Tag: Laurence Fishburne

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum in AMC Dolby

In this third installment, the super-assassin John Wick (Keanu Reeves) finds himself with a $14 million dollar price on his head. There is no limit to the number of bounty-hunters on his trail who are trying to take John out so they can claim the prize. After a member of the shadowy international assassin’s guild, the High Table is killed, John Wick is then excommunicado, but the world’s most ruthless hit men and women await his every move. The story unfolds from there…

If you haven’t seen the first two installments you are doing yourself a disservice. This is an action packed non-stop entertaining adrenaline-fueled franchise. Seeing the first two installments will help put everything in context. I love the continuation and references back to the first installment.
Halle Berry makes an appearance in this installment and it’s obvious she trained for this movie. There is tons of action, suspense and edge of your seat entertainment. It’s bloody, but remember this is John Wick.

“John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum” is a must see for all Action Movie Lovers.

This is a 4 ½ Star Movie!!

The Mule

Set in Peoria, IL, an 80 year old Day Lily Grower, Earl Jones (Clint Eastwood) with a thriving award winning business soon finds himself down on his luck and in foreclosure. He packs up his possessions and goes to visit his youngest daughter, Ginny (Taissa Farmiga). While visiting Ginny Earl has a confrontation with his estranged wife, Mary (Diane Wiest) and his oldest daughter, Iris (Alison Eastwood) who will have nothing to do with him. When Earl is leaving Ginny’s home, one of her guest approaches Earl and gives him a card and tells him to contact the name on the card because he can get some work through this person. Upon contacting the mysterious person Earl soon becomes a “Mule” for a Drug Cartel. The story unfolds from there…

The story is entertaining and moving. This is Clint Eastwood’s 38th film as a Director. The story tackles real life issues such as aging, family illness and working as a true Senior Citizen really late in life. There is even some comedy relief.

Clint Eastwood still has the ability to make an excellent vehicle and “The Mule” is definitely worth seeing.

This is a 3 ½ Star Movie!!

Ant-Man and The Wasp in 3D

“Ant-Man” is funny and silly, nothing like “Infinity War and Black Panther” where there is an emotional investment in the characters.

This second installment of the “Ant-Man” franchise sort of picks up where he left off in the first installment, but also including “Ant-Man’s” appearance in “Captain America: Civil War”.

Currently Scott Lang (Ant-Man) (Paul Rudd) is under house arrest. He has two days left and he will be free, but Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and his daughter, Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) need the Ant-Man’s help.
“Ant-Man” has a dream about Hank’s wife Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) who went missing after a mission some twenty years ago. Hope somehow removes the ankle bracelet from Scott and gets him out of his house without the local authorities being alerted.
On another front there is someone from Hank’s past who could use his help but doesn’t ask the usual nice way. The story unfolds from there…

“Ant-Man and the Wasp” has several small back stories that come together nicely to provide context and intrigue for this installment. The movie is funny, silly and interesting simultaneously. The cinematography and special effects are great. “Ant-Man” shows more range in this installment which makes his character a bit richer.

There is a small dead spot in the movie and that’s what keeps it from being 5 stars. It’s definitely worth viewing if you are a Marvel fan.

This is a 4 Star Movie!

John Wick: Chapter 2

Welcome to a Special Edition of “Thursday Night at the Movies with The Movie Warrior”

I am often leery about second installments of a movie whose first installment was surprisingly good. I did not think that “John Wick: Chapter 2” could improve on its 2014 debut, but I stand corrected. As action/drama movies go, “John Wick: Chapter 2” is awesome!

“John Wick: Chapter 2” has an excellent lead in and it reminds you of what transpired in the first installment. John (Keanu Reeves) wants desperately to retire, but after only being home for a couple of days a former associate from his past comes knocking at his door. At first John refuses the assignment that is offered, but the associate who visits him refuses to take no for an answer. Since John said “No”, the associate exacts revenge and destroys John’s house which leaves him homeless. Now John has no choice but to find out what the assignment is and go execute it. The story unfolds from there…

The action is awesome and intense. The events are non-stop. There is a ton of suspense and intrigue. Keanu Reeves is in great shape for his role as John Wick. There were many awesome fight scenes. The only draw-back is the dialog. If you are interested in a movie that has a lot of dialog, you will not be happy with “John Wick: Chapter 2”. The dialog is minimal, but is enough to get the job done.

All in all “John Wick: Chapter 2” is definitely worth the ticket.

This is a 4 Star Movie!

The Passengers in Real 3D

“The Passengers” is about an idea that would be wonderful if it were clearly mapped out and executed appropriately, but unfortunately for the movie it’s not.

Imagine being able to go to sleep for about 135 years while being transported aboard a luxury space ship and wake up to embark on a brand new world. When you wake up you are the same age you were when you went to sleep. Along the way though the space ship has problems, this causes several people to wake up unexpectedly. The story unfolds from there…

The idea behind “The Passengers” is great, but there is no purpose, cause or reason why. Nothing is explained as to why and how these people were selected to make this journey. There are a ton of questions, but no answers. No real plot.

Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence have great on-screen chemistry, but even that is not enough to make “The Passengers” a blockbuster hit.

This is a 2 Star Movie!

Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice in 3D

“Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice” would have been a great story had it not had so much confusion and sub-plots that were not complete.

A young Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) continues to be haunted by the death of his parents. He has continued nightmares even as an adult.

Superman (Henry Cavill) saves the metropolis from a space invader, but because there are some unforeseen casualties and injuries to some citizens, Superman is perceived by some as a bad super hero.

Lois Lane (Amy Adams) is forever chasing a story. She has to be saved by Superman from the middle-east when a village she is in is raided and most of its people are killed. This incident turns out to be staged, but it will be some time before this comes to light.

Lex Luther (Jesse Eisenberg) is an insane, crazy entrepreneur who will stop at nothing to take over the Metropolis. Lex tries to lobby with the Senator to get an export license to import an unknown substance into the Metropolis, but the Senator won’t bite. Lex Luther plots his revenge on the Senator and others including Superman and Batman. The story unfolds from there…
Overpowering mini stories destroy the bigger story in “Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice”. It’s a scenario of “You can’t see the Forest for the Trees.” The movie is just plain incoherent, over the top and way to long for what was presented.

Ben Affleck makes a horrible Batman. Ben Affleck is brilliant BEHIND the camera and that is where he should stay. The villain (Lex Luther) in this story is not very convincing. Other aspects of the movie are passable, but a bad Batman and not convincing villain destroys the credibility of the movie.
The one and only bright spot in the movie is that you get a glimpse of the “Justice League” who will be appearing in their own story soon.

This movie should have never come to pass. Christopher Nolan’s Batman Trilogy was the best and nothing can diminish that.

This is a 1 Star Movie!!

Man of Steel: An IMAX 3D Experience

Remember “Batman Begins”? “Man of Steel” is Christopher Nolan’s first installment of the untold story of Superman. I say untold because this movie starts at the very beginning just as Superman is about to be born.
The planet Krypton is about to be destroyed. Superman’s biological parents want to save him from a certain fate, so they ship the infant off to earth. Fast-forward about 20 years…now a grown-up Superman must confront his secret extraterrestrial heritage when people from Krypton come to earth to get him back. The story unfolds from there…
“Man of Steel” does a nice job of giving snippets of Superman growing up in rural Mid-West America. The cinematography and special effects are really good. The action at times is really intense. The story does come together nicely, although there are times that it jumps around too much and becomes a bit mundane.
You definitely want to see this in IMAX, although 3D is not required. The 3D aspects are pretty good, but not worth the extra dollars.
As I stated earlier this is a Christopher Nolan production. We can expect several more installments just like he did Batman.
If you are a Superman fan, by all means do go see “Man of Steel”.