Just Watched Movies (2015)

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Elysium-Inflicted with a deadly disease, a man joins up with a group of freedom fighters on a savage, desolate Earth that are attempting to infiltrate a luxurious space station for the rich and make an equal society for all. This one wasn't all that bad and really had some decent parts to make this one quite worthwhile. That, though, is all found at the second half here since the beginning to this is barely all that interesting with it's maddening ploy of being a dystopian universe type of film which is not all that appealing on my end. Setting up the fact that the future time-period and all the different rules and regulations that go into the makings of this is just not enough for me to get into this and the fact that this seriously drains the action into barely any form is present here beyond a few short confrontations with the robots to restore the necessary order at play here. This makes the first half pretty challenging and not all that interesting, while the second half is decidedly better as this is where all the shoot-outs, chases and fighting occurs as they try to overtake the floating ship and start their planning. Graced with plenty of encounters, from the desert hijacking and the race to get away before back-up arrives to the numerous shoot-outs on the ship itself which starts with plenty of fun group encounters and whittles down to the individual fight at the finale, there's a lot to like in this section as it really works up quite fun situations that do seem familiar but overall work nicely here. The final fighter here is pretty weak and basically a joke anyway so there's a lot of work needed to make him a believable villain but there's more than enough positives to make this work otherwise.

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G.I. Joe: Retaliation-After being set-up to appear as traitors and left for dead, the surviving members of a G.I. Joe team strike back against the evil COBRA organization attempting to blackmail the world into nuclear warfare. Overall this one wasn't all that bad and did come off rather well at times when it really wanted to. The opening attack on the missile silo and then resulting trap where they get taken out is a lot of fun with plenty of explosive action set-pieces that really get the movie started off on a right note by displaying exactly the kind of bullet-riddled, explosion-happy stunt-filled sequence that should be utilized in an occasion like this which is what makes it so much fun. Likewise, the entire final half is similarly packed with exciting moments from the tense confrontation in the war room to the attempt to seize control of the situation and all the different shootouts and confrontations needed to get things under control, this all became quite an exciting time with these slew of scenes featuring a lot to enjoy and makes for a rousing time overall. As well, the reason for the imposter featured in the first one is nicely paid off here with a rational reason for including such a lame storyline from the first one while at the same time using it to further a straightforward plot that allows for some rather fun times keeping it on track. Still, there's a few problems with this one mainly in the fact that the film doesn't really let itself do a whole lot from the time of the interception and the final assault, taken up with endless blathering from the villains, a search from the heroes for a safe base-of-operations and one of the lamest action scenes in the film which is the ninja attack on the mountain fortress, done with such obvious CGI and wire-works that it really takes you out of the movie because the rest of the action was a lot more grounded and realistic so the sight of people flying hundreds of feet through the air, attacking each other with swords while spelunking down a mountain side thousands of feet up strikes as being obviously fake by comparison. That all together combines to halt the mid-section of the film down considerably, but not enough to hold this from being entertaining.

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Escape Plan-Hired to test the structure of a high-tech prison, a professional con artist realizes the entire ploy was a ruse to place him in an escape-proof prison and enlists a fellow inmate to help him exact his revenge against those who put him there. Frankly, this one turned out to be a little disappointing that keeps this one down from what it really could've been. After supposedly trumpeting the fact of getting these two stars together and what they're capable of, having them stand around plotting the escape for 80% of the movie doesn't make this interesting in the slightest considering their past pedigrees so this type of acting-heavy approach is extremely disconcerting. Not only is that the complete opposite of what you want to bill these current stars for since they're past performances hardly ever featured such an approach but it also really hampers the flow of the film by making the pace so sluggish and downbeat. Restricting this to prototypical prison-film type of action doesn't really allow this the chance to really let loose with the type of action that keeps the interest level up throughout the endless scenes of boredom by not featuring much of anything happening, even amongst the prison population featured with them. Thankfully, this does get better with the actual escape being quite fun and really letting the action out with a slew of fine chases, brawls and shootouts throughout the facility which makes up for some of the other flaws mentioned elsewhere, and the finale itself is a great deal of fun with the massive shootout needed to finally set themselves free. Again, it's not good enough but yet the film is certainly watchable so it does seem enjoyable if slightly disappointing.

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The Last Stand-Finding himself caught in the middle, a sheriff of a sleepy border town finds his undermaned, underarmed deputies caught in the middle when a vicious drug-cartel owner decides on using his town to cross into Mexico. This was an unbelievably enjoyable and entertaining effort that really has a lot to like about it. The best part to this is the fact that there's such a simplistic story here that it really provides the film with a large amount of quality action scenes throughout here with a non-stop pace that befits such action, rendering this one filled with spectacular scenes because of that. From the original escape from custody, a spectacular plan that really makes the federal agents look like buffoons, which seemingly continues throughout the film anyway, that comes off as rather ingenious aside from the logical nightmare of how it would play off realistically and starts this off in grand fashion. The rather fun road sequences that show his approach to the town, filled with gags about fighting off the various roadblocks and traps set up to halt him make for a great time, as well as the various investigations that form the set-up of his arrival in the town which is filled with more action sequences around that make for a grand set-up to the final battle in the town which is one of the better shootouts in recent years. Battling through the deserted town with outmatched weapons, the ingenuity makes for some really fun times and lots of fighting makes for a great time in setting this up for a great one-on-one battle that ends this one on a fine note. The right dose of comedy serves this one great as well, just so long that the realistic nature of this isn't questioned as it really tends to fall into a trap of making the federal agents look like incompetent morons simply to get to the final battle at the end when other factors easily could've gotten to the same result without that bothering it. Still, this one was quite fun and really worthwhile overall.

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The Purge-Thought to be safely locked away in their homes, a man and his family find themselves under attack by a gang of criminals seeking them during a legally sanctioned night of depravity, murder and mayhem and forces them to fight back. Mistakenly saw this as a horror film but it's more of a suspense/thriller and a really lame one at that since hardly anything actually happens here until the final ten minutes. Most of this is spent with the family trying to prepare for the actual event and actually watching around the other actions of the night. That it then becomes a frustratingly interminable sequence of events about the family searching throughout the house for the wanted individual makes for a long, boring series of scenes that do nothing but showcase how large and dark the house is without any sense of pacing or tension as it just winds through it's paces until the inevitable conclusion with the house attack. This does make for some fun times with the different brawling and gunfights that take place throughout the living room and kitchen where they come under attack by the criminal gang. All of this is rendered moot, though, under two of the most laughably inept motives behind the film which is the sheer stupidity of the central premise that it rests on and the ineptness of it's execution. The fact that society would devolve so greatly as to await a yearly-appointed time of day when criminal activity would be legally rendered and expunged from their conscious makes no sense at all for it wouldn't be needed in the matter it shows off here for citizens would be wary of further repercussions on that night and would eventually render the need for the particular night moot on the second or third year of it's inception. That this features such a group of whacked-out individuals as these guys shown here who are clearly in it for the legalized murder rewards and have very little that shows them to be normal citizens on every other night of the year completely takes away the scare factor of them who just turn into mindless yackos without much thought. Seemingly this is a commentary on the violence in everyday society but whatever the cause it fails mightily under the inept execution because they never are seen to do anything other than chase the one individual. Rather than partaking in this night of glorious excess, they stand around lamely prancing away on the front-yard because of an ultimatum issued that ruins their credibility when they should've just barged in and taken over the way the plot really should've dictated they do. That might've generated a scary tale here but instead it turns into a lame thriller for an hour with about ten minutes of actual horror and that's not a worthwhile balance.

Hanuman and the 6 Ultra Brothers vs. The Monster Army-After being bestowed with the powers of the mighty God Hanuman, the creature joins forces with the six Ultraman brothers to fight a group of towering monsters unleashing during an experimental cloud-seeding project gone wrong. One of the most infamous and delirious efforts in the entire costumed-superhero genre, this Thai/Japanese effort is worth every effort possible just to see exactly what was crammed into this one. Not just content to featuring the Japanese sense of aura surrounding the titular superheroes and penchant for spellbinding special effects, the overwhelming influx of Thai folklore and mysticism is a lot more predominant here as this is more about the sense of melding the God’s being and his backstory than it is about the giant monsters as the first hour is spent there. With all sorts of references to the Thai folk stories including his birth, journey around the country and finally into the heavens themselves to deal with his fellow Gods, this half of the film is pretty tedious with the prototypical bad Thai comedy not relieving matters and not really getting this filled with the spectacular action needed in these stories, despite the spectacular special effects showing the gigantic creature pursuing the treasure-seekers who killed his human body as the miniature effects are top-notch and mesh so seamlessly with the live-action stuff in the same location several seconds before. Still, once this gets to the action itself this is about as good as it gets for a non-Godzilla feature in terms of miniature quality here with the initial guise of a rocket-launch malfunction setting off scores of explosions and fires abound (this scene’s subtitles say the rockets only fly 60 meters, but I’m inclined to believe there’s 60 rockets for the procedure as it sure looks close to that many go off here in one humongous minute-plus chain of bursting model pieces and shrapnel flying everywhere) that leads to the release of the monsters underneath and sets off the final battle with the seven heroes fighting off the five giant monsters. Granted, none of these should be as much fun as it is since the monsters are so hopelessly outmatched the undesired sense of empathy eventually surrounds the creatures once the Ultras arrive as Hanuman takes the first crack at them solo, resulting in some impressive visuals here with the tag-teaming monsters delivering some incredibly fun times though once the Ultras show up the tide turns around into sympathy for them, especially with the cruelty used against them that is far darker in tone and spirit than anything done in the aforementioned series with the heroes. Likewise, their powers are all wrong and none of the continuity established for them is right, as instead of only being able to battle for three minutes at a time they all stay as themselves the entire time without any power-ups or mention of having to transform again to stay that size so that is completely ignored in the hope of just getting a lot of things packed with action. In that, it succeeds rather well for it is incredibly exciting and action-packed when it requires it, but the contextual history and significance is missing. Now, if only you can put aside all your knowledge of the production backstory and the bad fortune that resulting from its release, this is a can’t miss effort all around.

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Got a mini-marathon of White House invasion epics, White House Down and Olympus Has Fallen. Both are awesome in their own respective ways: Olympus is more realistic and has the better take-over plan to actually have control of the building, has a better pace and a generally more interesting reason why the villains are there, but gets bogged down too much in useless bantering between the Army personnel waiting around trying to make plans and the hokey sentimentality of trying to atone for his past mistakes is too cliched to mean anything. In contrast, WHD is a lot more commercially viable with the comic relief and general set-ups really making this one out to be more of a movie experience rather than a full-on realistic movie. Likewise, while the action in OHF seems to be better overall, the set-ups in WHD are in general more individually enjoyable and exciting, particularly the car chase with the miniguns and the gun-fight in the hallway that serves as the introduction to the take-over plot. However, because of the attempt of this one to feel more like a true movie than a real-world scenario there's some minor falts in the story which starts with their take-over attempt. It's pretty ludicrous and doesn't make much sense much like a lot of the film anyway so there's not a whole lot to really gleam from this. Finally, the need for the comic relief in such a situation does seem highly illogical and mostly thrown in merely to highlight the fact that it is more of a film than a real-world scenario. I can't really say which one was better since they both offered up a lot to like and were a lot of fun in their own ways.

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2 Guns-After thinking they've stolen from a Mexican drug lord, two un-realizing undercover agents learn they've stolen from dirty CIA agents who've made them wanted men to their agencies and must work together to clear their names and end matters. Overall, this one wasn't all that bad at all and definitely got a lot of enjoyable elements from it to work nicely. The fact that there's quite a large number of decent action scenes throughout this does make for a rather intriguing time here with their being chased and shot at quite heavily along the way so that encounters including the garage ambush, the desert trap double-cross and the apartment complex shootout come off quite nicely with a large amount of action coming off quite nicely at offering some exciting moments and thrilling ideas. Still, the two centerpieces here include the military base break-in and the final gunfight at the ranch which allows for some rather pleasing action throughout here as the two scenes feature multiple sides coming together to get everything accomplished and the results are quite enjoyable in terms of producing thrilling visuals and a series of big, exciting sequences. Likewise, the humor here certainly allowed for some rather funny times that was certainly well-integrated without being distracting or conflicting in tone, and the pace was certainly likeable enough to generate interest without a lot of time spent on the actual action parts which was the one lone downfall here. Since this one tends for the well-rounded plot instead of diving head-first into the action means that this one has to wander around with a pretty confusing plot at times so it really tones down the encounters to a few brief moments in the second half rather than a more continuous experience. Still, it's about all that's really wrong with this one.

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Getaway-Forced to take a high-tech car along the way, a man and his teenage passenger try to follow the increasingly difficult instructions by a strange man in order to retrieve his kidnapped wife through his dangerous game. On the whole this one turned out to be pretty enjoyable as long as you try not to think too hard about the story for it as it's not all that well thought-out. Most of this is due to the finale twist that really makes no sense at all, as it tends to undermine what happened earlier and doesn't even try to make sense of anything anyway. The reason for including it doesn't seem cohesive to any of the actions undertaken anyway and it all seems quite lame and confusing. Beyond that, though, there's a lot to like here with this one that this isn't all that big of a deal as the rest of the film is based on a series of highly intriguing and enjoyable car chases for the duration of the film as it focuses on him trying to make the getaway in order to complete his assignment from the very beginning and that results in a slew of exciting chases throughout the city. The destruction of the park and the train-yard chases stand out for being the best but the rest of the time there's plenty of imaginative escape moves, great crashes and stunt-work along with a few spectacular explosions thrown in for good measure to allow for a little more spectacle into the mix. Some might stretch credibility as to how the car would still be drivable after such conditions but that's such a minute point you don't notice it until afterwards anyway so that doesn't matter in the face of such action. Coupled with a solid pace, appropriate humor and thrilling series of moments here and there, this one was quite enjoyable overall.

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Kick-Ass 2-Despite trying to continue his quest to keep fighting crime, a teen superhero and a band of similar fighters learn his old nemesis has followed up with his own band of super-villains and is trying to avenge his father's death. Frankly this one was quite a bit more enjoyable than the original which had a lot to like about it. This one centers much more on the action part of the story rather than the superhero idolization found in the first one so that gives this one a lot more to work with in terms of moving the story along with plenty of fine set-ups including the raid on the gambling warehouse, the car chase from the funeral and the shoot-out with the cops at the girlfriends' house which all provide this one with plenty of rather enjoyable action pieces that become all the more exciting when brought up against the finale's big brawl in the hideout which is the literal war between the two sides that is more than accurately rendered to get the full scope of what's being accomplished. That this one is so much more action-packed makes for a rather enjoyable time by also managing to keep the pace and tempo up a lot more-so than the choppy feel of the original. Aside from that, the left-over superhero idolization tactics from the first one are again touched on here in less detailed manners which is a bit unfortunate though the majority of this was taken up in the first one but does seem to be more glossed over here in favor of the low-brow humor on display which is quite unfortunate to once again feature a topic far outside the acceptable realms of where the film is aimed at. There's little reason for this one to have to extend to prolonged sequences of barfing and defecating just for laughs which is yet another tone-clash here that is carried over from the first one. Overall, though, the fact that this one tends to be the only true flaw held against this one does some good as it allows for more to like and is a slightly-better effort.

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Haywire-After being left for dead on an assignment, a female operative finds all her skills put to the test as she searches a field of assassins trying to take her out in order to complete her corrupt boss' plan to eliminate her. Frankly this one wasn't all that bad at all and really had some good stuff going for it. One of the better parts to this is the fact that the fighting here, all based around Carano's obvious MMA skills, aren't as much of a detraction as initially would seem to be based on a slightly more varied displays than would be expected in something like this. That fighting style isn't all that impressive for me to begin with, and there's a few moments where that comes into play but on the whole it really doesn't distract all that much with sporadic use in some of the smaller fights but on the whole, the coffee shop brawl and the hotel throw-down are much more based on outside fighting styles to really get their full-force exposed which makes her skills quite evident but also showcases how great of a fighter it takes to bring her down. Other times scenes like the hotel brawl and her eventual escape there as well as the car chase in the snow showcase a much more graceful set of action that really manages to make for some exciting times as well as utilizing some rather impressive action throughout for a lot of good points. The main place this fails is the story which is quite cliched despite how original it thinks it is as the overall plot boils down to left-for-dead operative seeks revenge, which has been done to death and really doesn't do a whole lot of interesting things with this other than who's the central operative that's striking back against her old employers. That's not nearly as impressive as it seems to think so, and the fact that this one whips around in time as much as it does doesn't help matters either by being so hard to realize what time-period we're in since friends are enemies and then enemies are really friends as soon as it pleases doesn't do a whole lot here to really make this all that clear and tends to hold this down somewhat.

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Homefront-Retiring to a quiet life with his daughter, a former DEA agent finds he has upset the town's local drug kingpin and has partnered with a biker-gang he infiltrated that wants revenge forcing him back into action to save his family. This was quite an enjoyable effort that had a lot to like about it. One of the better parts featured is the incredibly complex storyline that manages to get a lot of rather intriguing story-points throughout that move this along rather nicely in the first half when there's not a whole lot of stuff happening. The main focus is on how he manages to continually get in the face of the different bad-guys here and on how it manages to keep backfiring thanks to his skill-set enabling him to get the jump on the completely out-manned and under-prepared henchmen which results in the gradual discovery and realization of his past that fuels the second half. That part manages to feature all the fun times throughout here with several big encounters, a rather impressive car chase that's quite intense and the final encounter at the house which features all the fun shoot-outs and brawling that makes for a rather enjoyable time. This does manage to help overcome the few flaws throughout here which mainly start with the whole film taking place merely to set-up the finale which isn’t all that much of a surprise. We know he’s going to beat them down because he’s that much better than they are and have never been poised as a threat from the very beginning, yet here it seems to think otherwise so it has an excruciatingly long build-up for a pay-off that’s telegraphed quite early on. Granted, it’s still fun to get there, but it’s not as smart as it thinks it is and does suffer from that accordingly.

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Dead Man Down-A hit man for a criminal lord finds that his new romance with a young woman is a ruse to help her carry out a mission of vengeance against his boss and conspires with her to finish the mission. Banal crime/drama masquerading as a horror film with a few too many romance scenes thrown in to further hold down the action. A dearth of shoot-outs in exchange for hitman assassinations, pontificating instead of actually going out and shooting things up and a lot more character study than doing anything which really makes this one unremarkable and unworthwhile.

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21 Jump Street-Demoted to a special branch of the police, two officers infiltrating a high-school drug ring find their own closely-guarded insecurities are brought back up and must deal with them to complete their assignment. A pretty decent comedy that's funnier than expected as the teen hijinks throughout here actually manage some bit of fun with the raucous house-party and a lot of the different scenes at the school where the obvious age-difference between the rest of the cast is acknowledged and mocked for some more fun. It doesn't become an Action film until way too late with a shoot-out played more for laughs than anything else and a much better car-chase shootout through the roof of a limousine that's quite exciting to account for a similarly-enjoyable chase earlier on that utterly toys with the expectations of the de-rigeur explosion hilariously. Still, the focus on the comedy doesn't always work (their inherent stupidity with procedural work that would've kept them in basic training or even drummed out entirely, their insecure high-school selves vs. their supposed success as adults and way too much adlibbing for the sake of letting people be themselves when their not funny to begin with) does get a little trying at times. And I still hate Jonah Hill with a deep, unbridled passion so it takes a bit to work through his scenes altogether but it's not too terrible anyway.

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Scooby-Doo: Frankencreepy-After learning that she has inherited a family-owned castle, Velma brings the gang back to her homeland and tries to help them stop a curse laid down by her family on the townspeople nearby. Frankly this is quite possibly the best of the animated series of films so far as this is one is just quite a bit of fun. Finally managing to get some backstory on the characters and their motivations is quite impressive with this delving into Velma's history and family while finally giving us the piece to the puzzle of why she was always the skeptic of the group and was the most responsible for de-masking the villains which is quite nice, along with the furthering development of the relationship between the other members of the gang as they all work through several different plot-points in the story. From Daphne and Fred’s continuing culminating relationship that’s still based on Fred’s complete cluelessness to her feelings (rather than being utterly focused on his trap-building like he was in the series, this time around it’s on the Mystery Machine and it’s loss as it is destroyed before the opening credits in a shocking opening that also produces one of the best gags ever as every time he thinks about it afterward the sequence gets longer and longer with vastly-greater fireballs emanating from the explosion tacked onto the previous realization that is suitably hilarious) as well as Shaggy and Scooby’s courage at continually being forced to become the bait in the traps, all of these which produce some absolutely fun sequences throughout here. The action is pretty decent as well with them required to stop a runaway train from derailing as the terrified passengers who are caught between must keep relying instructions to the gang in order to fulfill the mission, a fantastic chase through a crowded fairground and the finale’s escape from the exploding castle in a horse-drawn carriage all becoming quite exciting throughout here. Likewise, the revenge plot for the main villains is quite impressive as this one actually manages to acknowledge all the different incarnations of the series with villains plucked from each one to come together into a master society organization against them which is quite clever. Still, the lone factor holding this down is the slight controversy that occurs with Daphne's curse and how that might affect people, yet it's nowhere near enough to really harm this one overall.

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Martial Arts of Shaolin-After inadvertently joining an assassination coup against their emperor, a group of martial arts students must put their skills to the test to save their new-found friends from his deadly army looking to stop their quest. What seems like a prototypical mid-80s kung-fu actioner is actually one of the more enjoyable and exciting productions at the time and certainly shows more of an adherence to the classics than most of what was produced at the time. Of course, most of this is due to Jet Li's absolutely phenomenal showcase for his talents as this one is just utterly non-stop action from the get-go as the early bouts of his skills amongst his Shaolin temple classmates produces three highly exciting and frenetic scenes in displays, fights and a rather ingenious competition that makes for a large amount of fun throughout here as everyone's battling each other. When the switch occurs to them getting involved in the ploy to kill the emperor (done rather well as they're along merely to get a glimpse of him and end up mistaken as part of the group trying to kill him) then this becomes an all-out assault of flying fists, feet and weaponry as the battles tend to take on the sort of epic 20-on-1 battles that were common-place back in the genre's heyday of the previous decade where it seems massive, epic brawls where the order of the day when it came to shooting these kinds of scenes as the finale's impact is based on the two last rebels stopping the ship and dispatching all the remaining villains themselves before taking on the main villain which is part of the fun here. These do help to overcome the cliche story throughout here which seems to be yet another in a long line of films where people are erroneously believed to be something they're not and must fight against the evil guy who was pretending to be the good guy all along. Likewise, some of the humor here falls a little flat as there's nothing done with the concept of them hiding in drag to try to escape the clutches of their tormentors beyond the fact that their dressed as women and nothing is really done with this. Otherwise, this was a fantastic and enjoyable kung-fu effort.