Mike (Will Smith) and Marcus (Martin Lawrence) return for a fourth time in Bad Boys: Ride or Die,. While I like the franchise, and I like the characters and the way the series has expanded, this one felt a little slower and not exactly top heavy but not as engaging as it should have been….
Tag: action sequences
Armour of God (1986) – Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan directs and stars in this romp that seems to be a bit of a nod to an Indiana Jones-style adventure. Shot across Europe it’s not quite as exotic looking as a Jones film, or a Bond film for that matter, but it’s fast-paced, has some goofy humour, and features solid iconic stuntwork. Asian…
The Saint (1997) – Phillip Noyce
Val Kilmer absolutely owns the role of Simon Templar in this big-screen adaptation of the classic novels and 60s television show. And while the film isn’t as strong as it could have been, Kilmer is nicely on point, and shares some wonderful chemistry with his co-star, Elizabeth Shue. Simon is a high-profile thief that can…
Angel Has Fallen (2019) – Ric Roman Waugh
This time it’s personal. The second sequel in the ‘Has Fallen’ series is probably the worst of the bunch and lacks the scope of the first two films, and while there are a couple of interesting action sequences there’s nothing matching the scale of the previous entries. Trumbull (Morgan Freeman) is now the president, there’s…
The Hitman’s Bodyguard (2017) – Patrick Hughes
Ryan Reynolds leads a pretty solidly packed cast in a fairly paint-by-numbers action film that despite its predictability is a lot of fun, largely in part because of the casting. Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Salma Hayek, Gary Oldman, Richard E. Grant, and Joaquim de Almeida. That’s some pretty top-drawer talent, and they all look…
The Gray Man (2022) – Joe and Anthony Russo
The Russo Brothers, who made an indelible print on the MCU, gather a fun cast to deliver a fast-paced action film that features fantastic kinetic camera work, but is held back by some cardboard characters. Six (Ryan Gosling) is a career criminal that gets recruited by a CIA handler, Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton). He’s incredibly…
The Man with the Red Tattoo (2002) – Raymond Benson
Raymond Benson delivers his last original James Bond novel. His last 007 book was the adaptation of Die Another Day. So that means he has to wrap up the villain, Goro Yoshida, that he set up in the previous book, Never Dream of Dying. At the PM’s request, James has been assigned to look out…
Swordfish (2001) – Domenic Sena
Swordfish feels like a forgotten action film. No one talks about it, it seems to have made it’s initial splash and then vanished from the general public’s memory, and while it isn’t a fantastic action film, it’s fun, and it has a very good cast Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Don Cheadle, Sam Shepard, Vinnie Jones,…
Running Scared (1986) – Peter Hyams
Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal are Chicago cops who are toying with the idea of retirement and moving to Key West to run a bar in the buddy-cop film Running Scared. Director Peter Hyams was coming off some success following 2010: The Year We Make Contact and recruited the actors for he film, and other…
TIFF ’23: Smugglers
With Smugglers, which is having its North American premiere at TIFF, Director Ryoo Seung-wan gives his audience a smart, playful, 70s-drenched crime thriller set in a quiet seaside South Korean fishing town. Jin-sook (Yum Jung-ah) and Choon-ja (Kim Hye-soo) work as haenyeo, free divers who collect shellfish and other seafood, alongside a crew of other…
The Mind Reels 