I like Luc Besson’s work. His films tend to be slick, pretty to look at, throw in some fun effects, and usually attract solid actors to the project. Lucy is no different, and lets Scarlett Johansson take the titular role in a science fiction-tinged action movie. Lucy (Johansson) is betrayed into being a drug mule…
Tag: morgan freeman
Now You See Me 2 (2016) – Jon M. Chu
The sequel to the magical heist film, Now You See Me, suffers from a lot of faults which directly impact its enjoyment. First up, Isla Fisher didn’t return due to her pregnancy, which required the introduction of a new character, Lula, played enjoyably by Lizzy Caplan. Caplan is solid, and brings a nice comedic element…
Now You See Me (2013) – Louis Leterrier
What happens when you take Ocean’s 11 heist vibe and throw some magic at it? Well, you could come back with something like Now You See Me. While it doesn’t have all the star power of the Soderbergh film, Now You See Me is fairly entertaining and has some solid casting. Mark Ruffalo plays FBI…
Chain Reaction (1996) – Andrew Davis
Following his success with The Fugitive, Andrew Davis tried to tap once again into the conspiracy and chase that rocketed that film to success (not to mention its incredible star power. This time out, with Chain Reaction, he stacks the cast with Keanu Reeves, Morgan Freeman and Rachel Weisz. In fact, Davis pulls out all…
Dreamcatcher (2003) – Lawrence Kasdan
I don’t know why this one didn’t work so well twenty years ago. Lawrence Kasdan (!) directs from a script he wrote with William Goldman (!), based on a novel by Stephen King (!) , a score by James Newton Howard (!) and a top-notch cast; Damian Lewis, Thomas Jane, Jason Lee, Timothy Olyphant, Morgan…
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…
London Has Fallen (2016) – Babak Najafi
Secret Service Agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) is preparing to tender his resignation and see to his about-to-grow family with an expecting Leah (Radha Mitchell) when the world interferes again. This time, he and the president, Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart) are off to London to attend a funeral; the British Prime Minister suffered a heart…
Olympus Has Fallen (2013) – Antoine Fuqua
Antoine Fuqua delivered another actioner with Olympus Has Fallen. Taking an obvious page from the Die Hard playbook of the lone hero taking on seemingly insurmountable odds, the story casts Gerard Butler in the role of Mike Banning, a secret service agent no longer on the President’s (Aaron Eckhart) protection detail after a horrific accident…
Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard (2021) – Patrick Hughes
Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, and Salma Hayek return to cause problems, violence and dole out colourful language in the sequel to The Hitman’s Bodyguard, Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard. Director Patrick Hughes remains in the big chair and delivers a fast-paced sleek tale, that feels a little tighter in its storytelling, and its runtime. Michael Bryce…
Brubaker (1980) – Stuart Rosenberg
Robert Redford has always been a favourite of mine. He’s imminently watchable and very likeable on camera, and Brubaker was a film that was always on my radar but one I had never gotten around to. Based on and inspired by true events, Redford plays Henry Brubaker, a reformist prison warden who has been hired…
The Mind Reels 