Tag Archives: stunts

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING – Review

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Tom Cruise plays Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning from Paramount Pictures and Skydance.

It seems impossible that Tom Cruise would stop making Mission Impossible movies, but if you have seen any of the films in this franchise, especially the more recent ones, you know nothing is impossible in the Mission Impossible universe. Yet MISSION IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING is hinted to be the last in the franchise. We shall see about that. Of course, at some point, star Tom Cruise will have to step back from this action franchise, because everyone ages, including Cruise, in order to maintain a scrap of believability in this franchise built on ever-more impossible stunts. Still, since Cruise bares most of his muscular body, not once but twice, in this film, he may be telling audiences he’s still in good enough shape to continue, for now.

Fans are still enthusiastic about the action-fueled, stunt-packed franchise regardless, and if Tom Cruise wanted to go out on top for this series, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING would be a good choice. More cohesive and entertaining than the last one in the franchise, this round has now-freelance secret agent/do-gooder Ethan Hunt and his team in a ticking-clock race to defeat an AI entity taking over the world by seizing control of the world’s nuclear weapons, with a plan to wipe out humankind. It is thrilling, nail-nibbling excitement and entertainment throughout.

The series originated from a 1960s TV spy thriller series, with agent Jim Phelps and his team of skilled secret agents would thwart evil international plots, using a variety of disguises and technology. That show started with a frenetic, burning-fuse, jazz music theme, and agent Jim Phelps getting a secret assignment via audio tape that would always end with a message about official disavowing the teams action and the tape self-destructing, as it burst into flame. About all that remains of that origin show is a sampling of the catchy musical theme, a recorded message that self-destructs in a puff of smoke, and penchant for masks and impersonation. Even the name of the team leader was changed long ago by producer/star Tom Cruise, to Ethan Hunt.

As MISSION IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING opens, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team have become free agents but are still committed to doing good. When Ethan gets a recorded-message plea for help from the President (Angela Bassett, in a brilliant bit of casting), he lets bygones be bygones to come to the rescue, literally to save the world, or at least humankind, from a powerful AI entity that wants to rule the world, and is gaining control of the world’s nukes to do that. The all-powerful AI makes for a chilling villain, a real challenge Hunt’s skills and his team.

Along with the AI’s plan to wipe out humans, Ethan also faces a human adversary named Gabriel (Esai Morales), a smiling madman who believes he can seize control of the AI to rule the world himself, but who wants to let the AI grab all the nukes first.

Ethan’s team has familiar faces, such as Simon Pegg as tech assistant/right-hand man Benji Dunn. Hayley Atwell plays Grace, a beautiful young master-thief and skilled pickpocket who becomes an Ethan ally and sort-of love interest for Cruise, Pom Klementieff plays Paris, a roguish, deadpan and deadly fighter who has joined Ethan’s team, and Ving Rhames appears as brilliant tech/biomedical genius who is a long-time friend and help to Ethan Hunt. They are joined by a host of familiar names, including Shea Wigham, Nick Offerman, Mark Gatiss, and Janet McTeer, in various supporting roles.

But the real star of this show, as always, is Tom Cruise, in those impossible stunt sequences. In every movie in the franchise, those stunts get bigger and wilder, topping the previous one, and MISSION IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING continues that mission well.

The stunt sequences are the major appeal of the series, and this one delivers. Thrilling, physics-defying sequences are abundant in this nearly three-hour long action thriller extravaganza. Stunt sequences take place in the air, with wing-walking on a pair of bi-planes, at at sunken sub in the freezing Arctic, and in numerous battles and fight scenes spanning the globe, either with Cruise battling a single foe or the whole team fighting a small army of baddies.

All the stunts and the effects are outstanding, and highly entertaining, even better than previous installments in the franchise. The thrilling, nail-biting underwater Arctic Ocean sequence is a highlight, where Cruise’s Ethan has to dive into a sunk sub to find an essential McGuffin to defeat the AI, risking life and limb in the freezing and dangerous environment of the deep ocean and on a shipwreck precariously balanced on the edge of a trench. Another thriller highlight is an air-borne, death-defying battle where Cruise’s Ethan chases bad guy Gabriel above a rugged African landscape – in biplanes.

Apparently eager to show off his physique, the aging Cruise gets nearly naked in two of these action sequences, including, mindbogglingly, in the frozen Arctic Ocean. Nothing is too preposterous in this franchise, which constantly tops itself with gravity-defying, physics-violating, and biologically-impossible thrillers, all performed reportedly by star Cruise.

These numerous stunt sequences, fight scenes and chase thrills periodically are interrupted by scenes of banter with his team, fizzy flirtations with the pretty pickpocket, and “I love you, man” emotional scenes with team members, particularly with Ving Rhames, as the tech genius who crafts a weapon that might defeat the evil AI. The whole thing takes place against a ticking clock, of course, as Ethan and the team race around the world to thwart the evil plan.

There are plenty of twists, lots of death-defying stunts, a few good guys (and baddies) lost along the way, and the whole thing is kept cooking along at a fast pace, although a few scenes could have been trimmed to reduce that excessive running time, mostly in some of the too-long emotional scenes between action sequences and a few extra fight scenes that don’t really advance the plot.

Still, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING delivers the over-the-top and top-the-last-one impossible stunt action, and plenty of Tom Cruise heroics, that fans of the franchise crave, whether this really is the final one or not.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE opens in theaters on Friday, May 23, 2025.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

FIGHT OR FLIGHT – Review

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Josh Hartnett in FIGHT OR FLIGHT. Courtesy of Vertical Entertainment

Everything is exaggerated and over-the-top in the action-comedy FIGHT OR FLIGHT but the sky-high, stunt-filled film starring Josh Hartnett, which is really both fight and flight, certainly delivers on popcorn entertainment, both in the high body count action and the silly, strangely British-flavored comedy. Josh Hartnett is very entertaining as a disgraced, drunken Secret Service agent trying for a second chance, with an assignment to bring in a mercenary assassin who is on a plane where nearly everyone is trying to kill one or the other of them.

Action-comedy FIGHT OR FLIGHT opens with a shot of a jet flying high against a blue sky, as “The Blue Danube” plays, then cuts to a shot of a passenger aboard that flight, with eye mask and neck pillow, being rudely jolted awake as a brawl spills across the aisle, followed by a pan to the other aisle of the wide-body plane, where another army of brawlers are battling. All roiling with only the Blue Danube for sound, It gives to a taste of what this entertaining, silly, stunt-filled action-comedy has in store.

The opening is a clever set- up for this highly entertaining, high body count stunt fest with a John Wick vibe and goofy humor, which for some unknown reason felt British to this reviewer. No thinking required for this popcorn escapist delight and actually it might actually give you a headache to try to figure some details out. Just buckle-up that seat belt and go along for the comedy and action ride.

We next cut to 12-hours earlier, on the ground, as a young guy in a suit bounces happily down a city street, listening to “Sunshine and Lollipops” – until a phone call sends him into sends him into an angry string of cursing as he hurries to work. Cursing the doorman and being rude to everyone on his way, this jerk storms into work, hoping to avoid his boss.

Work for our cursing, arrogant guy in the suit, Aaron Hunter (Julian Kostov, from “White Lotus”), is at an private security agency run by ex-CIA folks doing similar work for private clients. Something has gone horribly wrong in Bangkok, and our suit is hoping to dodge his boss on the way in. He doesn’t.

Arrogant, foul-mouthed Hunter arrives to get the update from his assistant, Agent Robinson (Jyuddah Jaymes), but snarls at another agent, Simmons (Willem Van Der Vegt), when he chimes in with new information. When the boss, Katherine Brunt (Katee Sackhoff), shows up, Hunter tries to talk his way out of trouble with a string of excuses, until Agent Simmons calmly and efficiently provides the information Hunter doesn’t have, quietly showing him up in front of their boss Brunt.

The dry-humor workplace comedy bit is one of several occasional touches of silliness to come, comic relief amid the stunt action mayhem. That action and comedy balance is part of what makes this popcorn flick such fun.

What has gone wrong in Bangkok is an explosion that wiped out their whole team at that location, The bigger problem this creates is with their assignment to capture an elusive assassin known as the Ghost. Although no one has ever photographed the assassin, they know the Ghost is in Bangkok, and is not headed for the airport. The nearest other team is an hour and a half flight away. Desperate measures are needed. The desperate measure is to call disgraced U.S. Secret Service agent Lucas Reyes (Josh Hartnett).

Hartnett’s Lucas Reyes is trapped in Bangkok and currently drinking himself to death, unable to leave after being placed on the No-Fly list and having his passport revoked. But Lucas is not too happy to hear from his old buddy Brunt, with whom he also has a romantic history and now distrusts. Still, he eventually, reluctantly agrees to the assignment, in exchange for a new passport, a ton of cash, and lifting the no-fly ban.

Brunt knows which flight the Ghost will be on but has no photo to share. Lucas’ assignment is to locate the Ghost on the flight, take the target into custody and hand the assassin over to Brunt when the plane arrives in San Francisco.

What Lucas doesn’t discover until they are in the air, is that nearly everyone on the plane is there to kill him or kill the Ghost. He has to survive – and keep the Ghost from being killed too, to collect his fat paycheck.

The plane is a double-decker wide body, with a luxury class, first class and coach seating. Luckily, Lucas gets some help from flight attendants Isha (Charithra Chandran, of “Bridgerton”) and Royce (Danny Ashok).

Josh Hartnett is terrific as the hard-drinking yet strangely very capable Lucas, who would like to get his life back on track but still craves the drink. Lucas Reyes is that familiar hero in need of a second chance. The hard-drinking Lucas is a sad soul at a crossroads, and someone with a bit of a heart, despite being a mercenary. And he is amazingly good at his job, despite the copious amount of alcohol he consumes.

Supporting cast is good as well. Brit Charithra Chandran is excellent in her role as Isha, and Katee Sackhoff is spot-on as hard-as-nails boss Brunt. Julian Kostov is funny as the foul-mouthed Hunter, and Marko Zaror is over-the-top as a weirdo passenger who goes by the name Cayenne. Hugie O’Donnell plays the overly-dramatic lead flight attendant, Garrett, while Sanjeev Kohli and Declan Baxter play the unflappable pilot and more “flappable” co-pilot, respectively.

An endless stream of adversaries come for Lucas but the film alternates between comedy and action, with a few breaks for brief character development scenes. The humor in FIGHT OR FLIGHT has a vaguely British feel but actually the film is American, albeit with an international cast the includes some Brits. At other times, the comedy is pure AIRPLANE. The action/comedy’s John Wick feel has more of a basis, as it was produced by the same team as the John Wick ones.

Emmy-winning director James Madigan does well helming his first feature film. keeping things moving briskly and balancing comedy and action well. The script by Brooks McLaren and D. J. Cotrona is pretty wild but has nice touches that lift this entertainment offering out of the familiar and predictable, while still satisfying its audience.

The entertaining action/comedy is also packed with colorful characters, great stunt fights along side silly humor, plus a bit of a heart and even a message against about slave labor being used to build smart phones.

Describing more would create spoilers, so we’ll stop here on that. The film is fast, fun, and keeps your interest throughout with both good characters and stunt work. Moving around the large plane keeps the visuals varied, as Hartnett’s Lucas battles one adversary after another. The John Wick vibe is strong but there is a bit of Indiana Jones too, although Hartnett’s drunken assassin is no intellectual heavy weight. he’s still likable. What happens with the Ghost we would say more about, to avoid spoilers, but it adds another layer of interest, as both of them are trying to survive the flight on a plane full of assassins.

Tons of action ensues, but many of the characters have a comic bent, while Lucas Reyes alternates between beating people to a pulp, heavy drinking and soul-searching. Josh Hartnett is surprisingly good and very likable in this oddball role, and you can’t help but root for him. Not in the fights, where he seems to defeat all with ease, no matter how much he drank, which is a nice comic bit. Hartnett reportedly did his own stunts, and looks pretty good doing them.

The stunt work is terrific, with that John Wick feel you might expect from these producers. The stunts are varied, and feature an array of characters, which keeps them interesting. Director James Madigan cleverly uses the action sequences to advance character development, and the action is nearly non-stop, with brief breaks for exposition and more character development, and of course, comedy.

Director Madison keeps everything cooking, and moving briskly in this film that runs under two hours, This is a high body count action film with an R rating but the action is stunt-work with a cartoon violence style rather than gore, although there is blood.

FIGHT OR FLIGHT is purely popcorn action comedy fun, despite a little bit about fighting slave labor used to produce smart phones. It is ridiculously far fetched but fast-paced and laced with humor, topped off by a winning performance from Josh Hartnett as a surprisingly likable drunken assassin. This is well-done, highly-entertaining popcorn fun. If you aren’t squeamish about the high body count that all its cartoon violence delivers, this fast-paced mix of laugh-out-loud comedy and high-octane stunt fighting is a good escapist distraction from a grim real world.

FIGHT OR FLIGHT opens Friday, May 9, in theaters.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

JADE – Review

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Shaina West in JADE. Courtesy of WellGo USA

I really got a kick out of the Blaxploitation films of the 1970s when they were new, and just as much recently when I found many of them streaming at one place or another. Pam Grier was a tough, smart and sexy sensation in a bunch of action movies. Same for Tamara Dobson – notably in a couple of outings as Cleopatra Jones. JADE tries to ply those waters in a 2020s setting, with a mixed bag of results. The title has been used several times in a variety of films unrelated to this 2025 release.

The eponymous character is played by diminutive British actress Shaina West, who appears as a Pam Grier Mini-me with an even bigger Afro. She’s a good person caught up in the underworld after emigrating to the US. Though trying to get out of that life after a tragic loss, she gets sucked back in. Ain’t that always the way it goes? Some henchman sticks her with a hard drive that all the good and bad guys want, with uncertainty as to who she can trust among them.

The one she absolutely should avoid most is a crime boss named Tork, played by the bizarre creature currently residing in Mickey Rourke’s body. Jade gets bounced around from one bad situation to another at a breakneck pace, leading to a generous serving of well-designed fight sequences, along with some gruesome bits of torture to several unfortunate souls.

Unlike that earlier generation of female-featuring flicks, this one leaves out the sexy and fashionista bits, and fronts a score that is less in-your-face. But Ms. West has done stunt work before and it shows to advantage here. At least I think it does. Most of the action occurs at night and in dark buildings, partially obscuring the efforts of the combatants. The highlight is the inevitable climactic fight that rivals Uma Thurman’s celebrated wipe-out of The 88 in KILL BILL: PART ONE. (Coincidentally, that’s the number of minutes director James Bradford needed to deliver this product in a lean, mean package.)

Rourke’s symbiote shows his menace without exerting much energy. Skilled martial artist/actor Mark Dacascos (head of the gang in the final fight for JOHN WICK 3, and star of many direct-to-video action flicks) was barely utilized. So those drawn by seeing his name the ads shouldn’t expect much of his presence. This one’s for popcorn night when the cerebrum needs a break.

JADE is available in digital formats from WellGo USA starting Tuesday, Feb. 18.

RATING: 2 out of 4 stars

PANDA PLAN – Review

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Jackie Chan (right) and co-stars in PANDA PLAN. Courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment

Ever since 1995’s RUMBLE IN THE BRONX lit up our screens, I’ve been a huge fan of Jackie Chan. Not only for his subsequent work on this side of the Pacific but scrounging through every available resource to watch his previous Hong Kong action flicks. To date, I’ve seen over 80 of his 146 credited roles. Nobody has ever combined physical and character comedy as delightfully as he has. His work is even more remarkable considering that he’s choreographed and performed most of his own stunts for about 45 years!

Jackie turned 70 this past April, so his level of physical artistry is obviously starting to decline. But his new kid-friendly comedy, PANDA PLAN, delivers all the slapstick energy of his usual productions. Perhaps even too much for grownups. But kids should be delighted.

Jackie plays a version of himself, thrilled by the offer to “adopt” a baby panda at a huge island theme park (mercifully, not Jurassic). But simultaneously, a wealthy sheikh hired a big gang of heavily-armed mercenaries to kidnap the furry little celebrity (the bear cub, not Jackie) for his own unexplained reasons. When they crash the ceremony for what should be an easy heist that wouldn’t require using the weapons they brandished, Jackie and a few others make it far more difficult than expected. The panda-grab is further compromised by how star-struck many of the baddies are to find Jackie there. His adoring fan base seemingly spans the spectrum from wide-eyed kiddies to hardened mercs.

Typically, Jackie frenetically copes with being forced to do in real life the fighting he’s only done on movie sets. His early training was in the gymnastics of Chinese Opera, not the realm of competitive martial arts. So, the bad guys chase the defenders and cub all over the massive place with plenty of fights and flights. It’s mostly played for laughs, with little blood and a low casualty rate.

My tepid rating is a compromise between the high degree of enjoyment it will bestow upon the little ones – especially considering the adorable CGI critter of the title that gets plenty of screen time. Panda merch should start flying off the shelves much faster than any actual panda has ever moved. For adult fans, the silliness level may seem excessive; less in balance with the story being told than has generally been the case. Also, those of us who’ve always savored the outtakes of stunts gone awry that became a Jackie trademark need not wait for them. They just roll credits alongside an up-tempo music video featuring the costars. Keep that in mind for deciding whether to send the kids to the multiplex, or adjust expectations for sitting there with them.

PANDA PLAN, in English and Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles, opens Friday, Oct. 18, in select theaters.

RATING: 2 out of 4 stars

CUSTOMS FRONTLINE – Review

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A scene from Hong Kong action crime film CUSTOMS FRONTLINE. Courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment

In CUSTOMS FRONTLINE, Hong Kong delivers plenty of high-octane, large-scale action in this subtitled contemporary cop adventure. The protagonists are the city’s harbor patrol, charged with stopping maritime smuggling. They learn a major international arms dealer that no one in law enforcement has ever seen may be routing heavy-duty weaponry through their waters. The case begins with their boarding an inbound ship with all its crew having been murdered. The retirement benefits for employees in that “industry” seem severely lacking. No union? No perks.

The harbor police teams with reps from Interpol in the pursuit. Our heroes are two guys leading the way. Cheung (Jacky Cheung) is the grizzled veteran. Lai (Nicholas Tse) is his adoring disciple. The story is complex, with scenes occurring in multiple countries, on land and sea, keeping lots of balls in the air, including who is trustworthy among the authorities. We know who the big bad boss is long before the cops do and witness the level of cold cruelty on that side of the crime coin. Many times.

Although Erica Li’s script is above average for the genre with a few surprises along the way, the real stars are director Herman Yau and the horde of stunt and F/X specialists who crafted the sets and choreographed the mayhem. Several sequences are epic in proportion, with a stunning array of shootouts, explosions and crashes while running up an impressive body count. Hong Kong’s sleek, modern architecture and picturesque harbor contrast nicely with the sordid events occurring therein.

Character development is better than most but the action provides more than sufficient reason to watch, and preferably on the largest available screen.

CUSTOMS FRONTLINE, in Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese with English subtitles, opens in theaters on Friday, July 19.

RATING: 2.5 out of 4 stars

THE FALL GUY – Review

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Ryan Gosling is Colt Seavers in THE FALL GUY, directed by David Leitch. Courtesy of Universal Pictures

A love letter to Hollywood and stunt men, THE FALL GUY is an entertaining, stunt-packed action/comedy film wrapped around a rom-com center, starring Ryan Gosling as a stuntman and Emily Blunt as the director on a big-budget action film. The two have a romantic history, and Gosling’s stuntman is longing to get her back, but there are plenty of complications, thanks mostly to the big-ego action star he is doubling and a manipulative high-powered producer, even before all those risky stunts.

Ryan Gosling follows up his Ken role in BARBIE with action-filled part as a hardworking stunt man, in director David Leitch’s THE FALL GUY. Leitch is a former stuntman, so he knows what he is doing here with this action-comedy. Leith goes with practical effects rather than green screen giving this entertaining, escapist delight an extra layer of enjoyment. The film was inspired by “The Fall Guy” TV show but draws on a host of movies about stunt work and movie-making like THE STUNT MAN and the Burt Reynolds’s vehicle HOOPER.

Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) is the long-time stunt double for action-movie superstar Tom Ryan (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). While working on Tom’s latest thriller, Colt has fallen for assistant director Jody (Emily Blunt). Just as their romance is getting started, Colt suffers a serious injury when a stunt goes wrong. His confidence shaken, Colt retreats into isolation, quits stunt work and ghosts Jody. But when the high-powered producer (Hannah Waddingham) tracks Colt down and tells him that Jody, now the director on her first big-budget film, a sci-fi action epic called METALSTORM, wants him to once again stunt double her film’s star Tom Ryan, Colt eventually agrees. Filled with regret about Jody, Colt hopes to rekindle their love affair but when he shows up on location in Sydney, Australia, he discovers Jody didn’t ask for him and doesn’t know why he’s there. Still hurt, Jody does decide to let Colt stay on but she is constantly testing him, making him do stunts over and over, and over. Meanwhile, Colt’s friend, stunt coordinator Dan Tucker (Winston Duke), does what he can to help out the pining Colt.

But then writer Drew Pearce piles on another layer, the real reason the producer wanted Colt there: star Tom Ryan has gone missing. If Colt can’t find him, the studio will pull the plug on Jody’s big-break movie. No one else knows Tom actually has disappeared – they think it is just not showing up, as he sometimes does – and Colt has to get him back before anyone finds out. The stuntman sets out to find Tom, with a little help from the star’s assistant (Stephanie Hsu), but Colt quickly finds himself embroiled in something more complicated, a mystery with underworld types and more questions than answers.

THE FALL GUY has plenty of humor, sly Hollywood jokes and movie references. The practical-effects stunts are outstanding and nearly non-stop. THE FALL GUY features an action/thriller plot wrapped around a rom-com story (a genre that could use a reboot), with Gosling and Blunt delightful as the couple, going back-and forth about restarting their romance. The humor leans into move insider jokes and poking at Hollywood tropes and more, including some ribbing of Tom Cruise, but this is not primarily a satire but a celebration of the art and craft of movie stunts and the people who do them.

While THE FALL GUY is fun, it is not flaw-free. It gets off to a precarious start by not allowing enough time at the beginning for the audience to get really get to know the two lead characters enough to want to really cheer for their love story. Once on track with the hunt for the missing star, the plot gets overly far-fetched and then also gets bogged down in a series of fights and chases with the stuntman fighting real baddies on the streets of Sydney. But eventually THE FALL GUY gets back on track, recovers from those stumbles in time, with the help of appealing performances by Blunt and Gosling, and refocuses in time to deliver a bang-up stunt–filled finale and a crowd-pleasing Hollywood ending.

Whether or not you enjoy THE FALL GUY depends on how much you appreciate real stunt work over CGI, and also how much you like Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. For the right audience, it is one fun ride.

THE FALL GUY opens Friday, May 3, in theaters.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

THE BEEKEEPER – Review

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Jason Statham stars as Clay in director David Ayer’s THE BEEKEEPER. An Amazon MGM Studios film. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios © 2024 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By now, Jason Statham’s fans expect his movies to have a generous dose of over-the-top action sequences, with little regard for the creativity (or even coherence) of the plot. Ka-ching! THE BEEKEEPER stirs up plenty of adrenaline in a standard story line that sets up a whole lot of Statham at his Statham-est.

There’s a bit of JOHN WICK in the premise of THE BEEKEEPER. Statham is a retired super-secret, super-skilled government agent, trying to live quietly, just tending to his titular hives. He rents space from a kind, elderly lady (Phylicia Rashad), who promptly gets conned out of all her savings and $2 mil from a charity she helps manage by a multi-million dollar internet scamming operation. They target victims via spyware that freezes computers and directs their unsuspecting owners to call a number for the remedy. That leads them to a massive call center, teeming with operatives who clean out whatever they can by getting account info and passwords from the innocents.

Thus begins Jason’s obligatory revenge course, progressively wrecking facilities and killing henchmen and honchos as he works his way up the ladder to the top dogs. Jeremy Irons adds a touch of class as a former head of the CIA, overseeing security and covering up the crimes and excesses of the pyramid’s despicable young leader (Josh Hutcherson). His character’s biggest challenge is hiding his contempt for that boss.

For a kicker, Rashad’s character just happens to be the mother of an FBI agent (Emmy Raver-Lampman) who doggedly pursues the same network of baddies, but strictly by-the-book, while honor-bound to stop Statham’s vengeance campaign. His heroism is amplified by (too many) speeches about protecting the helpless from their predators and disabling, rather than killing, most of the cops and clueless henchmen who don’t know the scum-iosity (scum-ishness? scum-ery?) of their employers.

The over-the-top action is properly exciting, except for director David Ayer framing many parts of the fights too close to the lens to fully appreciate the stunt work before us. The plot goes truly off the sanity charts as Statham zeroes in on the top bananas. I ain’t sayin’ no more about that. Better for you to learn the rest in the moment.

As one of the producers, Statham seemingly spent far more on F/X and stunts than on Kurt Wimmer’s script and cast salaries. Wimmer has penned quite a few action flicks, including THE EXPENDABLES 4, in which Statham co-starred.

Basically, it’s an amalgam of every revenge flick you’ve ever seen, especially by establishing Statham as an analog to Wick, by not being the boogeyman but the one you send to kill the boogeyman. I half-expected someone to describe him as the Baba Yaga.

Most cast members with speaking roles portray their personae adequately to adroitly. Those characters without dialog will be destined for orthopedic wards (if they’re lucky) or a coffin before the credits roll.

Whenever Statham is kicking butts on the screen, mine will most likely be in a seat watching it. Suspend a bit more than usual of your disbelief and enjoy the fun stuff.

THE BEEKEEPER opens in theaters (or, for England’s Mr. Statham, cinemas) on Friday, Jan. 12.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

HYDRA – TV Series Review

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A scene from the Japanese TV action series HYDRA. Courtesy of WellGoUSA

When I saw the title of this television series was HYDRA, I thought we were in for another Marvel origin movie – this time about the evil organization the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. spend their lives fighting. Not the case. This one’s a subtitled Japanese crime flick that’s long on action and short on everything else. The fight scenes will justify the time for any martial arts junkies who remember to set the rest of their expectations on low.

First-time director Kensuke Sonomura, who also appears in a substantial role, has 75 stunt gigs under his (presumably) black belt. That history allowed him to choreograph a couple of the most exciting, unique fight scenes in the genre. No wires or CGI pyrotechnics. Just a couple of foes squaring off in gritty matches of speed and agility with normal-people weapons. These scenes are akin to the cherished chase scene in Steve McQueen’s BULLITT – exciting for their atypically bare-bones staging.

A scene from Japanese TV action series HYDRA. Courtesy of WellGoUSA

The plot centers around a disenchanted hitman who has secretly dedicated himself to protecting the daughter of a deceased colleague. When trouble arises from some local gangs, it’s time to get back in the saddle. The details matter little, and, frankly, could have used the hand of a skilled editor to bring them into a more cohesive narrative. As it plays out now, timelines, characters and motivations are rather muddled, isolating the fights as the main, if not only, attraction.

Stunt men can ripen into outstanding directors. Clint Eastwood and Hal Needham come quickly to mind in that regard. Sonomura might get there. He’s still young. If he surrounds himself with skilled storytellers to balance his wealth of action knowledge, he could be a contend-ah.

The Japanese television series HYDRA, in Japanese with English subtitles, is available streaming now on Hi-YAH! and on digital, Blu-ray & DVD on July 20.

RATING: 2 out of 4 stars