The Foreigner Review

Jackie Chan hasn't really done an American movie in some time. He did "Skiptrace" which wasn't released in theaters, and quite frankly was pretty bad. When I saw the trailer for this movie I was excited, however like a lot of movies nowadays,the trailer makes the movie better than it actually is.

Chan plays "Quan" who loses his daughter in a terrorist bombing. He is of course heartbroken and the only thing he now wants is to know who and why this bombing took place. This is where we meet Pierce Brosnan's character "Liam" who is the head of some type of British government official but is from Ireland.

Quan starts to play around with Liam and his men because Quan believes Liam knows exactly who is responsible for the bombing. These scenes are the best part of the movie because even at 60 years old, Chan is still a bad**** on screen. The fight scenes are few and far between and they aren't your typical Jackie Chan fights. They are short and brutal which makes sense for his character but disappointing because I wanted more.

The "surprise" ending isn't that hard to figure out and it left me wanting a little more. Chan is obviously the best part of this movie and I wish the focus was more on him and his character than Brosnan's Liam.  A decent action thriller that fans of Jackie Chan can appreciate.

5.5/10

IT Review

I never saw the mini series or read the book but obviously have heard of the story. When you think of "IT" you think of Pennywise the clown. What I didn't know was that "IT" is just an evil entity that can take multiple forms to scare kids. Think of a boggart from Harry Potter where it turns into what you fear the most, this is just way more evil.

The movie reminded me of Stranger Things but had a much darker tone with more mature adult themes, such as a relationship between a father and daughter, the loss of parents, and the death of a younger brother. The young cast all do a fantastic job with a few funny one liners to break the tension.

There were a few good scares and intense scenes which I enjoyed. One minor problem I had was some of the actions these kids take in certain moments. However, they are just kids as opposed to adults making ridiculous decisions in a horror movie.

Even if you don't enjoy horror movies, I think you should give this a shot. It's a little on the bloody side but nothing over the top, aka "Saw". A good solid horror movie.

8/10

American Assassin Review

For me, American Assassin is another movie that had I not seen the trailer, I may have enjoyed it more. The story begins on a beach with our main character, Mitch Rapp, and his soon to be fiance. But out of no where, the beach comes under attack by terrorists and his fiance is murdered right in front of him. Now, why he wasn't killed either doesn't really make sense, but if that happens, there is no movie.

Fast forward 18 months later and you can tell Mitch has a goal and one goal only...to kill the people who murdered his fiance. Little does he know the CIA have been following him around in hopes to recruit. When he accepts the "job" he is sent to Michael Keaton's character who is supposedly the best of the best.

Both Dylan O'Brien (Mitch)and Michael Keaton do good jobs in their roles respectively. There is a few twists and turns but nothing you don't see coming and the action, while limited is pretty good as well. I just hoped for a little more and I felt the ending was a bit anti climatic. The second half of this movie is Mitch's first mission with Keaton and the guy they are after isn't all what he seems to be.

This is a book series that I hadn't even heard of so I can't compare the two. But it's a decent action flick and the ending sets itself up for multiple sequels. 6.5/10

Atomic Blonde Review

Some action movie directors don't know how to properly film an action sequence. The camera is too shaky or they use to many cuts and edits to try and blend the fight together. It's a big pet peeve of mine. Needless to say, the director of this film knows his s*&^! And that to me, made this movie so much better and enjoyable.

Set in the 80s, Charlize Theron's character is sent to Germany to find a "list" which is hidden inside a watch. But from the moment she touches down in Berlin, she has other assassins trying to kill her. Because this was set in the 80s, the music used in the film cater to the decade which was awesome.

Towards the end of the movie, there is a 7-10 minute action sequence that was one continuous shot. It was amazing to watch. One of my favorite sequences I've ever scene in an action movie. All the fight scenes were done perfectly. My only complaint with this movie was the end when there were one too many twists. But just a small complaint for what was a great action movie. A solid 8/10

Dunkirk Review

I never knew about the story of Dunkirk before the movie. Over 30000 troops are stranded on a beach as the enemy bombs them from the air time and time again. In this movie we follow 3 different stories that all intertwine together.

First are a few soldiers that start on the beach and are trying their best to get off it. The second is a father and son who set sail to go and help the men on the beach. And the third are a few pilots trying to counter the planes that are bombing the beach.

All the actors do a great job and I loved the cinematography. However, I think the hype that I heard about this movie let me down a bit. I felt it was a bit anti-climatic as well. I did enjoy how the 3 stories came together but other than that, my big expectations may have ruined it a bit for me. So while I enjoyed the movie, I wasn't blown away so I can only give it a 7/10

War for the Planet of the Apes Review

While the word "War" is in the title for this third installment of the franchise, it's not a full of numerous scenes of action. There's one at the beginning and one at the end. In between the opening and the climax, we follow Ceasar and a few other apes on a journey to find the man that killed his wife and son.

For me personally, I enjoyed every minute of journey. Along the way they pick up a young girl who isn't able to speak, and another ape who goes by "bad ape" played by Steve Zahn. I thought his performance was awesome and he was the comedic relief to what was a mostly serious movie throughout.

I've read other reviews saying that "Man" are portrayed as the villains, and that it should be the other way around. That we shouldn't be caring about the apes. Maybe in the real world, I would feel that way, but in this movie, "Man" is what kept this war going. After the first battle scene, Ceasar lets a few survivors live as an act of mercy, this only backfires as the survivors are able to pinpoint Ceasar's hidden location which ends up getting his wife and son murdered.

Even at almost 2 1/2 hours and minimal action scenes, I loved this movie. The apes relationships with each other and with the young girl they find are awesome. Woody Harrelson plays the main bad guy but even he has a reason behind his motives that might make sense to a few people. His scenes with Ceasar are intense, although I was a bit disappointed how is story ended. Either way, this was one of the best so far this year for me. 9/10

Spider-Man Homecoming Review

Spider-Man: Homecoming might be the most light hearted movie so far in the Marvel Universe. It essentially begins right after Peter Parker has his fight in Captain America: Civil War. The opening is Peter filming his journey after being recruited by Tony Stark. Just a little backstory as to how he showed up in Civil War.

Back to real life, Peter struggles with the normality. He wants so badly to be back with the Avengers that he's missing out on his high school experience.

The villain in the movie is the Vulture played by Michael Keaton, who I really enjoyed in the role. There was a deeper meaning behind his motives which caught me off guard and I liked it.

It's a fun film and isn't as intense as most Marvel movies. Tom Holland is a good young actor and his charisma was perfect as the new Spider-Man. A solid 8/10

The Mummy Review

They say this isn't a reboot of the 1999 "The Mummy" with Brendan Fraser, but I have to disagree. It's pretty much the exact same plot with poor execution. It's not as funny and the action scenes feel too "Tom Cruise" for a "horror film."

This was not scary at all, nothing made me tense up and worry about any character who was in danger. Much more action oriented like a Tom Cruise film. I wish it were different but I'm always coming back to Tom Cruise. I think he ruined this movie. His attempt at humor with a more than a few one liners were laughable.

The mummy played by Sofia Boutella does what she can with what she was given. But it was mostly her walking seductively and raising her arms making things happen. They also wasted the talent of Jake Johnson from New Girl. Something happens to his character very early on and then proceeds to pop up from time to time whenever the plot tells him too.

While this is mostly a negative review, I can't hate it for what it was. I wasn't terribly bored and I've seen a lot worse. The fact that I had heard countless times how terrible this was and how my expectations were so low, I'll give this a 5/10 

Hopefully, Universal can get this "Dark Universe" back on track and make some more entertaining movies because I like the concept and idea, just need the execution.

47 Meters Down Review

When two sisters are vacationing in Mexico they decide on a whim to go diving in a shark cage. Things don't go as planned and we have this movie. First problem for me, the two sisters aren't likeable at all. One is a nervous about everything and the other is the person who says stuff like "it'll be fine" when clearly it won't be.

Mandy Moore plays "Lisa", the one who complains/is nervous all the way up until she gets in the cage. Now, Lisa has never scuba dived in her life, I highly doubt a 20 sec explanation would've been enough of a lesson for her to survive what is about to happen, but oh well. As you know, the line holding the cage snaps and they descend 47 meters down.

Now we get more complaining from Lisa who says things like "why did I do this? I shouldn't have come here with you." Things happen, to make the plot move forward and just when I thought the movie was a waste of time, they throw a pretty interesting twist which made me somewhat happy.

Its a short movie so if you're bored and like shark films, I'd give it a shot purely because the ending doesn't disappoint.

5/10

Train to Busan Review

This is only the second Korean film I've ever watched, (the first one being "OldBoy")and like "Oldboy" I enjoyed this quite a bit. The story is about a father who has a strained relationship with his young daughter, so much so the daughter wants to leave him and live with her mom instead. The daughter wants to ride the train by herself to Busan, the father decides he needs to go with her to try and save what little is left on his relationship with his daughter.

Once on the train the fun truly begins. The "zombies" are relentless and people turn quite quickly after being bitten which I thought was awesome. Another aspect of the zombies was when the train would go through tunnels, the zombies effectively go blind. When a group of survivors need to get through a few of the train cars they use this to their advantage but only have a certain amount of time before the train comes out of the tunnel.

You feel for the "good guys" and there are some comedic moments to relieve the tension with a few one liners here and there. One problem I had was towards the end, some of the decisions that were made by the protagonist weren't really smart compared to the others that were made earlier in the film. But just a minor blip in what was otherwise a fun and entertaining zombie movie. It's currently streaming on Netflix.

8/10

Baby Driver

I remember first watching the trailer for this movie and not really thinking much of it. If not for the high praise of multiple reviews, I may have skipped this. Thankfully, I decided to give it a go and what a fantastic film this is.

The movie opens with a bank heist followed by the getaway car chase that would put the Fast and Furious franchise to shame. The main reason...its so much more realistic. This scene lets us know how good of a driver "Baby" is, as well as how the music will play an integral part of the film.

The acting is top notch all the way around with funny one liners from almost all of the characters. The action is fun, the music is better, and the story brings it all together. Highly recommend this movie. One of my favorites so far this year.

9/10

Top 5 movies so far in 2017

It's been almost 2 years since I last posted a review. I'm hoping to get back into reviewing as much movies as I can from now on. They might not all be recent releases but I'll do my best. (Not that many people read them) So, this is just my 5 favorite movies from 2017 so far.

5. Get Out

4. Guardians of the Galaxy 2

3. Wonder Woman

2. Baby Driver

1. Logan

Baby Driver review will be up in a day or two. Shootz!