Benedick Lewis (3001 KP) created a post in Movie Fun and Trivia
Jul 16, 2018
Skyscraper (2018)
6.5
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FBI Hostage Rescue Team leader and U.S. war veteran Will Ford, who now assesses security for...
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Dodgeball - A True Underdog Story (2004)
7.6
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Average Joe's Gym and its owner, Peter La Fleur (Vince Vaughn), are both down on their luck. A fancy...
Central Intelligence (2016)
6.9
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Bullied as a teen for being overweight, Bob Stone (Dwayne Johnson) shows up to his high school...
We're The Millers (2013)
7.1
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Small-time pot dealer David (Jason Sudeikis) learns the hard way that no good deed goes unpunished;...
Benedick Lewis (3001 KP) rated Skyscraper (2018) in Movies
Jul 16, 2018
Dwayne Johnson is a family man who, 10 years after a botched mission that results in him losing his leg, works as a security consultant to highlight any dangers in the pearl, the building in Hong Kong considered the tallest in the world. Johnson is set up and the building is set alight, with Johnson’s family in it. He naturally goes to the rescue and the terrorists who have taken control of the building decide to use this to their advantage.
It had potential. Some out of the box thinking could have turned this film within its genre confines on its head but it doesn’t taken the opportunity and the result is a rather standard affair.
It is neither Johnson or the director’s, Rawson Marshall Thurber, finest hour nor can it be seen as a guilty pleasure film. That said, let’s hope the filmmakers learn their lesson from it and make better films in the future.
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Red Notice (2021) in Movies
Nov 19, 2021
For Thanksgiving, 2021 (and beyond) the answer is simple - look no further than the Netflix film RED NOTICE starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds.
Written and Directed by frequent “The Rock” collaborator, Rawson Marshall Thurber, RED NOTICE pits the 3 stars each other as Master Thieves and the Law Enforcement Agent that is chasing them. It is a light-hearted, fun, action, adventure treasure hunt film reminiscent of the Nicholas Cage NATIONAL TREASURE movies.
Don’t be expecting hard-hitting, gritty action in this one. Instead, expect light-hearted action with fast banter, faster cars and bullets that - to no one’s surprise - fails to land in any human being. Automobiles, equipment and buildings are destroyed - but humans…? Not so much. They just pick themselves up, dust themselves off and start all over again.
The acting in this is “as expected”. The Rock is tough, muscular and charming. Ryan Reynolds is fast-talking, conniving and charming. Gal Gadot is mysterious, tougher-than-she-looks and charming. They play off together well and add a little higher level of quality to this film than it probably deserves.
That’s because the script, plot machinations, twists, turns, double-crosses and banter are all pretty much run-of-the-mill. It is not anything special, but nor is it bad. It is “fine” and with these 3 talented performers at the forefront of this, it lifts itself to “better than fine”, it’s a good family film that all can enjoy.
The Direction and Action sequences by Thurber are just as pedestrian and run-of-the-mill but just as entertaining none-the-less. I think the charm of this film is it’s predictability. It’s like putting on an old pair of sweatpants. Your’e not going to wear them to the Oscars, but for sitting on the couch after a full family dinner on Thanksgiving, it fills the bill very well.
The film is light enough for kids (though they do drop the “f-bomb” once or twice). It’s just edgy enough for tweens/teens (hence the “f-bombs”) and a rollicking good time for the adults with enough self-awareness of what they are doing that the actors (first and foremost Reynolds) almost looks like they are going to address the camera to comment on what’s going on at any moment.
And that, too, is part of it’s charm.
Letter Grade A- (it’s probably a B+, but since it is my answer for “Family Film of the Holidays”, I’ll give it an A-).
8 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Sarah (7798 KP) Jul 16, 2018
Benedick Lewis (3001 KP) Jul 16, 2018