Kraven the Hunter

Actors: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger, Alessandro Nivola, Christopher Abbott, Russell Crowe

Rating: 7 out of 10, I’m not sure why this is getting such bad press because I thought this was a fun super-hero movie. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who was so good in Bullet Train, proves he’s certainly grown up since his Kick Ass days. He’s a very watchable star and more than holds his own with Russell Crowe who plays his evil Russian dad. The action was top notch and Kraven is an interesting hero. My only problem was the ending which I think they botched, trying to ham-handedly set up a sequel. With current box office figures, I don’t think they’ll have to worry about that but I did truly enjoy this.

MVP: Taylor-Johnson once again nailing an action role as title character, so far from Kick Ass

Venom The Last Dance

Actors: Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Stephen Graham, Peggy Lu, Alanna Ubach

Rating: 8 out of 10, This is the final movie in Tom Hardy’s trilogy as Eddie Brock, host for the hilarious and deadly symbiont, Venom. The first movie will always be the best one in this series because it focused almost completely on the Hardy/Venom tandem. This movie is awesome as long as they were on screen. There are a couple sub-plots that bring the momentum and hilarity to a screeching halt. Juno Temple is wasted which should involve criminal charges against somebody. All that being said, it was a very fun ride, maybe the last with Hardy in this role and he dominates whenever he’s on the screen. The action for the final twenty minutes is non-stop and bewilderingly chaotic; but that’s what you get with Venom. A great last ride.

MVP: Hardy, of course, as the Eddie Brock/Venom tandem

Gladiator II

Actors: Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Connie Nielsen, Denzel Washington, Derek Jacobi

Rating: 8 out of 10, I loved this sequel to one of my favorite movies. They spend a lot of time and effort tying the characters back to Maximus, which I appreciated. The action was a lot more realistic due to the advances in CGI, but this let them wander into some silliness. I mean. Sharks in the Colosseum! Connie Neilson returns and lends appropriate gravity to the events along with Denzel, who, as always, steals every scene he’s in. The lead, Paul Mescal, is a revelation as the grown-up version of one of the original movie’s characters. He handles the action as well as the emotions almost as well as Crowe did. The film makers follow the same type plot line which again totally ignores the true history but this is Hollywood and they’ve delivered a great action movie again, almost on par with the original.

MVP: Denzel as the devious Macrinus

Red One

Actors: Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, Lucy Liu, J. K. Simmons, Kiernan Shipka, Bonnie Hunt, Nick Kroll, Kristofer Hivju, Wesley Kimmel

Rating: 8 out of 10, Not as bad as you might be hearing from the critics. The cast is outstanding and the duo of the Rock and Captain America are perfect foils for each other. The Rock oversees security for Santa Claus and spends the movie trying to find him after a kidnapping, assisted by naughty lister Evans. I know, a silly premise but it works as they devote themselves to playing it straight, as if this could really happen. There’s also a less than subtle message about Christmas and family which is always welcome. I really enjoyed the movie and the action was credible, even when they’re fighting rogue snow men sent by the Christmas witch. I know. As I said, silly, but it works.

MVP: Evans as the naughty guy, Jack O’Malley

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

Actors: Henry Cavill, Eiza González, Alan Ritchson, Henry Golding, Alex Pettyfer

Rating: 8 out of 10, I’m a huge fan of Guy Ritchie films and he really delivers here. It’s loosely (very loosely) based on a real WW2 commando raid, Operation Postmaster. They really nailed the casting with Superman, Reacher, and the very hot gal from Ambulance leading. There was plenty of the understated British humor I love in Ritchie films. The action was expertly woven into the plot as the commandos have to fight both the Germans and the British high command who wants to surrender to Germany (remember, highly fictionalized). I loved this movie.

MVP: Cavill as the well bearded leader Gus March-Phillipps

The Killer’s Game

Actors: Dave Bautista, Sofia Boutella, Terry Crews, Scott Adkins, Pom Klementieff, Ben Kingsley

Rating: 7 out of 10, This was okay with some John Wickian type action and some funny moments as well. Strange to see Drax the Destroyer facing off against Mantis. Bautista plays a word class assassin (who, of course, only kills bad guys) who receives a mis-diagnosis that gives him only a few months to live. He takes out a contract to have himself killed. As luck would have it, he’s just fallen in love with a diminutive French dancer, played by the always watchable Sofia Boutella. After he learns he isn’t going to die, he now has to take on a bevy of fellow assassins while trying to protect his girlfriend. That very interesting concept is fully explored and this could have been a lot of fun if Bautista had taken it more seriously. He seems almost detached and just taking a payday while the rest of the cast is awesome. This surprised me as I’m a big fan of Bautista. Still, a nice, if very bloody, watch.

MVP: Boutella as the love interest Maize

Judgement at Nuremburg

Actors: Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Maximilian Schell, Werner Klemperer, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, William Shatner, Montgomery Clift

Rating: 9 out of 10, Couldn’t believe I had never seen this. A truly amazing collection of actors delivers a poignant message that feels all the more so nowadays with the travesties we see ongoing in Washington. The political ramifications with the cold war heating up at the time of the trials also had relevance to today’s justice system. It was strange to see the impossibly young Captain James T. Kirk and Colonel Klink in serious roles. The film is dominated by the amazing cast. Widmark is a little over the top, but Tracy is at his best serving as the chief judge of four German judges who enforced the Nazi regime’s inhuman justice system. Tracy’s judgement monologue should be required viewing.  I’m usually not that all in on a “message” film but this grabs you by the lapels and dares you to forget the atrocities. The value of a single human being!

MVP: Tracy as the head judge and conscience of the film

Furiosa A Mad Max Saga

Actors: Anya Taylor-Joy, Alyla Browne, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, John Howard, Nathan Jones, Angus Sampson

Rating: 8 out of 10, I really enjoyed this prequel of the amazing Fury Road. Anya Taylor-Jones is dynamite in the nearly non-stop action sequences which Miller does so well. My only problem was her lack of spoken lines. She only speaks occasionally while diving around her war rig, so it was hard to connect with her as a character. Chris Hemsworth speaks maybe a little too much as another in the long line of amazing Mad Max villains. This film tells the origin story of Imperator Furiosa and how she came to lose an arm and ended up hanging out with the war boys. It was always going to be tough to capture the magic of Fury Road and while they come close, they didn’t. Still, a very entertaining summer action movie worth seeing for Taylor-Jones and her duel with Hemsworth.

MVP: Anya Taylor-Jones is tone perfect as the iconic Furiosa

Fall Guy

Actors: Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt,  Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddingham, Teresa Palmer, Stephanie Hsu, Winston Duke

Rating: 7 out of 10, This is a very enjoyable movie which shouldn’t be a problem but I guess I was expecting more of a punch, considering the cast. As it is, it is a devoted love letter to the Hollywood stuntman and the stunts, obviously not CGIed are truly epic. You would think the Blunt-Gosling pairing would be magic. They’re both very good in this, especially Gosling. He was back in the well remembered and loved type personae of The Nice Guys. He’s semi-bumbling but highly effective stunt man trying to win back Blunt’s love. There’s also a murder mystery involving the movie within the movie’s biggest star. I expected to be blown away and while I really enjoyed the movie I wasn’t. Considering the director’s past films I thought there would be non-stop action and a thrilling finale. The finale was awesome but the first part of the movie dragged a bit.

MVP: Gosling as the titular stunt man, Colt Seavers, so good

Deadpool and Wolverine

Actors: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney, Leslie Uggams, Aaron Stanford, Matthew Macfadyen

Rating: 9 out of 10, I was afraid there was no way Deadpool and Wolverine could deliver on expectations. The first two Deadpool movies were so good that there had to be a letdown. There wasn’t. I haven’t laughed this much at a movie in a very long time as Reynolds continues to shatter the 4th wall with a more than adequate straight man in Jackman. They spend most of the movie trying to kill each other, despite knowing that is impossible. There are too many cameos to highlight and they all work, sometimes hilariously so (think Channing Tatum). Reynolds takes his new bosses at Marvel to task throughout the movie and it is just too funny. My only complaint would be the lack of adequate screen time for Monica Baccarin but you could say that about every movie, whether she’s in it or not. If this is Deadpool’s last ride, he goes out firmly on top.

MVP: Jackman as the dangerous foil to Deadpool’s insanity

Boy Kills World

Actors: Bill Skarsgård, Jessica Rothe, Michelle Dockery, Brett Gelman, Isaiah Mustafa, Yayan Ruhian, Andrew Koji, Sharlto Copley, Famke Janssen

Rating: 7 out of 10, The title is actually very descriptive as a young boy, having witnessed the killing of his family by a despotic city ruler is set on a course for revenge by a martial arts tutor. The latest Pennywise is cast as the adult version and he make the movie. He’s been rendered deaf/ mute and has an inner voice which lends some much needed comedy to the brutal action scenes. There are some superbly choreographed, cartoonish fight scenes leading up to the well set up twists and turns of the climatic battle. This was a great ride as long as the CGI blood spatter doesn’t offend. Again, a great ride.

MVP: Skarsgård as the very lethal Boy

Borderlands

Actors: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Edgar Ramirez, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Gina Gershon, Jamie Lee Curtis.

Rating: 8 out of 10, I don’t understand why this movie is getting so much hate thrown at it. That’s probably because I’ve never played the game the film was based upon so I had no expectations. I really liked it as it offered a smart sci-fi action comedy with a stalwart crew of actors. Cate Blanchette in a true endeavor outside her usual fare is awesome as a bounty hunter hired to find a lost daughter of the villain. She makes her way to her dystopian home planet where she teams up with a motley gang including Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis, and a very funny robot voiced by Jack Black. There is also a huge masked, mostly silent character who’s around the physically crush anybody threatening the young girl who is also extremely funny. Again, I don’t get the hate because this is a very good, big, summer action flick. Loved it.

MVP: Cate Blanchett as Lillith, the very dangerous lead

Alien Romulus

Actors: Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, Aileen Wu

Rating: 7 out of 10, The movie is pretty good although it follows what has become the standard alien formula. A plucky female lead is marked early on as the dedicated sole survivor while her plucky band of co-stars fall, one by one, at the hands of either the alien or a conniving corporate android. The evil Weyland-Yutani corporation is back as this actually serves as a direct sequel to the first Alien movie with the alien Ripley pushed out of the ship in the final moments serving as the progenitor for the latest squad of face huggers and chest bursters. While the plot was more than fairly predictable, there was genuine tension throughout and some really scary moments as the film winds towards the inevitable climatic battle which is very good. I liked it.

MVP: Jonsson as the befuddled android Andy