Film: John Wick Chapter 4

 

GENRE: Action
RATING: R for lots of violence and some language
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 49 minutes
PLATFORM: Movie Theatre
STARRING: Keanu Reeves (The Matrix, Speed, Toy Story 4, 47 Ronin)
Bill Skarsgard (It, Eternals); Donnie Yen (Rogue One, Ip Man, Mulan)
DIRECTOR: Chad Stahelski (John Wick 1-3)
WRITERS: Shay Hatten (John Wick 3); Michael Finch (Hitman: Agent 47)
PLOT: John Wick is on a mission to take down The High Table.    

FULL DISCLOSURE: I’ve enjoyed the first three John Wick films.

STORY STUFF: There is some good world building going on amongst the plethora of fight sequences. I found the first fight sequence in Osaka goes on a little long. There are three takeaways I have from this film. 1. If you own an assassin’s hotel, don’t bother glass encasing your art, it’s just going to get destroyed. 2. It takes a whole lot of violence for German dance clubbers to stop dancing and leave. 3. There is no police presence at the Arc de Triomphe or anywhere else on Paris streets.         

ACTING STUFF: Just a lot of people beating each other up. Reeves performs well and gives an occasional ‘yeah’. Laurence Fishburne is over the top as usual. Ian McShane is his classy self along with the final performance of Lance Reddick. Skarsgard is perfectly slimy. Yen also brings a lot to the table as a blind assassin.  

ARTISTIC STUFF: I really noticed the production value of this film. While the first John Wick was pretty low key, this one goes all out. There is great use of scale and colour. I even enjoyed the ceiling fan in a particular scene. There is also a great bird’s eye view of a bunch of gunplay in a French house. The action sequences a pretty similar to previous films but if it ain’t broke . . . 

VERDICT: Four stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You have enjoyed previous John Wick films.
UPCOMING REVIEW:  Air

Film: A Good Person

GENRE: Drama
RATING: R for language and lots of drugs
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 9 minutes
PLATFORM: Movie Theatre
STARRING: Florence Pugh (Little Women, Midsommar, Black Widow)
Morgan Freeman (Shawshank Redemption, The Dark Knight, RED)
DIRECTOR: Zach Braff (Going in Style, Garden State, Wish I Was Here)
WRITER: Braff (Garden State, Wish I Was Here)
PLOT: Allison’s life falls apart after surviving a fatal accident.    

FULL DISCLOSURE: I am a huge fan of Zach Braff and his work.            

STORY STUFF: This film is a compelling look at addiction and how hard it is to move forward. This is definitely the darkest and saddest of Braff’s films but I was engrossed the majority of the time. I wish there were a few more lighter moments and that the running time was a tad shorter. The intensity of the addiction plays out well. There are also a number of heartfelt speeches that got me in the feels.       

ACTING STUFF: The cast is incredible. Pugh plays the messed up Allison perfectly; she is riveting to watch. Freeman is always a pro and I could listen to him talk for hours. Celeste O’Connor (Ghostbusters: Afterlife) holds her own as an angry daughter trying to cope. I also enjoyed the work of Chinaza Uche (Dickinson) who I’ve never seen before. Molly Shannon (SNL) is annoying at times but I believe she’s supposed to be this time. Braff gets the most out of his ensemble as everyone brings their “A” game to this film.

ARTISTIC STUFF: While there a couple songs that really resonate (the first song of the end credits), the soundtrack is not as wonderful as Braff’s previous efforts. There are always a few cinematography flourishes in Braff’s work that make me see things from a different perspective; this film has some great ones especially in some of the drugged up scenes.      

VERDICT: Four stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You enjoy drama and Zach Braff’s previous films.
UPCOMING REVIEW:  John Wick 4

Film: Scream VI

GENRE: Horror
RATING: R for bloody violence & language
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 3 minutes
PLATFORM: Movie Theatre
STARRING: Melissa Barrera (Scream V, In the Heights)
Jenna Ortega (Wednesday); Courtney Cox (Friends, Scream)
DIRECTORS: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett (Scream, V/H/S)
WRITERS: James Vanderbilt (Zodiac, Amazing Spiderman)
Gary Busick (Scream V, Ready or Not)
PLOT: The survivors of Woodsboro are now in New York City and still being terrorized by Ghostface.    

FULL DISCLOSURE: This is only horror franchise I watch.            

STORY STUFF: Scream VI is fun with its meta horror antics. It sticks to its formula of big murder at the start, a run-down of the rules, lots of chases around rooms, and a big location for the final showdown. Of course, there are twists put in to add to the fun. I always like the mystery of who is behind the mask. There were a few things that bothered me. Too many people are surviving multiple knife wounds. Why does someone have a gigantic ladder in their small apartment? Why don’t characters text instead of calling? Characters should really spend more time on Ancestry.com. I would hope that after someone killed a bunch of people in say an Austin Powers mask, the city would stop selling Austin Powers masks, for a little while at least.    

ACTING STUFF: Barrera and Ortega play the heroines well though it is hard to separate Ortega from Wednesday Addams at times. Cox keeps falling into the same Gale Weathers patterns but that’s fine for a legacy character. I found Henry Czerny (Mission: Impossible) as odd casting. I enjoyed newcomer Jack Champion (Avatar 2) but got tired of Dermot Mulroney (My Best Friend’s Wedding) pretty quickly.

ARTISTIC STUFF: For a film touting New York as its locale, there were only a couple scenes that made good use of it: a bodega confrontation and the subway. I guess Ghostface can’t be killing people in Times Square. There’s not much to say about the artistic stuff. The sound effects of the stabbings were well done?     

VERDICT: Three and a half stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You’ve seen the other Scream films.
UPCOMING REVIEW:  John Wick IV