I am wrath (2016)

Summary 
A man is out for justice after a group of corrupt police officers are unable to catch his wife's killer.

Genre : Action
Country : USA

Cast : 
John Travolta : Stanley

Christopher Meloni : Dennis
Amanda Schull : Abbie

Director : Chuck Russell

My opinion : 

“What could be worse than the man who killed my wife walks out of here like it’s a joke!”

Liam Neeson excelled in the "Taken" trilogy. Denzel Washington did it in "The Equalizer". Keanu Reeves in "John Wick". And now John Travolta can prove himself in "I am wrath". Those four guys have the following characteristics in common. They've passed their 50th birthday (Neeson, Travolta and Washington even their 60th), have a respectable career behind them and for their age they still look virile enough. The four took their chance to show that they are still able to bring a physically demanding role to a successful conclusion. And isn't such a revenge movie, full of cool action scenes and opportunities to finish off some irritating rascals, most suitable for this? I even start to believe that this is a midlife bucket-list item of older Hollywood stars. Just don't start to exaggerate like Bruce Willis! But that's beside the point.

So, Travolta as the self-made avenging angel Stanley, who swings into action, along with his former colleague Dennis (Christopher Meloni), when his wife Vivian (Rebecca De Mornay) gets killed. The perpetrator of this fact, which happened in an underground garage, is being arrested and Stanley recognizes him during a line up. To his surprise however, the thug is released real quickly. Time to take the law into his own hands. Stanley breaks through a thin wall in his closet and reveals a well-hidden bag, full of toys for adults. Doesn't this sound familiar? Yep. Keanu Reeves also broke up his basement floor and dug up his well concealed shooting equipment.

And actually, that's what ruined this action-packed revenge movie a bit. It certainly isn't so bad. But it isn't really exceptionally good either. It has been shown countless times in other movies. Even the way of firing a handgun, resembles that of John Wick. The only one who brought a bit of entertainment was Dennis, who works as a hairdresser. A beautiful barber shop as a cover up, with an arsenal of weapons in the basement which can be tested on the (probably soundproof) shooting range. Clearly his past has given him steely shinbones. He needed that when he was beating up a group of petty criminals. Apparently those two friends were part of a special unit. So you don't want them as an enemy. Yet I found it strange that Stanley, despite his professional past, could be overpowered so easily by such an ordinary punk.

But it would be unfair to say that this "straight to video" is completely rubbish and utter crap. Indeed, we've seen it all before and it's similar to other revenge films. And yes, without a doubt you can make a list of much better films. But besides "Criminal Activities", all the recent films Travolta played in are from the same level. No highlights, but plain average. And so is "I am wrath". It offers what you expect. An action-packed film, filled with punch-ups and shooting. Stanley and Dennis were quite humorous as a duo sometimes. Certainly when Meloni appeared on screen, the scenes became more interesting. This is due to Travolta or Meloni? I don't have a clue, but compared to what Meloni did in "Small Time", it was a pleasant surprise. I hope Travolta will surprise me next year in "The life and death of John Gotti".

My rating 5/10
Links : IMDB

The 33 (2015)

Summary
Based on the real-life event, when a gold and copper mine collapses, it traps 33 miners underground for 69 days.

Genre : Drama
Country : Chile/USA

Cast : 
Antonio Banderas : Mario

Lou Diamond Phillips : Don Lucho
Juliette Binoche : Maria Segovia

Director : Patricia Riggen

My opinion : 

“That's a big rock.
That's not a rock.
That's the heart of the mountain.
She finally broke.”

"The 33" is impressive, unnerving, claustrophobic and touching at the same time. But at the same time also a bit superficial. The true story of a mine disaster in Chile which happened in 2010. This disaster got a lot of media attention. The entire world witnessed the rescue operation in which all the unfortunate miners were brought back to the surface. One aspect of the movie is hereby nullified. There won't be a surprising denouement. Anyone who follows the media a bit, knows how it ends. One fact amazed me though. How is it possible that precisely in this group the kind of colorfull archetypes were present? It seemed as if the group was deliberately composed in such a way that it would be the ideal company to make a film about, the moment something went wrong. What a coincidence.

The group is a hodgepodge of poor devils, risking their lives for a pittance on a daily base. Only the mine owners are the ones getting filthy rich. Of course, the following types were present. First, we have an old-timer on the verge of retirement. Next an alcoholic who'll get the most rigorous detox. Luckily there's a priest among them to support him. Of course there's also a father-to-be. And then you have two individuals who are completely different when it comes to character traits. Mario (Antonio Banderas) is the epitome of positivism and believes in salvation from the first minute. And Don Lucho (Lou Diamond Phillips) is the one who gives up hope the moment they discover that all emergency exits are fake and they are trapped like rats. I expected the latter to sing an underground version of "La Bamba" in order to keep their morale high.

The moment disaster strikes, the film takes place at two locations, with groups fighting their own battle. First the topsoil. Those left behind struggle against those responsible for the mine, because they don't have the intention to undertake a rescue attempt. Those relatives also try to get this mine disaster on the political agenda of the Chilean Government. A representative of the Government, Laurence Golborne (Rodrigo Santoro), cares about what happened with these poor miners and launches an international rescue operation. And secondly those who are stuck in the mine and who struggle against hardships, their buddies and most of all themselves.

The film succeeds in outlining the situation in a proper manner. The hope to find a way out and the despair that strikes when all alleged emergency exits of "the refuge" appear to be unusable, because of the lack of food and the malfunctioning communication. An intriguing picture of the hardships endured by these 33 miners. Unfortunately it became rather superficial after they got stuck there. A missed opportunity in my opionion. They could dig deeper (euh...) into the personal lives of these gold diggers. Who were they? And what about their family life? All we get to see are a group of brave persons in deplorable conditions. And above them there's a race going on between several firms hoping to score a publicity stunt. They just need to be the first one who can provide a way out.

"The 33" seems like an exciting documentary. A disaster film that takes place deep underground. But despite the big names and the miraculous rescue (surviving two months on a ration of a few days), it remains a typical disaster movie. Exaggerated special effects were shunned and the "we-won't-give-up" feeling was omnipresent. But it could have been more. The depth those unfortunate 33 men were trapped in was significantly (about 700 meters). However, in general the content of the film was little.

My rating 6/10
Links : IMDB

Falcon Rising (2014)

Summary :
John "Falcon" Chapman is a dark anti-hero driven by guilt and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, who will destroy himself unless given something else to destroy - a useful weapon-of-last-resort for the U.S. State Department. When Chapman's sister is brutally attacked while on assignment in Brazil, Chapman flies into Sao Paulo to track down her assailants, quickly entering the city's seedy underbelly and discovering a world of drugs, the sex trade, corrupt cops, and organized crime syndicates battling for control.

Genre : Action
Country : USA

Cast : 
Michael Jai White : John Chapman

Neal McDonough : Manny Ridley
Laila Ali : Cindy Chapman

Director : Ernie Barbarash

My opinion : 

“When you work with animals you’re bound to get bit”

Dumb, dumber, dumbest. That was my first thought after seeing this action flick. Despite that I've always been a fan of hard, straightforward actionmovies and an ardent fan of films with Jean-Claude Van Damme (and that's not because he's a fellow countryman) demonstrating his fighting techniques. Even a film with Steven Seagal (in his heydays when he still had enough oxygen to whirl round his opponent) would get my attention. But compared to these old-school action movies, "Falcon Rising" isn't a big deal. Even the grimace John Chapman (Michael Jai White) had on his face after overpowering two robbers in a shop, is a lame imitation of Van Damme's or Bruce Lee's victory grin.

In terms of predictability this film tops everything. Falcon (the nickname of John Chapman) is a former Marine suffering from PTSD. And apparently he doesn't experience joy in life anymore. As a result, he sits at home in his shabby couch, playing a game of Russian roulette and consuming gallons of liquor. Until it appears that his sister Cindy (Laila Ali. Yes, daughter of the famous boxing legend), a kind of Mother Teresa helping in the favelas of Rio, has been found more dead than alive. Of course Falcon finds the miraculous power to put aside his drinking problem plus suicidal tendencies and flies straight to Brazil. Having arrived there, he starts searching for those responsible immediatly and bumps into both meaningless local rascals as drug gangs. Even the notorious Yakuza are involved somehow. And yes, also a couple of corrupt cops turn up.

I know these type of films don't exactly excel in coming up with a credible and engaging storyline. But the nonsense was nevertheless massively present. Don't you think it's ridiculous to check if someone's still alive after putting a bullet through his head? And I'm still wondering how John managed to crawl into the trunk of a car in that short time. And when he starts messing things up in a brothel owned by the Yakuza, they call all hands on deck. To my surprise only four men were ordered to fix it.

The focus is of course on the fight scenes (what a surprise), demonstrating all kinds of techniques from different martial arts. Unfortunately, there aren't really a lot of of these scenes in "Falcon Rising" during the first half of the movie. Also, it looked more like shadow boxing or demonstrations most of the times. It seemed as if they were afraid to hit eachother. Also, the progress of John's Brazilian adventure is similar to that of a PC game. Like "Mortal Combat" for example. A standard course where he has to work his way up through different levels. From local punks to the tattooed leader (who isn't easy to beat).

The acting performances weren't particularly impressive either. Only Michael Jai White's torso impressed. Laila Ali is famous because of her father, but she didn't get the chance to prove herself as an actress (Kind of obvious since she was in a coma large part of the film). Masashi Odate's tattoo was breathtaking and his samurai sword was without a doubt razor sharp, but ultimately Hirimoto was nothing more than an easy prey. Probably bought his way into the Yakuza. The only noteworthy person, and that's because of his charismatic appearance and pronounced character face, was Neal McDonough. So "Falcon rising" disappointed in many ways. Substandard acting, a few disappointing brawls and a simplistic script. Even the ending of the film is a failure and totally implausible (working for the intelligence service as a sort of hospitalization insurance). But it has a whopper of a cliffhanger in order to knit some sequels to it. Hopefully the scriptwriter has a bit more original ideas.

My rating 3/10
Links : IMDB

Daylight's End (2016)

Summary :
Years after a mysterious plague has devastated the planet and turned most of humanity into blood-hungry creatures, a rogue drifter on a vengeful hunt stumbles across a band of survivors in an abandoned police station and reluctantly agrees to try to help them defend themselves and escape to the sanctuary they so desperately need.

Genre : Horror
Country : USA

Cast : 
Johnny Strong : Thomas Rourke

Lance Henriksen : Frank Hill
Louis Mandylor : Ethan Hill

Director : William Kaufman

My opinion : 

To be honest, I feel sorry for those zombies. Their life really is meaningless. A numb existence without any excitement or pleasure. No pleasant dinners at a favorite restaurant. No well-deserved vacation on a sunny beach. No sports or interesting hobbies. Their sole purpose is hunting uninfected fellow men. And when there's nobody left to hunt, the only thing they can do is standing idly somewhere, probably wondering what to do next. Dead boring in other words. The undead in "Daylight's End" have an additional problem. They hate sunlight. Much like the creatures in "I'm Legend". The only difference with the latter film is that you knew how the misery began. In this movie the filmmakers keep you dangling.

Nowadays it's pretty hard to come up with an original zombie movie, since the market is flooded with this genre. Here they tried to give a different twist to this sub-genre by giving the bloodthirsty creatures characteristics of a vampire. That's immediately demonstrated in the opening scene when Rourke (Johnny Strong) finds an undead hiding in a freezer. In no time it's being reduced by Rourke into a smoldering barbecue sausage.

Rourke is a loner who travels across the U.S. as a kind of Mad Max in his armored Plymouth, equipped with a complete arsenal of firearms. His only goal in life is to eliminate as much murderous mutated persons as possible. As gunmen did in the Wild West, he keeps track of the score by carving notches in the butt of his rifle with his immense dagger. The not so talkative Rourke looks ultra-cool and mega-efficiently. The controlled way of attacking, the calm look, always a well thought out answer and always using a targeted plan to take revenge on the creatures responsible for the death of his wife. All this makes him the ultimate anti-hero.

Although this is a low-budget film, at times the images used aren't inferior to those of some blockbusters. By contrast, the acting level of some equals that of an actor in an ordinary television program. Luckily Lance Henriksen's contribution was significantly better than that in "Harbinger Down". And what a surprise. You'll also be witnessing some stupid decisions. Obviously this is necessary in this genre of films. Otherwise nothing significantly would happen. Is there a postive side to this film? Yep of course. It's generously filled with action and swift, fierce confrontations. When Rourke joins a group of survivors, ex-policemen who barricaded themselves in a police station in downtown Dallas, and tries to fend off the daily attacks by zombies, a seemingly infinite number of battle scenes are presented. And it's also hard to keep track of the number of headshots.

And that was the biggest let down for me. After 15 minutes, the course of a confrontation was quite predictable and a bit trite. Over and over again a significant number of zombies are gunned down by a hail of bullets but they still managed to grab a poor soul every time. Oddly enough Rourke failed to hit the big leader despite his skills as a shooter. And skills he has! His precision is masterly and time after time again it's breathtaking to see how an opponent ends up with a gaping bullet wound right in the middle of the forehead. After seeing the head size off the end boss, it's hard to believe he could miss that. "Daylight's end" won't show anything new. It's an action-packed horror and the frantic pace makes sure you won't get bored eventually.     

My rating 6/10
Links : IMDB

Green Room (2015)

Summary :
A band straying into a secluded part of the Pacific Northwest stumbles onto a horrific act of violence. Because they are the only witnesses, they become the targets of a terrifying gang of skinheads who want to make sure all the evidence is eliminated.

Genre : Thriller/Horror
Country : USA

Cast : 
Anton Yelchin : Pat

Imogen Poots : Amber
Patrick Stewart : Darcy

Director : Jeremy Saulnier

My opinion : 

“Things have gone south, no doubt.
But you know if you don't hand over that gun, it won't end well.”

The advantage of watching a movie without any knowledge or awareness of what it's about initially, is that sometimes you can be pleasantly surprised. And that's what "Green Room" did. It surprised me. Either way, I thought it was already interesting because it was about the members of an obscure punk band called "The Ain’t Rights". They travel across the U.S in a shabby looking Minivan, going from gig to gig. It's not exactly the comfortable life as that of a successful, richly paid rockband. On the contrary. They look like undernourished, sleazy-looking bohemians. They don't even have enough money to buy fuel, so they can move on. I admit it. I envied this group of carefree teenagers whose favorite pastime is to produce raw, anarchic music. Spontaneously memories of such a rebellious life in a distant past started to flash through my mind. Yep, I was a little biased from the start.

When Pat (Anton Yelchin), Sam (Alia Shawkat), Reece (Joe Cole) and Tiger (Callum Turner) decide to accept one more gig, so they can earn some money, they didn't realize they would end up in a hornet's nest. The location where they have to perform is situated somewhere in a secluded forest with some bleak-looking shacks standing around. It appears to be a sort of camp for the local skinheads. After their concert, which they began with a passionate tribute to the Dead Kennedys by playing one of their classics "Nazi Punks Fuck Off", they are witnesses of a bloody crime. Somewhat later you see them barricading themselves in their dressing room, trying to negotiate with Darcy (Patrick Stewart) for a safe passage. Darcy seems to be the man who's running the place. As a result, a brutal fight starts with the elite troops of the skinheads (fearless gang members with red laces) who use all kinds of resources.

At first, I was expecting some sort of documentary-like film about the punk scene. However, when it slowly changed into a slasher and the first bloody confrontations was a fact, my enthusiasm was awakened. What's presented here, is pure aggression in its most explicit form. You'll get fury and brutality of an unprecedented nature. The ruthlessness with which the neo-Nazis try to eliminate the band, is fairly confrontational. Nothing is shown in veiled form. Violence hits you unmercifully like a sledgehammer. But not only the violence is explicit. Also the intensity and the rising tension in those claustrophobic rooms is at times unbearable. The overall setting in which the story takes place contributes to this for most part. Those dark corridors and dingy rooms. And the fact that both parties have no idea how to resolve the situation, just makes it even more interesting.

Biggest surprise for me was seeing Patrick Stewart as the charismatic leader of this subversive gang. He's better known as the more reserved and dutiful Captain Jean-Luc Picard. It felt a little weird to see him parading around as a kind of xenophobe who gives cold-blooded murderous orders to these far-right sympathizers. Anton Yelchin and Imogen Poots tried to fight back in a fearsome manner. Both of them appeared already together in "Fright Night". But I'll always remember Yelchin as "Odd Thomas". He managed to survive in "Green Room". In real life however, he ran out of luck. His Jeep ,which was parked on a hill, struck him, because he left it in neutral. Well, life sucks!

My rating 7/10
Links : IMDB

Demolition (2015)

Summary :
Davis, a successful investment banker, struggles after losing his wife in a tragic car crash. Despite pressure from his father-in-law, Phil, to pull it together, Davis continues to unravel. What starts as a complaint letter to a vending machine company turns into a series of letters revealing startling personal admissions. Davis' letters catch the attention of customer service rep, Karen, and, amidst emotional and financial burdens of her own, the two form an unlikely connection.

Genre : Drama/Comedy
Country : USA

Cast : 
Jake Gyllenhaal : Davis

Naomi Watts : Karen
Chris Cooper : Phil

Director : Jean-Marc Vallée (Dallas Buyers Club, Wild)

My opinion : 

“He's probably a crackhead.
Crackheads don't give people $200.
They suck dick for $20.”

A film about the grieving process of a succesfull businessman after losing his wife in a terrible car accident. This isn't exactly the right ingredient for an entertaining or funny movie. To be honest, it took me some effort to watch the whole movie. Actually, I wasn't eager to watch another metaphorical film full of symbolism with Jake Gyllenhaal. Something similar as "Enemy". It's like Davis himself says in the film : "For some reason, everything has become a metaphor". Just admit it. The next situation really sounds absurd. Someone gets the news of his wife's death, while sitting in the waiting room of a hospital. It was a car accident and he doesn't have a scratch on him. The first thing that comes to his mind after hearing this, is getting a bag of M&M's from a vending machine. Unfortunately,it gets firmly stuck in the machine, which in turn leads to a correspondence between him and Karen (Naomi Watts), an employee of the vending machines company who works at the customers service department.

And you think this sounds already strange and absurd? Wait till you see how Davis follows the advice of his father in law Phil (Chris Cooper). He interprets it very literally. Phil's advice was: "If you wanna fix something ... You have to take everything apart ... and figure out what's important". Before you know it, he begins to disassemble certain not so well-functioning devices. He takes it even a step further and starts working free of charge for a demolition company. Afterwards he seeks rapprochement to Karen and gets acquainted with her son Chris (Judah Lewis). Now his behavior becomes even more extreme. Chris seems to be a kindred spirit because of his doubts about his true sexual orientation. By the way, you can also enjoy a dazzling conversation between the two of them about the semantic meaning of the F-word.

Among aspiring philosophers and future psychiatrists, debates can flourish about the symbolism in this film. Is Davis's behavior a reflection of his current situation? A slowly disintegrating personal life ? A defect in his mental machinery? Or is it a kind of "Tabula rasa" reaction, to start a new life? Again Gyllenhaal plays a slightly kooky character. Everyone assumes that a psychological short circuit is the cause of his eccentric behavior. Indisputable this kind of movie character is suitable for an actor like Gyllenhaal. After watching "Nightcrawler" I called him already the chameleon of Hollywood. This masterful actor has a natural flexibility to find the balance between a light manic mood and a natural relaxing moment with that amused and wondering gaze. A brilliant actor.

Besides Jake Gyllenhaal, also Judah Lewis was a colorful figure. Even the father in law was an interesting character, despite his rather limited role. The only one who didn't have a high enough profile was Naomi Watts. A somewhat dull and colorless woman. A bit introverted due to some personal problems. I don't know whether this was because of Watts or the script. What surprised me most was the way the film succeeded in keeping me captivated more and more. What started as a totally absurd and crazy story, gradually evolved into a gloomy (and touching) story filled with cynical humor. Only the corny ending, full of forgiveness and repentance, was slightly disappointing. Ultimately, this wasn't a bad film (perseverance at the beginning is a must) with Gyllenhaal as a wacky individual. I wonder if he'll continue in this direction in his future projects.

My rating 7/10
Links : IMDB