Hitman: Agent 47

Actors: Rupert Friend, Hannah Ware, Zachary Quinto, Ciarán Hinds, Thomas Kretschmann, Angelababy

Rating: 8 out of 10, I guess this is based on a popular video game of which I am blissfully unaware, a signature difference between baby boomers and millennials. Since this movie was about a bio-engineered super assassin there was the attendant carnage but it was practically bloodless, despite the state of the art CGI splatters. I liked the two lead actors, especially the title character. He was supposed to be an emotionless automaton but he was a good enough actor to add a bit of character which made him likable. Young Spock showed up to suck up bullets and knife thrusts in true Hero fashion. Despite the body count, this was harmless fun and I enjoyed the ride. Just check your need for a greater meaning at the door.

MVP: Friend in the title character role as the almost humorless assassin

Scorch Trials

Actors: Dylan O'Brien, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ki Hong Lee, Kaya Scodelario, Patricia Clarkson, Rosa Salazar, Jacob Lofland, Giancarlo Esposito, Aidan Gillen, Barry Pepper, Lili Taylor, Alan Tudyk.

Rating: 8 out of 10, The same bunch of fun loving teens that escaped the maze in the first picture now have to deal with a rapidly expanding world that is mostly destroyed. There’s a very convoluted plot as to why these teens are so important, especially since in the first movie the corporation who values them so much spent a lot of time and effort killing them off. What the hell, it’s science fiction, plot holes be damned! The group spends the entire movie running from a variety of threats ranging from said corporation, to zombies, to Gus Fring with his face grown back. That brings up a major problem I had with chase scenes. The trail runner would invariably stop to gaze back in wonder at the imminent and usually very deadly threat, pursuing them. This made no sense on any level, except for the dramatic effect of a close up for the actor. We get it – you’re being chased, turn around and run! Other than that minor, but very irritating point, I liked the action scenes which added a lot of tension. While this was obviously a set piece to get us to the third movie I liked it.

MVP: O’Brien as the ever doughty and running Thomas

Man From UNCLE

Actors: Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Debicki, Hugh Grant

Rating: 7 out of 10, A reboot of the 1960’s TV series that was launched when the Bond films exploded on popular culture. I wasn’t a huge fan of the original TV series – I watched it – as any red blooded American boy was expected to do in the late 1960s. I always thought Illya Kuryakin was a lot cooler than the uber-suave Napoleon Solo which was out of step with what was pushed by Cold War sensibilities. I was excited to see Guy Ritchie at the helm as he always finds a way to inject some very sly humor into action flicks. Maybe I was expecting too much. I walked out thinking, well that was okay but I wanted to be dazzled while I was only mildly amused. The more I thought on it I realized the problem was Kryptonian. Superman was so stiff and deadpan that he failed miserably at capturing the wit and charm of Solo. The Lone Ranger (Armie Hammer) on the other hand was superb as Kuryakin, talk about a comeback. Its problematic, however, when a buddy picture only has one of the buddies operational. Ritchie made a gallant effort at trying to recapture the 1960s setting and the story was interesting enough but with Cavill apparently mainlining liquid kryptonite the film falls short. 

MVP: Hammer as the stiff but dangerous Kuryakin

Terminator Genisys

Actors: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Clarke, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney,

Rating: 8 out of 10, I know this movie is being skewered by critics and geekdom in general (of which I count myself a proud member) but I kind of liked it. I’ve always considered the series finished after the first two movies which remain near the top of my list of best sci fi movies ever. The third and fourth entries were gallant but abysmal when compared with the original two; lacking the Cameron touch certainly didn’t help. This movie picks up and re-tells the story from the first two movies with a new cast, except for the governator and a completely new premise. There’s more of the Kyle Reese life in the future with John Conner and of course an insidious Skynet upgrade of terminator technology. The story moves along smartly with the requisite non-stop battles, updated with 21st century CGI. The original plot is turned on its head but what I really liked was the almost continual odes to scenes from the first two movies. Some were more subtle than others but they permeate the film from beginning to end. In this re-boot Kyle returns to the past to find Sarah already up to film 2 levels of deadliness thanks to yet another “friendly” terminator’s arrival even earlier in her life. This leads to an interesting dynamic in the central love story between the two. The Khaleesi holds her own as Sarah but Jai Courtney is certainly no Michael Biehn. Ahhnuld figured out a way to age his character to explain away the ravages of the past thirty years and he remains the best thing about this latest movie. My only beef with the film is the toning down to reach a PG-13 rating. The first two movies rocked because of the unrestrained violence which provided the needed edge to outline the desperate struggle of Kyle and Sarah to save humankind. Missing that edge may have generated a few more adolescent ticket sales but hurts the movie. It certainly prevents it from joining the first two movies as epics. Of course I’m prejudiced when it comes to the “myth”.

MVP: Arnold in his signature role

Dracula Untold

Actors: Luke Evans, Sarah Gadon, Dominic Cooper, Art Parkinson, Charles Dance

Rating: 7 out of 10, It was a new take on Dracula (if that’s even possible) as Prince Vlad decides to rent the powers of the local vampire for a few days to head off an invading army of Turks.  He can return to human form if he resists “dining” for three days; you all know where that’s headed.  I liked the movie because it was pure escapism which is what my battered spirits needed at the time, no need to think, just enjoy the ride. Evans is an interesting actor and renewed his action credentials from his recent turn in the Hobbit trilogy. Unfortunately he takes really bad political advice from his advice but you had to see that coming.

MVP: Evans as the completely misunderstood bloodsucker

Focus

Actors: Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Rodrigo Santoro, Gerald McRaney

Rating: 7 out of 10, This is a Will Smith vehicle ably supported by Margot Robbie the unforgettable wife of the Wolf of Wall Street. Smith is excellent as always but labors under the pressure of a character who’s a really bad guy. Smith is probably the most likable actor in cinema today but here he plays a con man who orchestrates thefts at major social events. This type movie only works, at least for me, when the con men are ripping off guys that deserve to be victimized – someone lower on the loathsome scale than the thieves. There’s a few cute twists thrown in but I couldn’t get past the feeling these guys deserve to be incarcerated. Great chemistry between Smith and Robbie elevated it above those thoughts. I should have loved it, what with skimpily clad women, exotic locales and of course Miss Robbie, but I only liked it.

MVP: Robbie as the startlingly hot Jess

Jurassic World

Actors: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Vincent D'Onofrio, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Omar Sy, B. D. Wong, Irrfan Khan, Jake Johnson

Rating: 9 out of 10, I liked, but did not love the movie. It was a workmanlike effort with all the expected thrills and shocks but this is territory already well covered by the preceding films. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are very good in the lead roles but the signature endangered kid roles were glossed over. CGI dinosaurs have reached the point where they no longer have the same wonder the first films generated which means the story needs to make up the lack of compellable factor which isn’t really there. The plot involves a rejuvenation of the park from the earlier films, including some of the old sets (Easter eggs galore). Pratt plays the plucky adventurer with a flock of semi-trained raptors. There’s a needless evil industrial-military game going on behind the scenes which is exposed when the latest creation – a specially “designed” dinosaur escapes and wreaks havoc on humans and dinosaurs alike. The film tried to incorporate themes and plot lines from all three preceding films and this detracted. All this being said, it was a great little thrill ride, well deserving of summer popcorn status but it definitely does not soar.

MVP: Chris Pratt as Owen Grady, cementing his action credentials wrangling Raptors