Copshop

Actors: Gerard Butler, Frank Grillo, Alexis Louder

Rating: 8 out of 10, I wasn’t sure what to think about Copland before seeing the movie, obviously. I went to see it mainly because it starred Gerard Butler and Frank Grillo who are reliable action stars. I wasn’t prepared for a complete unknown (to me) to steal every scene she was in, including from the two main stars. Alexis Louder was the only remotely redeemable character in the entire movie. She plays a young African American sheriff’s deputy in rural Nevada. She arrests a mysterious, wounded man who punches her (Grillo) which sets off a serious assault on her isolated police department. Butler shows up as an infamous hitman sent to off Grillo before he can talk. They are soon besieged by an array of competing hitman and dirty cops. The banter, especially between Butler and Grillo, is worth the price of admission. Butler has the best lines, including, “Now that’s a psychopath”, when competing (and hilarious unhinged) hitman Toby Huss shows up. Again though, Louder more than holds her own against the heavyweights and you can’t help but rooting for her to survive against long odds. So, a real surprise and one of the better movies I’ve seen in a while.

MVP: Louder as Val, the seriously undergunned but resilient deputy

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Actors: Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Meng'er Zhang, Fala Chen, Florian Munteanu, Benedict Wong, Michelle Yeoh, Ben Kingsley, Tony Leung

Rating: 9 out of 10, I was a little leery going into this figuring it might be overly Asian-centric and overdoing political correctness. I shouldn’t have worried as this turned out to be the best movie I’ve seen so far this year, exceeding even Marvel’s usual lofty standards. A great deal of the credit goes to the cast who were prefect, charismatic and connective with the audience. The lead actor, Simu Liu, was very impressive both in the incredible physical requirements, which literally comes from nowhere, very suddenly, as well as the deep emotions the part required. Awkwafina is along bringing her usual quirky humor but she proves she can do so much more. It was an interesting, multilayered plot laden with Marvel’s usual state of the art special effects. A very complex family story where the two mildly super-human parents produce two very special children, a boy and a girl. The boy, as an adult, is hiding out in San Francisco, the very best place for a monumental car chase, which happens very early. He is drawn back to China for a confrontation with his father with the fate of the world in the balance (this is Marvel after all). I loved the movie and very early I forgot it was Asian focused, the story and the actors won me over utterly, much in the same fashion as Black Panther did for African-Americans. Good is good and this was better.

MVP: Liu as the title character, kicking ass and taking names

The Suicide Squad

Actors: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Sylvester Stallone, Viola Davis, David Dastmalchian, Daniela Melchior, Michael Rooker, Jai Courtney, Peter Capaldi, Alice Braga, Pete Davidson

Rating: 9 out of 10, The Suicide Squad is awesomely irreverent and unapologetically violent in a very cartoonish way. James Gunn without binders on produced a truly glorious mess of a superhero story. The reimagined group of supervillains are armed and then dropped onto a jungle island with a generous amount of bodies to contribute to the count. Idris Elba is a fantastic addition and Margot Robbie continues to own the role of Harley Quinn. The rest of the cast comes and goes (mostly goes), usually in a computer-generated blood mist. This was a significant improvement on the original which took itself way too seriously. While it does stumble at times, I truly enjoyed the cartoon carnage.

MVP: Margot as the once again Harley Quinn

Free Guy

Actors: Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Joe Keery, Lil Rel Howery, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Taika Waititi

Rating: 9 out of 10, I’m not a gamer by any stretch of anyone’s imagination so I wasn’t sure I would get all the inside jokes in this flick about a game character that achieves self-awareness. I shouldn’t have worried because Ryan Reynolds is perfect for the part of making us first like the guy and then root for him in his hopeless quest. He’s ably supported by a fun cast of supporting actors, especially Jodie Comer as the female lead. It’s an entertaining ride with some really sweet characters and I found myself laughing almost constantly. It was also a funny jab at gaming and gamers in general, encouraging us to find the joy in real life, because we have it. This was well worth the watch, Reynolds’ winning streak continues.

MVP: Reynolds as Guy, the bank teller turned super hero, kind of

The Protege

Actors: Michael Keaton, Maggie Q, Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Malahide, David Rintoul, Ori Pfeffer, Ray Fearon, Caroline Loncq, Robert Patrick

Rating: 9 out of 10, I really enjoyed the Protégé featuring Samuel L. Jackson as a world class assassin and Maggie Q as his devoted apprentice/partner. This is Q’s movie and she’s more than capable of carrying the action. She is trying to find the people responsible for a personal tragedy and woe be unto those who stand in her way. There is a very interesting dynamic with Michael Keaton as an admiring adversary. The action is well executed and the characters fully fleshed out. I was happy to see Q get a chance to really star in her own movie versus her usual supporting role. She was more than up to the task. A great summer action flick, go see it.

MVP: Maggie Q as the deadly sexy Anna

F9: The Fast Saga

Actors: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, John Cena, Jordana Brewster, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sung Kang, Michael Rooker, Helen Mirren, Kurt Russell, Charlize Theron

Rating: 7 out of 10, As the expression “jumping the shark” ages we’re probably going to have to come up with a new phrase to express when a movie or TV series runs out of gas and just goes too far. F9 might serve as a target rich environment for that effort. I mean, sending street car racers into space! Then there is repeated issue of no one ever being permanently dead. This is the problem when you’re expected to up your game each time from previous movies. The Fast and Furious series has always delivered awesome car chases and incredible, increasingly unbelievable car stunts. This latest is no exception and when they focus on the action it’s great. Unfortunately, they decided to take themselves more seriously than called for. We don’t need to see them emote, especially in the case of John Cena, who proves incapable of doing that. There was too much time creating additional mythology for the Dominic Toretto clan which meant we had to endure repeated scenes of Vin Diesel staring off into the mists of his past. Knock it off and get back behind the wheel. The only ones who seemed to not mail this in were Tyrese Gibson and Ludacris who were too funny and engaging. This isn’t high art, it’s a Fast and Furious movie, which Diesel and whoever edited this, seems to have forgotten the edge that made this series of movies so successful. All this being said, the action scenes are worth sitting through the cringe worthy attempts to emote.

MVP: The huge electro-magnets – too cool

Black Widow

Actors: Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle, Olga Kurylenko, William Hurt, Ray Winstone, Rachel Weisz

Rating: 9 out of 10, More than up to Marvel’s usual very high standard. Johansson in what I assume is her swan song for this character easily carries the movie. The plot offers great details in her early, heretofore, mysterious background. The best addition though was Florence Pugh as her “sister”. I’d heard about Pugh but never saw what all the accolades were for, until now. She has real screen presence and more than held her own with the veteran actors she was surrounded by. The stunts were otherworldly and there were some sly comic threads as well. It’s a long movie but it carries you along at a relentless pace leaving you wanting more of the characters. Luckily it looks like this was a handoff from Johansson to Pugh and if that is the case then we are in good hands. A very good flick.

MVP: Pugh as the deadly pseudo-sister Yelena