masonfisk

A 2019 direct to video sequel to Spike Lee's 2006 film. Following in the footsteps of the original (at least plot-wise) we have a Federal Reserve bank overtaken by a band of thieves, led by a quiet, intense woman (somewhat refreshing!) who the authorities believe are stealing the gold bullion inside but as per the predecessor that's not the name of the game here. A brash young New Orleans police detective/negotiator (the film takes place in the New York) comes in to talk the thieves down while being partnered w/a federal agent who's written the book on negotiation tactics (the film opens w/her teaching a class on the subject). Fearing this was going to be a quick cash grab just because of the notoriety of the title & Spike's exclusion (he wanted to make a sequel but for some reason the studio denied him) made me avoid this when I first saw the title but for what it is, it's not bad. Deciding to use a bunch of non-celebrities through out the film makes this follow-up its own (we do see Denzel Washington's face on a FBI office wall & the case from the first film is mentioned a few times...I mean why wouldn't it?) thing w/o dragging the memory of the first film's premise through the mud.

A disappointing vehicle for recent Oscar winners Ke Huy Quan & Ariana DeBose. Quan is a successful realtor who is as glad putting new families into homes as he is baking heart shaped cookies for home showings. All that changes when a pair of hitmen, one played by former footballer Marshawn Lynch, put a beating on him since his former flame, DeBose, who had gone into hiding for embezzling some of Quan's brother's, Daniel Wu, cash has resurfaced. Hoping to avoid any turmoil & bloodshed becomes the trials of Job as Quan has to navigate the frustrating moving pieces of this chessboard before the end comes which leaves a heap of smashed bodies in its wake. Nearly DOA from the first scene, this is the kind of film which isn't made anymore (I kept remarking to my friend this film reminded me of that Mark Wahlberg starrer The BIg Hit, another actioner w/an unhealthy dose of bloodletting & humor) & the glee in which the presentation keeps barreling forward in its momentum does not do a lick of good to convince audiences what they're watching is worth their time. Fellow Goonies alum, Sean Astin, pops up as Quan's boss, Lio Tipton plays one of Quan's employees, Mustafa Shakir plays a hitman w/Rhys Darby, from the Jumanji reboots, is Wu's bookmaker.

The current MCU film in release which reunites the dreggy villains of past films led by Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Sebastian Stan & Hannah John-Kamen who are reunited when they arrive at a secret facility to off themselves (on the machinations of their handler, Julia-Louis Dreyfus, who is in the midst of a government impeachment & wants to clean her dirtied slate). Into this mix is a new figure, played by Lewis Pullman (son of Bill), a man who was experimented on who Dreyfus thought was dead & buried now on the cusp of realizing his superpowers which coupled w/his troubled mental state becomes a powerful foe to our anti-heroes especially when Dreyfus gets her hooks into him. Definitely an improvement over the last MCU outing which focuses on the characters' standing in the world & how they can make themselves matter in light of the calamity which they find themselves in which director Jake Schreier (Robot & Frank/Paper Towns) mines to maximum effect.