Category: Suspense Thriller

Highest 2 Lowest

Highest 2 Lowest

“Highest 2 Lowest” is about a titan music mogul (Denzel Washington) who is known for having the “best ears” in the business is targeted with a ransom plot. He is jammed up in a life-or-death moral dilemma. The Story unfolds from there… 

“Highest 2 Lowest” is a Spike Lee “JOINT”. This is the 5th Spike Lee / Denzel Washington collaboration. This film particularly showcases the mean streets of modern-day New York City. Additionally, this installment is actually a reinterpretation of filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 Crime Thriller “High and Low”.

The movie has great execution, plenty of drama and suspense. The storyline is meaningful and will hold your attention. This movie is not playing in the usual mainstream theaters. I saw it at a Dine-In Theater. The movie opened August 15th. Try to catch it if you can.

This is a 4 Star Movie!!

The Amateur

The Amateur

Charlie Heller (Rami Malek) is a brilliant, but deeply introverted decoder for the CIA. He works out of a Basement Office at headquarters in Langley. Charlie’s world is turned upside down when his wife is killed in a London Terrorist Attack. When his supervisors refuse to take action, Charlie decides to take matters into his own hands and go after his wife’s killers himself, embarking on a dangerous trek across the globe to track down those responsible, his intelligence serving as the ultimate weapon for eluding his pursuers and achieving his revenge. The story unfolds from there… 

Rami Malek portrayal of a “Nerdy CIA Operative” is very compelling. He comes across very well. 

The movie has tons of intrigue, suspense and lots of twists and turns. There is good action without a lot of blood. There are a few dead spots, but overall once it gets going, “The Amateur” provides edge of your seat entertainment.

“The Amateur” is a Good Spy Thriller that falls a bit short of greatness. It’s definitely worth a look.

This is a 3 ½ Star Movie!!

The Killer

The Killer

NBC and Peacock fresh off the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris capitalized as Paris with it’s sweeping landscape and The Eiffel Tower are the main back drops for “The Killer”.

Legendary Actor/Director John Woo famous for movies like Face Off, Mission Impossible II, Paycheck, Broken Arrow just to name a few is back with a radical reimaging of his 1989 Hong Kong Classic, “The Killer”.

From the Oscar® winning producer of Oppenheimer, the kinetic action thriller stars Emmy nominee Nathalie Emmanuel (The Fast Saga and Game of Thrones) as Zee, a mysterious and infamous assassin known, and feared, in the Parisian underworld as the “Queen of the Dead”. 

But when, during an assignment from her shadowy mentor and handler (Avatar’s Sam Worthington), Zee refuses to kill a blinded young woman (Diana Silvers; Ma, Booksmart) in a Paris nightclub, the decision will disintegrate Zee’s alliances, attract the attention of a savvy police investigator (Golden Globe nominee Omar Sy; Jurassic World franchise, Lupin), and plunge her into a sinister criminal conspiracy that will set her on a collision course with her own past. The Story unfolds from there…

The movie starts off intriguing enough. There is a certain air of mystery and suspense. But all too soon the movie derails and there are “dead spots” that would make you check your watch if you were in a dark theater watching this on a big screen. 

The sweeping views of Paris were awesome. There is a ton of action and some pretty wild and crazy car / motorcycle chases / crashes. Having a Female Assassin was awesome. She is so “Bad Ass”. Those were the best parts of the movie. 

I wanted desperately to love it!! I was so excited when I saw the previews, but alas “The Killer” left me a bit disappointment. The Ending appears chopped off. You are left to wonder about a few things. 

The advantage to watching “The Killer” is that it’s on Peacock, NBC’s Streaming Service. You can pause it, re-watch a scene or just walk away if you are bored.

All of that being said, this is a John Woo Production. John Woo has made some pretty awesome movies and the reimaged “The Killer” is worth a look.

This is a 3 Star Movie!!

The BeeKeeper in AMC Dolby

The BeeKeeper in AMC Dolby

Adam Clay (Jason Statham) a former operative of an Organization known as “The BeeKeepers”, lives in seclusion and manages Bee Hives. He rents a place from a woman named Mrs. Parker. Mrs. Parker becomes a victim of Cyber Fraud. All of her bank accounts, savings plus businesses she manages online are robbed via a Syndicate who steals from the wealthy elderly. When Adam finds Mrs. Parker unresponsive and sees her laptop and her phone with many text messages from businesses about Fraud, he bolts into action to stop the Syndicate and extract vengeance. The story unfolds from there…

“The BeeKeeper” is Classic “Statham”. The movie is fast paced, very entertaining, has plenty of action, suspense and intrigue. This is a classic non-stop action thriller where you will see that Jason Statham has not lost a step when it comes to whipping butts and taking names. The “BeeKeeper” is a Guilty Pleasure. I thoroughly enjoyed it!! Check it out!

This is a 3 ½ Star Movie!!

Wrath of Man

Wrath of Man

Jason Statham shows you what revenge really looks like in “Wrath of Man”. A Robbery of an Armored Car leaves many dead, some are innocent casualties.  This is what fuels the plot and motive of the movie.   

There are many flashbacks in “Wrath of Man”, so it’s very important to pay attention. The story does come together nicely at the end, but you have to wade through the saga to get there.

“Wrath of Man” contains the right amount of action, suspense and intrigue to make it a movie worth watching on the big screen. Everything clicks on all cylinders.

“Wrath of Man” quietly opened in theaters on May 7th. It’s still playing at the box office. Catch it if you can.

This is a 3 Star Movie!!

Those Who Wish Me Dead

Those Who Wish Me Dead

“Those Who Wish Me Dead” is about a Smoke Jumper and a traumatized young boy who are fighting for their lives as they make their way through a National Survival Forest fleeing from two relentless Assassins.

On the surface, “Those Who wish Me Dead” looked to be a very meaty story, but in reality, the back story and plot are mysteriously missing.  Several incidents occur at the beginning of the movie, but the reason is not quite clear. It is a true mystery thriller. 

The cast of characters is pretty deep with undeveloped back stories. I have to applaud Angelina Jolie! She is always playing a strong tough woman. 

There is plenty of action and intrigue, but that is not enough to make-up for the missing back story or plot.

In addition to being on the big screen, “Those Who Wish Me Dead” is streaming on HBO MAX. You have choices as to where you see it.

This is a 2 ½ Star Movie!!

The Little Things in AMC Dolby

The Little Things in AMC Dolby

“The Little Things” is a Complicated Crime Thriller with twists and turns and holes in its plot and story.

Denzel Washington plays Joe “Deke” Deacon, an LA Sheriff who at one time was a Detective on the Los Angeles Police force.

Young Women are being murdered in Los Angeles. There is a serial killer on the loose. The cases are piling up and not being solved. While on some Sheriff related business in downtown LA, Joe Deacon comes in contact with some of the old department buddies. Joe is invited to assist on the open cases, so he stays in town, gets a hotel room and starts to review the evidence and the existing crime scenes. The story unfolds from there…

There are several smaller stories in “The Little Things” that should have been further developed. There are parts of the movie that echo Joe Deacon’s past as a Detective and should have been explored a bit more. It could have helped with the overall story and possibly the plot scenario. The movie is complicated and suspenseful. Denzel does the best with what he is given. “The Little Things” is not one of Denzel’s best movies. 

If you are a die-hard Denzel fan, then by all means do see “The Little Things” in the theater. 

If you have HBO MAX see it for free!

This is a 3 Star Movie!

The 15:17 to Paris

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The 15:17 to Paris” is based on the Aug 21, 2015 real life event where a would-be terrorist boards a High-Speed Train that is bound for Paris. During travel the terrorist attempts to kill passengers on the moving train, but the attack is thwarted by 4 very brave men, 3 of which are Americans who were traveling together thru Europe.

“The 15:17 to Paris” would be excellent if it weren’t for the choppy back story that ensues before you get to the main story. The movie is definitely worth seeing. There is some very nice cinematography.

The paid critics were really Luke-warm about the movie, but it’s not all bad.

This is a 2 ½ Star Movie!!

The Commuter

“The Commuter” would be an awesome action-packed thriller if the story made sense and provided a foundation from the beginning, but it doesn’t do either of those things. You the viewer have to piece the story together yourself, it’s not an easy task.

Michael (Liam Neeson) an Insurance Salesman who rides a Commuter Train every day is approached by a mysterious woman (Vera Farmiga) who seems to know him. This woman offers Michael a strange assignment that is lucrative, this has him intrigued, but cautious. Soon Michael finds out he is being blackmailed and his entire family is in danger if he does not complete the assignment that the mysterious woman offers him. The story unfolds from there…

I love Liam Neeson, but not in “The Commuter”. He does what he can with what he was given, but yet it’s not enough! The context of the story does not make sense. You are not given enough to fully understand the “What’s and the Why’s”. It does come together at the end, but at the end it’s too late!!

There are several excellent movies currently playing. “The Commuter” is worth a look, but only as a last resort.

This is a 2 ½ Star Movie!

Geostorm in Real 3D

We have not had a nature disaster movie this year so here we go…

“Geostorm” is one of those movies that shows you all the best parts of the movie in the trailers so that when you go see it, it’s just ho-hum.

I am still trying to figure out the plot…There were no great scenes or special effects. The planet’s climate control satellites begin to malfunction. This causes catastrophic weather to develop around the world causing the air to go into a deep freeze where it’s normally hot, tides climb to outrageous heights and come ashore to destroy sky scraper buildings in places like Dubai. Where the weather is normally cold, everything melts. A Satellite designer (Gerard Butler) races to save the day! The story unfolds from there…

No Stars!!