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Unhinged (2020)
Unhinged (2020)
2020 | Thriller
Unhinged is a great example of a decent enough thriller, with the caveat of not thinking about it too much.
Some of the plot elements are a stretch at best, completely illogical at worst, but if you're willing to ignore the fact that Rachel doesn't stop anyone to call the police immediately after being rammed off the road by a very angry Russell Crowe, then perhaps you'll find a tight thriller, with some tense action with a dark underbelly.
Crowe is genuinely quite terrifying, and his character isn't an unrealistic one. Situations such as this could happen (the movie thankfully just about stops short of beating one over the head with its message).
Unhinged is certainly flawed, but it's high octane action, memorable villain, and sudden dashes of brutality make it a compelling watch.
  
Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves (2023)
Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves (2023)
2023 | Fantasy
8
7.5 (8 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Very enjoyable fantasy adventure.
Based on the tabletop game, a group of adventurers bands together to exact revenge on the thief Forge (Hugh Grant).

Honor Among Thieves moves along at a brisk pace, using plenty of humor, which is well delivered by its humorous cast.
I was particularly worried from the trailer that this would be too focused on action and humor. Thankfully it wasn't.
Characters all have different backstories, though they are all quite predictable.
The main villain is very interesting and intense.
Action sequences are spaced out, well-choreographed, and quite clever.

Overall, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves doesn't really do anything new or different for the fantasy adventure genre. But what it does, it does well.
Very enjoyable, and a good introduction for D&D into the world of cinema.
  
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019)
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019)
2019 | Action, Adventure
Genocide, Shmenocide.
Hobbs and Shaw had an easy job, we have these two great characters that have already been set up for us in other movies so all they needed to do was let them loose in an over the top action spectacle that knows exactly what it is. So why does what we actually got feel like an overlong, overstuffed film with characters (the reason why we are here) that aren't likeable anymore?. Is it the banter thats either worn thin or feels like its trying to hard, the scenes full of characters constantly explaining the plot or whats going to happen, the paint by numbers villain with generic motives or the many random nods to pop culture and other popular things that people like that didnt do anything but make me feel like a carrot is being dangled in front of us the entire time or im watching a peter kay stand up. Answer is im not sure but i know one thing, for every part of this movie i found cool or fun two more things popped up and dragged my enjoyment down. Action set pieces are really cool and well very well filmed with great scale/destruction and the movie overall has a 90s/commando action movie style i really enjoyed which might of worked at an hour and a half but just when you think its over another useless 40 minutes are then tagged on the end and the film becomes basically a big Dwayne Johnson advertisement. Yes i get it he has roots and the tribe thing going on, he has big muscles, he was a wrestler and he has a big tribal tattoo but why does that have to be an integral part of every films plot that he's in nowadays?. I'm just bored of seeing it now and id rather they cut the movie shorter and had a tighter film overall or explored the villain a bit more to be honest. I really did say find some enjoyment in Hobbs and Shaw (especially the action) but it was let down to often elsewhere. Statham steals the show here and clearly tries to have fun with his character but Idris Elba feels wasted as a villain and theres no tension or threat at all when your two leads seem invincible. Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Heart were also totaly unnecessary as was that Italian Job connection. Id say see it for the action scene at about 1h 40m in but other than that is sadly very veru forgettable and a little boring.
  
The Dark Tower (2017)
The Dark Tower (2017)
2017 | Horror, Sci-Fi, Western
Boring male power fantasy with little to no character development
It's hard to tell who is meant to be the protagonist of this film, the young boy, Jake, or the Gunslinger. Sure, we're introduced to Jake first, and only really meet the Gunslinger towards the end of Act 1, which should signal that it's Jake.

But Jake is boring. SO BORING. He doesn't really have any character flaws. Oh sure, he has problems, expositionally convenient plot device "visions", but no real, tangible character elements. He reacts violently towards another kid at school, but this isn't treated as a flaw and this isn't a movie where Jake is going to learn that there's a better solution than violence. At best he's going to learn that it's bad to use your fists to solve problems - guns are much more efficient.


The Gunslinger is presented with all the hallmarks of a protagonist. He's got a defined past and a defined character flaw. He's consumed with thoughts of revenge and will let the world burn around him to get it. The problem is, the story never gives him a point where he actually has to make a choice between revenge and something better.


The villain, while fun, seems to have no internal motivation whatsoever. Why does he want to destroy the universe? Because that's what semi-omnipotent bad guys want to do, I guess.


And I get it, he's called the Gunslinger, he shoots guns. It's all very straightforward. But that doesn't mean it's not still kind of boring to watch EVERY problem they encounter get solved by just shooting at it enough while every single woman in the movie exists to be murdered, assaulted, and grossly sexualized by the villain.


It used every trope in the book, it used them badly, and the script was just...not good.