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Sarah (7800 KP) rated The Old Guard (2020) in Movies

Jul 26, 2020

The Old Guard (2020)

2020 | Action, Fantasy

7.4

(34 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Decent entertainment

I never hold out much hope for Netflix original films, however I was pleasantly surprised with this as it managed to hold my attention throughout with a decent amount of entertainment.

The star of this film is undoubtedly Charlize Theron. There no one better to call when you want a kick ass female lead, and she plays this role to perfection in the same way she did Atomic Blonde. She is without a doubt the best thing about this film. However the rest of the cast are decent - it’s been a while since I’ve seen Matthias Schoenaerts in anything and Chiwetel Ejiofor is always good, but I do think they have been let down a little by the majority of the focus being on Andy.

The plot is probably the biggest letdown with this film as immortality aside, this is nothing new. It’s full of one dimensional bad guys (Harry Melling hamming it up to the max) and plot twists that you can see coming a mile off. However despite the plot unoriginality, the action and the general fast pace of the film along with the endearing cast, the fitting flashbacks and the decision not to explain the immortality origins (I hate it when films concoct overelaborate explanations that are entirely unnecessary) make for a pretty enjoyable and entertaining watch. The 2 hours virtually fly by. I’m not convinced by the sequel baiting ending as I dislike films doing this, but would I watch a sequel? Actually yes I would.

Kudos

LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Mayhem (2017) in Movies

Aug 24, 2020

Mayhem (2017)

2017 | Action, Comedy, Horror

7.1

(8 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Mayhem is a pretty fun comedy horror from Joe Lynch for the most part.

Centred around an outbreak of a virus in an office building, the workers inside are sealed in for 8 hours whilst the airborne anti virus does it's thing. The virus itself causes people to lose control of their inhibitions, and in an office space, that includes a whole lot of violence towards people that you would naturally grow to hate over time.
It's a simple premise executed well enough.

The two leads Stephen Yeun and Samara Weaving are a hugely likeable pairing, and have a great supporting cast to work with. The dialogue is often funny, and everyone involved nails the humour - I can't remember any of it falling flat.

The story is fairly predictable and it's one of those films that likes to cut away rather than show violence - not everytime, but certainly on multiple occasions, which takes away a lot of the impact Mayhem could have otherwise had.
The Last Drive-In host Joe Bob Briggs raises a good point - in a world awash with horror comedy, it would have been interesting to see how this film would have turned out if it had been played straight. As I said, the humour is genuinely good, but I agree here - it could have really benefitted from being a full on horror experience.

Overall though, Mayhem is entertaining, and I no doubt will watch it again at somepoint. It's hard to not enjoy a film that includes a brutal fight sequence whilst Faith No More plays in the background.