Uncharted

Actors: Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg, Sophia Ali, Tati Gabrielle, Antonio Banderas

Rating: 7 out of 10, Uncharted is a big hit but I was surprised by how shallow it turned out to be. It was as if the filmmakers tried to bring to life a love child between National Treasure and some sort of video game. The story made no sense and only served to move the film to the next set of very entertaining stunts. The movie is saved by Spidey as Tom Holland demonstrates real star power and effortlessly carries the film while a very generous Mark Wahlberg lets him do so. They make an interesting set of buddies. What made the National Treasure movies so good was keeping the plot, while wildly impossible, at least credible. That thought goes out early on in this movie but the very engaging cast rescues it and makes this movie at least very watchable, if a bit frustrating if you look beyond the stunts. But, hey, at least it was honest and didn’t try to be anything it wasn’t, a big dumb action flick, so, of course, I liked it.

MVP: Holland as Nathan Drake

Infinite

Actors: Mark Wahlberg, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sophie Cookson, Jason Mantzoukas, Rupert Friend, Toby Jones, Dylan O'Brien

Rating: 7 out of 10, Infinite has a terrible reputation, its release a victim of the covid epidemic. It never made it to the theaters here in the US. I hadn’t heard anything about it until it appeared on a list of recent releases on Blu-ray. I really enjoyed the film which kept it’s high priced CGI effects intact. Mark Wahlberg was very effective as the central character being sought by two groups of competing immortals. They are immortal only because they retain perfect memories of prior lives. It was an interesting concept that  could have been fleshed out more but this was a nicely paced action movie that moved around the globe with interesting confrontations and action sequences. I heard it was nominated for a bunch of raspberries but this will go down as one of the movies critics dismiss but can be enjoyed by garden variety movie goers. Guilty. Good flick.

MVP: Mantzoukas as the crazed Artisan

Moonfall

Actors: Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, John Bradley, Michael Peña, Charlie Plummer, Kelly Yu, Donald Sutherland

Rating: 7 out of 10, I am still trying to figure out how they made this outlandish concept work, but it does, does mainly through the efforts of a first rate cast and stunning special effects. Wilson plays a disgraced astronaut who’s fall from grace was actually a warning side that an evil entity was eventually going to crash the moon into the earth which might just leave a mark. He’s assisted by Samwell Tarly who plays a highly educated janitor who’s predicts the crash but is dismissed as a looney conspiracy theorist. Bradley (Sam’s alter ego) does a great job of straddling the seemingly nutjob janitor with a startling intellect and a touch of nobility. I won’t ruin the incredible surprise of why the moon is descending but that where the concept might have lost me if it wasn’t so well done. It was a crazy ride but a nice bit of pure escapism.

MVP: John Bradley as the seemingly crazed but noble janitor

Spacehunter Adventures in the Forbidden Zone

Actors: stars Peter Strauss, Molly Ringwald, Ernie Hudson, Andrea Marcovicci, Michael Ironside

Rating: 6 out of 10, I bought this on a lark having vaguely remembered it as a typical 1980s sci fi flick trying to cash in on the Star Wars craze. You really had to have been around during that time to realize what a big deal that was. Strauss plays a fringe dwelling bounty hunter looking for a big score rescuing three ladies from the clutches of Overdog (I’m not kidding). Michael Ironside as a cyborg attached to some sort of gantry and brandishing oversized claws (it was the 80s). This hasn’t aged all that badly although the special effects are laughable by today’s standards. Ringwald is initially annoying but eventually grows on you as Wolff’s erstwhile partner. A nice ride through 1980s sci fi nostalgia.

MVP: Strauss as the embattled bounty hunter Wolff