Review-Lite: SAS: Red Notice (2021)

Sam Heughan in SAS: Red Notice It doesn't take long to know that Red Notice, the latest Sky Original, mindless action feature is an emotionless, run and gun rampage of a movie. Not only is this detachment from humanity literally written into the script but even the characters that aren't emotionless killing machines fit into …

Review-Lite: Sentinelle (2021)

Olga Kurylenko in Sentinelle At a brisk eighty minutes, Julien Leclercq's Sentinelle is the bare bones story of untapped rage and paranoia made all the more visceral by some compelling fight scenes and jumpy choreography in this French language revenge thriller. However that description merely covers the second half of a film that takes its …

Review-lite: Outside The Wire (2020)

Damson Idris and Anthony Mackie in Outside The Wire Cast your mind back to January last year. Nothing had shut down and it was looking like a new year with new possibilities. While the Oscar race heated up and UK cinema at least was starting to release prestige films, Netflix was using the time to …

Review-Lite: The 2nd (2020)

Ryan Phillippe in The 2nd Securing a not so coveted spot on my worst films of 2020 list, this Ryan Phillippe action film borrows its framework from much better action features while trying to embrace the tone and feel of a true B movie thrill ride. Following career soldier Vic Davis (Phillippe) who finds himself …

Review-Lite: Ava (2020)

Jessica Chastain in Ava With the upcoming release of The 355, Jessica Chastain is looking to make a name for herself in action movies and more than that, she is looking to rock a male occupied genre and breath fresh life into it. Ava is not how that is done. Directed by Tate Taylor off …

Review-Lite: Peninsula (2020)

Gang Dong-Won in Peninsula When Peninsula's predecessor, the wonderfully paced and nerve shredding Train to Busan was released in 2016 it smartly avoided emulating other zombie films, instead telling an insulated story with a different type of monster while embracing a little bit of B movie camp along the way. Peninsula once again seeks to …

Review-Lite: Rogue (2020)

Megan Fox in Rogue There comes a moment in the early on in M.J Bassett's Rogue where you either resign yourself to the film before you or crumble under the weight of stupidity placed at your feet. Rogue, at least initially, follows an 'elite' squad of soldiers led by Sam O'Hara (Megan Fox) who depart …

Review: Bloodshot (2020) – Second Chance Superhero

Vin Diesel in Bloodshot Before the advent of cinematic universes and linking comic book movies, Bloodshot may well have been an acceptable and new addition to the now overly saturated sub-genre. However this Vin Diesel starring feature comes about 10 years too late as it feels like a pale imitation of a 2010s video game …

Review: Tenet (2020) – A Hollow Rubik’s Cube

John David Washington in Tenet Lauded as the film that was going to save cinema and other hyperbolic statements that seemed too grandiose to believe, Christopher Nolan's latest is an ode to classic Bond spy drama's. Advertised as a true original story, a time-bending, globe-trotting epic with the same visual flair to be expected from …

Review: Project Power (2020) – Everyone’s Medicated

Jamie Foxx and Dominique Fishback in Project Power Project Power isn't just an interesting idea, a entirely fresh take on the modern day superhero film but also an interesting allegory for the modern day drug trade, race and the power and fearlessness it can harness to disastrous extents. While not exactly an origins story, Project …