Resident Evil: Final Chapter

Actors: Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Shawn Roberts, Ruby Rose, Eoin Macken, William Levy, Iain Glen

Rating: 7 out of 10, The promised (hopefully) last film in the series as we follow Alice back to the “hive” where the whole apocalypse started in the first movie. Jovovich has grown to be a compelling female action star as she continues her six movie swath cutting through zombie hordes while battling the evil Umbrella Corporation. It’ every bit as silly as it sounds but I remain a fan of this type fare and really enjoyed this last ride with Alice. While this is promised to be the last chapter they did leave themselves a little wiggle room. Nothing is ever final in the Resident Evil world, especially when it makes buckets of money.

MVP: Milla as the irrepressible Alice

John Wick 2

Actors: Keanu Reeves, Common, Laurence Fishburne, Riccardo Scamarcio, Ruby Rose, John Leguizamo, Ian McShane,

Rating: 10 out of 10, I was prepared for a letdown because the first one was so good but I was heartily surprised as this one is possibly better. It is no more believable but provides a lot more texture into the underworld society Wick is trying to escape. Reeves deadpan look is perfect for the Wick part as he mows down a seemingly endless stream of would be foes, usually with his signature headshot but he also touches his own mythology with a very sturdy pencil. A total thrill ride of completely unbelievable but impossible to ignore action. The first great movie of 2017, all the more so since it’s a sequel and had higher expectations to meet.

MVP: Mr Reeves, por favor, who else in the very dangerous title role

Underworld Blood Wars

Actors: Kate Beckinsale,Theo James, Lara Pulver, James Faulkner, Charles Dance

Rating: 6 out of 10, This can be recommended for its only socially redeeming feature – Kate Beckinsale back in skin tight lycra spandex as the heroine vampire fighting against both sides in a vampire versus werewolf war. Tris Prior’s boyfriend, Four, is back to assuage the teenybopper crowd. I really liked the first couple movies in this series but it’s devolved into a loosely assembled series of CGI fights superimposed on a very shaky script. Still hard to ignore that lycra.

MVP: Kate Beckinsale once again as Selene, slinky and deadly

Logan

Actors: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Richard E. Grant, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant, Dafne Keen, Eriq La Salle, Elise Neal, Elizabeth Rodriguez

Rating: 9 out of 10, This might be the best X-Men movie ever which certainly isn't an insurmountable task but still. It is certainly the most violent with some very graphic depictions of Wolverine’s claws hitting home, mostly in the cranial region. Hugh Jackman achieves real depth in his last turn as the most iconic of X-men playing him as age finally catches up. There’s a great road trip with a senile Professor X and a ferocious young mutant who resembles a young Wolverine. If this is truly the end of this set of X-men movies then it went out on a very high note. There’s also a clever little plug for another character at the start of the movie.

MVP: Jackman in the title role defines an exist strategy with grace and style

XXX – The Return of Xander Cage

Actors: Vin Diesel, Donnie Yen, Deepika Padukone, Kris Wu, Ruby Rose, Tony Jaa, Nina Dobrev, Toni Collette, Samuel L. Jackson.

Rating: 7 out of 10, Noted thespian Vin Diesel returns to one of his signature action roles and empties the bank of Chinese actions stars as well. They all get together to take on an evil plot to use satellites as bombs. Diesel literally smirks his way through the entire movie which is understandable given the nonsensical plot and I’m sure how much he was getting paid for this. It plays like one of the old kung fu movies where the impossible is routine. The fights were almost too fast to keep up with – a tribute to skill of the “actors” performing the stunts. There was virtually no blood shed despite a body count in the low hundreds. This movie is what you’d think it is, low brow action not meant to challenge any viewer, so a pretty honest movie.

MVP: Donnie Yen as Yiang, action plus acting ability

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Actors: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Riz Ahmed, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Jiang Wen, Forest Whitaker.

Rating: 10 out of 10, They finally got the prequel thing right for A New Hope (the original Star Wars movie). This movie tells the back story to the acquisition of the death star plans which were the focal point of that first movie. This movie was all about adding texture which is provided in relentless fashion. The female lead absolutely rocks and there’s a gentle graying of the strict white and black of rebel versus empire. The desperate state of the rebellion and the signature battle which this film culminates in will truly resonate with any Star Wars geek (guilty as charged). They even resurrect two actors from that first movie, one of whom has been dead for nearly 40 years. Old Hammer Films favorite Peter Cushing is back as Grand Moff Tarkin and not for just a glimpse either; truly remarkable what they achieved in his case. Even without the galaxy far, far away back drop this was a kickass action flick with just the right amount of sly humor injected along with those heaping piles of nostalgia. I loved it.

MVP: Donnie Yen as Chirrut Îmwe, a blind warrior who really, really believes in the Force

Patriots’ Day

Actors: Mark Wahlberg, J. K. Simmons, John Goodman, Kevin Bacon, Michelle Monaghan, Jimmy O. Yang

Rating: 9 out of 10, I wasn’t sure if it was too early in the process for a film about the marathon bombings but Peter Berg once again dials up a very nice ode to the heroes of a real world disaster. Wahlberg limps, for some reason, through in his usual Mass-hole personae but the movie truly belongs to the effective and behind the scenes heroic hunt for the idiotic bombers. While Boston is highlighted the message for me was the way any American city would respond to this challenge. If you push, we’re going to push back. Some of the little known heroes were also given their time to shine like the tiny Chinese immigrant who bravely escaped the bombers’ clutches which led to the ultimate capture and the Watertown police who ended up in a massive firefight including bombs. You want to say this is an important film which may sound pretentious but this was a very good story, extremely well told.

MVP: Jimmy O. Yang as Dun Meng, the true hero of the story