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

Kill (2024) Film Review

A train to New Delhi becomes a combat battleground as a pair of commandos faces off against an army of invading bandits.

Kill is directed by Nikhil Nagesh Bhat who previously directed Brji Mohan Amar Rahe (2018), Hurdang (2022) and Apurva (2023).

I knew very little about Kill going in, all that I knew before hand was that it was very violent and gory…which yes it definitely is. The film features some of the most brutal kills I’ve seen from any film so far this year.

Like many other people have said Kill is if you took The Raid (2011) and the John Wick series and put it on a train. However Kill does things differently in terms of story and the way it executes it’s dialogue and filming. Lakshya is an excellent leading man that we follow and the rest of the cast are just as exciting, the setup isn’t anything brand new but it’s just enough to really make you care about these characters.

Once the title card drops 40 minutes into the film things start kicking into high gear, while yes once the hijackers showed up is definitely when things start getting brutal. The title card drop opens a brutal door where violence is going to happen nonstop until the film ends. It ups the ante with so much blood and violence that compliments the film’s themes such as contextualizing violence the class divide between the heroes and villains, while we don’t get a whole lot of that in the dialogue. We definitely get that through the character’s emotions, actions and the spread of violence through the train. It’s quite interesting execution that really works well in this film’s favor.

Lastly you have just how well filmed the film really is, from the action scenes to how up in your face the brutality is Kill utilizes many different filming angles to make the film standout more. The atmosphere compliments the film well, incredibly suspenseful and has a brutal nature that never stops. There’s so much going on during the film’s final act that much like the train the characters are on, never stops moving until we reach the end.

Kill is available on all VOD platforms!

9/10 A

Bad Boys: Ride Or Die (2024) Film Review

When their late police captain gets linked to drug cartels, wisecracking Miami cops Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett embark on a dangerous mission to clear his name.

Bad Boys: Ride Or Die is directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah who previously directed Bad Boys For Life (2020), Gangsta (2018), Black (2015) and Image (2014). Bad Boys: Ride Or Die is the fourth installment in the Bad Boys series and is a sequel to Bad Boys For Life (2020).

The Bad Boys series has always been incredibly fun, you know what you are getting into when you go into one of these films and they always leave you with satisfaction. That’s just as much as the case with Bad Boys: Ride Or Die, a film that oozes with summer blockbuster charm but also adds a bit more to the mix to make this one memorable.

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are both excellent here, they are the best they have ever been here. Whats very interesting about this film is despite the previous film coming out only 4 years ago you still feel like this is a reunion not the characters feeling that way but the audiences. Maybe it’s the energy the film itself gives off or maybe it’s just me, but this is felt during the first moments of the film and it’s quite pleasing. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence once again work incredibly well together and really just nail down why this series works so well. It’s the classic action filled moments with humorous ones that the script offers, Smith and Lawerence effortlessly deliver their lines and make this into such a fun ride.

The action scenes continue to get bigger in these films along with the variety of different shots. You have your usual fun action scenes you would expect in a summer blockbuster, you have drone shots that are incredibly neat as well as filmed beautifully and you have your crazy stunts that are quite impressive that bring you to the edge of your seat. It’s very reminiscent of the energy that Bad Boys II (2003) had which is very welcoming and chaotic in the best ways possible.

The plot is honestly nothing to write home about it’s a story of being framed and probably goes about how you expect it to. But the film makes up for that with incredibly fun action scenes, strong performances from Will Smith and Martin Lawerence and just overall being a very likable film that knows what it is.

Bad Boys: Ride Or Die is available on all VOD platforms.

8/10 B+

Thelma (2024) Film Review!

Thelma Post is a 93-year-old grandmother who loses $10,000 to a con artist on the phone. With help from a friend and his motorized scooter, she soon embarks on a treacherous journey across Los Angeles to reclaim what was taken from her.

Thelma is directed by Josh Margolin which is his directorial debut.

Thelma just might be one of the sweetest and endearing films of 2024, what seems like a silly revenge story on the surface actually ends up being a film that actually has a few themes here that work incredibly well.

Before we get to that let’s talk about the performances all of which are fantastic but the one who makes the film is June Squibb. Her performance as Thelma is so endearing, easily connects with the viewer and honestly an excellent portrayal of a grandmother. The chemistry she has with the cast feels incredibly natural and really does give off this cozy feel almost like you are listening to someone’s grandmother speak. It’s impossible to walk out of this film without a smile on your face and that’s mainly due to Squibb’s performance. Fred Hechinger’s performance as Daniel who plays Thelma’s grandson is also really excellent. A lot of the film’s best moments is with Thelma and Daniel just speaking to one another, catching up on each other or Daniel making sure Thelma is okay. It all feels very natural. Richard Roundtree is also quite great here, he has excellent chemistry with June Squibb that are easily some of the films best moments.

Which also lead into the film’s main theme…getting old. Hearing Thelma talk about being old with most of her friends who are either dead or have moved on with their lives is honestly some soul crushing stuff. I mean sure getting old is a part of life it’s going to happen to everyone, but when you hear this come from Thelma a character who is shown to be kind, doing anything she can to protect her family and tries to remain positive throughout the film. It really starts to get to you as a viewer, perhaps it’s because of the very well written script from Josh Margolin but this is actually very beautifully executed.

The humor combined with the film’s revenge story (which starts due to a scam) is quite excellent, I do love that the film makes sure to balance humor and the many touching moments. It helps the film be more natural in its execution and just results in a blast of fun. There’s a little bit here for everyone which is the best move this film could have possibly done.

Overall Thelma is excellent, it takes a regular revenge story and flips it on its head by including so many touching moments that really dive into getting old. Very endearing film be sure to give this one a watch!

Thelma is available on all VOD Platforms.

8/10 B+