DEADPOOL

(2016) 108 Minutes, RATED R.

Mike's Review:  This movie is a total Raunchy Riot!  I loved it. 

I saw this movie on opening day and I held off writing a review for awhile just to see how the movie did in the theater.  And I'm so glad its doing as well as it is in the theater, that means hopefully there will be a sequel and hopefully some well placed cameos in other future movies.

Ryan Reynold's is the man.  They couldn't have found a better actor to play Deadpool.

If you know Deadpool then you will love this movie.  If you have no ideas who Deadpool is or what he's about then still go see the movie, but be warned its rated R for a reason.

Best Scene:  way, way to many to pick a best one...I'm sure everyone has their favorite.

Mike's Rating:  MUST SEE and DVD WORTHY

LONDON HAS FALLEN

(2016) 99 Minutes, Rated R

Bean’s Review: Great action packed movie.  This is what I was expecting and I was not disappointed.  Some of the action scenes are unbelievable, but still highly entertaining.  Gerard Butler is a pleasure to watch in action.  I enjoy his no “bleeding heart” character.  I really liked him in Olympus Has Fallen and liked his progressed characterization in this movie.

Aaron Eckhart’s character, the President, delved more into the action in this movie as opposed to Olympus Has Fallen.  The development of his action scenes and “take charge” attitude were fun to watch along with his rapport with Gerard Butler.

I did not think the death of Angela Bassett’s character was necessary and I am not sure of the reasoning behind that storyline.

Morgan Freeman is always a reliable, solid actor and enjoyable to watch.

Best scene:  The helicopters scene.

Bean’s Rating:  Full Price – I would watch it again.

A.C.'s Review:  The Secret Service agent played by Gerard Butler returns along with Aaron Eckhardt as the US President in the sequel to the successful OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN action flick that returned such movies to their glory not seen since the heyday of the 1980’s. Given how intense that film was and how wonderfully it was executed I had high hopes for the sequel. Unfortunately they were not fully met.

This time the US Officials convene in London for the funeral of the British Prime Minister. As it turns out the whole thing was a set up by a terrorist with a grudge against the President’s administration which ordered a drone strike the killed and crippled most of his family. The elaborate plan manages to accomplish the assignation of the leaders of Canada, Japan, Italy, Germany and France but as Admiral Kirk famously taunted Khan in STAR TREK II “You keep missing the target” as in the main target …the US President…so as that failed they decided to hunt him down and execute him live on the internet. It’s up to the heroic secret service  agent to get the President to safety. I can’t even remember the character’s name that is how light of impression it made on me.

This film looks to me like it was rushed into production to capitalize on the success of the first film. It’s evident in some of its flaws. First the stakes don’t feel very high…the last movie the US faced nuclear Armageddon but in this one its basically just the President in danger for most of the film. London landmarks getting leveled meant nothing since I don’t even know what they are…they could have least destroyed Big Ben because everyone know what that is. .It’s just a very thin weak script.

I suspect the budget wasn’t very high because conveniently the terrorist stage a black out of London and the police order people off the street s so the whole movie the Prez and Butler are running around the darkened empty streets. The CGI is the most evident of a low budget. The explosions were laughable...I miss the days when the studios would pay a pyrotechnics expert to stage a real explosion with real fire. The CGI flames were terribly apparent.

I could go on but the bottom line is this is a rushed looking product and it shows. Quite a letdown. If they do a third one bring it back to the States...write a script people can get invested in like having terrorist threatening to destroy icons like Mt. Rushmore or the Statue of Liberty and only the Secret Service agent can stop them.

Best Scene: The highlight of the film was the sequence assassinating the world leaders.

A.C.'s Rating: A reluctant Matinee


Mike's Review:  To give you some by the by movie reviews history Olympus Has Fallen was the first movie ever reviewed on this blog.  And now almost three years later here we are reviewing the sequel.

As with the first movie this one is pretty much the same thing only its taking place in London.  It is still a good action movie with some good fight scenes and one liners.  I think I enjoyed this a little more than the first just because it seemed to have some better humor in it.

Best Scene:  Getting back the President.

Mike's Review: (Again) Worth the price of the ticket.

10 CLOVERFIELD LANE - Updated

(2016) 103 Minutes, Rated PG-13

A.C.'s Review: Several years ago producer JJ Abrams production company Bad Robot surprised film fans with the sudden release of a film kept so under wraps no one knew about it until a couple weeks before it hit theaters. It was called CLOVERFIELD directed by Matt Reeves. Essentially it told the story of a rampaging sea monster tearing  up New York City but the hook was it was told by the point of view of those on the ground. In one of the few successful “found footage” movies the film was a runaway success.

            Jump to 2016 and Abrams has released 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE using the same secretive marketing he used on the first film. Fans hoping it is a direct sequel to the first film will come away disappointed. Those who enjoy a suspenseful mystery/thriller/sci fi hybrid will likely enjoy this entry in what appears to be his attempt to launch a sci/fi anthology franchise with different stories each movie with only the Cloverfield name linking the films. You may recall John Carpenter tried this when he released the Michael Myerless HALLOWEEN 3: THE SEASON OF THE WITCH. Fans revolted when there was no Michael and in the fourth film the blank masked killer returned. Will this happen with the sea monster dubbed “Clovie” by fans…stay tuned.

            Back to the this film…a young woman played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead (star of the excellent prequel film THE THING in 2011) has a car accident (or was it?) while fleeing from the breakup of a relationship. She winds up in a bunker owned by Howard (John Goodman) and at  first finds herself chained up. Howard explains that there has been some sort of lethal attack outside his survival bunker and they cannot leave or they will die from whatever is contaminating the air. Also in the bunker is a young man Emmet who helped in the construction of the bunker and fled to it when the attack started.

            The film’s central mystery in what is the nature of the attack, did it even happen and is Howard hiding some very dark secrets?. The woman Michelle finds herself in the frightening position of not knowing if she is safer inside the bunker or outside the bunker.

            My reviews tend to have big spoilers in them but in this case since the film is based so much on mystery I will say no more. My overall assessment was it was a lot more interesting than most of the films I’ve seen lately but I find myself in the camp who wishes this were a direct continuation of the first movie with the Cloverfield monster running amuck.

Best Scene: Michelle making shocking discoveries when she accesses a different location in the bunker to try and get the air supply working.

A.C.'s Rating: MATINEE

Bean's Review: Surprisingly, better movie than expected.  With only 3 characters, limited sets and no special effects until the end of the movie, the acting is what kept your attention.  Wow, what a concept…to actually have actors, act and not depend on special effects and continual fight scenes to draw the audience in and keep their interest.

John Goodman plays a very convincing “bad guy”.  However, with the good storyline and the acting, I was not totally sure until more than half-way into the movie, if he was really bad.  He is!

Mary Elizabeth Winstead also acts well, in that one is not sure if she has the determination and strength to save herself.  She does!

You get attached to John Gallagher, Jr.’s character, but, once again, I was on the fence as to whether he was “in” on the abduction of Winstead’s character, or just an innocent guy.  Unfortunately, for his character, he was a good guy.

The end of the movie is a bit anticlimax and weird.  To finally escape and then encounter goofy aliens, just did not fit into the storyline.

Best scene:  When Goodman, Winstead and Gallagher are playing some sort of charade game and Goodman is giving the hints as to what he is and Gallagher is becoming unhinged because he thinks that Goodman knows Winstead’s and his secrets to escaping (Goodman is Santa Claus)

Bean’s Rating:  Matinee