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Reviews
The Suicide Squad (2021)
Who was your favourite character?
The Suicide Squad (2021): NO SPOILERS.
DC Comics drop their 10th film in the DCEU (extended universe) this weekend. Out in theatres and streaming on HBO Max. It's the standalone sequel to the 2016 Suicide Squad film, which was rated PG (huge mistake) and pretty average.
Written & directed by James Gunn, The Suicide Squad is rated R and so bad ass. A huge upgrade from the first. It's relentlessly violent, not quite hilarious but at times very funny and even a little emotional. I didn't see that last one coming.
An amazing cast. Is there a better actor than Idris Elba, who is Bloodsport. Margot Robbie, once again as Harley Quinn and my god was she viciously beautiful. Simply deadly. The biggest surprise was John Cena, who is Peacemaker. Now mind you I just watched Fast 9 yesterday and I didn't like him at all in that (all due respect of course). Here, Cena steals the show. He was full of good jokes and so likeable. Hats off my friend. You killed it!
Daniela Melchior is sleepy Ratcatcher 2, probably my favourite character who is surely taking a nap as I write this. Although other characters lacked development, which reduces my score a little, we get quite a bit of backstory on her & her friend who is always by her side, Sebastian the rat. I don't know who I love more, Sebastian or Splinter from Ninja Turtles.
Although I did find that every character got plenty of screen time, Joel Kinnaman as Colonel Rick Flag probably had the least, leaving him feeling dull and boring. Sylvester Stallone is King Shark whom I loved, David Dastmalchian is Polka-Dot Man who is creepy yet a friend you can trust and Viola Davis is Amanda Waller, director of the Task Force X program.
I really enjoyed most of what this film offered us. The cast, the music, the action, heck, even "Project Starfish" was pretty cool. The visual effects/CGI were amazing, especially considering how much of it was used. There's a lot of destruction here.
They're labelled as super-villains but you'll be calling them superheroes in no time. 2 extra scenes. Awesome movie totally worth the price of admission.
Who was your favourite character?
8.4/10.
F9 (2021)
I miss Paul Walker...
F9 (2021): Fortunately I didn't have to pay to go see this movie because like most of you, I'd be asking for a refund.
I was a fan of this franchise early on. That had a lot to do with Paul Walker, the sick imports and street racing. Most of that is gone now. Today it's all stunts that if done in real life, 100 out of 100 times Vin Diesel would die. In F9 they send a Fiero to space to destroy a satellite, launch a muscle car off a cliff only to be caught by I believe a crane's hook? And use electromagnets for most of the action scenes, which quickly becomes repetitive.
I rarely use the word cringe but my god was Vin Diesel so cringe in this. Just awful. The addition of John Cena didn't help. He was almost as bad. With a script full of one liners, you can't say these guys forget their lines. Tyrese Gibson as Roman is usually the one who brings most of the jokes to FF, however he mostly fails at doing that in F9. Seeing the return of Jordana Brewster (Mia) and Sung Kang (Han) was nice but they're at best secondary characters with little screen time.
By now we know what to expect with these FF movies, crazy action stunts with a mediocre storyline, so it's not really surprising that this film was disappointing, yet they continue to make Hollywood a ton of money. Like a TON of money and with that will come more sequels to the franchise. 2 are in development as we speak.
F9 ends with Brian's (Paul Walker) blue Nissan Skyline pulling up to the house where the entire cast/family is having their weekly bbq. Of course we don't see who's driving. That was one of the few bright spots. I'm not too sure where the story will go from here but I'll leave you with this...
I miss Paul Walker
Thanks for tuning in
4.5/10.
Don't Breathe 2 (2021)
Psychotic killer or flawed saviour?
Don't Breathe 2 (2021): NO SPOILERS
This action horror thriller comes to theatres today! They added the "action" genre title to the film and with good reason. It's nearly non stop.
Once again, written by Fede Alvarez & Rodo Sayagues. However the directing duties were passed from Alvarez to Sayagues for the sequel.
I really enjoyed the first film. Scored it a 7.2. I found this one to be even better.
It takes place years after the first movie ends. Antihero Norman/the Blind Man (Stephen Lang), living in a different house than in the first film, has taken in a young girl, Phoenix (Madelyn Grace), who is orphaned due to a house fire. He raises her as his own, teaches her how to defend herself and at the same time is very protective. Not allowing much freedom. She's homeschooled and rarely permitted to leave the house or go into town.
When a gang of degenerate thugs attempt to break in and kidnap Phoenix, Norman is forced to defend his home and his so called daughter. The blind war veteran may look harmless but I assure you he's far from it.
Stephen Lang plays the role to perfection. Madelyn Grace is also great. The sequel is much more gruesome and gory than its predecessor. With way more nail biting action and suspense, the storyline and character development unfortunately suffer in return. However I was entertained throughout, couldn't quite figure out how it would end and loved where the writers took us.
The antagonists, including the leader of the group Raylan (Brendan Sexton III), feel hollow and meaningless. I guess that's expected at times where characters quickly become casualties. Even Phoenix could've had more backstory. Yet the fast paced hardcore action and plethora of thrills definitely make up for the simple storyline and poor character development. We can't have it all I suppose.
It's graphically intense. I really enjoyed this film and definitely think it's worth the price of admission. I thought the third act was hella wicked.
Psychotic killer or flawed saviour?
Thanks for tuning in
8/10.