EvilPhoEniX

An enjoyable martial arts caper in an attractive Japanese setting. I'm not going to say that Snake Eyes is a great movie, it's not, and it's not a movie that you will want to see again when it's over. On the other hand there are a lot of familiar and favorite faces of mine, ninjas, the yakuza and a lot of action scenes, so I had a great time and got what I expected. Henry Golding is likeable, Andrew Koji is the biggest draw, Iko Uwais has less space but is good, and the duo of Samara Weaving and Tokyo is a dream threesome; the acting is very good. I have a few reservations about the action scenes and the most disappointing is the absence of R-rated action – had there been blood spurting in the rainy streets of Japan I'd probably be moaning with bliss. The messy editing bothered me at times, but the decent choreography, the fine fighters in front of the camera and the hard contact punches more or less made up for it. Plot-wise, the film doesn't impress with anything, of course, but by action standards I think it's good enough. I had fun. A fan of Asia and action should not be disappointed. The rest of the audience can skip the cinema. PS: I consider the jump-scare during the snake scene to be the most sneaky in perhaps the last ten years. Story 3/5, Action 4/5, Humour 0/5, Violence 1/5, Fun 4/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 3/5. 7/10.

The fifth and perhaps last episode is, together with the first, the weakest. It's very obvious the the Purge franchise is a cash cow without higher ambitions, but this time I felt that they didn't try to stick to what I enjoyed in the previous films. It's nice that they still manage to come up with something relatively new and interesting, but this sequel lacked juice for me. There is not much gore, the setting of Mexico is fine, but when I remember Sicario, where I had an uncomfortable feeling with every shot, that is definitely not the case here. The action is routine, the shootouts are not impressive (at times it felt like a cheaper 90's B-movie), even the Masks, what Purge is famous for, I can't think of any cool one after watching it. There definitely won't be a Halloween costume sale after this one. I'd rather not see another sequel. Story 2/5, Action 3/5, Humor 0/5, Violence 2/5, Fun 3/5 Music 2/5, Visuals 3/5, Atmosphere 2/5, Suspense 3/5. 5/10.

After almost two years, a Marvel movie finally hit the cinemas and the result is nothing to write home about. For me, a pretty useless movie about a useless character. The first hour is surprisingly solid, it's well paced, the action is kept down to earth and the fights have decent choreography – they're Bourne style so I enjoyed them. I'm also pleased with Florence Pugh, whom I like a lot, and the Taskmaster's entrance is awesome. By the second hour, however, I felt that perhaps the director had been replaced, the action goes by the wayside, and so does the fun goes, the humour is completely absent, the Taskmaster goes by the wayside! (it's reprehensible to sideline such an interesting villain like that!), and the finale was perhaps the weakest of all the action scenes, so I'm quite disappointed. I rate the first half as 8/10, the second half is about 5-6, and in the end I'm rounding up more towards 6, because for Marvel I found it unbalanced, the effects aren't too dazzling either, it felt a bit like it was going half throttle and quite possibly the first Marvel movie I definitely won't watch again. Story 3/5, Action 3/5, Humor 1/5, Violence 0/5, Fun 3/5 Music 2/5, Visuals 3/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 3/5. 6/10.

Navot Papushado is not Illya Naishuller, Chad Stahelski, Gareth Evans or David Leitch and it shows. I was looking forward to Gunpowder Milkshake after the first trailers and I didn't expect it to be so routine and sterile. The story is very simple and anyone who has a need to deal with story in action movies can take a star off. I stopped worrying about it ten years ago and I now tend to focus on other things, but even those couldn't quite satisfy me. The visuals are solid, the music is fine, Chloe Coleman after My Spy is awesome again, and the decent R-rated action is also a pleasure. But the big disappointment for me is Karen Gillan, who on the one hand can't act much and on the other, I didn't believe her as a hired assassin. She is wooden in the action scenes, slow and because of that all the action lacks punch, drive, zest and momentum. However, there are quite a lot of action scenes and they are filmed neatly, but I didn't feel the physicality or the passion., and that's quite a problem, at least the slow-mo fight in the kitchen deserves a rewatch. If you like action movies, you won't be disappointed, the film it's entertaining and action packed enough, only that it's quite naive and not very satisfying like other action flicks even from Female heroines (Atomic Blonde). Story 2/5, Action 3/5, Humor 2/5, Violence 4/5, Fun 3/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 3/5. 6/10.

You Feel like you have already seen it! Classic Horror Story had all the makings of being a great horror film, and, though it's certainly not a bad one, I'm a bit disappointed and will be more strict with my rating this time. The Italian touch is fine, the rural setting is beautiful (the forest is awesome), the music is great, the make-up effects are good, there is an impressive cottage (Hansel and Gretel?), and a quite unconventional story with a surprising twist, with sirens and dark red, and nice horror references. Not to confuse a rip-off with an homage, that's clearly the makers' intention. The film has a Texas Chainsaw Massacre feel from the start and slowly references various exploitation and hixploitation films, which is my favourite sub-genre, so logically I was really looking forward it. Itit switches into a sort of variation on Ari Aster's Midsommar, which is all fine and dandy, but it struck me that Leatherface left his chainsaw in the shed and I can't quite explain why a hixploitation from Italy is more afraid of gore than I am of spiders! If the makers are going to put torture in a film, why should everything be left to the viewer's imagination? Ok, bookworms may not mind, but I was looking forward to a proper some gore after five years (there should have been blood should have spurting from the screen to my living room! ), but it all remained somewhere in the hints. In this the film definitely doesn't fulfill its potential, and that it can't be said either that there is an intense or unpleasant horror atmosphere, which is a pity, because the film had a good start, a lot of other things (music, setting, visuals, plot) that work, but for me they are not enough. If I had to compare it to something, it's like going to a brothel and getting your balls tickled by a hooker, but without the blowjob. Story 3/5, Action 2/5, Humour 0/5, Violence 2/5, Fun 3/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 3/5. 6/10.

I was expecting more and I have a few complaints, but it's still a strong genre average and in slasher series, there hasn't been anything this substantial in a good few years. People unfamiliar with the genre see it as a rip-off, “The Better Ones" see it as fanboy enthusiasm for the horror genre and an homage to older pieces. Nightwing is definitely the new Crystal Lake, and the redhead from Stranger Things has the makings of a new scream queen. I'm not going to compare the episodes, each has different strengths, I was a little bummed that they avoided nudity, I understand that the book is PG-13 and made for teens, but I missed it here. The film is probably most reminiscent of Sleepaway Camp, Friday the 13th and The Burning, and anyone who loved those films since the 80s should enjoy this one as well, at least on the nostalgia side. There are plenty of references (Carrie!), retro music, likeable characters, and you can tell that it's cleverly conceived and it all fits together nicely within the genre. The first half is slower, the wait for the first murder is longer than I would have liked, and the gore could definitely have been more substantial – it takes place either in the dark, many times out of frame and as a result I only remembered two severed heads. Even though emotionally I'm leaning towards three stars, I had an above average time and I'm going to take all three episodes as a whole, where I hope the witches will pull it off a full score. I'm happy with the whole series so far and I'm glad Netflix picked it up. Story 3/5, Action 3/5, Humor 2/5, Violence 3/5, Fun 4/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 4/5. 7/10.

Netflix has released a four-part miniseries of Capcom's anticipated "Resident Evil" and, though were definitely ambitions higher, it’s perfectly fine as a one-off. I liked the setting in the White House, but otherwise the storyline is pretty flat, though that wasn't the point here. What works well though is the visuals and the CGI animation. There aren’t many similarly themed films made, so some of the flaws are forgivable. The action is great, bloody and brutal (but not really enough for my taste). We don't get tp see much of the zombies, there’s a monster only in the finale, and though the atmosphere is mysterious in places, I could definitely imagine it more frightening. It's disappointing that we get a project like this once every few years , but it falls far short of the quality of my favourite Love Death & Robots episodes – but it’s still better this than another drama, no question. Story 2/5, Action 3/5, Humor 1/5, Violence 3/5, Fun 4/5 Music 3/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 3/5. 6.5/10.

A fine Canadian retro one-off that could have easily been released in the 1980s. It's got a relatively cool idea about a kid who accidentally stumbles into some sort of meeting of crazed killers and when the truth comes out, the fight for his life begins. There are quite a few familiar B-movie faces and all the characters are well cast, though I'm a little disappointed that not everyone gets enough space and their ending isn't always properly exciting. The retro visuals are fine, the 1980's synthwave is awesome and the neons are cool. The film is taken more lightheartedly, but I didn't find it too funny. There isn’t much gore, there is a bit of blood, but not really enough to satisfy me (I don't have a single murder stuck in my head after watching it and that's a bad sign), but it's got a nice pace, it's quite action packed, so you don’t get bored. In the hands of someone more capable it could be great, but Vicious Fun is a pleasant average. The central nutter with an IQ of 180 is the best character. Story 3/5, Action 3/5, Humour 2/5, Violence 3/5, Fun 3/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 3/5. 6/10.

A Mexican home invasion flick about a conflict between two neighbouring families, sparked by an aggressive dog that attacks a little girl and then is euthanized in a rather unsightly way. The family, as animal activists, don't like this and plan to take revenge on their neighbours. A simple and straightforward plot in what for me is the exhausted home invasion genre. There was a time when I loved this sub-genre, but now I feel all the films suck, some day I want to see a home invasion movie where a family of eight is attacked by a ten assholes, that's when my curiosity will start to rise. This 2 vs 2 duel can't bring more than three gore scenes and it didn't even deliver that (though the smashed head is awesome). The visuals and the family is likeable, the make-up effects are pretty good, and there is no shortage of suspense , but that's par for the course with any at least average home invasion film. I was definitely expecting more carnage, but I don't regret watching it. Story 2/5, Action 3/5, Humor>No, Violence 3/5, Fun 3/5 Music 3/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 3/5 6/10.

Fast and Furious is a really interesting franchise that divides people into maybe three camps. The first group stopped watching after episodes 3 or 4, the second group started watching after episode 5 (for example me), and the third group watched the whole thing and either enjoy it or hate it as much as possible. I personally don't care much for cars, so I wasn't interested in the first episodes and only started to care when The Rock and other cast members came on the scene and, instead of racing, it went to over the top action and I have to say that I managed to enjoy all the episodes from 5 onwards. They're silly and fun movies with action I probably wouldn't see anywhere else and they have featured a lot of well known martial arts stars, so I definitely can't complain about that. I was curious about the 9th episode and it's without a doubt the weakest since the 5th. I feel like there's less of everything than I'm used to. For one thing, The Rock and Jason Statham are missing, and their absence is very noticeable. They’ve added John Cena and he is surprisingly the best thing about the whole movie, but it's not enough. Roman makes jokes less than usual, there are few personal fights, and even the over-the-top action is less for my taste (the truck caught my attention). On the other hand, the journey into space is uninteresting. There are no interesting locations, even the pretty women are gone, and there's more bullshit about family than in maybe three episodes combined. At least the music is still good, it brought some decent summer songs. I wasn't bored, it went relatively well, but it's a quality downgrade even for people who liked the previous episodes. Story 2/5, Action 3/5, Humor 3/5, Violence NO, Fun 4/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 2/5, Suspense 2/5 5.5/10.