In the mood for a silly gross comedy? THE CLEAN UP CREW might suit your fancy, since it’s got a cast of oddballs, some campy overacting, all building to a hefty body count. Gear yourself for something between THE GANG THAT COULDN’T SHOOT STRAIGHT and HOT FUZZ, with a dash of JOHNNY DANGEROUSLY. If not for quality, then for tenor.
For starters, Antonio Banderas plays a gang boss who is just plain nuts. He struts and frets his hour upon the stage, overreacting to everything and spouting excerpts from Machiavelli like a professor on crack. He looks and acts like the polar opposite of the suave romantic figure he usually portrays, whether in comedies or dramas. A couple of corrupt Feds are on his payroll covering up his substantial illegal enterprise in exchange for a big monthly cut of the profits. In cash, of course.
Two guys try to steal the case of bribe money from Banderas’ couriers. Things go badly for all, causing the Feds to hassle Banderas for their booty under threat of ending the protection and pursuing the policing they should have been doing. Our intrepid quartet of crime-scene cleaners (Melissa Leo, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Ekaterina Baker, Swen Temmel) stumbles upon the missing case and starts arguing about what to do with the $2 mil within. One of the would-be robbers shows up, explaining how doomed they all are unless it’s returned to Banderas. ASAP!
That’s when the comical mayhem really kicks in, with a whirlwind of moves and countermeasures that leads to a surfeit of bloodshed. The cleaners find themselves in for more than they could have expected. Beyond that, the plot details don’t matter. Just let it happen.
Credit goes to director Jon Keeyes for setting a brisk pace befitting the silliness with efficiently-executed action sequences. Also, kudos to whoever it was that convinced Banderas to embrace the opportunity to go so far over the top as a comic capo.
THE CLEAN UP CREW is available on digital platforms and Video on Demand on August 20, 2024.
I’m guessing everyone’s ready for the start of Summer movie season, anxiously awaiting the first batch of action blockbusters, slapstick comedies, and, of course, the superheroes (and superheroines). Well, we’re going to have to wait a bit longer as the vaccines try to eradicate the pandemic that still has lots of screen venues shuttered. Yeah, we’ve gone over a year without a multiplex trip to the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), so perhaps we need something to keep us going until the BLACK WIDOW finally arrives, after lots of delays (but her stingers are charged up for July, for sure). This weekend we’ve got a super-powered duo of lady crusaders (though without capes) ready to fight for justice. And laughs. Yes, one of the current queens of comedy teams up with a beloved Oscar-winner to put a satiric spin on the genre. Plus it’s streaming exclusively, so no need to seek out a cinema “safe haven”. Ah, but things are far from safe (I imagine a big spike in property damage claims) when those craven criminals face the power of THUNDER FORCE.
But first, as with most comic book-inspired epics, we get a brief origin story, told with lots of “pop art” comic panels. Way back in 1983 mysterious cosmic rays bombarded the planet. While not affecting average citizens, they gifted sociopaths with various forms of super abilities. The media dubbed these new kinds of criminals “Miscreants”. On a fateful Chicago “L” train ride, husband and wife geneticists who were working on a way to combat them became the latest victims. Their preteen daughter Emily vowed to continue their research. But first, she’s got to get through public school. Luckily the teased “brainiac” is befriended by the tough though much less cerebral Lydia. The two become inseparable pals through the grade levels, but eventually have a falling out in high school, sending them on their own adult pathways. Cut to today as the big high school reunion approaches. Beer-drinking, blue-collar worker Lydia (Melissa McCarthy) decides to reach out to “Em” who actually replies to her text, saying that she may drop in. But when she’s a “no show”, Lydia decides to try and see her at her brand new downtown Chicago division of Stanton Labs. Emily (Octavia Spencer) is surprised and delighted to see her but needs to finish up some work and asks Lydia to wait in her office. Unfortunately, it’s connected to the main lab, and a slightly ‘buzzed’ Emily initiates the big new project. When she awakes, Lydia is told by Emily that she’s been injected by a “one-of-a-kind” serum that increases one’s strength, which had been intended for her. Instead, Emily will continue with the other treatment to produce the powers of invisibility, all to “even the playing field” with the Miscreants. The two are aided by a short-tempered secret government liaison Allie (Melissa Leo) and Emily’s genius teen daughter (her dad’s long gone), Tracy (Taylor Mosby). Once Lydia and Emily finish their treatments and training they suit up as “Thunder Force” (or “The Hammer” and “Bingo” to some) and take on the Miscreants that play a pivotal role in the city’s hotly contested mayoral race. But can the duo stop the deadly dangerous Laser (Pom Klementieff) and the criminal Crab (Jason Bateman), who may have connections to the megalomaniac tycoon turned candidate who calls himself The King (Bobby Cannavale), before the Windy City citizens cast their ballots? More importantly, can these former BFFS put aside their past squabbles and become the heroes the city, well maybe the world, desperately needs?
Once again, McCarthy exercises her considerable physical comedy skills, this time with an interesting unique twist. Instead of doing damage to her character (actual injuries and pride), her super strength turns Lydia into a true human “wrecking ball” as her untapped aggression often does more harm than good (we’re constantly told that “nobody was hurt”). Otherwise, she’s recreating lots of elements from previous roles, the tough coarse exterior that eventually melts to reveal a heart of gold, All through the battles, Ms. McCarthy somehow displays a real graceful balance, as though the specials serums have unlocked the prima ballerina within as she twirls and catapults into the mayhem. For the most part, Spencer is regulated to straight ma…”person”, the “smartie” who gets agitated by Lydia’s low-class antics. It’s not till the story’s mid-point where Emily really opens up and pushes through her fears about leaving the lab and bopping the baddies. It’s then that the TF team really works thanks to their personality conflicts. She’s all planning and reason while Lydia lives up to her “Hammer” nickname by smashing nearly everything in sight. The other “straight” is probably Leo’s Allie who has little to do as the needling authority figure/ “party pooper”. It’s a shame that her role is little more than an uptight pants suit. Mosby brings a bright youthful energy to the story as Tracy, who is exposed to the fun side of life by Lydia, much as she did with her mom. Perhaps the film’s biggest scene-stealer is the laid-back Bateman who makes the most of his clunky/retro “monster man” vibe. With his crab arms, always exposed by short-sleeved shirts. he seems a not-so-distant cousin to man/beast late show combos like THE FLY (the 50s not 80s). And Bateman can still destroy with his snarky, almost under his breath line delivery, though he sideways “runaway” is a killer sight gag. His Crab is certainly more interesting than Cannavale’s “The King” who bellows, struts, and screams in a not-so-subtle riff on another recent business titan turned politico. Luckily he shares many of his scenes with Klementieff who brings a sultry sense of silky menace to her volatile Laser, a cat-like sparkplug that delights in taunting her prey before showering them with deadly needles of lightening (actually a much better version of the Spidey villain Electro).
Directing his spouse (Ms. McCarthy) for the fifth time is Ben Falcone, who wrote the script and gives himself a nice small role as The Crab’s number two. This effort fits squarely into the middle-quality range of the other collaborations. The big action scenes work both as thrill rides and as parodies of the now nearly standard super “throw-downs” (CGI-check, wire-work-double check, etc.). But a lot of it does fall flat, especially an 80s rock ballad video fantasy that causes TF’s first big action sequence to screech to a halt. Prior to that too much time was given to easy sight gags of Lydia hovering too close to computer cameras (yeah the nostrils don’t work the third time) and the gross-out (literal) gags of her slurping raw chicken meat (the serum makes her crave the slimy stuff). These indulgences make the film seem bloated at 105 minutes. The same goes for the bits concerning Lydia and Emily’s difficulty in getting in and out of their souped-up set of wheels (since Em was always part of the program shouldn’t they have designed something a tad less tiny). And, as I mentioned, the main bad guy isn’t that compelling. However, kudos to taking a few jabs at the boss/henchmen cliches as The Crab wonders aloud if The King should be destroying the staff when things don’t go his way. There must be a better way to inspire the rest without depleting the crew, ya’ know? And the Chicago locations look fabulous, although most of the flick was shot in Georgia (just as the duo’s previous THE BOSS). Once again, this is better than some, but it comes nowhere near McCarthy’s glorious work with Paul Feig (hope they’ve got another project in mind). But if you’re in the need of a superhero cinema flix and don’t mind the playful shots at the genre then you may have some fitful fun suiting up with the THUNDER FORCE. But as Lydia says of their spandex, “After a while, it’s pretty gamey!”.
1.5 Out of 4
THUNDER FORCE streams exclusively on Netflix beginning Friday, April 9, 2021.
BODYBROKERSwhichis directed and written byJohn Swab (Run with the Hunted, Let Me Make You a Martyr) and stars Frank Grillo (The Purge franchise, Captain America franchise, The Grey), Melissa Leo (Prisoners, The Fighter, Frozen River), Jack Kilmer (The Nice Guys, Palo Alto), Michael K. Williams (12 Years a Slave, “Boardwalk Empire,” “The Wire”), Jessica Rothe (Happy Death Day franchise), and Alice Englert (Beautiful Creatures, Ginger & Rosa). Check out the trailer:
One of the key takeaways from the film is that unfortunately, drug treatment facilities are organized as a multi-billion dollar insurance scandal rather than a center created to help individuals with addiction. Director John Swab saw this first hand, which inspired him to create the film.
Utah and Opal are junkies living on the streets of rural Ohio until a seemingly chance encounter with the enigmatic Wood (Michael Kenneth Williams) brings them to Los Angeles for treatment. While Utah finds sobriety with the help of the treatment center shrink (Academy Award®-Winner Melissa Leo), he soon learns that rehab is not about helping people—it’s merely a cover scheme for a multibillion dollar fraud operation, enlisting addicts to recruit other addicts. Seduced by the money, but troubled by the hypocrisy, Utah must decide between what will make him rich, and what will save Opal.
BODY BROKERS stars Jack Kilmer, Michael K. Williams, Jessica Rothe, Alice Englert, Peter Greene, Owen Campbell, Sam Quartin, Thomas Dekker, with Frank Grillo and Melissa Leo
THE EQUALIZER 2 is a case where ‘more of the same’ would have been just fine but somehow they screwed this up. The powerful director/actor team of Antoine Fuqua and Denzel Washington gave us THE EQUALIZER in 2014, a pulpy urban revenge thriller that had all the trappings of a tired Hollywood genre effort: a loner with a mysterious past, a young hooker with a heart of gold that provided the catalyst for his return to action, and an army of sneering Russian gangsters for him to dispatch in all variety of gruesome manner. But it worked surprisingly well, with a weird, electrifying life of its own thanks to Washington’s brooding presence and Fuqua’s dazzling direction. It also helped that they kept the scope small, focusing on its hero’s simple existence in Boston. The paint-by-numbers sequel, which opens things up with some globe-hopping tangents in Istanbul and Belgium, is far inferior with less violence and no emotional affect.
Washington is back in THE EQUALIZER 2 as retired CIA operative Robert McCall who, when not rescuing kidnapped children in Turkey, makes a living driving for Lyft (no mention is made of why he lost his job at Home Depot – probably something to do with the mangled corpses he left there). When his former CIA boss Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo) is murdered in Brussels, McCall unleashes his particularly lethal set of skills on those responsible. I barely remember Ms Leo from part one, so her demise meant little to me, but the film’s central plot revolves around her murder and with so many red herrings and double-crosses, it’s hard to keep allegiances straight. The highlight of part one was a remarkable skull-smashing, corkscrew-through-the-jaw sequence in which McCall dispensed with five Russkies while checking the seconds on his watch. Part two attempts to recreate this in a scene where McCall similarly dispatches a hotel room full of finance-industry white boys after they sexually assaulted a young woman and dumped her in his Lyft. That stopwatch is back as is the way McCall visually assesses his surroundings, but the scene has far less impact, in part because all these bros are still alive at the end of it. But it’s still the best scene in the sequel, which goes downhill from there. See, though still bad-ass, this is the (relatively) kinder, gentler Robert McCall, a killing machine who spends a great deal of time passing out books and caring for his neighbors. These include an Indian woman whose garden is vandalized, a teenager (Ashton Sanders) he’s determined to save from the Thug Life and an old Jewish man (Orson Bean) still grieving for a sister from who he was separated during the Holocaust. Where the original’s crazy showdown finale took place in a big-box hardware store where McCall had access to nail guns, blow torches and barbed-wire nooses, the sequel climaxes with a lackluster, drawn-out gun battle between McCall and a quartet of bland villains in a rainstorm. On the plus side, Washington is as charismatic as ever and throws out a few memorable quips (“don’t forget my 5-star rating” he reminds someone he’s just crippled). Boston locations are again used to strong effect but the action lags and this sequel is one of this summer’s bigger disappointments.
Check out the first trailer for director Antoine Fuqua’s THE EQUALIZER 2, starring Oscar winner Denzel Washington.
Washington, who was nominated for Best Actor in 2017 and 2018 for FENCES and ROMAN J. ISRAEL, ESQ., returns to one of his signature roles in the first sequel of his career. Robert McCall serves an unflinching justice for the exploited and oppressed – but how far will he go when that is someone he loves?
The film also stars Bill Pullman and Melissa Leo.
Antoine Fuqua is best known for his 2001 Academy Award-winning film TRAINING DAY, and recently THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN and SOUTHPAW. Fuqua also helmed 2004’s KING ARTHUR and the excellent BROOKLYN’S FINEST, one of 2009’s best films of the year.
Margaret Qualley as Sister Cathleen, in NOVITIATE. Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics (c)
NOVITIATE focuses on a young woman preparing to become a nun in the early 1960s, just as the Catholic church is poised on the brink of the sweeping changes of Vatican II.
Maggie Betts wrote and directed this drama about a 17-year-old named Cathleen and her fellow novices as they move towards taking their first vows as nuns. It is certainly not the first film to give viewers a peek inside a convent as young women prepare for religious life, and, in fact, the film mentions the 1959 Audrey Hepburn film “A Nun’s Story. What makes this film different is that it takes place at a pivotal moment for the Catholic Church, just as the changes of Vatican II were being put in place. Catholics know what a radical shift Vatican II was. In its attempt to modernize the church, it made sweeping changes to long-standing traditions and practices, and even non-Catholics are familiar with some changes, such as dropping the Latin mass in favor of one the local language. The changes were controversial and also instituted quickly, which divided many Catholic communities, and remain an issue with some traditionalists still. The changes impacted the lives of nuns as well as all Catholics, altering old traditions and practices nearly overnight. In some ways, the film is as much an exploration of the reaction to Vatican II as a young woman’s experience in a convent.
The film primarily focuses on 17-year-old Cathleen Norris (Margaret Qualley). Cathleen attended a Catholic school on scholarship, despite being raised by a single mother who is an atheist. Her mother Nora (Julianne Nicholson) seems to have been raised Catholic but long ago lost interest in going to church and developed a cynical attitude towards religion, possibly around the time Cathleen’s unreliable, drunken father (Chris Zylka) left for good. It is just Mom and Cathleen, and so Mom could not be more shocked when her daughter decides to become a nun.
The secondary focus of the film is the convent’s head, the Reverend Mother, played brilliantly by Melissa Leo. Reverend Mother (she has no other name) rules the convent with an iron fist and a fervent faith. There is a bit of drill sergeant in Reverend Mother but one senses she is so demanding because she wants only the best ones to serve her beloved God. The church and convent life define her and also form her comforting home – until Vatican II appears. She is someone who treasures the solid, predictable world in which she lives, and she does not like change, something her world is about to undergoing in abundance.
The story follows these two characters on parallel tracks. The drama does explore issues of faith, mostly from Kathleen’s individual point of view, but does not shy away from challenging it either. We get to know the whole group of postulates, as the young novices are called in the first months before they take their first vow and become novitiates. It is a weeding out process as well as a chance for the young women to taste life as a nun and decide if it is really for them.
As the postulates, and the some of the nuns who work with them, work through their issues, the Reverend Mother undergoes a crisis, It is more a crisis of identity than of faith, brought on by her reaction to Vatican II. At first, she does not even want to share the new rules with the cloistered nuns in the convent, or even acknowledge their existence. Her outbursts of temper become more frequent and her behavior increasingly unbalanced. We are unsure if Reverend Mother is simply going mad, as an elderly nun does at one point, or if it is the pressure of the changes wrought by Vatican II, until a visit by a priest makes matters clearer.
One of the things that is unexpectedly striking about NOVITIATE is cinematographer Kat Westergaard’s beautiful photography. Everything looks lovely, from the rural Tennessee countryside where Cathleen grows up, to the stately convent grounds, to the attractive nuns and pretty young women trying out the life religious. The consistently lush, perfectly-framed photography sometimes seems a bit at odds with disturbing events unfolding on screen.
NOVITIATE features some fine performances, particularly Melissa Leo. At first, the Reverend Mother seems a one-dimensional villain, or perhaps someone descending into madness. But Melissa Leo gives us a more layered character, and deeper insight into her pain, originating in a lesser-known aspect of Vatican II changes regarding nuns. A chilling scene between her and a priest, who has arrived to see that Vatican II is enforced speaks volumes about power within the church.
Margaret Qualley turns in a strong performance as Cathleen, who copes with issues of faith as well as separating from her non-religious mother, who neither understands or really accepts her daughter’s decision to become a nun. NOVITIATE is most interesting when it takes us inside Cathleen’s individual exploration of faith.
As a peek inside the experience of becoming a nun, NOVITIATE does not really improve on the Audrey Hepburn movie. Although it updates how the story is told for modern audiences and incorporates some topics, such as lesbian feelings, that could not be part of the earlier film, it feels less authentic in other ways, despite its very attractive cast. Why this young woman, who was clearly inspired by a nun she had as a teacher, would choose to join a strict, cloistered order instead of a teaching one is never explained. The very strictness of this order is something the film seems to mine for melodramatic effect.
NOVITIATE is an uneven film, that succeeds best when it focuses on the spiritual journey of its young protagonist. But what might make it most interesting to watch is Melissa Leo’s fiery performance as the brittle Reverend Mother.
Depending on your point-of-view, Edward Snowden is a hero or a traitor. When whistle-blower Snowden leaked documents to the public, through the Guardian newspaper, that exposed the United States government’s massive surveillance and data collection on own citizens, the news exploded around the world, sparked outrage among the American people (either that their government was spying on them or that Snowden revealed it), and sent Snowden on the run and into hiding.
Hero or villain, few would deny that what Edward Snowden did is a worthy subject for a serious film. It even sounds like the subject might be a good fit for director Oliver Stone, a filmmaker famous for his affinity for conspiracy theories and for his libertarian-to-liberal views. But anyone expecting a very liberal slant to this film will be surprised, as Stone takes an even-handed approach, offering some of the arguments on both sides. The problem with Stone’s SNOWDEN is not bias but that there are not enough of those discussions and they lack the needed depth. This is an important subject,one that strikes at the heart of what it means to be a free country, one that deserves a big discussion in a big serious drama. Stone’s SNOWDEN is not a bad film as much as a disappointing one.
It does offer a little insight into who Edward Snowden is and why is made this fateful choice. Stone starts his film with Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) meeting with journalists Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo), Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto) and Ewen MacAskill (Tom Wilkinson) as he discusses on camera what is in the documents he is giving them. The film then shifts back and forth between that event and the earlier points in Snowden’s life that led to his decision. Snowden was inspired by 9/11 to join the Army but his military career was cut short in training by a shattered leg. The serious, patriotic young man next applies to the CIA. The interviewer tells him his lack of a high school diploma ordinary would scratch him from consideration but these are not ordinary times post-9/11 and Snowden is a brilliant computer programmer with the remarkable skills needed for the modern battlefield in cyberspace. Training for the CIA further reveals Snowden computer gifts and brings him under the wing of Corbin O’Brian (Rhys Ifans). At the same time, the politically-conservative Snowden meets and later falls for liberal, creative Lindsay Mills (Shailene Woodley).
Snowden had previously been the subject of an excellent documentary CITIZENFOUR by Laura Poitras, one of the journalists Snowden contacted and who is played by Melissa Leo in Stone’s film. For some, that excellent documentary may seem enough. Still there is a segment of the film-going public who never see documentaries and the subject is big enough to warrant a dramatic narrative film speak to that other audience. It would not be the first time a subject or person has been covered in both. There were several documentaries about the sub-prime mortgage crisis and Wall Street crash that sparked the Great Recession before THE BIG SHORT told it so well in narrative form.
Stone’s film unfolds much like a political thriller, building tension as Snowden uncovers the kind of work the CIA and NSA are doing and his growing both ethical unease and personal paranoia. Restless after being assigned to desk work at a post in Switzerland, Snowden works his way into a field assignment, which puts him in contact with an NSA program secretly collecting unprecedented amounts of information on, well, everyone. NSA tech employee Gabriel (Ben Schnetzer) casually describes how the system works, and how it is all approved by the FISA court, which he calls a rubber stamp. The discovery of what seems to be an unconstitutional surveillance program leaves Snowden uneasy, and the way the field agent uses that information even more so. By the time Snowden is posted to Hawaii, now as a private contractor for the NSA, the forces the drive his decision are well underway.
The film is at its strongest when it shows us how this system of surveillance grew, slowly and organically, more like the frog in the beaker where the temperature is slowly rising than by a group of people abruptly just deciding to violate the law. Much of the film is presented in a straight-forward manner, lacking the kind of cinematic flare of some of the director’s earlier films. Near the film’s end, the real Snowden appears, in a return to more of that signature style.
The disappointing part of Stone’s film is that while is does have some examination of the right or wrong of Snowden’s actions, bit on his inner motivations and how a basically conservative guy who join the CIA reached this decision, it does not have enough of that. Which way one sees it might depend on whether one sees the War on Terror as the same as WWII or the Civil War (when such Constitutionally questionable things happened) or whether it was more like the Cold War or the Vietnam War, a proxy war in the former. One thing those who remember the Cold War will likely found chilling about Snowden’s revelations was the oft-made statement that the difference between free countries like the U.S. and communist ones like the Soviet Union (Russia) was that our government didn’t spy on its people. Edward Snowden proved that point of pride was no longer the truth.
The film spends a quite a bit of time on Snowden’s romantic life, perhaps trying to build drama but also humanizing the central figure. Once the patriotic if naive Snowden, who is nicknamed “Snow White” by a more jaded fellow programmer, realizes what his government is actually doing, a level of paranoia sets in. Well, not paranoia, because they really are watching him and listening to his conversations, just as they are everyone else. The film sometimes suffers from an uneven pace, with parts of the story that could have been dealt with briskly sometimes dragged out, although other critical moments are handled with nicely-built tension.
SNOWDEN does boast a strong cast, and a few noteworthy performances. Joseph Gordon-Levitt does not much resemble Edward Snowden but he does a nice job portraying him, capturing mannerisms and some of the evolution in his thinking on his work. Nicholas Cage is surprisingly effective in a restrained performance as a CIA engineer now relegated to teaching, in a small but memorable part. Ifans is brilliantly as O’Brien, a smooth character shifting between warmth as someone who is fond of Snowden, and creepy as someone enamored of his protege’s remarkable skills but ethically blind to what kind of work they are doing. Disappointingly, Shailene Woodley is given too little to do as Snowden’s girlfriend.
SNOWDEN is a missed opportunity, a subject that might have been better in the hands of a different director, regardless of Stone’s considerable talent. The lack of focus on discussion around Snowden’s actions and their implications, right or wrong, or of people’s right to know in a democratic country, gets too little attention. The biggest problem the film faces is assumptions. It is likely audiences will decide to see Stone’s film or not based on how they feel about Edward Snowden himself, and less on the merits of Stone’s film itself. Those who see Snowden as a traitor may assume Stone will present a simple admiring view of him. Those who believe Snowden is a whistle-blowing hero may be disappointed the film does not have the in-depth discussion of CITIZENFOUR or more detail on the technology itself.
Devastation of a world capital and a revenge plan against an American president fuel the high-octane London Has Fallen, coming to Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand on June 14, 2016 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. The sequel to the worldwide smash hit Olympus Has Fallen raises the stakes with non-stop action and suspenseful plot twists. The Blu-ray™ and Digital HD versions also include exclusive bonus features about the can’t-miss thriller.
In London Has Fallen, the stellar cast of Gerard Butler (300), Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight), Angela Bassett (American Horror Story), Robert Forster (Jackie Brown), Melissa Leo (The Fighter), Radha Mitchell (Pitch Black), Sean O’Bryan (Vantage Point), and Morgan Freeman (Lucy) reprises their original roles from Olympus Has Fallen, joined by Alon Moni Aboutboul (The Dark Knight Rises), Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen), Charlotte Riley (Edge of Tomorrow), and Waleed F. Zuaiter (Homeland). Babak Najafi directs London Has Fallen.
When the British Prime Minster dies unexpectedly, Secret Service Agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) knows it is his duty to prep with Secret Service Director Lynne Jacobs (Angela Bassett) for them to accompany U.S. President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart) to the state funeral at St Paul’s Cathedral in London. With every powerful world leader set to attend, the funeral should be the most protected event on Earth. Yet within moments of arriving, heads of government are assassinated and London landmarks are attacked. Asher, Banning, and Jacobs are ambushed and retreat amidst a hail of gunfire and explosives. The devastated British capital goes into lockdown. Banning will stop at nothing to secure Asher’s safe return home. Back at the White House, Vice President Allan Trumbull (Morgan Freeman) races against time brainstorming with top advisors in the Situation Room to get those trapped in London a lifeline of support and a way out. Outnumbered and outgunned, Banning reaches out for help to an English MI6 agent (Charlotte Riley) who rightly trusts no one. Failure is not an option as they attempt to stop the criminals from carrying out the final phase of their revenge plan.
WAMG is giving away copies of the film to celebrate the Blu-ray/DVD release.
ENTER YOUR NAME AND E-MAIL IN OUR COMMENTS SECTION BELOW. WE WILL CONTACT YOU IF YOU ARE A WINNER.
OFFICIAL RULES:
1. YOU MUST BE A US RESIDENT. PRIZE WILL ONLY BE SHIPPED TO US ADDRESSES. NO P.O. BOXES. NO DUPLICATE ADDRESSES.
2. WINNERS WILL BE CHOSEN FROM ALL QUALIFYING ENTRIES.
The Making of London Has Fallen– An inside look at the massive undertaking of shooting such a large-scale film in London. Featuring interviews with cast and crew, this piece shows the unique challenges encountered on-set, director Babak Najafi’s process, and the cast’s inspiration for their characterizations.
Guns, Knives & Explosives – Delve deeper into Gerard Butler’s iconic character of Mike Banning, and the extensive training and preparation the actor needed to play a Secret Service agent.
The film will be available on Blu-ray™ with DIGITAL HD and UltraViolet™ and DVD.
Blu-ray™ unleashes the power of your HDTV and is the best way to watch movies at home, featuring 6X the picture resolution of DVD, exclusive extras and theater-quality surround sound.
DVD offers the flexibility and convenience of playing movies in more places, both at home and away.
DIGITAL HD with UltraViolet™ lets fans watch movies anywhere on their favorite devices. Users can instantly stream or download.
For artwork, please log onto our website at www.uphe.com
FILMMAKERS: Cast:Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Alon Moni Aboutboul, Angela Bassett, Robert Forster, Jackie Earle Haley, Melissa Leo, Radha Mitchell, Sean O’Bryan, Charlotte Riley, Waleed F. Zuaiter Directed By:Babak Najafi Written By:Creighton Rothenberger & Katrin Benedikt and Christian Gudegast and Chad St. John Story By: Creighton Rothenberger & Katrin Benedikt Based on Characters Created By: Creighton Rothenberger & Katrin Benedikt Produced By:Gerard Butler, Alan Siegel, Mark Gill, John Thompson, Matt O’Toole, Les Weldon Executive Produced By:Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson, Christine Otal Crow, Heidi Jo Markel, Zygi Kamasa, Guy Avshalom Director of Photography: Ed Wild, BSC Production Designer:Joel Collins Edited By:Paul Martin Smith, GBFE, Michael Duthie Costume Designer:Stephanie Collie Composer: Trevor Morris
TECHNICAL INFORMATION BLU-RAY™: Street Date: 6/14/2016 Copyright: 2016 Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Selection Number: 62171340 Layers: BD-50 Aspect Ratio: Widescreen 2.40:1 Rating: R for strong violence and language throughout. Languages/Subtitles: English, DTS Spanish/English SDH, Spanish and French Subtitles Sound: DTS: X Master Audio 2.0 Run Time: 1 Hour 39 Minutes
TECHNICAL INFORMATION DVD: Street Date: 6/14/2016 Copyright: 2016 Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Selection Number: 62171339 Layers: Dual Layers Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40:1 Rating: R for strong violence and language throughout. Languages/Subtitles: English, DTS Spanish/English SDH, Spanish and French Subtitles Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Run Time: 1 Hour 39 Minutes
Hitting theaters on September 16 is the film SNOWDEN. Open Road Films has released a new preview and poster for their upcoming film.
Check out the official trailer below.
For those of you who tune in Sunday nights to HBO’s “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” you will have seen in 2015 the host’s interview with Edward Snowden to discuss the NSA.
Academy Award-winning director Oliver Stone, who brought Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, Wall Street and JFK to the big screen, tackles the most important and fascinating true story of the 21st century.
SNOWDEN, the politically-charged, pulse-pounding thriller starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Shailene Woodley, reveals the incredible untold personal story of Edward Snowden, the polarizing figure who exposed shocking illegal surveillance activities by the NSA and became one of the most wanted men in the world. He is considered a hero by some, and a traitor by others. No matter which you believe, the epic story of why he did it, who he left behind, and how he pulled it off makes for one of the most compelling films of the year.
The film also features Melissa Leo, Zachary Quinto, Tom Wilkinson, Rhys Ifans, Nicolas Cage, Scott Eastwood, Timothy Olyphant and Joely Richardson.
All right action fans, you won’t have to wait for Spring and Summer for a noisy, big body-count, big-screen bonanza. That’s because “Mr. Movie Mayhem” is back, yup Gerard Butler. Wait a minute, back? He was here just last week, starring in the CGI-heavy, fight-fest GODS OF EGYPT! Well, in that one, he’s not truly the star, but a (gasp!) villain! His Set is almost an inverse of his big break-out role in 300 (ten years old now?) and GODS is a kind of a mash-up of the Spartan epic with the (unnecessary) remake of CLASH OF THE TITANS. But it’s not really a sequel and it’s a near-bloodless PG-13. Not the case here. Just three years ago Butler scored again with the bloody and bombastic (almost a non-puppet companion to TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE) OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN. This is not to be confused with that other DC under siege thriller WHITE HOUSE DOWN that arrived in the multiplexes just a few months later (kinda’ like those dueling Snow White flicks the previous year). Though similar in subject and setting, DOWN had a self-aware sense of its own absurdity (thanks perhaps to the casting of Jamie Foxx and Channing Tatum as president and protector) that may have turned off many action film fans. And so Butler beats them to the punch once more for a follow-up (maybe the cost of DOWN’s higher profile cast is a big reason), that finds him and the Prez across the pond to discover that now LONDON HAS FALLEN.
The film doesn’t begin in that jolly old burg, but rather in Pakistan two years ago. Infamous arms dealer Aamir Barkawi (Alon Aboutboul) is taking a break from his HQ in Yeman where he sells weapons to terrorists across the globe to attend a wedding. He’s enjoying himself until an unexpected wedding present arrives via US strike drone. KA-BLOOEY! Guess that’s the end of him eh? Riiight. Jump cut to the present day as secret service agent Mike Banning (Butler) shadows his boss (and bud) President Ben Asher (Aaron Eckhart) on his morning jog. Later, at the home he shares with wife Leah (Radha Mitchell), Mike prepares his resignation letter (there’s a baby on the way). But before he sends off the email, Mike decides to tell Ben in person the next day. But before they can have a “man-to-man”, news arrives from Britain that the Prime Minister has passed. Ben’s must attend the state funeral, so he’s got to have Mike at his side along with Service director Jacobs (Angela Bassett). Not long after touching down in England, planned attacks take out nearly all the world leaders (yes, London Bridge is indeed falling down). Just outside the memorial cathedral, Ben’s and his protection team are under attack. After several near-escapes, he and Mike are on their own, navigating through deserted streets and evading deadly assassins. Back in the states, ex-Speaker of the House, now VP Trumbull (Morgan Freeman) meets with his staff in the crisis room where they watch a transmission from Barkawi’s family claiming responsibility for the London attacks and vowing to find the Prez and execute him on live TV. Can Mike and Ben fend off their foes and survive till help finally arrives?
Once again Butler easily slips into action hero mold (as opposed to “rom-com” lead), his perpetually squinting eyes constantly darting about in search of threats. At times he fights a losing battle to keep his Scottish brogue muzzled, which often makes the “killing quips” tough to grasp, although he has no trouble dropping the stream of obligatory “f-bombs” (perhaps to guarantee that “R” rating). His Banning is close to a human “punch ball” , bouncing back onto his feet no matter what befalls him. When he opens his eyes after his car flips, we almost expect to see an animated “birdie” imploring him, “Get up and git’ em’, Mike!”. His brief bits of levity with the Prez and his spouse seem forced and stilted (he appears to have more rapport with Ben than Leah). Eckhart doesn’t have as much to do this time out (he refers to his son, but there’s no real reunion). He endures abuse with barely a flinch, and gets to join in the battle, but for much of the time, he’s the human football that Mike must prevent the other team from intercepting. Freeman spends much of the film staring at monitors in between getting updates from other vets of the first flick Melissa Leo (healed from the brutal beatings three years ago) and Robert Forster (still a dapper general). Jackie Earle Haley joins them at the table, but has little to add when he’s not averting his eyes from the carnage. After some baby banter, Mitchell is regulated to screaming into useless phones and gazing with great worry at the TV news feeds. Bassett is also underused as Mike’s boss. She’s voices big concern over the hasty funeral trip, then never gets much of a chance to test her own survival skills (she could be a great action hero all on her own). Aboutboul threatens and scowls, but he and his crew come off as third-rate Bond baddies.
The carnage isn’t quite as brutal as in the first flick (so many pulpy head shots it almost became “target practice at the tomato farm”), but the producers foot the bill for lots of CGI “disaster porn”, as many London landmarks bite the dust, much as in the recent SAN ANDREAS. Director Babak Najafi takes the reins from Antoine Fuqua this time out, and keeps the film moving, although several of the later scenes are confusing. Much of the third act is either set in dingy tunnels or deserted streets (perhaps to disguise Bulgaria doubling for Britain), and it’s difficult to make things out in the smoke, dust, and dirt. Once again, there are moments of gleeful sadism and jingoistic fervor (Mike must deliver a patriotic lecture while pummeling another darn’ swarthy “furriner”). The final blow to the baddies is a tad unsatisfying, but rabid action flick junkies will have more than their fill of blood, bone crunching, and noise. But for discerning thriller fans, let’s hope that President Asher’s term ends soon and we’re spared a potential travelogue/franchise. Watching Butler’s Banning trash two world capitals is plenty. LONDON HAS FALLEN should be more than enough cause to revoke his passport.
