Hellboy: The Crooked Man (2024) Film Review!

Hellboy and a rookie B.P.R.D. agent in the 1950s are sent to the Appalachians, where they discover a remote community dominated by witches and led by the sinister local demon, the Crooked Man.

Hellboy: The Crooked Man is directed by Brian Taylor director of Crank (2006), Crank: High Voltage (2009), Gamer (2009) and Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance (2011). This film is the second reboot of the Hellboy film series and is the fourth live action movie.

Hellboy has had a weird history in film, the ones that are well regarded are Hellboy (2004) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) both of which are directed by Guillermo Del Toro. Both films were incredible especially visually for their time and still hold up quite well to this day, plus Del Toro put his own spin on them that was incredibly charming and captured the character. There were plans for a third movie but it never happened, instead we got Hellboy (2019) which was basically a copy and paste version of Deadpool it’s a movie that came and went. Now we have this movie, which admittedly is better than expect and actually surpasses the 2019 movie…that doesn’t mean this is good.

I will say that I do like that the movie was trying to do, the horror folklore elements combined with the locations was pretty interesting. There were some genuine atmospheric moments that actually surprised me, Jack Kesy who plays Hellboy is actually not bad here. He’s no Ron Perlman but he gets the job done and actually does have some lines here that are pretty neat. It’s not a performance that’s going to break any new ground for the character but it helps that one of the main concerns going into this movie was taken off the table.

Having that said the rest of the movie isn’t so great, I completely understand this movie was done on a low budget a $20 million dollar budget to be exact. Which when you compare that to the budgets of the previous movies that’s a very noticeable difference, the team absolutely did their best with the budget but unfortunately this is one of those movies where you can really tell the budget was holding them back.

Some of the visuals are very messy, there’s a lot of scenes that really scream “fan film” and the dialogue especially towards the end is quite terrible. The main villain The Crooked Man is a lot like the Leprechaun from The Leprechaun film series, from the actions to even the voice it’s almost identical which really makes it hard to take him seriously as a villain (somehow he comes off less threatening than the Leprechaun.)

As far as story goes it’s a bit of a mess, the plot revolves around these other characters who are pretty much your stock horror movie characters, Hellboy himself sometimes just wanders around in the background which admittedly does make for some unintentional hilarious moments.

Overall there really isn’t that much to Hellboy: The Crooked Man as you would expect, it goes by pretty quickly and is just mostly a blur. I will admit that going into this movie I thought this was going to be a whole lot worse and while I can absolutely respect the move to try and do a Hellboy movie with a $20 million dollar budget, as I said before the budget restraints are felt and ultimately hurts the movie.

Hellboy: The Crooked Man is available on all VOD platforms.

4/10 D+

The Killer’s Game (2024) Film Review!

When a hitman is diagnosed with a terminal illness, he decides to take a hit out on himself. But when the very hitmen he hired also target his ex-girlfriend, he must fend off an army of assassin colleagues.

The Killer’s Game is directed by J.J. Perry director of Day Shift (2022).

The Killer’s Game is a bit more interesting than a lot of other terrible action comedies, however it still runs into some of the exact same problems.

Dave Bautista is at the very least pretty fun here, Ben Kingsley is always good, Terry Crews actually has some decent character work and charisma here that works. There’s some stylized action scenes that are admittedly a lot of fun, they might not do a whole lot for the movie narratively but they are entertaining enough to make the movie move smoothly.

Having that said, when you real boil down to it this is just another action comedy movie. The comedic elements are very weak in this case and quite honestly could have went without using, the movie clearly wants you to feel towards Joe Flood (played by Dave Bautista) who is diagnosed with a fatal disease. At some points it works and there’s some genuine moments, only to get slammed with some unfunny writing bits that try to be jokes.

The CGI blood does not help at all, it ruins what otherwise are some really neat kills. The mix of stylized action scenes and the CGI is incredibly distracting and noticeable, it attempts to go for this campy feel but never reaches the mark. Especially when the movie at certain points wants you to take it seriously.

Overall The Killer’s Game is ultimately forgettable, you can absolutely do far worse when it comes to action comedies. But it’s still a bit unfortunate this one did not deliver.

The Killer’s Game is available on all VOD platforms.

4/10 D+

The Crow (2024) Film Review!

Soulmates Eric Draven and Shelly Webster are brutally murdered when the demons of her dark past catch up with them. Given the chance to save his true love by sacrificing himself, Draven returns to seek bloody revenge against the killers, traversing the worlds of the living and the dead to put the wrong things right.

The Crow is directed by Rupert Sanders director of Snow White and The Huntsman (2012) and Ghost In The Shell (2017). The Crow is a reboot/reimagining/remake of the 1994 film of the same name and is the fifth film in the franchise.

The Crow (1994) is a film Hollywood studios have wanted to remake for years now, it’s become a classic over the years and there was even a time when three sequels of it were made none of which managed to capture what was so incredible about the first film. All those sequels were varying levels of terrible. Apparently this movie has been in development since 2008, many directors, actors and even writers were attached at various points in time until it landed on Rupert Sanders in 2022 and well this is about as unimaginative and terrible as you would expect.

The cast tries to give it their all but none of them can land at least a decent moment here. Bill Skarsgård an actor who usually delivers really strong performances even when the material he’s working with is on the weak side completely falls flat here. His portrayal of The Crow is a Jared Leto Suicide Squad (2016) Joker clone especially with the tattoos, it completely takes away from any of the mystery or darkness from the character and instead gives this edgy kid vibe that’s just not what The Crow is about at all.

FKA Twigs could have been decent here if the chemistry between her and Skarsgård was interesting, unfortunately that’s not the case here. We get a very long and drawn out story of how the two met which I get the movie was trying to build emotion for the eventual death of Shelly (played by FKA Twigs), having that said the buildup needs to at least be investing and not incredibly dull. Heck the movie tries to explore Eric before becoming The Crow but that is even uninteresting and never leads into anything of note, it takes 60-70 minutes just for him to become The Crow…this movie is 111 minutes long.

As far as writing goes, as I said before the movie attempts to explore the backstory of Eric before Shelly’s death and before he became The Crow. Between the performances and acting it’s absolutely rough and a slog to get through and doesn’t give this character any depth at all, it’s the very definition of a terrible revenge story that takes so much away of what made the original film so great. There’s no mystery, intrigue or atmosphere instead there’s characters standing around with terrible acting, a majority of the gothic horror elements that made the original film so recognizable are gone and replaced with such a weak atmosphere that doesn’t even come close to what the original was going for.

The only positives I can give this movie is the gore and the opera house scene towards the end of the movie, it’s a really satisfying scene that actually does have some neat camera movements and is admittedly shot quite well. The gore is also quite great combined with this scene, it shows the brutality of it and actually does measure how much Eric wants revenge, it might still not really match the gothic horror tone of the original but it’s a well done scene that I must give credit where credit is due. It’s a huge shame the rest of the movie couldn’t use what made this scene so great and share it with the rest of the movie.

Overall The Crow is terrible, it’s a complete and total misfire and fails to understand what made the original so great. Outside of one admittedly neat scene and some great gore this is very forgettable.

The Crow is available on all VOD platforms.

1/10 F

Rebel Ridge (2024) Film Review!

A former Marine confronts corruption in a small town when local law enforcement unjustly seizes the bag of cash he needs to post his cousin’s bail.

Rebel Ridge is directed by Jeremy Saulnier director of Murder Party (2007), Blue Ruin (2013), Green Room (2015) and Hold The Dark (2018).

Jeremy Saulnier returns with yet another strong film, Saulnier is definitely a filmmaker that I quickly became a fan of. He takes the thriller genre and goes all out with it especially with Blue Ruin (2013) and Green Room (2015) (one of my favorite films of the 2010s). I’m happy to say that he does that yet again with Rebel Ridge!

Right off the bat Aaron Pierre gives a fantastic performance, he absolutely sells this film and gives such a star power filled performance that really leaves the viewer stunned. He’s a badass who’s fantastic at going full Rambo against the villains, his character Terry Richmond is so well written a calm and collective performance that also blends well with the action filled scenes as well. It also helps that the character is incredibly easy to sympathize with and is easy for the viewer to attach themselves to, which all adds up to an incredibly strong performance. I truly do hope we get to see more of Pierre because he really does have star potential.

AnnaSophia Robb gives a strong performance here perhaps the best she’s ever been, plus it’s nice to see her again in a film that allows her to go all out with her acting talent. Don Johnson is incredibly strong here as the antagonist, he’s intimidating, fun and makes for a great villain that moves the plot along at such a nice pace.

Rebel Ridge as a film expands beyond being a thriller action film, as more plot elements are introduced with tons of interesting dialogue, a very sharp atmosphere that builds slowly over the course of the film and many gorgeous shots. It’s definitely not as action filled as the trailer might say but the amount of action the film does have is appropriate and still quite satisfying especially with the story being told.

The film definitely is a return to form for Jeremy Saulnier, it might not be as violent as Green Room (2015) or Blue Ruin (2013) but much like those films it builds atmosphere in clever ways such as with the cinematography or characters actions and words, Rebel Ridge is a bit of a slow burn mystery that you slowly start to figure out over the course of the film. It’s incredibly satisfying to watch unfold that really has you guessing what’s going to exactly happen next.

Overall Rebel Ridge is an incredibly solid film that I do recommend going into knowing as little as possible, it’s a one hell of a ride from beginning to end that might go on for a bit too long. But between the performances, filming and writing it’s still a ride very much worth going on.

Rebel Ridge is available on Netflix.

8/10 B+

Borderlands (2024) Film Review!

Returning to her home planet Pandora, an infamous bounty hunter forms an unexpected alliance with a ragtag team of misfits. Together, they battle alien monsters and dangerous bandits to uncover one of Pandora’s most explosive secrets.

Borderlands is directed by Eli Roth director of Cabin Fever (2002), Hostel (2005), Hostel: Part II (2007), The Green Inferno (2013), Knock Knock (2014), Death Wish (2018), The House With a Clock In its Walls (2018) and Thanksgiving (2023). Borderlands is based on the video game series of the same name.

Borderlands was never going to be something decent, the movie was in development hell for years, nobody seemed to want to do the project at all, writers left the project it was a gigantic mess that predictably ended up being a trainwreck. Especially when the trailer came out, that’s pretty much the point where the movie’s fate was sealed.

The best way I can describe Borderlands is if you took everything that people (myself included) loved about the Guardians Of The Galaxy movies and somehow made it terrible. It’s very clear Borderlands was going trying to do what GOTG did from the character types to some of the approach to humor. The problem is none of it adds up to anything and falls completely flat in every single category.

The acting quite terrible here, Cate Blanchett gives an incredibly bland performance. We get very little backstory to her character Lilith and what we do get ultimately gets lost in the movie, Kevin Hart and Florian Munteau are about the same as Blanchett they aren’t necessarily horrible but feel incredibly out of place (seriously why was Kevin Hart casted as Roland?) Jack Black, Jamie Lee Curtis and Ariana Greenblatt are the worst offenders here. Jack Black as Claptrap is incredibly harmful to the ears and delivers the worst jokes of the movie. Jamie Lee Curtis gives one of if not her worst performance of her career, this is the very definition of phoning in a performance because there was no passion at all here. Finally Ariana Greenblatt is mostly hurt due to the writing, you can tell she’s trying at times but when you have a line such as “I think some of it went into my mouth” (it being piss) you really can’t do much at all.

The writing is the main offender of why this movie immediately falls apart, there’s no development for any of these characters or any moment where the movie tries to make you care about them. It’s all stock character personalities that aren’t even expanded upon, the story is nothing interesting at all and has had similar plots been executed far better elsewhere. The main villain Atlas is forgettable and shows up during the third act of the movie, no build up, no interesting background information about him absolutely nothing. It really feels like they completely forgot to put him in the movie so they shoehorned him in at the very last minute.

What made GOTG so excellent and why it worked for many people is the characters, they got the proper development they needed, they were written incredibly well and there was genuine emotion put into them. Something that made them feel surprisingly realistic despite being in a superhero film. Borderlands fails to do any of that throughout it’s painful 101 minute running time, I’m not trying to say I expected masterful writing but at the very least try to make your audience care about what your putting on screen.

We have seen some recently strong video game adaptions such as Fallout or Sonic The Hedgehog so I do think Borderlands could have worked if it was a series, it needed far better writing, direction and a lot more time to craft it’s characters. Overall Borderlands takes the cake as the worst movie of the year so far.

Borderlands is available on all VOD platforms.

Disgrace To Cinema F

The Killer (2024) Film Review!

When a feared contract killer refuses to murder a young blind woman on the orders of her handler, she finds herself hunted by old colleagues and a determined detective.

The Killer is directed by John Woo who has previously directed The Killer (1989), Face/Off (1997), Run, Tiger, Run (1984), Silent Night (2023) and many others (there’s no way I’m listing every single film he’s done.) The Killer is a remake of Woo’s 1989 film of the same name!

It’s always interesting when a director decides to remake a film that they have previously directed, this happens every once so I was interested when John Woo decided to remake The Killers (1989) one of my favorite films by him. There was never going to be a chance that this remake would have been able to compete with the original, but I do have to say it’s definitely not as bad as I thought it was going to be. There’s actually a decent amount to really appreciate here.

Nathalie Emmanuel manages to pull her performance off quite well with the action filled moments, but is unfortunately halted by the more quieter moments. The problem here is her character is just not that interesting, the emotional weight, her whole conflict and such are just not developed as much as they should and what’s left is your basic tough protagonist with nothing incredibly investing going on. Having that said I do think Emmanuel and the rest of the cast did what they could and gave some alright performances that ultimately did push this movie to the end.

I will say the movie has some pretty nice visuals, it’s definitely one of the better looking straight to streaming films that’s out right now. It’s definitely not as impressive looking as the original, but at the very least there’s a decent amount going on with the visuals, action scenes (some of which are very neat) and the camera movements. It’s never dull to look at and uses some of Woo’s techniques that we have grown to love (although not always effectively.)

The biggest problem here is the movie just lacks the necessary depth of the original, the movie tries to give it’s supporting characters development but said development never really goes anywhere Omar Sy’s character Sey to be exact. Sure there’s a few moments but it’s ultimately very underdeveloped, there were attempts at bringing tension into the movie however the predictable plot squashes that almost immediately and when you have very bland characters on top of that it loses the viewer incredibly quickly.

Despite sounding very negative I actually don’t think it’s terrible, it has great acting, the filming is neat and I like the action scenes. The Killer just falls apart when it comes to the writing and building its characters.

The Killer is available on Peacock

5/10 C

Aggro Dr1ft (2024) Film Review

An assassin is on a mission to kill a demonic crime lord.

Aggro Dr1ft is directed by Harmony Korine director of Gummo (1997), Julien Donkey-Boy (1999), Mister Lonely (2007), Trash Humpers (2009), Spring Breakers (2013) and The Beach Bum (2019).

One of the many reasons why Harmony Korine is one of my favorite filmmakers is because you never know what you are going to get with him, you could get something narratively traditional like The Beach Bum (2022) something disturbing like Gummo (1997) or something downright bizarre like Trash Humpers (2009). Aggro Dr1ft definitely falls more in line with the bizarre territory and in the best ways possible.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way, the film is entirely in infrared photography which is an incredibly bold move because this could have easily went horribly wrong, luckily how it’s executed is strangely beautiful? There’s a lot of shots here that are genuinely gorgeous and actually add to the narrative of the film, as well as the narration of a tormented assassin. It’s incredibly dreamlike and really does feel like we are inside somebody’s head it’s an incredibly clever use of infrared photography that I truly have to give credit where credit is due.

The plot being about assassin on a mission to kill a demonic crime lord is very strangely tender and soulful, the film takes place in apocalyptic world where everything is taken over by demons, monsters and such. Most of the characters talk like NPCs from a video game (which can be incredibly hilarious) it feels like a world that truly is no longer functional, but there’s a hero that steps up to the plate and uses the power of love, memory and wants to go back to his family. As the film goes on we hear more and more about thoughts, his journey and his struggles, it’s a very strange direction this film takes but it actually works incredibly well in the film’s favor.

The film’s score from araabMUZIK is absolutely fascinating, it fits the film incredibly well and tells the story of the film so well. There’s a ton of favorite tracks here but Rejoice, Arrival, The Wild, The Awakening, Wild West Bill and my absolute favorite Medieval are the standouts. Each of the scenes that use these songs are scene stealers and really build on the film’s world, speaking of which the world building is much like other parts of this film strangely effective. Even though everything is shot with Infrared photography just looking around at the backgrounds and listening to the narration is enough to give you a good idea of what this world is like. The film doesn’t over explain the world, or it doesn’t give all the details way immediately, it lets the viewer explore and leaves it up to the viewer what exactly is going on with this world.

Aggro Dr1ft is most certainly not going to be for everyone, staring at infrared photography for 80 minutes could be hurtful to the eyes for some, but if you are up for it I do recommend checking this one out.

Aggro Dr1ft is available on EDGLRD

10/10 A+

Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) Film Review

Deadpool’s peaceful existence comes crashing down when the Time Variance Authority recruits him to help safeguard the multiverse. He soon unites with his would-be pal, Wolverine, to complete the mission and save his world from an existential threat.

Deadpool & Wolverine is directed by Shawn Levy director of Free Guy (2021), The Adam Project (2022), Real Steal (2011), Date Night (2010), Night At The Museum (2006) and many others. Deadpool & Wolverine is the 34th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and serves as a sequel to Deadpool (2016) and Deadpool 2 (2018).

A Deadpool 3 was inevitable it was just a matter of when it was going to release especially due to Disney buying 20th Century Studios, some people thought it would never come out and some people thought Disney would tone it down. I actually liked the last two Deadpool films, am I as crazy about them as I was back when they first came out? Not at all, but for what they were they were fun enough films that had a lot of positives. Deadpool & Wolverine I would say is around the same although I do think it’s not as good as the first film.

Before I start I do want to put a spoiler warning as there are going to be spoilers so be aware!

So for starters the biggest positive of the film and the one who steals the show is Hugh Jackman who returns to play Wolverine from the X-Men films and the Wolverine films, he’s just as a great as he was in those films and shows that he still has it. There’s a few scenes in particular that standout quite well, Jackman adds some much needed emotional depth to the film. Granted it’s not anything mind blowing but it’s something and Jackman’s great acting is able to get the viewer invested which was part of Jackman’s portrayal of Logan/Wolverine in the first place. Ryan Reynolds is perfectly fine here, he isn’t anything special. But he works well with Hugh Jackman and there’s some comedic bits that do work between two, but then there are moments that are eye roll worthy that do end up hurting the movie in the long run.

The cameos I have to say this time around were actually fun, usually with a lot of the recent Marvel films it really does feel like they are shoving cameos in just for the audience to point and say “oh my god I know that guy.” While yes that argument can be used here, at the very least the cameos themselves are given more to do rather than blink at the camera, say a one liner and then leave. They actually tie into the story decently well and while some are definitely better handled than others I do think for the most part the movie does a decent job with them.

I’m not going to name every single cameo as there are quite a few of them and some of them such as Sabertooth who’s played by Tyler Mane (from X-Men (200)), really only serve as henchmen for the main villain Cassandra Nova (played by Emma Corrin) and then quickly get disposed of, sure it’s really cool to see that he’s here but that’s really all you can really say about him.

The main ones worth mentioning here are Chris Evans as Johnny Storm from Fantastic Four (2005) and it’s sequel Rise Of The Silver Surfer (2007), Jennifer Garner as Elektra from Daredevil (2003) and Elektra (2005), Wesley Snipes from the Blade trilogy (1998-2004), Dafne Keen as Laura/X-23 from Logan (2017) and finally the biggest surprise which I will say was quite clever of the film Channing Tatum as Gambit from the Gambit film that was planned but never ended up coming out. All of these performances at least contribute something to the film, Dafne Keen in particular shows some really great acting here especially the bonding moments between her character Laura and Wolverine. It’s some of the best moments of the movie with some nice character development that was very needed. Channing Tatum is a delight to see even if Gambit is given the least to do out of the bunch, Tatum is clearly having a blast doing this performance which in turn makes it a lot of fun to watch.

As far as everything else goes it’s pretty alright, the action scenes combined with some of the song choices are quite fun, one of the biggest standouts being Bye Bye Bye by NSYNC which happens to be the opening of the movie. So it does start out with a huge bang. The humor is definitely one of the weaker parts about this movie, while there are some hilarious moments a lot of it is the exact same thing from the previous two movies. Which I get it the movie is pulling from the source material and that’s just how Deadpool’s personality is but it really is a bit repetitive at this point and does start to really to become incredibly noticeable very quickly.

I will say the end credits combined with clips of the old 20th Century Studios Marvel films and behind the scenes footage of those films while using Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) by Green Day (I’m surprised it took a film from the MCU this long to use a Green Day song) is actually quite nice. Does it scream graduation slideshow? Absolutely but growing up with these movies despite the wide range of quality and seeing them go like this is decently touching.

Overall Deadpool & Wolverine is fine for what it is, a lot of it is the same thing the MCU has been doing for the last couple years. But at the very least this one is entertaining, I’m probably not going to ever revisit it this movie but it made for a satisfying watch.

Deadpool & Wolverine is currently in theaters

6/10 C+

The Union (2024) Film Review

Mike, a down-to-earth construction worker, is thrust into the world of super spies and secret agents when his high school sweetheart, Roxanne, recruits him on a high-stakes US intelligence mission.

The Union is directed by Julian Farino director of The Last Yellow (1999) and The Oranges (2011).

I’m not sure whether it was intentional or accidental but releasing three action comedy films that went on three different streaming services so closely together was an incredibly bad idea. The Instigators, Jackpot and now The Union, everything I said about the former two movies can be applied to The Union.

The only real positive here is Halle Berry who tries her absolute best with the script she’s given, but unfortunately her performance can only do so much as the rest of the movie is so incredibly dull that it makes watching grass grow look more investing. Mark Wahlberg has no chemistry with Halle Berry, the movie tried but completely fails due to just how dull Wahlberg’s performance is here. At this point in his career Wahlberg is turning in performances that are very identical to each other that you could be forgiven if you mixed up his roles and that’s very much the case here in this movie.

As far as the plot goes it’s a very typical spy action movie that is filled to the brim with cliches, it leans towards comedy for the first 20 minutes or so before giving up on that entirely and settling with a painfully cliched filled spy action movie. Everything that’s done here you have seen one hundred times elsewhere, none of the characters are interesting and the plot itself is lacking in so much substance.

I’m not entirely sure what else you say here except that The Union is this week’s “you will forget about it by Monday morning” type of movie.

The Union is available on Netflix.

3/10 D-

Jackpot (2024) Film Review

In the near future, a ‘Grand Lottery’ has been newly established in California – the catch: kill the winner before sundown to legally claim their multi-billion dollar jackpot.

Jackpot is directed by Paul Feig director of Bridesmaids (2011), The Heat (2013), Spy (2015), Ghostbusters (2016), A Simple Favor (2018), Last Christmas (2019) and a few others.

Jackpot is basically a comedic version of The Purge franchise an interesting idea for sure and it’s executed fine enough but there’s really nothing incredibly strong going on here.

John Cena is the one who’s carrying this movie and manages to push it to the finish line, while not every joke lands a lot of the humor from him is quite decent. None of the jokes are anything you are going to be quoting with your friends but at the very least he manages to make it fun for the most part. Awkwafina is actually not bad here, this is the first time in awhile where I haven’t felt incredibly annoyed by her character or her playing herself. Granted at times she does slip and feels like she’s playing the same type of role again, but for the most part she does a decent job. She actually has solid chemistry with John Cena which is what I think really benefited her this time around.

The concept itself is pretty fun, there’s definitely some shining moments that show a lot of potential, but unfortunately the movie doesn’t really have the spark it needs to make this a really fun ride. The writing is what hurts this movie the most, the last half of the movie turns into your very typical action comedy that really does not do anything for the genre. It’s like they had a really good idea going with the first half of the movie and then did not know how to finish the movie so they threw anything at the wall to see what sticks.

Overall there really isn’t much more to be said, Jackpot isn’t a bad movie as it definitely has its moments and the acting is actually not bad here. The movie itself is just a very below average action comedy, that will entertain you for a little bit before being quickly forgotten about.

Jackpot is available on Amazon Prime Video.

5/10 C