Category: Suspense Thriller

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!!

Wind River

After a 2 week hiatus because there hasn’t been anything good at the box office worth reviewing, I am BACK!!

“Wind River” is a well-executed Drama/Suspense thriller about the rape and murder of a young Native American Girl that occurs at the Wind River Native American Reservation.

The FBI teams up with the local law enforcement and a local game tracker to find out how this awful crime occurred, who did it and why.

The scenes are snowy with blizzard like conditions and sub-zero temperatures are the norm throughout the movie. Some of the events in the movie will have you shivering in your seat.

“Wind River” is gritty, will keep you entertained and on the edge of your seat. There is a mix of male posturing as well as a mix of soul searching displayed throughout the movie.

“Wind River” opened in limited-Release on Aug 4th. It recently opened wide to a broader audience around the country.

This is a 4 Star Movie!

The Wall

“The Wall” was not on my original “Watch List”, but I decided that it was a better choice this weekend than “Snatched”.

It’s 2007 and the end of the Iraq War. President Bush has declared victory and the rebuilding has started. “The Wall” is a suspenseful psychological thriller that follows two US soldiers who are pinned down by an Iraqi sniper. There is nothing between them but a crumbling wall. The fight becomes as much a game of wills and wits as it is about accuracy. The story unfolds from there…

“The Wall” is intense, nerve-racking and at times hard to look at right up to the end. There is so much dirt flying that you will feel like you are eating dirt right along with them. You are given a very realistic view of what the soldiers who protect us have to deal with. If you like military-themed movies, check out “The Wall”.

“The Wall” was directed by Doug Linman who also directed one of my favorite movies “The Bourne Ultimatum”. Other Doug Linman directorial credits include “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” and “Edge of Tomorrow”.

This is a 3 ½ Star Movie!

The Accountant

If I have said this once, I’ve said it a thousand times…Ben Affleck is brilliant behind the camera, but not in front of it.

“The Accountant” is about a boy, Christian Wolff (Affleck) with autism who grows up to be a genius accountant, who also serves as an assassin for his clients. Wolff works as a free-lance accountant for some of the most dangerous people. As the Justice Department starts to close in, Wolff takes on a legitimate client, where there is an accounting discrepancy that has been uncovered by an in-house accounting clerk (Kendrick). Mysteriously as the accounting discrepancy comes to full light, the body count starts to rise. The story unfolds from there…

The movie has so many twists, turns and subplots that the main plot gets lost. This makes it difficult to tie all the pieces together, but at the end it’s all cleaned up.

There is so much going on in “The Accountant” that you will not be bored. This is truly a Drama, Suspense Thriller of epic proportion. The movie is better than Ben Affleck acting in it.

This is a 3 ½ Star Movie!

Run All Night

I thought the weekend was going to slip by before I could see “Run All Night”. I have been severely under the weather with an Acute Sinus Infection and on Antibiotics. Heavily medicated I was NOT going to let a Liam Neeson movie pass by if I could help it. So off to the movies I went late this Sunday afternoon.

Liam Neeson plays Jimmy Conlon, a mob hit-man in this crime thriller. He and his estranged son Mike Conlon (Joel Kinnaman) are fleeing the wrath of a vengeful crime boss, Shawn Maguire (Ed Harris) after Jimmy kills Shawn Maguire’s son in self defense to save his own son, Mike. The story unfolds from there…

There are lots of twists and turns and intrigue. It’s in your face violence. There are some interest stunts and moves, but nothing to far out of the way that it’s totally unbelievable.
The only strange element is actor Common playing a sort of “Cyborg” Hit Man. He is out of place here…Common is good looking and debonair. He should stick to the “Lover” type roles. He does not transcend to bad guy very well.

If you like Crime Suspense Thrillers and Liam Neeson, “Run All Night” is worth a look.

This is a 3 Star Movie!!