Hashtag Activism and Bastille Day’s Unrelenting Cynicism

Action flick Bastille Day opens with a naked Frenchwoman (Stéphane Caillard) strolling through Paris. We soon learn that her nudity is intended to serve as a particularly dramatic distraction, allowing pickpocket Michael Mason (Game of Thrones’ Richard Madden) to pilfer a few wallets and passports at the orders of a local fence (Eriq Ebouaney). With…

SPL 2: A Time for Consequences (2015)

I’m not quite sure what to make of SPL 2: A Time for Consequences, a Chinese-Hong Kong martial arts (and guns) action film that’s a “sequel in name only” to Wilson Yip’s SPL. Partly that’s due to my lack of familiarity with the genre; outside of a couple Ong Bak and Raid films, my knowledge…

Spooks: The Greater Good (2015)

“You can either do good, or do well.” Such is the backdrop of this British attempt at a zero gadget spy film. Spooks: The Greater Good starts slow, introducing a nice bit of brooding menace via Kit Harrington, followed by Elyes Gabel’s coldly passionate antihero. The first real spycraft is actually quite well done, creating…

Big Game (2014)

“You’re telling me we lost our president like we… lost a set of car keys. This is the most powerful nation in the history of the planet. This is America, and as Vice President of this great nation, I am commanding you to sort this shit out.” That quote gives you a good indication of…

American Ultra (2015)

Here are the things to like about American Ultra: Kristen Stewart’s performance as a put-upon girlfriend. She’s fantastic, as always. The chemistry between Stewart and on-screen boyfriend Jesse Eisenberg, playing a kind of Cheech-and-Bourne stoner/super-soldier mashup. Some imaginative use of neon/black light colours. …and that’s it, sadly. American Ultra could have been a funny, energetic…

Hitman: Agent 47 (2015)

This movie is good. Like, really, non-cliché, good. I’d rewatched the previous, Timothy-Olyphant-starring Hitman film in preparation for this one. I’d enjoyed it. It wasn’t a cinematic masterpiece, but still an enjoyable film. After watching Hitman: Agent 47 however, it simply pales in comparison. Agent 47’s action sequences are superb, and the stunts leave you…

The Transporter Refueled Needed a Different Type of Fuel

I love “hard man” films. Dirty Harry, Schwarzenegger, Jean-Claude, Seagal, Jet Li, Statham; the one thing they all possessed was a sense of controlled violence waiting to be unleashed. Unfortunately, Transporter Refueled has all the danger of a kitten playing with a ball of string. Ed Skrein manages the walking tall part adequately, but instead…