Pinoy Movie Club: 2020

Showing posts with label 2020. Show all posts

You want an action movie? Then this is the one that you're waiting for. The Old Guard starring Charlize Theron as Andy.

She leads a group of immortal mercenaries for centuries. Trying to keep their identities secret so they can course through time unnoticed until someone was keeping tabs of them.

A former CIA operative, Copley (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) was quietly tracking them down. His wife died of an illness that he believes Andy's band of immortals may provide a cure for mankind. He submits his findings to a pharmaceutical company headed by Steven Merrick (played by Harry Melling) who took an interest on their immortal qualities.

Unknown to the all, Andy was experiencing some changes in her healing powers. What was supposed she has fast healing powers, she learns that she's not healing as fast as she used to be. All this time, they experienced another immortal coming into being in Nile Freeman (played by Kiki Layne) a US Marine who was stationed in Afghanistan.

In their efforts to remain anonymous, Andy instructs his team to track down Copley while she in turn will meet up with Nile. Hoping she can get to her and protect her from Copley. Nile when she was awakened, she was confused why she was still alive and fortunate for her, Andy was there to fill her in.

When Andy and Nile finally met with the team, Copley was able to capture most of them. Its just Andy, Booker and Nile was able to escape but Nile decided to leave them to be with her family. Its now up to Andy and Booker (played by Matthias Schoenaerts) to catch up with Copley and save their team members.

Booker turned out to be a traitor as he was instrumental in the capture of the team, when he injures Andy in Copley's house. Booker and Copley then learns that Andy already lost her healing powers. This lead Copley to have second thoughts about the powers of immortality and how it would contribute to mankind the powers of eradicating illnesses.

Meanwhile Nile had a change in heart and went back to Copley's place only to find Copley alone. He eventually helped Nile on a one woman mission to save the team from the testing being done by Merrick's staff.

In the end, Andy's team was saved and Booker was ostracized from the team for 100 years as punishment for his betrayal. Copley then proceeds to keep their identities secret and persuades them to continue with their missions. What seemingly the missions were mostly small for them, turned out that these had huge impacts in the course of history of mankind.

For us the movie was entertaining and fun to watch as we haven't read the comics. As per our research after watching it, they changed a lot of things just to adapt this to the movie. If we read it first, we will have a different review for this. Luckily it was the other way around. We loved the movie although we can't help see Theron's character in Aeon Flux here with the short hair and mesmerizing stunts she did herein.

The rest of the cast gave solid performances as well so kudos to them for making this an enjoyable film to watch. The story line likewise was great and although we feel like we were watching a glorified pilot episode. There were some scenes that we felt like we were being set up for a sequel. When Andy was mentioning about his BFF in Quynh (played by Van Veronica Ngo), this was repeated and we were wondering if she was going to appear midway in the film. It was almost nearing end and still she hasn't appeared, until when she appeared in the end then we really confirmed that there was a sequel.

The premise of the movie was of the Highlander, although they don't chop their heads off to kill one. The action scenes were fast like Jason Bourne and Aeon Flux but a tad shy short of John Wick. A great set up movie for a franchise and had a powerhouse cast, but the overall feeling again is its a great TV pilot. This would have been a great Netflix Series as the story is rich and compelling and it had already had the cliffhanger in the end with Quynh acting as the nemesis to our heroine in Andy.

Showing currently in Netflix and we hope they follow this one up soon.

We are The Old Guard (2020)

After returning to his wife, US Marine Ray Garrison (played by Vin Diesel) both went to Italy for that needed holiday. A happy getaway turned into horror when they were kidnapped by a group of mercenaries. His wife gets killed and Ray later on was awakened by a tech company Rising Spirit Tech. A company who develops cybernetic prosthetics for former US military peeps.

Garrison then learns that he was or is the first successful candidate brought to life using special nanite technology. He is then accepted into a team of enhanced former military personnel led by the Company's CEO Dr. Emil Harting (played by Guy Pearce).

High tech as he is, he is still human so he experiences some memory flashbacks of his dead wife. Against the company policies, Garrison uses his new nanite technology to track down his wife's killers. He was able to track him down to Budapest and proceeds to escape Dr. Harting's facilities. He eventually was able to kill his wife's killers and was returned to the facility for his so called "recovery".

His recovery was a process of re programming and later it was found out that the flash backs were not true. His wife was never killed and the killer in his flashbacks where Dr. Harting's rivals in the company. Garrison was simply being used as a hired killer. His false flashbacks were programmed by Dr. Harting so he will be enraged and will be an effective killer.

Eventually he learned that truth, that his wife is still alive and had moved on. She thought he died so she had a life already without him. Knowing the truth he eventually defeats the Company with the help of another programmer in Wiggans (played by Lamorne Morris) and another Rising Spirits Tech enhanced individual KT (played by Eiza Gonzales).

Overall, Vin Diesel, awesome as he is, we feel his acting is the same with his Fast and Furious franchise. We simply can't see him as a US Marine or ex Marine for that matter. You don't see him in most action scenes as well, he's there in the midst of things, but they are CGI of him and he looks goofy in them. It's like watching Spiderman CGI all over again and it is kinda boring if you ask us.

Action scenes were not that exceptional and nothing excites us in the movie as well. The trailer already is the story by in itself. We all knew the plot and where it was going so we had fun with our popcorn instead.

Now showing in Netflix, but please don't watch the trailer. Its the entire movie already.

is this a great watch? - Bloodshot (2020)

Movie starts off in 1974 with the death of a young Lar's mother. He was sad but then turned around upon watching the band ABBA singing on the television. He was hooked into music thereafter together with a childhood friend Sigrit.

In the present day, both are still at music and they now have a band called Fire Saga. Lars (played by Will Ferrell) had to endure his father's disdain for his music with Sigrit was the only one who believed in him. Lar's dream was to win the Eurovision Song Contest and this time around, they were able to qualify at the Songvakeppnin, a pre selection show for Eurovision.

As like in all their performances, they are bad luck on stage and failed miserably in their first try at Songvakeppnin. But sometimes good luck comes to those who persevered. In a good tragedy if there was one, in between shows, the whole contestants except Lars and Sigrit, was instantly killed in a boat party. With them surviving, they were now deemed to be the winners of Songvakeppnin and earned the right to represent Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest.

The event was held in Scotland and Lars was excited with this opportunity that he created many things from their usual routine. He created new costumes which turned out to be failures and arranged their competition song with a new vibe coming off from a Korean musical arranger that Sigrit both didn't like.

Despite all their misadventures and trials in the competition, they were able to overcome them and eventually find out more about themselves and who they are to each other.

Another feel good movie we have here with Will Ferrell. Will has been known for comedies for a long time and its not surprisingly that he does comedy well here. With his other films, he specializes in slapstick comedies and this one movie is no exception. It had the usual slapstick moments but what's surprising was, this one had less of that compared to most of his films.

Jokes were mostly cerebral and he was cracking jokes or sarcasm for that matter that still elicits laughter in us. Very not like the Will Ferrell we all know and we liked it. By far this is the only movie that we thought that he was truly great. We liked his previous films, but after watching this, we now like to bury them all into oblivion and stick this one up on the top shelf.

Rachel McAdams was likewise great here although we think they lacked that chemistry between them, both however delivered their performances well together. Just enough to make us believe that there was love between them since they were kids.

The movie overall was great but somehow we were distracted with their accents. Both had to sound Icelandic in their delivery of their english lines and they were good at first. Midway until the end however, we thought they were using scottish accents and not icelandic anymore. We were always pre occupied with their dialogues trying to hear their accents all throughout the film that sometimes we lose track of the storyline.

That's the only flaw we saw big time that great affected our viewing. But since you just wanted to be entertained, their accents are enough to watch them and be entertained by them.

Oh and don't forget about the Iceland landscapes, they were located in a remote area of it so expect breathtaking views. Currently showing on Netflix as of this writing so better catch this movie there.

netflix

Best of Will Ferrell in Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020)

DC Comics are at it again. Trying to establish a groupie even without making stand alone movies. Unlike Marvel, we see stand alone movies of their superheroes then they join them together to form the Avengers. DC does it the opposite. They do a groupie thing then they see viewers reaction, which superhero endears to the fans, then they do the stand alone movie.

They did this already three times, DC Comics. First off, the Justice League (except for Batman and Superman who their own stand alone franchises). Second they did Suicide Squad (only with Joker which they did a stand alone movie after this movie was shown) and now this, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn).

Movie starts off after the end of Suicide Squad where Mr. J or the Joker breaks it off with Harley Quinn. This left Harley devastated and is going around Gotham carelessly. To show the city that she was not J's girlfriend anymore, she blows up the chemical factory where she became Harley Quinn and eventually Mr. J's love interest.

When the town knew that she was no longer under the J's protection, all those people whom she wronged were now after her, including Roman Scionis aka the Black Mas, (played by Ewan McGregor). Just before she was about to be killed, she pleads with Roman to let her get the Diamond that was lost. This diamond is the key to the Bertinelli fortune, large enough to make Roman as the best or biggest gangster ever.

Harley needs to track down the girl who stole this diamond and she raided the police station just so to get it. After some gunfire and explosions, Harley was able to secure the girl, Cassandra Cain (played by Ella Jay Basco) but the diamond was swallowed by Cassandra so it will take some time to get it. Lots of twists and turn and some characters making their thing, they all bunch up in a place where they were surrounded by Roman Sionis' goons.

Harley Quinn, Renee Montoya (played by Rosie Perez), Helena Bertinelli aka Huntress (played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Dinah Lance aka Black Canary (played by Jumee Smollett-Bell) all band together to help protect Cassandra Cain (and the diamond in her).

In the end a group of bad guys or ladies, finally defeats the even more bad guy, the black mask. Montoya leaves the police force and joins Black Canary and Huntress to fight crime as the Birds of Prey, while Cassandra Cain went with Harley Quinn and started their own contract killing venture.

This third outing of a groupie thing should have been a launching pad for the Birds of Prey but what are they doing in a Harley Quinn movie? Is this a HQ stand alone movie or a groupie movie? Judging from the title, try holding your breath, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), That's quite a mouthful and it should feature the Birds of Prey. Why are we watching the movie about Harley Quinn?

Is this a two in one movie of sorts? Nope. This was all about Harley Quinn. Half of the movie she was moping about her separation from the J and that all the bad things she had done were a result of her emotional breakdown. Since a lot was shown about Harley that there were no more time left to feature the Bird of Prey members. Back stories on them, or the lack thereof, were all narrated by Harley. So we can't fully relate to the rest of the group. The only back story we liked was about the Huntress' experience of having her family killed with her the only survivor saved by one of her family's killers. What? And she grew up trained to avenge their death. She didn't bother killing the person who rescued her? Why?

The movie we think was done to show how Harley Quinn mind works. Just when you think you are chugging with the story then suddenly a back story comes up. Not a short back story but a long one then by the time it goes to present times, it leaves you gasping for air already. Like Quinn's mind is, the movie is a convolution of ideas and back stories that sometimes get confused and left us hanging.

Story is just simple guys, a diamond showing the whole Bertinelli money was stolen by a kid and it is the pursuit of that kid is the story. Throw in some back story and character development for the Birds of Prey members, and that's a tall order but they chose to deal with Harley Quinn's story instead. So the title is a misnomer. It's not a Birds of Prey movie, its Harley's. It was near the end of the movie that they banded together, out of necessity.

The lack of screen time for the members left us wanting for more. Renee Montoya was just a cop who's having bad luck all the time. That's her story then she teams up to form the Birds of Prey. Back story on Black Canary was narrated by Montoya, albeit a very short one. Then nothing else except she became the driver for Roman Sionis. There was supposed to be a connection between her with the kid, but it was just her giving 20 bucks to the kid. It was only the Huntress who had a decent character build up with a decent flashback which was shown twice or thrice, the same scene always.

Story wise, this had a very simple plot yet made confusing by making all the other things thrown in haphazardly hoping to get two objectives in the end. To make a Harley Quinn stand alone movie and introducing the Birds of Prey as well. Sadly, the birds didn't fly as we hoped it would.

Now critics said the action scenes were great, but we can't say the same. It's easy to identify the bad guys (Harley and the girls) and the even more bad guys (Sionis' goons) and the latter were waiting to be hit by the girls. The jumps and leaps and punches might be cinematic and great to look at, but mostly it was just the men waiting to be punched and kicked in the end.

Margot Robbie who we loved playing the titular lead Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad is still the lovable character here in this movie. We liked her more here as she showed us lots of her character here. She talks and walks Harley and the fight scenes were a level up from that she showed us in Suicide Squad. We tried finding fault in her here but simply we can't and we adored her even more.

Due to limited screen time and maybe the script, the other actors (except for Ewan McGregor) like the film, they might have been confused as to who they really are. We are not fans of the comics so we based our opinions on what we see in movie. Rosie Perez was really way off to be cast as detective Renee Montoya, Jumee Smollett-Bell was too slow to do her fight scenes, Mary Elizabeth Winstead was too sweet still to be the Huntress. The kid, Ella Jay Basco was too cuddly to be a thief. We simply can't relate them to their characters. Sorry guys we tried.

Ewan McGregor as the Black Mask was okay however a lack of character development prevented us from really relating to his character. He is a splendid actor and he brought the bad character out of Roman Sionis. Although we don't really know why he wears that black mask and the reason why he wants to peel off his victim's faces. Sadly we won't see him in the future as his character gets killed off in the end. Since the movie is confusing enough already, we might see him come back as a prequel or back story perhaps.

When we first saw the trailer for this, we really want to watch it. After a few other trailers came out, we seem to decide against it. It's like a confusing movie and we were right.

But we like all the scenes with Harley Quinn in them. Its vibrant, colorful and witty sometimes. She maybe eccentric in appearances but she's lovable at the same time.

Will they fly? - Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) - 2020

No more mr. nice guy for for Mark Wahlberg, being a former detective, its now gloves off for him when he gets out of prison.

Detective Spenser (played by Mark Wahlberg) went to prison when he beats his Captain, John Boylan (played by Michael Gaston) shitless at the latter's home. He was about to be released when his fellow inmates tried to send him a parting gift. He was manhandled but was able to survive with an icepick on his back. That was his gift before going out.

Once free, he boarded up with his friend Henry who owns a boxing gym. Rooming in with Spenser was Hawk, a boxer who was training under Henry. Spenser later became his mentor. Spenser was ready to start a new life and move on when Captain John Boylan was killed. Immediately he was the top suspect but was cleared when Henry vouched for him. He was further cleared whey the Police pointed to Terrence Graham (played by Brandon Scales) as the perpetrator. Terrence's car showed signs of ramming Boylan's car and conveniently Terrence was found dead in it, purportedly to have committed suicide.

Spenser knew him as a good cop and he was surprised that the Police found drugs and dirty money inside his home. Being a boy scout that he is, he started investigating into the death of Boylan. All his sleuthing led him a casino development called Wonderland. A lot of players want to invest in wonderland including his partner, Driscoll (played by Bokeem Woodbine). A dirty cop who had a hold on a number of other Police officers and is connected with some street gangs. His ticket to Wonderland was selling drugs on the streets through this gang. Spenser got hold of an incoming shipment and hijacked it, only to find Henry kidnapped by Driscoll, the latter offering a trade. The drugs for Henry. In the end they rescued Henry, caught them all and turned over the criminals led by Driscoll, and the drugs to the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the FBI.

This movie is almost a cop movie except that he is ex-cop playing Batman with Hawk as the Boy Wonder Robin. His friend Henry acting like Alfred, they fight crime in the streets headon. Iliza Shlesinger plays Cissy Davis here, the wife or ex wife of Spenser and with her yakking maybe can play the role of Catwoman, she was always catty here.

Mark Wahlberg for us is being stereotyped as a cop. We are comfortable of him working as a cop from films like, The Corruptor (1999), The Departed (2006), Max Payne (2008), and The Other Guys (2010). He even dresses like Detective Terry Hoitz in the last film mentioned. Although here he did not give out comedic lines and he was more bad ass here. Wahlberg plays an ex-cop with uncontrollable rage thus he is more darker here. He fights in every confrontation he gets with the bad guys here that we already knew what will happen in the next scene.

Meanwhile, the great actress in Iliza Shlesinger was relegated to a whiny, complaining ex-wife who rants, curses Spenser at every time she gets a chance. She only stopped her tirades when Henry was kidnapped and then she helps him rescue the old guy. Wait, you seek the help of your ex-wife to meet with the ruthless kidnappers aka street gangs with machetes conniving with dirty cops? I don't think so, but hey, that's their story and this is how they want to spin it.

In the end, Spenser gets to fight the big boss in Driscoll and he pins him down with a gun in his hand. The dirty cop can't run anymore, then for the sake of action, he throws the gun down and challenges Driscoll to a fight. Both are avid boxers, so Spenser wants to know who would win? I thought he wants to bring Driscoll to prison. Oh wait, before he sends Driscoll to prison, he wants to teach him a lesson. That's why he wanted a fist fight. Really? Yes, really.

Because of the twists and and the way the story was told here and the character development, we clearly can see its was not made for theatrical release. With the style of story telling here, we are like watching a pilot episode of a TV series, and the level of violence here, maybe won't pass a GP rating. It would be R-13 at best.

Why did we feel it like a pilot episode? The ending hints of Spenser doing another investigation work when he sees that fireman being arrested and screams he needs help in front of the TV camera. Henry cries to the restaurant owner or staff to change the channel so that Spencer won't see more details, while Cissy cries no to Spenser. Spenser knew that fireman and you can see it in his eyes that he will a sequel or another episode.

If you want to see a darker side of Mark Wahlberg while being the good guy, the Spenser Confidential is for you. If you don't want any surprises, then this one is also for you. This film is currently being shown in Netflix so enjoy it there.

And what's with the spelling of Spenser with an S? I always know its spelled S-P-E-N-C yes with a C-E-R like Marks and Spencer.

Mark Wahlberg being dark - Spenser Confidential (2020)

If you haven't watched this movie, be warned, spoilers abound in this article. What you learn here from this point onward is your responsibility.

To continue, this latest installment of the franchise, 17 years after Bad Boys II (2003) continues with our lead actors reprising their roles as the dynamic duo. We see Mike Lowrey (played by Will Smith) with his supercar again teaming up with stress free practicing Marcus Burnett (played by Martin Lawrence).

The movie starts off with the escape of Isabel Aretas (played by Kate del Castillo) from a mexican prison. She being the widow of a cartel kingpin, she vowed retribution to those responsible on her husband's death. While in the comforts of Mexico, she uses her son to carry out her orders in Miami, Florida.

Meanwhile, Marcus is elated to be a grandfather and mulls the idea of him retiring any time soon. Mike scoffs at the idea of him retiring as he thinks they are bad boys for life. Mike has been single all this time so he can't understand what Marcus' mind is going through. While celebrating Marcus' being a grandfather with their police collegues, Mike was brutally gunned down via a drive by shooting. This put Mike in a coma for months and Isabel reprimanded her son for targetting him first. While Mike was in that state, Armando (Isabel's son played by Jacob Scipio) continues killing the people responsible for his father's death.

When Mike finally wakes up, he learned that Marcus was already retired. No words of encourage from Mike can entice Marcus to return to being a cop. So Mike pursued the case on his own, much to the chagrin of their Captain Howard (played by Joe Pantoliano). The latter seeing that Mike is doing his own investigation to his own shooting, he gave Mike the "consulting" capacity into the assigned elite team lead by Rita Secada (played by Paola Nunez). They were making headway when suddenly Captain Howard was assassinated by Armado with Mike beside him. The death of the Captain was then instrumental in the return of Marcus into the force. Bad boys for life indeed.

With the tandem back in full swing, they were able to confront Armando and his gang but failed to arrest him. This failure was then used to shut down the operation of Rita's elite team. Also during the chase, Mike surmised that Armando was his son. It turned out, Mike had a fling with Isabel and that her husband was not capable of bearing children. Mike then is confronted with this dilemma.

Seeing no other way to demand justice for the things Armando has done, Mike proceeds to follow Armando to Mexico alone. Marcus followed him on the plane and both then went after Armando and his mother Isabel. Unknown to them, the whole elite team including Rita also followed suit promising to back our heroes.

The final confrontation in Mexico happened in an old building called Hidalgo Palace and as usual of the bad boys routine, a fire fight ensued. In one of the moments here Mike managed to tell Armando that he is his father. Armando couldn't believe it until Isabel confirmed it. Isabel then instructs Armando to kill Mike but the latter was still confused, Isabel then tried to shoot Mike hitting Armando instead. Isabel tried again to shoot Mike but was instead preempted by Rita who shot her instead leading to her death in the fires below.

Mike and Marcus then escaped the burning building bringing along Armando who survived the chest wound earlier. The team survived as well and went back to Miami with Rita promoted as Captain thereafter. Mike and Marcus then was assigned the elite team formerly headed by Rita.

Mike then visits his son Armando in prison, offering him a chance to redeem himself for which he agreed.

The bad boys franchise is known for its gun slinging, car tumbling, bone cracking situations and this movie is almost at par with them. Although it doesn't have the excess in action in them as this is not Bayhem (Michael Bay). Still you will appreciate the directors trying to emulate the first two films so as not to antagonize its fans. Michael Bay is really into the action sequences much to that it decreases the focus on its villains and story plot. Surprisingly this third film is a lot better in terms of villains and story line.

In the previous films, the villains were so corny or cartoony that you immediately they are the anti heroes who just like to gun people down for the heck of it. There was no direct connection to Marcus and Mike and it was all coincidental. In Bad Boys for Life, there was a deep connection between Mike and Isabel. The two had an illicit relationship that bore a son, and it was Mike's undercover work that got Isabel behind bars and lead to the death of her cartel husband. Isabel hid the truth from Armando and the viewers (thats us) begin to identify with Mike's dilemma on this newfound truth.

We all know Mike being the single for all this time, with his Porsche and flashy sense of fashion, after 17 years, he is now facing the next life of fatherhood. He is not invincible anymore and it gave him a new purpose in life. Although it wasn't made certain here what his new purpose is, except maybe to help his son, but we felt a shift in Mike's character in the movie.

Will Smith is still impeccable here with his performance and we liked him here unlike the shabby acting he did (or was it his CGI younger self) in Gemini Man. He was so so performance in Independence day but here, he was comfortable as Mike Lowrey and delivered his character to a respectable level.

We can also say Martin Lawrence (after a long hiatus in movies) continued to deliver his comedic timing to perfection along with Will Smith. They look good together on screen and their chemistry shows. The back and forth jokes and sarcasm was perfect in most parts making these two fun to watch. Other characters were okay to watch as well, but I can't help it if some of them didn't shine. I owe it to the script and it wasn't their fault if they were not given ample scenes to showcase their characters more.

A new character, Captain Rita Secada, seemed to stand out among the newbies. Her character had a past with Mike Lowrey and seems they will expound on this in future installments. We can dare say that a sequel is in the works as the last scene shows Mike showing up in Armando's prison cell. That is a cliffhanger worthy of a next film. We shall expect a Mike, Marcus and Armando show with a romance angle with Captain Secada.

Pinoy Movie Club

We are The Old Guard (2020)

is this a great watch? - Bloodshot (2020)

Best of Will Ferrell in Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020)

Will they fly? - Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) - 2020

Mark Wahlberg being dark - Spenser Confidential (2020)

Boys will be boys - Bad Boys For Life (2020)

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