Liam Neeson returns as Bryan Mills, a man with a specific set of skills, in Taken 2. Picking up shortly after the events of the first film which saw him rescue his daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace) from traffickers, Mills, his ex-wife, Lenore (Famke Janssen), and Kim find themselves targeted by the deceased’s father, Murad (Rade…
Tag: action
Tangled (2010) – Nathan Greno, and Byron Howard
Tangled, a Walt Disney animated film is somehow twelve years old and is still incredibly fun to watch, and is one of those Disney films that have now become iconic and has gained an enduring amount of love. A spin on the classic tale of Rapunzel (voiced here by Mandy Moore) the computer-generated imagery that…
The Rocketeer (1991) – Joe Johnston
Special effects wizard Joe Johnston’s second directorial effort is probably my favourite, as there is just something about The Rocketeer that I love. The style? Art deco is a fave. The score? James Horner! The cast? Bill Campbell, Jennifer Connelly (who I have crushed on FOREVER), Timothy Dalton, Alan Arkin, Paul Sorvino. The source material?…
TIFF ’22: Hunt
South Korean action star Lee Jung-jae makes his directorial debut with the brilliant action thriller, Hunt. Set in the 1980s when tensions were heightened between North and South Korea, the film is a white knuckle ride that sees two government rivals, KCIA Foreign Unit chief Park (Lee) and Domestic Unit head Kim (Jung Woo-sung) working…
August Kitko and the Mechas from Space (2022) – Alex White
Orbit Books delivers a loud space opera with Alex White’s new novel, August Kitko and the Mechas from Space. The first in a new series known as the Starmetal Symphony, August Kitko is a fantastic tale that plays like a jazz fusion anime in the mind’s eye. Combining giant robot action, with a joyously crafted…
Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) – 4K Review
Tony Scott came off the success of Top Gun with this follow-up to the 1984 hit Beverly Hills Cop, Beverly Hills Cop II, which is somehow thirty-five years old. To celebrate, Paramount Pictures delivers the high-octane sequel on a vibrant 4K disc. Let’s get this out of the way up front, there are no extras…
Diablo Mesa (2022) – Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
Grand Central Publishing was kind enough to send me the latest Preston & Child thriller, Diablo Mesa, which came out in February. It had been a long time since I dug into a Preston & Child book, but back in 2014, I was plowing through their Pendergast series until my pile of To Be Read…
Spiritwalker (2020) – Yoon Jae-keun
Hitting digital, DVD and Blu-Ray today from Well Go USA Entertainment is this Korean bare-knuckle action flick with some sci-fi undertones that keeps things moving right until the last frame. The film gives a new spin on familiar territory, and features solidly constructed, and executed action and fight sequences. Ian (Yoon Kyesang) isn’t who he…
Executive Decision (1996) – Stuart Baird
Kurt Russell stars in this kinda Tom-Clancy-techno-thriller from director Stuart Baird, that not only has the awesome Russell in it, as well as Halle Berry, Oliver Platt, Joe Morton, J.T. Walsh, and John Leguizamo – it also has Steven Seagal’s character getting killed off before the action really gets going (I call that a win,…
The Matrix Resurrections (2021) – 4K Review
Warner Brothers has sent me back to The Matrix with a copy of their 4K version of The Matrix Resurrections, which is available today in wonderful physical media form of blu-ray and 4K disc. Like everything after the first film, released back in 1999, this installment is as divisive as Reloaded and Revolutions, but for…
The Mind Reels 