 It's funny to think about, but I almost can't believe a movie like this went right over my head upon its initial release. If I'm being honest, this is one of those movies that holds a lot of what I'm a sucker for within it. Though I probably wouldn't call it a personal favourite, it remains very much "up my alley." When people started comparing it to 'John Wick' and mentioned Bob Odenkirk as the lead, it was easy for me to be sold on it, albeit a little late on the uptake. I ended up renting it, digitally, thanks to Covid.
Going back to what I'm a sucker for within this film, I love a one-person army movie, a revenge flick, a movie where the hero doesn't have to be muscle-bound, something a bit gritty, yet a bit funny all at once, and a movie where the lead character is relatable in a much more humanistic way, like John Wick losing his dog. This is a film that piggybacks on the success of 'John Wick,' but manages to be its own thing. I was also fresh off of watching 'Better Call Saul' before checking this out, so Odenkirk was someone I already knew I liked, and I couldn't wait to see him get into the action side of things more. Hutch Mansell (Odenkirk) lives a seemingly basic life with an average office job at a metal fabrication company. He resides in suburbia with his wife, Becca (Connie Nielsen), their teenage son, Blake (Gage Munroe), and their younger daughter, Abby (Paisley Cadorath). As the everyday grind begins to grow irritating, his frustration intensifies. One night, two burglars break into their house and try to rob them at gunpoint. Hutch actually lets the perps go, and with that, word spreads about his actions despite his feelings that he made the right decision - primarily based on what he could have done to them. The next day, Hutch becomes the subject of ridicule from several people, including his son, brother-in-law Charlie (Billy MacLellan), and neighbour Jim (Paul Essiembre). Upon coming home from work, Abby mentions that she can't find her kitty cat bracelet, which triggers Hutch to snap, knowing the burglars have taken it. Things escalate quickly, and soon, his rampage leads him to brutally injure the brother of a notorious Russian mob boss, Yulian Kuznetsov (Aleksey Serebryakov), without knowing who he is. As we all know, this never goes over well, and Hutch finds himself fighting more than he bargained for. This movie is like a combination of 'John Wick' and 'Falling Down' with all their best features. I love me a good revenge film, especially if it involves the "straw that broke the camel's back" situation. Here, it's a kitty cat bracelet that parallels something a bit more like 'John Wick.' However, elements of 'Falling Down,' namely the idea of a bad day for the wrong type of person, are present here as well. All in all, it's a great movie to watch and take out your frustrations on the world safely, much like playing a heavy-duty 3D shooter. It's another good title to throw on when you've had a bad day. With more to enjoy about this movie, I'd be hard-pressed not to mention some of the side characters. Hutch's father, David (played by Christopher Lloyd), and his half-brother, Harry (played by RZA), end up being solid standouts throughout the film, especially when it's clear that Christopher Lloyd had a blast in this role, and his performance adds a healthy dose of comedy to the entire experience. Also, making a cameo appearance here is Michael Ironside as Hutch's father-in-law. Although Llyod stands out among others for me, personally, it should be known that they're all pretty damn likable side characters, and their relationships with Hutch make you want to root for him more. If you were ever a fan of 'Better Call Saul' (or enjoyed the character in 'Breaking Bad'), and you want a good revenge film much along the lines of 'John Wick', then this is the movie for you. I had a great deal of fun with it, and it ended up being one of my personal favourites that year, once again covering almost everything I love to see in a solid action movie. This is a title well worth watching if you're looking for a solid revenge action flick with a bit more substance, and it comes highly recommended by yours truly for those bad days we all experience from time to time. Just promise not to copy what you see on the screen. 5/5
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 Zombie movies have been a part of our culture for decades. They can be traced back as early as 1919 with the French film 'J'accuse,' in which the concept is presented more symbolically. However, most would attribute the zombies we know and love to 1932's 'White Zombie.' After that, if you look closely enough, you'll notice that they've just kept going since then, albeit largely underground, aside from basically anything George A. Romero made. I mean, if the title didn't have "... of the Dead," it didn't seem to count.
Here's where I'm gonna remind people that I was about as far away from being a horror fan as one could get back through my life in the '80s and '90s, so my biggest links to zombie horror at the time were things like Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' video, and a loose familiarity with Romero's stuff without having seen any of it. Therefore, it could be said, even to my disbelief, that '28 Days Later' may very well have been the first zombie horror movie I saw. It's a peculiar thing to consider, but it's worth noting. It's no wonder I've always been drawn to the concept of fast zombies. Now, there will be readers who will argue that these aren't zombies based on a technicality. The film opens with a group of animal rights activists breaking into a lab where they see experiments being done on chimpanzees involving a "Rage Virus," which is highly contagious through any bodily fluid and acts fast. One of the activists unleashes a chimp, which immediately attacks, and thus, the spread begins. In just under a month, the virus spreads rapidly, collapsing society as we know it. Twenty-eight days later, at St Thomas' Hospital in London, a bicycle courier named Jim (Cillian Murphy) awakens from a coma he fell into after an accident. Not only does he find the hospital to be abandoned entirely, but it seems that all of London is as well. After a while of wandering, Jim discovers the true nightmare as to why there has been a mass exodus - a whole bunch of people who have been infected with a rage virus, making them angry, violent, aggressive, mindless "zombies." However, unlike your traditional zombie, these aren't SO hung up on the "meat" so much as just attacking and maiming as quickly and brutally as possible. After a while, he finds Selena (Naomie Harris), whom he teams up with to survive in this new world. Eventually, the two of them find refuge with a guy named Frank (Brendan Gleeson) and his daughter, Hannah (Megan Burns), and as most of these types of movies go, they all end up seeking refuge miles and miles away, having to venture there through masses of rage-filled "zombies." I won't say much beyond that, but what must be pointed out is the way the film ends takes the viewer by surprise, becoming less of a zombie movie and much more about "man vs man," and the last half-hour or so of this movie is a bad-ass time! This film deserves much more recognition for what it represents in the zombie genre, as it is one of the first zombie titles I can think of that focuses more on the people involved in the situation than on the situation itself. It further impresses me with its themes of violence and rage, questioning whether the real monsters are the mindless zombies running around who have no choice in what they're doing or us people who have our options. Still, it's about whether our choices make us better or worse than the monsters out there, all done in a movie that existed one year before the first publication of 'The Walking Dead!' Considering everything that exists in the zombie subgenre now (yes, I'm still calling them "zombies" for all intents and purposes), this might not pack the punch it once did upon its release, but it's still worth going back and checking out if you haven't seen it yet. It's very much like 'The Walking Dead' in the way it's executed, but I'd argue that it's probably a little better - even a little deeper when you step back to take a look at it. It may prove a little slow-moving for some, but it's all well worth the wait for the film's climactic sequence. In my books, it's among the better non-Romero zombie horrors out there. 4/5  Once again, I'll start by reminding everyone that this is part of a singular story unfolding in four films, each one a different chapter. So, with that said, to give some half-decent insight on 'Chapter 3' here, I'm gonna get into spoiler territory when it comes to how 'Chapter 2' ends. So, if you're not interested in knowing anything you might not want to, feel free to skip down to my rating. For everyone else, allow me to provide a brief recap of what's happened so far, all stemming from John Wick (Keanu Reeves) seeking revenge.
John's revenge begins when a Russian mob boss's kid shoots and kills John's puppy and steals his car. The puppy, it is important to note, was the last gift he received from his late wife before she succumbed to a terminal illness. John succeeds in his vengeance and takes down a Russian mob boss in the process. Still, in his attempt to return to a retired lifestyle, he is disrupted by a reminder of a blood oath he has yet to fulfill, which will ultimately ruffle the feathers of the Continental Hotel and the High Table, a council of twelve underworld authority figures who represent different criminal organizations who run the Continental. The Continental is a chain of hotels located in cities worldwide where assassins and the criminal underworld can go as a neutral ground with a set of strict rules - no conducting business on the grounds (i.e., killing one another) being the most stringent of them. When John becomes a massive target for other assassins with an eventual $7 Million bounty on his head, he does what he needs to survive, but this also leads to him breaking some of those rules mentioned above and finding himself "excommunicado," cut off from any underworld resources, and suddenly having the whole world target him with his bounty doubled, now up to $14 Million. With the new bounty on his head, John finds himself on the run, and this film picks things up from the cliffhanger 'Chapter 2' provided us. As far as the all-around plot goes for this one, however, I've pretty much explained it - John Wick is on the run after finding himself "excommunicado" from the Continental, which means he's cut off entirely. Now, a whole bunch of other assassins are after him in an attempt to earn that bounty. John must now use whatever means he can to seek the help of old friends and try to return to some semblance of normal life. Among said friends who offer John a bit of help, usually reluctantly, are new faces like Sophia Al-Azwar (Halle Berry), the head of the Casablanca Continental Hotel, and old faces I've failed to mention already, like The Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne), who seems to almost get amusement out of helping John with what he needs - generally weapons of some sort. Some old friends end up turning foes, like Winston Scott (Ian McShane), the head of the Continental in New York, who happens to be the one to give John the news of his excommunication. It's hard to believe, but as far as these movies go, they make up for a damn-near-perfect series of action flicks that suit the modern mind who doesn't wanna see the same things over and over again. It's admirable how they manage to keep things the same for each movie, in terms of that instant classic "Gun Fu" action style, while at the same time offering something very new and original. 'Chapter 3' actually has more than one great example of this, but particularly, I loved the use of a horse's back legs. Sounds weird, I know, but trust me on this. It's not only unexpected but hilarious and awesome at the same time. I'd generally consider 'Chapter 3' the point in which audiences begin to understand what they look for when they see a 'John Wick' movie, with "must-haves" like amazing fight choreography, one-liners from Keanu that are both cheesy and awesome and action sequences that flow more smoothly than your average shaky-cam action. It's amazing, but this series has made it three for three in terms of quality at this point, and John Wick has become a name synonymous with modern action. What's even more mind-blowing is there's still a 4th, really good one that follows this! How often (not including 'Toy Story') does a series go four for four!? 5/5  I tend to enjoy a good heist movie. These kinds of movies are those in which it's easy to route for the bad guy, usually sticking it to the man and becoming some folk hero in the viewers' eyes. I also like a good story in which the villains are more like antiheroes who can get away with things, a "Robin Hood"-type. The difference is that there's no giving to the poor; it's just robbing from the rich. It's always fun to live vicariously through characters like this and fantasize about what a grand heist might be like.
'Den of Thieves' may not be the best, but I still find it perfectly enjoyable for what it offers. Here we have an action crime flick with decent action, a bit of a sense of humour to go along with it, a solid twist ending, and to top it all off, I very much see this as a "dude" movie - full of testosterone, muscle-bound characters, high octane action, attitude, something you can throw reality aside for to watch something that may help one unwind and destress after a terrible day. Despite some bad reviews, this is a decent watch if one doesn't take it too seriously. The film opens by letting the viewer know what they're in for. A handful of ex-Marines hijack an armoured truck, and that leads to a shootout right off the bat with a bunch of cops, leaving several dead in the crossfire. The heist backfires and prompts LA County Sheriff's Department Detective Nick "Big Nick" O'Brien (Gerard Butler), along with LA's Major Crimes Unit, to investigate. They finger the recently paroled Ray Merrimen (Pablo Schreiber) as the prime suspect in the attempted heist. Nick, one of the crooked cops on the force, and his team eventually kidnap a bartender who works at a bar that frequently serves Ray and his team named Donnie Wilson (O'Shea Jackson Jr.) for questioning. He's eventually released but kept a close eye on as he continues to work with his team, planning their next big heist, the Federal Reserve, which involves intercepting about $30 million in old bills removed from circulation daily, before it all gets shredded. Nick hopes to put a stop to their heist, but soon finds himself in over his head. Much of the movie is setup for the final heist, which is a good half-hour in itself, so I could see complaints about the film dragging or even a bit of unnecessary filler involving Nick's wife and kid. This side plot relates to Nick's renegade ways being too much for his family, but it's unnecessary for anything significant. It's there to allow for a bit of empathy towards Nick's character, but the film doesn't revisit it to resolve anything, and it did leave me wondering what happened with his family. However, I might consider Nick's family a nitpick on my part, and I can see several other places where the film doesn't do so great. Things like seemingly endless ammo in the shootout sequences stand out, and perhaps a bit of the dialogue and even some of the more unlikable characters who don't feel like they really need to be there. That said, I liked how fleshed out Nick's character was and Butler's overall performance. The stunt driving was pretty sweet, and again, this can still be quite enjoyable if you turn your brain off for a bit. As far as a heist movie goes, this is certainly no 'Ocean's Eleven' or 'Italian Job' or anything that one must see on a big screen to get its full effect. If one watches this with the same mentality as they'd watch a Sunday afternoon action movie, one might get more out of it. Nothing here will blow anyone away, including the twist that many, I'm sure, will insist they saw coming from a mile away. If this were something that came straight to streaming, it wouldn't have surprised me. But if you like a half-decent heist flick, give this one a shot. 3/5 |
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