What was the last movie you saw...? Part IV

[Charger]

I think I have distant memories about that Mysterious Island movie when I was a kid...not sure. But sounds familiar.

Kirk Douglas' Oddyssey I have never seen.

[Zzzptm]

Both of those are worth watching. Good action, fun rides. Once Typhon mentioned Herbert Lom, I clicked on having seen that movie and having a great time with it. Neither film thought too hard about what it was doing, they were both about gettin' some good action in for the kids and having actors do some interesting stuff for the grownups watching.

[Typhon]

Cromwell (1970)

Disgusted with the policies of King Charles I (Alec Guinness), Oliver Cromwell (Richard Harris) plans to take his family to the New World. But on the eve of their departure, Cromwell is drawn into the tangled web of religion and politics that will result in the English Civil War.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film.  It was historically accurate in both look and feel, including huge battle scenes.   A superb presentation of this legendary time in England's history.  10/10

[Typhon]

American Assassin (2017)

Following the murder of his fiancée, a young man (Dylan O'Brien) trains under the instruction of a Cold War veteran (Michael Keaton).  The pair is then enlisted to locate and prevent the use of some missing uranium.

Mix feelings here, though there is plenty of action, it gets a bit far-fetched at times.  I predict Charger will like it more than me.  7/10

[Charger]

^^^
Have not seen that one.



BRAVEN

An Alaskan logger and his dementia stricken father find a cache of dope on their cabin and before they can decide what to do a group of ruthless drug dealers arrive to claim what's theirs and to kill everyone.

The movie starts slowly but picks up the pace towards the end.

Jason Momoa as the titular character does a pretty good job as does Stephen Lang as his father and Garrett Dillahunt does yet another good bad guy role bit over the top.

The action isn't all that brutal or fast paced and the story leaves quite a few holes...like the history of the Bravens because it seems odd that two loggers would be so keen on fighting a bunch of ruthless drug dealers...seems almost like a scene or two is missing.

Momoa is better with some humor and this had none... With some tweaks to the script this could have been a good one. Now just a mediocre small budget action flick.

*  *  ½

[Typhon]

The Bravados (1958)

Set in the old west, a rancher (Gregory Peck) arrives in a small town in order to witness the hanging of the four men (Stephen Boyd, Albert Salmi, Henry Silva, Lee Van Cleef) he believes murdered his wife.  When the convicts escape, he tracks them into Mexico, determined to see that justice is done.  But the farther he goes in his quest for vengeance, the more merciless he becomes.

A superb story of how thoughts of revenge can overtake what is true and just.  Gregory Peck, one of my all time favorite actors, does a fantastic job.  This film is currently number 22 on my Top 50 list.  10/10

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

A couple of quick reviews...

Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu

Starring Pedro Pascal, this is set after Season 3 of the Disney+ series but you don't need to have seen those first. This may well have been intended to be the basis for Season 4 but re-tooled for the cinema!

Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin, known as Mando, and his foundling Grogu work for the New Republic to hunt down neo-imperialist warlords of the former Galactic Empire. After a successful mission, Mando is tasked by New Republic commander Ward to find the mysterious warlord Commander Coin. The New Republic has been offered intel on his whereabouts by the Hutt Twins, siblings and successors to the deceased crime-lord Jabba, but only in exchange for rescuing Jabba's son and heir Rotta from the moon Shakari. From Wiki 'cos It's a while since I saw it and couldn't remember much about the plot!

In terms of Star Wars it's one of the better spin offs... the series that is. The problem with the film is that despite being well made it's episodic nature just makes it feel like a few episodes strung together! Some good set pieces mind. 7/10

-----

Supergirl

Spinoff from last years Superman film, featuring Milly Alcock, Matthias Schoenaerts, Eve Ridley, Jason Momoa and a cameo from David Cornswet as Superman.

After an altercation with villain Krem (Schoenaerts), Supergirl (Alcock) has to go on an intergalactic quest to find an anti-dote to a poison that her dog Krypto is slowly dying from. She has an unlikely companion (Ridley) out to avenge her family. Along the way they run into Lobo (Momoa) who helps out in a fight or two.

The actors do quite a good job, particularly Alcock, Ridley and Momoa but the story is very mediocre, Krem as the villain is very generic, and with Cornswet's cameo as Superman it is clear it's no more than contractual obligation as he really doesn't seem interested! Alcock is fine, there was a better film hiiding in there. 5/10

[Charger]

I am waiting for the Mandalorian to come up on Disney +

I really enjoyed the series so I'm assuming I'll enjoy the movie as well.

[Vyn]

TI-88 was the best Star Wars character in the entire series, whether book, TV special, movie, pamphlet, or billboard. A robot bounty hunter! 

[Charger]

Hahah! It was a sad moment when he got blown to pieces that's for sure!

[Charger]

MORTAL KOMBAT

A MMA fighter Cole gets pulled into a series mysterious events that lead him to a training camp for master fighters to get ready for a tournament that features fighters from different realms in order to determine the future of earth. But an evil sorceress tries to prevent the final tournament by killing off all of Earth's fighters before it can even begin.

Something of a prequel to the world of the legendary fighting game Mortal Kombat which defined the genre back in the early 90s.

Featuring almost all of the legendary characters the movie is candy to every fan of the games.

The fights are as brutal as they were in the game and some of the most legendary one liners are ofcourse featured. The budget and productions values are much bigger than on the 1995 version (which to me holds a legendary cult position and to this day features one of the best movie musics of all time) and the cast (even without any big names) does a great job.


*  *  *  *


MORTAL KOMBAT 2

After the events of the first movie the start of the final tournament is nigh and the Earthrealm's best fighters must fight the fighters of Outworld and the emperor Shao Kang himself. However it proves a near impossible task, but with help from the Emperor's inner circle there is a chance for Earthrealm to win and prevent Outworld from claiming Earth as a reward.

Most of the cast from the first movie return and this time we also get the legendary Johnny Cage played to perfection by Karl Urban.

The fights are perhaps even more brutal than in the first one and the tournament arenas make an appearance and immerse the viewer more into the realm of the games.

A brilliant sequel that captures the essence of the games and the world even better than the first film. There's good added humor, mainly provided by Cage and Kano with their wonderful banter.

These two fight their way straight to the top of computer game based movies!


*  *  *  *