Though technically a worse film than the original, Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard rides its low-brow wave to lizard brain delights. 2017’s The Hitman’s Bodyguard proved a bit of a sleeper hit, reconfiguring a Midnight Run-ish classic buddy caper picture as straight-up EuropaCorp-style trash, complete with…
If you love your action flicks stuffed full of nonsense exposition and explanation, Infinite is the film for you. You know you’re in trouble when a high-concept sci-fi or fantasy action flick opens with a voiceover that explains the premise and defines a bunch…
The risible Misfits marks a career low point for director Renny Harlin. Nick Cannon’s here too. Once, he was one of the most reliable directors of action in Hollywood, with out-and-out magic like Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, and The Long Kiss Goodnight punctuating his resume. But…
Cruella begins from a stupid premise and proceeds to do little more than inspire product development and contribute to the Dalmatians Easter egg canon. A few minutes into Disney’s completely unasked-for live-action prequel Cruella, little Estella — one day to become animated arch-villain Cruella…
A Quiet Place Part II succeeds in much the same way as the original — as a sturdy, thoughtful, and understated exercise in genre. Box-office success on a tiny budget basically guaranteed that 2018’s compact, gripping little monster movie one-off A Quiet Place would get…
All cinematic technique that makes Snyder a fanboy favorite feels sorely missing in the bloated, ugly Army of the Dead. Recovering from what must have been the bizarre physical and emotional fallout from his entire Justice League ordeal, Zack Snyder apparently decided to flex…
Oxygen’s high concept unfortunately hampers Aja’s ability to impress much on either a visual or narrative level. Seriously erratic genre auteur Alexandre Aja is back. Responsible for shockers both grippingly stupid (Haute Tension), admirably stripped-down (Crawl), and absolutely worthless (Piranha 3D), he’s so irrepressibly…
Wrath of Man is a hybrid heist/revenge film that is pure fluff and littered with Ritchie idiosyncrasies, but also truly technically impressive. Posited: Guy Ritchie is a gifted formal stylist with a terrible palate and some of the worst instincts and taste in material…
Without Remorse is a delicious throwback to a time when a sturdy shoot-em-up was its own reward. Streaming services have absolutely become a pipeline for direct-to-video offerings, cheap rom-coms, and prestige dramas that would never find a more comfy budget, all to varying degrees…
After releasing notorious flop/secret success Exorcist II: The Heretic in 1977, director John Boorman turned to an attempt at producing a Lord of the Rings film. When that failed to coalesce — sadly, as it was allegedly floated that the Beatles would play the…
