Cast:

Anna Kendrick              Zoe Levenson

Daniel Dae Kim             David Kim

Shamier Anderson        Michael Adams

Toni Collette                 Marina Barnett

Movie time was here again and we started scanning the NETFLIX menu for the evening’s entertainment. Almost right away, we came across Stowaway. Stowaway is another NETFLIX original, and of late, these originals can be brilliant, or, on the other hand a big steaming pile of fecal matter. When I saw the title and read the little synopsis that NETFLIX provides…I was thinking, “this could be another take on “The Martian”, would love to see how they manage to figure this one out?” I was really looking forward to it, especially when I saw that Toni Collette and Daniel Dae Kim were part of the cast.

Every film or program that I had seen with Collette, I pretty much enjoyed. Additionally, I liked Kim’s role in Lost as well as Hawaii Five-O, so pretty much a solid start in my opinion. With respect to Kendrick, I can pretty much take or leave her. Not really a fan of her work writ large, there are a few films in her resume that I have enjoyed, though, not really for her contribution. Anderson on the other hand, was more of an unknown to us. We had to check IMDB to verify his filmography and we found out that we had seen him in some other programs/movies, but his role did not really leave a lasting impact on us. 

So, at this point, we have scanned NETFLIX selections, selected a film, looked at the synopsis and made our final decision and started it. The film started out ok, the rocket was in the middle of a launch, we meet the first 3 principal characters Levenson (Kendrick), Kim (Kim) and the mission commander, Barnett (Collette). The Rocket is taking off, leaving orbit, there is a little bit of a discussion with mission control that the weight is slightly off, but it still takes off and enters orbit. 

Our valiant crew is in orbit and apparently starts the artificial gravity by spinning the vessel. Once the artificial gravity is in place, the crew commences to settle in for their 2-year voyage to Mars and back. There are a few scenes of mundane tasks, unloading packing things etc. Then the commander discovers a few drops of blood coming from a panel, Barnett (Collette) opens it to find an unconscious man inside. He falls to the floor, apparently wounded from some unknown action. Once he comes too, they discover that Adams (Anderson) is an engineer and he is unaware of how he managed to get sealed into the ship prior to take-off. Now this is where the tension starts to mount, he apparently is taking care of his sister as their parents are dead, and he needs to return home to take care of her. Unfortunately, there is insufficient fuel or means to return him to Earth so he must continue along with them as a member of the crew. 

Accepting this, they give him some menial tasks to perform and continue along happily to their destination of Mars. This is where they find out that their only CO2 scrubber has been damaged and there is no way to fix it. With the CO2 scrubber damaged, there will be insufficient oxygen available for the 4 of them to continue their 2-year voyage, so they must find other means for survival. 

I am sorry, at this point forward there will be some spoilers if you are going to watch this film. So, the CO2 scrubber is broken, they can’t return Adams and they must soldier on to their destination. This was the perfect opportunity for some ingenuity that was prevalent in the movie “The Martian”. Unfortunately, I was sadly disappointed. The crew sort of started down the path of creativity and imagination with the growth of the algae in the lab, but then it just went sideways. With the demise of the algae experiment, the only solution that is given to them from Control is that they must kill Adams or have him kill himself. Kim (Kim) takes it upon himself to reveal the truth to Adams (Anderson) of their dire situation and leaves a deadly needle with him so that he can do the honourable thing. Levenson (Kendrick) as the crew doctor takes umbrage to this course of action and comes up with the idea that they can take a space walk to the rocket portion of the ship and take some of the liquid oxygen stored there. 

Levenson (Kendrick) and Kim (Kim) undergo a spacewalk via climbing up two cables to the rocket portion to see if there is any liquid oxygen left in the tanks. To further complicate matters, it seems that Kim (Kim) has some vertigo issues, the tanks that they are carrying for the transfer are about twice the size of regular scuba tanks and they are manhandling them at the same time. They clumsily make the trip, find out that there is air there (They must fill two tanks to ensure that they can the trip for all 4 of them), and make the transfer. Oh no! Just as they are finishing filling the first tank, they find a solar storm is headed their way and Kim (Kim) and Levenson (Kendrick) must come back as soon as possible otherwise they will die. So rushing down the cables so that they can beat the storm, Levenson (Kendrick) loses the tank as she inadvertently lets it go. Returning to the shielded area with no Oxygen in hand, it is determined that someone has to go back and get the 2^nd tank, otherwise there will be insufficient air left and they will all die. Additionally, even if they manage to get one more tank, there is only enough air for 3 people instead of 4. 

Levenson (Kendrick) takes it upon herself to get the remaining tank, even though the solar storm is still going on and with the knowledge that she will die. Luckily her suicide mission is successful, and she retrieves the tank of 250lbs of liquid Oxygen gives it to her mates while she waits for her own demise outside of the ship. End film. 

Ok sure I gave out pretty much the plot and probably the climax points of the film, but really, do you want to watch this poor imitation of a thriller? I may have saved 2 hours of your life from being wasted! So let’s look at the films issues and plot holes, which they are many:

1. What kind of space agency would not take stock of all of their staff before take-off? If he (Adams) was missing for some time, would there not have been search?
2. Adams (Anderson) was supposedly an engineer, could he not have tried to macgyver something or even attempt to repair the CO2 scrubber?
3. What kind of agency would send a ship into space for 2 years with only one of each critical piece of equipment? There should always be redundancies built in.
4. What caused the algae to die? No reason was given or even a half assed explanation.
5. Upon discovery of the stow-away, would it not have come to light right away that there would be an oxygen problem, not to mention food and water? I am sure that the quantities of all essentials would have been calculated to the nth degree, so right out of the gate, they would have had to ration food and water to make up for the extra person. The importance of the weight of supplies was brought to light very early in the film with the little verbal sparring between Kim (Kim) and Levenson (Kendrick) over which University was better when she gave him Coffee in her mug from her own school. 
6. Where did Adam’s (Anderson) extra clothes come from, sure some could have been provided by Kim, but they seemed to fit perfectly, and they were not quite the same size/build.
7. How could 2 tanks of liquid Oxygen, about double the size of a scuba tank provide sufficient air for 5 months that they needed. I did a little bit of google searching and found out that a 75lb tank of liquid oxygen can supply a hospital patient for 4-8 days of air. Ok, so if they had both tanks filled, it would only add about 7 weeks’ maximum of additional air…and I am being extremely generous in my math. Ergo, they still would have all died.
8. If the CO2 scrubber failed, would not the build-up of CO2 cause them to die anyway? Where did this plot point and scientific fact go?
9. The liberal use of gravity in the spaceship was a little off the mark in my opinion. For example, when the hatch gets pulled off, it falls down. In space, would it have not flown off in a flat trajectory? Again, a serious miss here. 
10. The vehicle was supposed to be spinning to cause artificial gravity. Ok, I realize I am not a physicist or scientist, but when the ship was being put against something that is stationary in space, (like some of the shots with the moon/earth in the background), would not the ship be spinning in those scenes?
11. If you are on a 2-year mission, you let the doctor sacrifice themselves for the good of all? The botanist already lost their experiment due to the dismal use of the algae…would he have not been more expendable? 
12. They had about 10 days left before it would have become critical…could they have not waited out the solar storm instead of letting one crew member sacrifice themselves?

Ok, I think I have bashed most of the plot points and holes enough, but I am sure that there are so many more that I missed. I could only say WTF so many times to the screen when we were watching before it really became monotonous. 

Were there any parts of the film that I liked? I actually liked the premise of the film, just too bad a successful outcome was not the result. Some of the cast did quite well, but they were given lame dialogue and a poor plot to work with, so I can’t really blame them for this. Besides the poor story, mediocre effects and poor dialogue, let us take a moment to take a look at the cast;

Anna Kendrick as Zoe Levenson: As I mentioned at the start, I am not a fan of Kendrick, but I have to say, she has been in a few good films. Not giving much to work with in this film, I believe that she did the best that she could do. She did come across as the caring doctor and she portrayed empathy to the stowaway in a somewhat believable fashion. Kendrick also displayed fair chemistry with her remaining co-stars. While the film was a dud, she has been in worse films in my opinion.

Daniel Dae Kim as David Kim: In this film, Kim did what Kim does best, play the strong silent type. Much as Kendrick, the script is not the fault of the actor, but of the screenwriter, so what he had to work with was not the best. His banter with Kendrick was somewhat believable as well as his personal angst in dealing with Adams (Anderson) when he gave him the needle. I have to say his space sickness and vertigo was not done in a believable fashion, but who knows, neither of us have been to space, so maybe he was believable. But, I drew on my own experience on sailing in the North Atlantic when the sea was rough, and I think my own expressions and resulting actions were a tad more colourful should we say. Kim is a good actor, and I really enjoy his roles in Hawaii Five-O, Lost, and 24 and I always look forward to his performances in TV or film.

Shamier Anderson as Michael Adams: Anderson was not really well known to us. His face was somewhat familiar, so I had to look him to see what had done in the past. While he had been in a few shows that I had watched, it was nothing memorable. In the case of Stowaway, I don’t think he was given much to work with and he did the best he could with the limited direction provided. For an engineer, you would have thought his character would have been more hand’s on in the Macgyver department and that he might have been able to figure out some other solutions. But then again, his role in the film did not allow for it. He had decent chemistry with his co-stars and his emotions with respect to his upcoming death and his departure were somewhat believable. Not a bad performance for what he was given, and I will keep a lookout for him in his future projects. 

Toni Collette as Marina Barnett: I always like Collette in any role I had seen her in. She has been around forever and even in some of the dud’s that she was in, I liked her character. Again, I will have to say the same thing for this film, even though the film was pretty lame, I actually liked her. She was decisive, no-nonsense type of leader. One thing that threw me for a bit of a loop, in all the time I had seen her in movies and shows, I never knew that she was Australian. When she was talking in with her normal voice in the movie, I was surprised and had to confirm that this was in fact her real accent. Well done to her in all of her other productions for producing a realistic American accent! However, back to Stowaway, while her character and role were actually good, I could not get past the film inconsistencies and plot holes. I must say this, if she was not in the film, I probably would have switched it off 15 minutes into it and searched for something else. 

So, now for the ultimate question, were we entertained? No, we were not. For a film that had so much potential and such a strong premise, it imploded itself. The plot holes were big enough to park a space station, and character development, dialogue and special effects were weak. Even strong actors like Collette and Kim, could not carry the weight of this flop on their shoulders. Would we recommend it…no we would not. If you have any affinity for the Sci-Fi genre, please give this one a pass and move on to a sci-fi movie that has a better plot, characters and effects. Stowaway just does not cut it. Hopefully NETFLIX will come up with some better sci-fi films in the future.

Our rating: 2/10

If you are interested in other films starring the main characters, please consider the following recommendations:

Anna Kendrick              The Accountant, Up in the Air, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates

Daniel Dae Kim             Lost, Hawaii Five-O, New Amsterdam, Always be my Maybe, 24

Shamier Anderson        Goliath, Defiance

Toni Collette                 The Sixth Sense, Shaft, In her shoes, Little Miss Sunshine, The United States of Tara, Knives Out

Till next time!

Cast:

Adam Sandler                           Nick Spitz

Jennifer Aniston                        Audrey Spitz

Luke Evans                                Charles Cavendish

Terence Stamp                          Malcolm Quince

Gemma Arterton                       Grace Ballard

David Walliams                         Tobey Quince

Dany Boon                                Inspector de la Croix

John Kani                                  Colonel Ulenga

Adeel Akhtar                             Maharajah

Olafu Darri Olafsson                  Sergei

Luis Gerardo Mende                  Juan Carlos Rivera

Shioli Kutsuna                           Suzi Nakamura

Movie night is here again and we patiently (or impatiently as is the case of my wife) scanned through the NETFLIX menu to select the evening’s entertainment. After several discussions that were repetitious with several selections i.e. we’ve seen it, that is crap, seen it, don’t want to see it … we finally settled on Murder Mystery, a NETFLIX original. This film was selected primarily for two reasons, the first was that the film synopsis said that they were in Europe (and we are so vacation/travel starved it appealed to us) and the 2^nd is that ever since she watched Friends, she has become a big fan of Aniston 

I on the other hand, agreed to the on-site Europe argument, kind-of indifferent to Aniston, but I do not really care for Sandler movies. They are kind of hit and miss for me….and often end up on the miss side of the spectrum. Sure he has done a few funny films in my opinion i.e. Big Daddy, Mr. Deeds, I now pronounce you Chuck and Larry, but there are some really bad ones as well; i.e. Don’t mess with the Zohan, Jack and Jill to name but a few.  Plus, at times I find his humour to be very infantile and I have to be in the right frame of mind to enjoy it. 

Anyways, we agreed on the film, I filled our glasses, adjusted the recliner, and turned out the lights and started the film. Now to the plot of the “Murder Mystery”; Murder Mystery is a light comedy that loosely follows the formula of traditional murder mysteries made famous by Agatha Christie. In this film, Nick Spitz (Sandler) is a NYPD beat cop who continually strives to become a detective, yet fails at every attempt. Nick (Sandler) has been married to Audrey (Aniston) for the last 15 years. Audrey (Aniston) is a hair dresser, and continually pines for the vacation that her husband promised her on their wedding day…a trip to Europe. So it is their wedding anniversary, and Nick (Sandler) has not only failed his detective’s exam yet again, he is really dropping the ball on what to get her for a gift. So later that night, while celebrating their marital achievement, Nick (Sandler) lies to his wife again and says that they were finally going to take the long promised honeymoon and that they were leaving for Europe for a bus tour. 

Making last minute arrangements, they are now on the plane to Europe. On the plane, Audrey (Aniston) wanders off to the first class area where she encounters the mysterious Charles Cavendish (Evans) a member of the Quince family, which happens to be uber wealthy and obviously has a great deal of influence. After a few drinks, Nick (Sandler) shows up, they all meet, chat, drink and laugh and Cavendish (Evans) offers an invitation for the Spitz’s to join him on the family yacht. 

After landing at their destination, Nick and Audrey are about to board the tour bus, while demonstrating a great deal of trepidation, especially with respect to their fellow bus travellers. A stereotypical mass of screaming children, obnoxious individuals and a group of blue haired tourists. Seeing Cavendish (Evans) lounging at his expensive car, they change their mind and join him on the yacht. On the yacht they meet a number of famous, semi-famous, and rather outrageous individuals. For example, there is a movie star, Grace Ballard (Arterton), a race car driver with limited English, Juan Carlos Rivera (Mende), Evans ex wife Suzi (Kutsuna), and current wife of the rich Uncle Malcolm Quince (Stamp). Not to mention a couple of other oddballs, the Maharajah (Akhtar), his bodyguard Sergei (Olaffson) and the strange son, Tobey (Walliams). 

With this odd-ball cast, the Spitz’s try to fit in with typical poor jokes, observations and some rather poor attempts at slapstick humour. Once this glorious yacht sets sail, the mystery really begins with the unexpected death of Malcolm Quince (Stamp) the guest’s benefactor. This is very important as he was about to sign a new will that was going to disown everyone in attendance (except the Spitz’s naturally). With the dead Uncle/husband/friend/father down for the count the Spitz’s use their sleuth like capabilities to ferret out the culprits while they are being chased by an inept French Gendarme, Inspector De La Croix (Boon) who believes that they are the culprits of the brutal murder. 

I did not really give out any spoilers as the movie is titled “Murder Mystery” and the trailers even allude to the fact that the Spitz’s are being framed for the crime, so with that in mind, let us talk about the positive of the film: First off, I have to say we loved the European scenery, we have walked down the same streets in Monte Carlo, have seen Nice and Villefranche from our own cruise ship and have walked the cobblestones of Italy. So for us, the film brought back lots of memories and enhanced the films enjoyment. The characters while kind of two dimensional and stereo typical of a murder mystery, were actually put together in a very amusing fashion and for this film it worked. We also enjoyed the chemistry between the two main characters (Anniston and Sandler). They worked extremely well together and sounded like a couple who had been married for years. While this is their second film together, I hope that they do others as this combination really sings.

The script and direction were also ok, it made us laugh when it was supposed to, and there was just enough mystery in the film to actually have us trying to figure out who the main killers were. While we suspected the culprits as there was some dramatic foreshadowing included throughout, we were not quite sure till near the end. 

What didn’t we like about the film? Well actually not that much. Sure the characters were at times a little bit cartoonish, but we expected that going into the film. So with that in mind, lets take a quick look at the cast of this film: 

Adam Sandler as Nick Spitz: Sandler actually did quite well in this role compared to some of his previous ventures. He has mastered the down and out, dopey husband role and when combined with the chemistry he has with Aniston, the film turned out well. Even his 1970’s porn star mustache actually fit his role well and it even reminded me of Tom Selleck in the TV show Magnum P.I. (this is also a bit of foreshadowing for you, if you have not yet seen this film.)  At times, Sandler’s characters can be a tad annoying or whiny, but in this film, the few times he went down that path, it actually worked. I have to say, for me, it was one his better films in the last few years. 

Jennifer Aniston as Audrey Spitz: Aniston has come along way since her time on Friends. We find her to be at her best in comedic roles where she can play off of a husband/boyfriend. As Sandler’s wife, she was a hairstylist who had an affinity for murder mystery’s and was actually more of a cop than her husband, which is what I think made this film work. As I previously mentioned, her and Sandler have great chemistry together and I would like to see them pair off in future films.  

Luke Evans as Charles Cavendish: Evans role of Cavendish was just the right part of snobbishness and foppery for the film. He has the British upper crust annoyance down and worked well with all of the principal and supporting cast. While it would make you wonder why a rich guy like him would invite the Spitz’s on his yacht, he provides just enough reason for us to go along with it in the end. An ok performance by Evans in this film.

Terence Stamp as Malcolm Quince: It seems that Stamp has been acting forever, and he still can deliver a role with the necessary gravitas that it requires. Even in this film, which is a comedy, he played the straight, stuck up stereotypical rich old man to a T. While it was a short role for Stamp, he still did it well and his character provides the impetus for the film. 

Gemma Arterton as Grace Ballard: Arterton also played her role quite well as the socialite/b-level movie start. While this film is pretty much a caricature anyways, she adds to the overall enjoyment. She delivered her lines well and had pretty good chemistry with the rest of the cast. It did take me a while to figure out who she was at first, as I knew I had watched her before. Lo and behold, after a quick look at IMDB, I see that she had been in several films that I liked (Clash of the Titans, Quantum of Solace). Overall, not bad, and I look forward to seeing her in future productions. 

David Walliams as Tobey Quince: Walliams played the bumbling son of Quince, and for his short role in the film, he did not do it too badly. With only limited screen time, his contribution was minimal, but still fitting for this film.  

Dany Boon as Inspector de la Croix: As the principal detective for this film, I felt that Boon was kind of a cross between Columbo and Inspector Clouseau from the Pink Panther. With more of a leaning to Clouseau. His muddled attempts at solving the mystery were humorous and played well against Sandler and Aniston. I had not seen him in any other films as his resume is pretty much centered in European films, but I did enjoy his performance nonetheless. 

Adeel Akhtar as Maharajah: Akhtar was another actor I had not really heard of before. I found his character of the Maharaja to be entertaining and actually quite funny. His character played an important enough role to give him enough screen time to actually make an impact in the film. A really enjoyable performance.

Luis Gerardo Mende as Juan Carlos Rivera: Mende is much like Akhtar, I had not heard of him before or really saw anything that he was in, but his role as Juan Carlos was very enjoyable. The broken English and stereotyped reactions were very funny to us. His character is pivotal to the films conclusion and was value added. Mende had great chemistry with all of his co-stars, and I hope that I will see him in future shows/movies.

Shioli Kutsuna as Suzi Nakamura: A minor character, but with seemingly great importance Kutsuna did an admirable job within the film. Her role was sufficient enough to add to the films enjoyment without trying to take away from the story itself. 

So, what did we think of this film, were we entertained? Well, this is a Sandler film, so we knew it was not going to win any awards, or cause us a great deal of investment into the characters or the plot itself. However, having said that, there were enough twists, chemistry, snappy dialogue and most importantly, the scenery kept us watching throughout. Even though it had many of the stereotypes, every cliché in the book and at times an infantile Sandler, we still managed to laugh and kept watching. Overall, not a bad timewaster and if you are fan of the genre, Sandler and Aniston, then by all means, watch this film and enjoy the ride. If your tastes are more cerebral, then you should give this a pass. 

Our rating: 4/10

If you are interested in other films, projects with the main cast, please consider the following recommendations:

Adam Sandler               Spanglish, 50 First Dates, I now pronounce you Chuck and Larry, Mr. Deeds, Click

Jennifer Aniston            Friends, Horrible Bosses, We’re the Millers, Derailed

Luke Evans                    Midway, Dracula Untold, The Girl on the Train, Furious 7

Terence Stamp              Valkyrie, Yes Man, Get Smart, Wanted, My Boss’s Daughter, Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace, Young Guns 

Gemma Arterton           Prince of Persia, The Escape, The Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, Clash of the Titans

Shioli Kutsuna               Deadpool 2

Till next time!

Cast:

Sam Worthington                      Lt. Rick Janssen

Taylor Shilling                           Dr. Abi Janssen

Tom Wilkinson                          Prof. Martin Collingwood

Agyness Deyn                           Dr. Freya Upton

Nathalie Emmanuel                   W.O. Tally Rutherford

As Ontario is in the midst of it’s third lockdown, and the weekend is upon us yet again, it is time to search NETFLIX or Amazon to find another film to entertain us, and yes, to subsequently review. We relegated to searching for older NETFILX or Amazon originals as Hollywood has pretty much stopped releasing any of their good titles till after the pandemic has subsided.  So with that in mind, we went to an old favourite and re-watched the Joker. We loved that film and it still entertains, even though it is the 2^ndtime I have watched it. I have previously reviewed this film, and if you wish to read my review, here is the link https://www.notinhalloffame.com/blogs/was-i-entertained/11081-review-joker-2019. After Joker, we started searching for another film to entertain, as we continued searching NETFLIX’s choice of films. 

We stopped at the “True History of the Kelly Gang” and gave it a try. Well, after about 15 minutes of that fecal matter, stopped the film, removed it from my list and started searching again. Lo and behold we found “The Titan” (2018). This film stars Sam Worthington, Taylor Shilling and Tom Wilkinson, pretty much all solid actors, and for the most part I have enjoyed their previous performances. Before I continue on…what is it with Worthington and choosing titles with the word “Titan” in it…does he have some sort of fixation with the term..? Who knows, anyways, if you have read to this point, I am sure you are wondering what “The Titan” is all about. Well, “The Titan” takes place in 2048, and just as Stephen Hawking has predicted, the earth is overpopulated with little to no resources left and everyone is expected to die in the near future. Mankind’s only choice apparently is to travel to Saturn’s moon, Titan. According to the film, (as this is a place where they went scientifically wrong), the only body in the solar system besides Earth with an atmosphere is the moon of “Titan”. (What happened to Venus, Mars, Jupiter etc, they all have atmospheres…. just a little plot hole here, but let me continue). However, the chief scientist of the Titan program, Prof. Collingwood (Wilkinson) states that Titan’s atmosphere is inhospitable for humans, so that is why he has gathered a number of NATO’s military personnel to undergo a great transformation that will allow Humans to live on Titan. Thus saving the human race while concurrently stripping that moon for resources to send back home. In order to do this, Collingwood (Wilkinson) must inject these international volunteers with a drug cocktail that will enable them to morph into a new breed of humanity. One that can withstand extreme cold, swim great distances, glide through the air and see like a cat, not to mention that their 5 senses are so amped up that they are almost superhuman. 

The rest of the film is basically the journey from normal homo-sapiens too homo-superior. We find that this journey is wrought with danger, some of the subjects don’t make it and Collingwood (Wilkinson) is really just an evil Dr. Frankenstein, Abi (Schilling) loves her husband unconditionally, and will do anything to prove it, while Lt. Rick (Worthington) is a dedicated family man and extremely mission focused. 

What did I like about the film? For starters, the first half of the film was actually quite well done. The acting was solid as was the storyline. There was solid chemistry between Abi (Schilling) and Rick (Worthington), and the co-stars all played well off of each other. I even liked that this was supposed to be a NATO operation/mission and all the “Volunteers” came from the various participating nations. One thing that I really liked, that in this film, they were not all mid level officers, there was a hodge-podge of non-commissioned members as well as some several junior officers. That is pretty much where the good of the film ended… and the really bad started with the commencement of the third act. 

In the third act, this movie just fell apart. We spent more time picking out the plot holes and laughing when we probably were not supposed to laugh, instead of sitting back and enjoying the film. The metamorphosis of the volunteers was starting to become ludicrous. The homo-superiors were starting to remind me of the film “Splice” and it ripped off not only that film, but in one instance “The Terminator” with a hint of “Avatar” …hmmm…didn’t Worthington also star in a Terminator movie as well as Avatar...at least he is stealing from himself. Collingwood (Wilkinson) also falls off of the rails and becomes pretty much crazy. The other supporting cast, either die horribly as they cannot handle the “change” or their chemistry with the remaining cast starts to fall apart. It almost feels like they either changed writers or directors mid stream and the feeling was WTF, lets just throw a bunch of special effects in the film, let most of them die and just wrap it up. This may not have been the case, but it sure felt like it. 

The special effects were done well and I also enjoyed the films location, a small island of the coast of Spain that was just beautiful. That is pretty much all the good of the this film. 

What didn’t I like? Well, besides numerous technical goofs, some continuity errors, and laissez faire attitude in the third act, the following items kind of made me scratch my head and wonder what the hell;

1. It is supposed to be 2048, yet everyone on this NATO base is driving 2018 Range Rovers that are pristine. Are they trying to say that there were no new models of vehicles made in 30 years? I would love to meet all the mechanics etc. that are making sure that these vehicles still run and look show room ready. No military vehicles look that good after 1 year, let alone 30;
2. The blatant stealing of the weaponized hand from Terminator and Splice. There could have been another variation for this new type of homo-superior;
3. So, the key soldiers have been mutated, and can only communicate via touch and sonar….so after all these mutations, they still know who they are, know their loved ones, yet have forgotten how to write and type to communicate? This was a horrible hole in the story;
4. Making them change to become blue in colour reminded me too much of Avatar and Worthington. This could have been different as well;
5. The world is overpopulated and polluted to hell, thus the reason for the trip to Titan, yet the NATO base is located on one of the more beautiful islands I have seen…trust me, most bases that I have been at are in politically expedient locations, or other armpits of the world, not on a pristine island and beach;
6. Janssen (Worthington) is a 1^stLt in the USAF, plus he is pushing the high side of 40. The only way he would be a Lt. still was if he was promoted from the ranks. Otherwise he would have been released/retired way before then. Since they did not allude that he was promoted from the ranks, they should have made him at least a Snr Captain or Major for believability.
7. In the initial briefing, there were a lot more soldiers and I observed numerous flags on the uniforms, however, once the next scene starts, the numbers seemed to be cut in half with no real explanation;
8. The weapons and uniforms for all the nation’s were pretty much todays uniforms. In 30 years, they would have changed their design pattern at least twice. I served for 29 years, and I can remember at least 3 different combat uniforms, 3 different work dress uniforms and 2 major changes in dress uniforms, plus numerous minor amendments over the years. I know for a fact, that all of our allies are pretty much the same in that regard. Now for the weapons, at least every 15-20 years, a new generation of small arms is incorporated into an armed forces. They were using weaponry of a current generation. They could have at least made a few modifications to them to make them look a little bit futuristic; and
9. There were also numerous cutting/continuity errors. Several scenes had Worthington struggling to put on some clothes, first it was on his right shoulder, cut scene, then his left shoulder, cut scene, back on his right. Placement of characters, food, and also seemed to jump a bit during some of the scene cuts. 

Theses were just some of the issues that I picked up during the film, but I am sure that there were many others that I had missed. Now, lets address the cast of this film. 

Sam Worthington as Lt. Rick Janssen: Lets forget some of the issues I mentioned above for a moment, I actually liked Worthington in this role, especially for the first half of the film. He was believable and demonstrated solid chemistry with his principal co-stars. It is only when he became mutated, that I started to lose it a bit, but in this regard, I truly believe that it is the fault of the director/script, not the actor. Worthington is a pretty decent action star, and I feel that he was not utilized properly in this film. 

Taylor Shilling as Dr. Abi Janssen: I found Shilling quite believable as the wife of our hero. Her emotions were pretty solid and the chemistry felt true between her and her husband (Worthington).  As with the remainder of the cast and the film writ large, in the first 2/3 of the film, I found her performance very solid, only in the final acts did it seem weak and contrived. Again, I feel not the fault of the actress, but of the circumstances she was put into.

Tom Wilkinson as Prof. Martin Collingwood: Wilkinson has been around forever, and I feel that I have enjoyed his more recent roles (last 15-20 years) more than what he did when he was younger. Never a leading man, but a solid supporting cast. His portrayal of the scientist that was the cause of it all was pretty believable, and I did enjoy his downfall. (Pretty much the only good part of the third act).

Agyness Deyn as Dr. Freya Upton: As the Igor to Wilkinson’s Frankenstein if you will, Deyn did a fair job portraying the assistant. Her character was developed just enough to believe that she could change sides and support the Janssen’s in their battle, and that she could see Collingwood (Wilkinson) for what he was. She actually looked familiar to us and we could quite place it till we checked IMDB and saw that she was in Clash of the Titan’s…. another film with Worthington as well. I am seeing a distinct patter here, taking ideas from his previous films, as well as former co-stars!

Nathalie Emmanuel as W.O. Tally Rutherford: Emmanuel is one of the other volunteers that is given the most screen time throughout the film besides Worthington. Her character is fairly developed and she displays descent chemistry with her co-stars. I liked her character till the final act, and again, for whatever reason that only the director and screenwriter knows, it just gets stupid. Up to that point, her character was well done and I actually enjoyed her in the film.

So, as with all reviews, were we entertained. Actually, we were…sort of. As I had mentioned previously, the first 2/3 of the film was pretty decent. It had some good character development, the script while not Oscar worthy, was fine, and even if it did have some mistakes/errors in it, we could live with them. The final third as indicated several time above is what really dragged the film down. But we did manage to sit through the whole thing. Would I recommend this film…hmm, well only if you are a Worthington fan and a fan of the Sci-Fi genre, and, if there is nothing else on; give it a try.  

Our rating:  3.5/10

If you are interested in other films and shows from our principal actors, please give the following recommendations a try:

Sam Worthington                      Clash of the Titans, Avatar, Hacksaw Ridge, Everest, Man on a Ledge

Taylor Shilling                           Orange is the New Black, Argo

Tom Wilkinson                          The Grand Budapest Hotel, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Valkyrie, John Adams, The Full Monty

Agyness Deyn                           Clash of the Titans

Nathalie Emmanuel                   Game of Thrones, Misfits, Furious 7

Till Next Time!

Cast:

Will Smith                                 Mike

Martin Lawrence                       Marcus

Vanessa Hudgens                      Kelly

Alexander Ludwig                     Dorn

Charles Melton                         Rafe

Paula Nunez                             Rita

Kate Del Castillo                        Isabel Aretas

Joe Pantoliano                          Captain Howard

Jacob Scipio                              Armando Aretas

Friday night is upon us again and it is time for another Movie to entertain us. While our home province has now entered it’s third lockdown since the pandemic has begun, we have become quite adept at selecting films and tv-shows to pass the time. For this week, we selected Bad Boys for Life. This is the 3^rdinstallment in the Bad Boys franchise and reunites Martin Lawrence and Will Smith again as “Edgy cops who will stop at nothing to catch the villain”. While this is a very formula driven film, it has also consistently produced good results and ensures that all are relatively entertained while watching it.

This film starts 25 years after the original Bad Boys (1995), and Marcus (Lawrence) and Mike (Smith) are racing through the city of Miami yet again.  Tires are screeching, sirens wailing, and sarcastic quips are flying between our two main characters. This style of dialogue works for Lawrence and Smith, sure it has been 25 years since the first installment and 17 since Bad Boys 2, but their chemistry is still strong. They have aged, (who hasn’t in 25 years) gotten a little heavier (especially Lawrence) again, who hasn’t; but their rapid fire one-liners are still as strong as ever. While this is a standard cop buddy movie (as were the last 2), this one seemed to remind me of 2 other films predominately, Lethal Weapon and Smith’s previous film “Gemini Man”. Many concepts and sub-plots were similar as well as the action sequences. Oh well, you can’t have originality every time…especially when it is the 3^rdfilm in the trilogy. 

Back to the plot; we find out Marcus (Lawrence) is a new grandfather and has decided to retire from the force, much to Mike’s (Smith) chagrin. Concurrently, we are introduced to the villainess for the movie Isabel Aretas (Del Castillo), who is trapped in prison….well sort-of. She manages to escape in a very bloody fashion in order to return to her son and the Cartel that she once ran with her husband. Seeking vengeance for her incarceration, she dispatches her son to eradicate all who were involved in her capture and imprisonment. At this point we see her son has more skill in the assassination department than all of Seal Team 6 and Spetsnaz combined. Able to ride a motorcycle while sniping distant targets, more moves than Bruce Lee and accuracy better than Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry, the prodigal son of Aretas (Del Castillo), Armando (Scipio) is all of these rolled up into one. Giving a little spoiler here, Armando (Scipio) manages to wreak vengeance for his mother except when it comes to Mike (Smith). He is severely wounded and is touch and go in the hospital. 

While on his deathbed, Marcus (Lawrence) prays to the almighty to save his friend and partner, and if he does, then he will forgo violence for the remainder of his life. Showing the strength of prayer, Mike (Smith) recovers and joins his former girlfriend, Lt Rita (Nunez) and her new team of hot shot crime fighters called AMMO (seriously, who comes up with some of these acronyms) who use technology instead of street smarts to capture the bad guys. Somewhat unwillingly we find Marcus (Lawrence) join the team and all of them go forth to battle the Cartel, The Cartel’s boss and prodigal son, with their main goal to trike vengeance for the loss of their comrades, while remaining lawful all the time. 

Sure, I gave a bit of the story line out, but c’mon, it follows the traditional buddy-cop movie formula, especially once we are in the state of multiple sequels. We all know how it is going to end, there are a few twists and turns in the pursuit that most people will have seen coming, and a mild surprise or two. Did this takeaway from the film? Not really, we found the film action packed, with a lot of excitement. Great special effects were used in combination with a snappy dialogue, and highly charged action sequences. While we had a good idea on what would happen throughout the film, it was still fun to watch it unveil as the film progressed. The chemistry between all the characters were clearly evident, especially between our two heroes (Marcus (Lawrence) and Mike (Smith)). All of the supporting cast reacted and interacted well with each other as well. Even the fact that our heroes were getting a little older, their physical actions were not too far beyond belief. I especially enjoyed watching Lawrence as the aging cop…he reminded me a great deal of Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon and if he was playing an homage to that role, then it was well done!

While on the subject of the cast, lets take a look at the main players in this film.

 Will Smith as Mike: I have been a fan of Smith since his “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” days. He is an extremely versatile actor who can play the cut-up or a dramatic role with equal ease. For the most part, I really enjoy his films, sure there have been a few stinkers…I am thinking “After Earth” as a prime example, but he has also made some fantastic films in my opinion. In the case of Bad Boys for Life, Smith was back too normal and provided a very admirable performance. Even though he is in his mid-50’s, he can still carry the action portion of a film and his sense of humour has not waned. Quick with the fists, guns or quips he was fun to watch in this film. As I mentioned previously, his chemistry with Lawrence is proven and continues to entertain. While this is not his best performance, it is still fun to watch and if you are a fan of the genre and Smith, then this film is for you.

Martin Lawrence as Marcus: Though not a great fan of Lawrence overall, I find his performances with Smith is where he is best. Buddy films where he can bounce his own wit off of his co-stars is right in his wheelhouse, and in Bad Boys, he does it extremely well. I did appreciate the fact that he played off of the fact that he is not 25 years old, and he can’t move like he used to. It helped make his character believable in this film. As stated above, he does have a great chemistry with Smith, and I do enjoy when they do something together.

Vanessa Hudgens as Kelly: Hudgnis played Kelly, one of the AMMO crowd. In this film, she was supposed to be the tough cop, who looked cute and could flirt or shoot a gun with equal ease. Well, to me, I found her character lacking and actually kind of annoying. I have not really cared for her characters in many of the roles I have seen her in previously, but that could just be my taste in films. I had a hard time buying her character (or her) in this role, maybe casting Michelle Rodriguez would have been a better choice, except that she is a bit older to play a young smart-ass cop. But Rodriguez does have the attitude that would have helped the character. Hudgens’ character was a smaller supporting role, so it looks like she is using roles like this to develop a persona that can be called upon for action roles of the future. Personally, I found her performance lacking and she requires more time and experience in action flicks to carry off a believable performance. 

Alexander Ludwig as Dorn: Another of the AMMO crowd, Ludwig’s character Dorn, was the big burly Viking who is scared to cause to much damage, that is why he works with the computers all the time. I appreciated this version and role and found it to be a nice change from his roles of late (i.e. Vikings). I liked his character, and even though it did not have a lot of screen time, I found his scenes were done well. 

Charles Meltonas Rafe: Rafe was another member of AMMO and played the annoying young guy very well. He was pretty new to me and I had to look him up on IMDB and found that I had seen him on Riverdale (for at least the few episodes that I could stand). However, having said that, Melton’s version of Rafe was pretty good, I especially liked the ‘conflict” between him and Mike (Smith) trying too out-hotshot each other. Those scenes were funny and well presented. I am looking forward to seeing him in some future production where he may have a greater role. 

Paula Nunez as Rita: Nunez’s portrayal of Lt Rita, the AMMO team leader, and also old flame of Mike (Smith) was ok. I found her scenes as the Team leader to be less believable than that of being Mike’s ex girlfriend. I just did not get the “tough” vibe from her, again as far as casting choices, maybe Alice Braga from “Queen of the South” would have been a better choice. As a Latina actress who has predominately done Mexican productions, I have no gauge to judge her against any previous performances. However, having said that, I had seen her in only one other feature and that was the series “The Purge” where I though she did quite well.  

Kate Del Castillo as Isabel Aretas: As the principal villainess, Del Castillo carried that performance and role very well. She came across as evil very easily, adding just a hint of sexiness. Good casting in my opinion. I also found her scenes with Smith to be done quite well and it felt that the history between them was believable. I had only seen her in a few roles previously, but I did like her in this film. My wife and I both found that her version of the villain for the film was quite well done. 

Joe Pantoliano as Captain Howard: What can I say about Pantoliano, as a character actor, he excels. This is his third foray as Captain Howard and he wears it like a comfortable shoe. He has chemistry with the two prime characters and continues to entertain as the blustery Captain, who always ultimately gives in too his favourite protégés. A fun performance from a solid supporting character actor.  

Jacob Scipio as Armando Aretas: Scipio did an admirable job as the son of the villainess. His action scenes were well done, and his interactions with his mother as well as with Mike (Smith) were admirable for a relatively new actor. I have not seen him in any other production so I can’t compare this role to anything done previously, but I feel that he has the potential to have a pretty good action career. However, this role was supporting, and required him to mainly shoot, punch, kick or ride a motorcycle, so we did not really get the opportunity to see his full range. Maybe in a future film we will see some diversity from him. I will be looking to see what he does in the future, I see he is in a show that I want to watch “Tom Clancy’s: Without Remorse”, and I will pay attention to his character to see if there is any growth in skill. 

Overall, were we entertained? Yes, we were. My wife and I enjoyed Bad Boys for Life, it was full of action, witty dialogue and a true and tried storyline. Sure, there was some rip-offs from other films, (i.e. Lethal Weapon), but it was ok. I did not expect an Oscar Award performance or film, just a film that I could lose a few hours and enjoy the ride. I would recommend this film to anyone who likes action movies (especially cop-buddy films) or is a fan of Smith. To us, this film was better than the 2^ndone, but not as good as the first, so at least it did not fall under the trilogy curse. So if you are skimming through your NETFLIX menu, and if you have not checked this one out yet, give it a try and enjoy the ride.

Our rating 6.5/10

If you are interested in other films with the key actors, please consider the following recommendations.

Will Smith                     I am Legend, Men in Black, Bad Boys, I Robot, Concussion, Ali, The Pursuit of Happyness, Hitch

Martin Lawrence           Bad Boys, Bad Boys 2, Death at a Funeral

Alexander Ludwig         Vikings (series), Lone Survivor, Hunger Games

Paula Nunez                 The Purge (series)

Kate Del Castillo            Jane the Virgin (series), Weeds (series), The 33

Joe Pantoliano              The Sopranos (series), The Fugitive, Bad Boys, Congo, U.S. Marshalls, The Matrix,