Tagged with action films …

Review: American Ultra

Review: American Ultra

“Like the protagonist of his film, Nima Nourizadeh’s American Ultra suffers from an identity crisis. The package sounds great on paper: A stoner targeted for elimination by the CIA learns he’s a highly trained government superspy of the Jason Bourne persuasion who gets reactivated in the face of imminent death and becomes a very, very … Continue reading →

Review: Final Girl, 2015, dir. Tyler Shields

Review: Final Girl, 2015, dir. Tyler Shields

“Have you ever sat through a movie so ponderous and pointless that you felt the minutes ticking by as your patience slowly dwindled to zero? That’s more or less the experience of watching Tyler Shields’ immeasurably boringFinal Girl, a film injudiciously stitched together out of so many retread genre tropes that they wind up leeching … Continue reading →

Review: Terminator Genisys, 2015, dir. Alan Taylor

Review: Terminator Genisys, 2015, dir. Alan Taylor

“‘Old, not obsolete.’ These three words are repeated often throughout Terminator Genisys, Alan Taylor’s contribution to the iconic ’80s/’90s action series, and they apply perfectly to the film’s biggest name: Arnold Schwarzenegger himself, reprising his role as an unstoppable cyborg for the umpteenth time in the Terminator saga’s lifespan. If any production in the latter … Continue reading →

Review: Chappie, 2015, dir. Neill Blomkamp

Review: Chappie, 2015, dir. Neill Blomkamp

“Your enjoyment of Chappie will depend entirely on how high a premium you place on originality. The film’s influences announce themselves loudly and proudly; if you’ve seen Short Circuit, Short Circuit 2, and RoboCop, you have seen Chappie, or at least you’ve seen its skeleton dangled from a hang-up stand á la Budget Bart. But … Continue reading →

Review: Everly, 2015, dir. Joe Lynch

Review: Everly, 2015, dir. Joe Lynch

“Based on her recent credits, Salma Hayek may be the last person anyone would expect to go out guns blazing. In the last few years, she’s starred in disposable junk ranging from both Grown-Ups films to Here Comes the Boom, provided vocals for Puss in Boots, and made a cameo in Muppets Most Wanted. In … Continue reading →

Review: Skyfall, 2012, dir. Sam Mendes

Review: Skyfall, 2012, dir. Sam Mendes

Has the James Bond franchise come full circle? Are we now at a point where there are no more secrets to the world’s most famous globe-trotting, womanizing, martini-guzzling spy? By the time Sam Mendes directs Skyfall, his entry in the half-a-century-old series, to its logical conclusion, we’ve actually experienced cinema of regression, watching as the … Continue reading →