming where the picture quality never really feels cinematic, Chris tells an emotionally motivated story that to me felt authentic and genuine and also maintained a decent level of cinematic quality throughout. Although, the tone of the film can be miss directional at times, the story behind the films production as well as the actual haunting case of the missing sister was a dual interesting and often compelling experience.
This leads me nicely into what I liked about shelby oaks, which is the film felt devoid of forced studio interferences, this is a low- budget indie film that takes a break from your typical big studio franchise pictures which often feel governed by pre-determined checklists. Shelby Oaks felt more like a genuine nostalgia trip, and I mean that sincerely, the world building felt unique and the story kept me on my toes throughout and there were no extra unnecessary plot diversions in my eyes.
This film is a throwback to those late 90’s and early 2000’s horror films which is the reason why I admired the picture. This film felt like its own piece that was being written by someone with a singular vision and voice, and I felt that passion. Films that come to mind from a similar field and tone of voice are Signs (2002), Blair Witch Project (1999) and perhaps a tonal modern dramatic touch of Prisoners (2013) and Hereditary (2019). Now, I cant say for certain that Chris’s vision was completely fully realized, as he did have a helping hand from various producers who took control in a few scenes, but we saw glimpses.
On that note, he is a huge fan of dramatic horror films, we know how much he likes The Babadook (2014), which is a film about depression but also has this dark fairytale esque plot that centers around monsters. Here, I think he is trying to tell an authentic story, drawing from his love of the genre as well as personal experiences, trying to capture the emotions of what Mia is going through, as well as scare the audience at the same time. The scares come through with various attempts, which did convey an unsettling glimpse of a wider horror universe. One fact I have learnt after watching this, is that horror films that try to establish and mold their own universe are usually the most unpredictable and intense of the lot.
Areas For Improvement
Of course, it’s not without its flaws. This is Chris’s first feature film, after all. Camille’s performance is solid, but I wanted more from her character — the relationships around her could have been fleshed out more to give the story a stronger emotional pull. Certain plot points that did not gel well with me included the time length the sister goes missing, which is 12 years, which I felt was an excessive amount and not truly believable.
The film also struggles with tone at times. It sometimes explains too much, other times not enough. The constant switch between genres — found footage, mystery, psychological horror — can be a bit uneven. A more experienced director might have balanced these tones more effectively.
Still, these are forgivable growing pains, especially for a debut.
Chris’s Story and message
Films of today can feel so shallow and pre packaged, the term factory filmmaking has been referenced several times but has never felt so relevant as it is today. This film at least breaks that cycle and bridges that gap between indie and studio, with the overall message to take away is that anyone can tell a story and anyone who has an idea can pursue that if they work hard at it. At the end day, its about capturing the intensity and raw horror of the situation, thats what its all about.
I do generally hope and feel that Shelby Oaks could become a cult horror classic, a low indie film that gains some attention in the next 5-10 years, we have been missing a throwback horror like this in recent years in my opinion.
Rating
Overall, I want everyone to see Shelby Oaks in cinemas because it is generally frightening and unpredictable, with an effective performance that carries the emotional weight of the story, but also raw imagery that leaves you on the edge of your seat. It will appeal to modern horror fans especially with the opening 25 mins with its use of the documentary form, as well as appeal to retro fans of the 2000’s with its glorified gory content. If I was to be completely objective with the issues considered, Shelby Oaks gets a solid B.
As a fan of Chris Stuckmann’s channel and now this, I will leave this review with two thumbs up and huge congratulations to Chris and the production team.
So going forward….
I can definitely see Chris Stuckmann working in TV, especially on crime horror content, I would also like to see Shelby Oaks as a graphic novel as well.
TheReviewAwakens 