Heist (2015)

Summary 
When their attempt to rob a casino owned by the feared gangster Pope goes awry and a shootout ensues, Vaughn and Cox are forced to flee on foot and hijack city Bus 657 and take the passengers hostage.

Genre : Crime/Action
Country : USA

Cast : 
Jeffrey Dean Morgan : Vaughn

Robert De Niro : The Pope
Dave Bautista : Cox

Director : Scott Mann

My opinion

“I'm here to ask a favor, a big one.
How big?
$300,000 big, at least.”

"The Trust" was about a robbery in "Ocean's Eleven" style by a "Dumb and Dumber" looking duo. In this film it's "Ocean's Eleven" mixed with portions of "Speed". But this time without an adorable Sandra Bullock at the steering wheel. Robert De Niro doesn't need to prove that he's a class actor. That's beyond dispute. But if you look at the list of films he played in the last few years, I can only conclude that he just did a favor for a bunch of friends. Sometimes his contribution is terribly limited (as in "The bag man" and "American Hustle"). Mentioning his name is obviously part of a purely commercial strategy so the movie will get some extra attention. And there are a few films of such a pitiful level, that you start to believe that De Niro is hopelessly addicted to acting and he can't refuse to cooperate each time a script is shoved under his nose.

Mind you, this isn't the movie made in 2001 with Gene Hackman and Danny DeVito playing in it. I myself have never seen this version. But I am convinced that it can easily surpass this uninspired creation. Perhaps the chosen title is already a sign on the wall. Is there an even more meaningless and unoriginal title as "Heist"? Maybe it was intentionally to choose this title just to match it with the overall concept. Ultimately, there's nothing startling or innovative about this movie. It's a line up of clichéd events. Believe me. After one night, most details of the movie will be erased from your memory.

Luke Vaughn (Jeffrey Dean), an ex-soldier and blackjack dealer at a casino of The Pope (Robert De Niro), an unscrupulous mafia boss, is facing a huge problem. The procedure for his terminally ill daughter costs a fortune. His plea directed at The Pope is being rejected. The only choice he has (apparently) is to rob the vault of this thriving casino with the cooperation of the disgruntled bouncer Cox (Dave Bautista). That the robbery wouldn't go smoothly was predictable. And during their escape they hijack a bus. What follows is a chase by a squadron of policemen and also the furious entourage of the Pope. It looked like "Smokey and the Bandit", but less humorous.

The key words that first occurred to me were unoriginal, an obvious development and laziness. I was experiencing a whole range of deja vu's. And De Niro is a class actor who can make a memorable impression with ease, but his talent alone isn't enough to hide the fact that this was a not so exciting and rather boring movie. And Gina Carano isn't exactly the person who'll lift this movie to a higher level either. Not to mention the pretty senseless ending. It's because I'm a huge fan of De Niro that I didn't pull the emergency brake much earlier.

My rating 3/10
Links : IMDB

Capsule (2015)

Summary 
Guy is an experienced British fighter pilot who is in command of Britain's first manned mission to space. He has trained for this for three years at the height of the Cold War and now he is alone in space with a malfunctioning capsule. He has limited contact with the UK, some unusual communication with the US and some unorthodox communication with Tyuratam deep in Soviet Russia. Who will help him? Will he make the right choice?

Genre : SF/History
Country : UK

Cast : 
Edmund Kingsley : Guy Taylor

Lisa Greenwood : Charlotte Taylor
David Wayman : Harry

Director : Andrew Martin

My opinion

“I realize I’m stuck up here now.
And missed my re-entry point...
but my oxygen is down to 14 percent.
What the hell am I supposed to do?”

Looking for an action packed movie, full of thrills and spills? Such a film full of swirling action scenes or unprecedented conversations? Well just skip this movie then. The film is limited to an impressive solo performance, on board of a manned space capsule launched by the United Kingdom. The spacecraft looks as if Bob the Builder has put together this absurdity. And this indicates that this launch took place long before high-tech space shuttles occupied space. And not only the spacecraft looks primitive, but also Guy Taylor's spacesuit (Edmund Kingsley. Yep son of!) looks as if it's pieced together by the local carnival association. No wonder the amateurish structure starts to show some flaws, which leads to Guy finding himself in a hopeless situation with his capsule out of control and a lack of oxygen causing devastating effects.

Respect to the creators of this low-budget film. It's a considerably low budget, as I could notice during the movie. Except for the opening image of the capsule in space and earth in the background. That looked promising. Unfortunately it's the only spectacular fragment used in the entire film. From then on it's limited to the few square meters available to Guy. And his interactions are also fairly limited. First there is the ghost of his lovely wife Charlotte. Then there's a certain Harry,  from a space center in England, Guy has contact with. And finally he has radio contact with the Russian intelligence service, the CIA and NASA. Apparently the secret services of both superpowers follow this unknown manned space object. Probably they are impressed that a puny, small country such as the U.K., could achieve this. And at the same time they are full of suspicion since we are in the midst of the Cold War.

Kingsley's acting was impressive at times. Then again, there was no one he had to compete with or someone he could surpass when it comes to acting. That was the easy part when you look at it that way. But it was still an admirable piece of work. He effortlessly went through a whole palette of emotional feelings. Panic, euphoria, determination and desperation seized him at the appropriate time. Besides a few stiff looking Russian soldiers, there was nobody else to be seen throughout the film. There were a few implausible moments as well. Especially Guy's clumsy behavior. He looked like a sort of hobbyist and space enthusiast, who applied for the job and indiscriminately pushes a few buttons and randomly replaces a fuse.

All in all this was a fairly boring movie. Not only by the total lack of variety, but also because the outcome was quite disappointing. Granted, you can start fantasizing whether there is some truth to that legend about the success or failure of a manned space flight by England. Even if it sounds credible, with the serious-sounding text during the end credits, I don't believe it's based on true facts. I think this would have made public after the cold war, so the U.K. could take the credits for the first manned spacetrip. As a short film this story would be more appropriate. The duration of the film was too long to fill it with this limited story.

My rating 3/10
Links : IMDB

Kill Game (2015)

Summary 
In the fictional town of Grace Arbor the answers are never clear.Who is underneath the mask? It's the story of a group of high school kids who amuse themselves by pulling pranks on unsuspecting students and teachers. They are all popular, good looking, the kids voted most likely to succeed. But at their core lies a cruelty and shallowness which comes with the territory of privilege. One night, a prank goes horribly wrong and a teenager is killed. The gang covers it up as a drowning accident but five years later, their lives are turned upside down when Jimmy Edwards, is killed by a serial killer wearing a haunting Marilyn Monroe mask.

Genre : Horror
Country : USA

Cast : 
Pierson Fode : Ryan

Laura Ashley Samuels : Courtney
Michael Galante : Liam

Director : Robert Mearns

My opinion

You know the saying "What goes around, comes around" ? That really applies to seven friends who graduated together and share a terrible secret with eachother. Until the group of friends slowly starts to shrink, because they are murdered one by one. Now, when hearing the stories of these annoying bullies, you're inclined to think they had it coming. Because the tricks they played upon their fellow students (and even teachers), wasn't something to be taken lightly. Those jokes were so radical, a fellow student got killed. And now there appears to be someone who wants to take revenge on this gang of clowns. And the way they are killed, is linked to a particular joke they've pulled.

"Kill Game" isn't an unbelievable good horror. But it tries to honour the traditions of the better hacker / slasher films from the 70s (for instance "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th"). So this means that a group of stupid and arrogant teenagers is gathered again to serve as cattle for slaughter. And the mysterious serial killer wears a grim mask, of course. In this case, it's a Marilyn Monroe mask. Also a list of all candidate murderers is needed. This list may turn out to be exceptionally long. After counting all fellow students and teachers who were victims of a malicious prank, you'll get a significant number of candidates. And as a highlight, the twin brother of the poor devil who didn't survive a joke appears.

But beyond these few similarities with older slasher films, this is a film that effortlessly will sink into oblivion. Anyhow, the lousy acting (inherent to this kind of films) and the not so original storyline are also present. What remains is a typical game of guessing who's the perpetrator, what's the motive and who'll eventually survive. And there's also someone whose profile complies with the characteristics of the perpetrator. Obviously that's a wrong assumption. How surprising! Indeed, a stack of known clichés. The only thing that remains is how the victims were killed. So, it isn't exactly breathtaking cinema. The only thing I've learned out of this movie, is that it isn't very smart to bully others.

My rating 3/10
Links : IMDB

The VVitch (2015)

Summary 
New England, 1630. William and Katherine lead a devout Christian life, homesteading on the edge of an impassible wilderness, with five children. When their newborn son mysteriously vanishes and their crops fail, the family begins to turn on one another.

Genre : Drama
Country : USA/UK/Canada

Cast : 
Anya Taylor-Joy : Thomasin

Ralph Ineson : William
Kate Dickie : Katherine

Director : Robert Eggers

My opinion : 

“I am that very witch.
When I sleep my spirit slips away from...my body and dances naked with The Devil. “

Wow, this was the biggest disappointment of the year. After reading some laudable messages and the rather misleading recommendations on certain websites, I thought I was ready for again another original horror that, unlike most in this genre, doesn't have an ad nauseam used subject. In retrospect I really wondered where the horror started in this story. Yes, the language used in that time terrified me. That's for sure. I understood absolutely nothing and I was glad that subtitles were provided. Is it the religious devotion in those days that scares you? I would call it religious insanity. As soon as something happens, those arms go up to the sky and that all-encompassing divinity is called on for help. Or is there really something pernicious in that dark forest, causing this poor farming family to be overwhelmed by adversities?

What if they'd called "The VVitch" a historic drama? Probably my opinion would be slightly milder (and probably I wouldn't have watched it anyway). But calling this horror, is a gross deception for many. In my view this movie shows the misconceptions and misinterpretations that were commonplace at that time. A bad harvest, another setback or an unexplained illness caused those simple and unknowing souls to wail and pray en masse to the almighty. An era in which superstition and fear of the unknown thrived. Is that what this simple peasant family made insane? Such madness, that even the black goat in the family was regarded as the source of all evil? For me it's just a historical, psychological drama. It's as simple as that.

As mentioned earlier, the entire film is drenched in Old English. I can imagine that historians and literaries go all lyrical about it and get overexcited about it (I can see them sitting there already all slobbery). I tried to understand a tiny bit of it. As a result it required my complete attention mostly. I can believe that the mise en scene of the whole, looked accurate and authentic. The householding, the way they dress and the way of living were shown brilliantly and very well cared for. Likewise, the acting and dramatics. Especially the young actors were excellent and gave it a unique character. I can imagine that finding such good, young actors, isn't easy. Their hard work, while seeking a perfect cast, paid of.

Nope guys. This is far from being a horror. Or hearing yet another prayer gives you the chills. I like subtle films in the horror genre. It isn't necessary for me that it's all bloody and gory. But I'm afraid I've missed the subtlety of "The VVitch" somehow. The marketing department of the publisher probably realized suddenly that the label horror sounds sexier and more commercial than the ordinary label drama. Let alone they would even mention it's a historical costume film. Not that this is an insignificant genre, but the target audience is more limited in my opinion. In terms of atmosphere and film technology it's unparalleled. But I'm just allergic to deception on a large scale. A bit like religion itself, isn't it? Lets pray for that for once ...

PS. I've seen the trailer afterwards. Now I understand why filmgoers thought this would be horror.

My rating 3/10
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