Rambo Last Blood

Actors: Sylvester Stallone, Paz Vega, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Adriana Barraza, Yvette Monreal, Genie Kim, Joaquín Cosío, and Oscar Jaenada.

Rating: 8 out of 10, Old friend John Rambo certainly wears his years and scars in full evidence. We last left him finally making his way home to the Arizona ranch of his father. This latest movie picks up his story a decade later and he evidently spent that time tunneling around underneath the ranch and dealing with PTSD which makes a whole lot of sense considering what his character has been through. A Mexican drug/human trafficking cartel makes the mistake of taking someone close to Rambo and the bodies are soon piling up. There seemed to be a rush to the signature revenge porn without the semi-necessary buildup. We all know Rambo is going to spend the last third of the movie eviscerating the bad guys but, again, it all seemed a little rushed. The bad guys are certainly qualified to appear in one of Rambo’s patented kill montages through their brutal acts. I wish they’d spent some more time exploring the life Rambo built up in the preceding decade to highlight what was lost but that may be just me wishing the poor bastard got a little bit of a break. This would be a good place to end the series with Rambo literally riding off into the sunset. We don’t need to see Rambo on Mars as an octogenarian dispenser of justice.

MVP: Stallone as the once and forever tarnished knight – Rambo – John J

Ready or Not

Actors: Samara Weaving, Mark O'Brien, Adam Brody, Henry Czerny, Andie MacDowell

Rating: 8 out of 10, A lot of fun, a true dark comedy and scathing comment on the uber-rich (so not a bad thing). A young gal is marrying into a very rich family of game makers only to learn on her wedding night that she has to play a midnight game to truly join the family. The game, hide and seek, involves the rest of the family trying to kill her before dawn, so there’s that. It seems the family made a deal with the devil codifying this entry requirement which is embraced with varying degrees of commitment by family members. This movie belongs to Samara Weaving as the unfortunate bride who shows some real depth fighting the curiously inept hunters. There are some very funny (darkly so) moments involving accidental deaths. You do not want to be a maid for this family! You can’t help but root for Weaving as she deals with turn after turn in her fortunes. You leave the movie wondering how many of the rich in real life made similar deals with Satan and can only hope they end up like the ones depicted here in the explosive finale.

MVP: Samara Weaving as the fiesty newlywed

Angel Has Fallen

Actors: Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, Jada Pinkett Smith, Lance Reddick, Tim Blake Nelson, Piper Perabo, Nick Nolte, Danny Huston.

Rating: 8 out of 10, Agent Mike Banning is back in action after surviving the falls of Olympus and London. He’s obviously much worse for the wear after the multiple explosions and gunshot wounds suffered in the first two movies. This was formulaic and everything I expected which was a welcome escape from reality. Banning is framed for the spectacular assassination attempt on President Morgan Freeman and pursued across West Virginia by horribly miscast FBI agent Jada Pinkett Smith. I caught her smirking a couple of times at the gaping plot holes she was charged with selling – like instant DNA testing amongst other issues used to keep the plot moving. Nick Nolte is superb as Banning’s long lost father living a hermit’s existence but he’s only on the screen for a little bit. As noted above Gerard Butler is a too removed from his Leonidas days to truly sell everything he has to do in this movie. He was totally believable in the first two but time seems to finally be catching up with him. That doesn’t distract too much from the action packed movie with bodies strewn up and down the east coast, again, it’s pure escapism – a summer popcorn movie at its best.

MVP: Nolte as the Unabomber dad

Good Boys

Actors: Jacob Tremblay, Keith Williams, Brady Noon, Molly Gordon, Midori Francis

Rating: 9 out of 10, An incredibly funny movie exploring the coming of age for sixth graders seen through the eyes of three boys invited to their first ever “kissing party”. There are some uncomfortable moments as the boys skip school to experience adventures as they try to make their way to the mall. There are some almost sweet and incredibly funny scenes when they run across sex toys of their parents and assign innocent functions to them. It could be a cinematic first to have anal beads play a prominent role. This movie also boasts what might be the funniest paintball shootout of all time. The schemes are outlandish and totally unbelievable but you can’t help but root for these guys trapped between the elementary school and the onslaught of teenage years. I loved it even though I ended up having to explain why certain things were so funny to my date which turned out to be interesting.

MVP: Jacob Tremblay as Max, best actor of the little guys

Hobbes and Shaw

Actors: Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Idris Elba, Vanessa Kirby, Eiza González, Cliff Curtis and Helen Mirren

Rating: 7 out of 10, Hobbs and Shaw, spawn of that noted thespian proving ground – The Fast and the Furious series. This is everything you would expect from a summer action flick featuring two of today’s biggest purveyors of same. The Rock and Statham fit perfectly into their rivalry and spend most of the movie (maybe a tad too much) bad mouthing each other while simultaneously carrying out the fantastical stunts required of them. A welcome and needed injection of femininity is supplied by Vanessa Kirby, playing Statham’s sister certainly helped immensely. She is very good and more than hangs with the big boys during the action. Idris Elba is incapable of ineptitude and he is perfect as a cyborg like villain testing the boys. The plot jumps all over the place with holes you could drive the Rock through but with this kind of movie you forgive a lot. I mean a whole lot. Those of you who had a need to see the Rock running around in a skirt wielding a Polynesian war club will get that as well. There are some very funny cameos from Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Hart thrown in as well. All in all, a lot of fun and some great action since you suspended your disbelief (absolute requirement for a F&F movie) at the door.

MVP: Vanessa Kirby as Hattie Shaw, stealing scenes left and right

Spider-Man: Far From Home

Actors: Tom Holland, Samuel L. Jackson, Zendaya, Cobie Smulders, Jon Favreau, J. B. Smoove, Jacob Batalon, Martin Starr, Marisa Tomei, Jake Gyllenhall

Rating: 8 out of 10, The action takes place shortly after the events of the Avenger Infinity War and there are some very funny bits about the five years half the population went missing. Tom Holland really inhabits the part now although he can be a bit whiny at times. Luckily he has Zendaya around to give him a needed edge. The plot is timely as it explores deceptions within illusions as to what people think they’re seeing both in the news and directly in front of them. Who can you trust to tell the truth could be the defining lament of the current era. Peter Parker is on a school trip to Europe and trying to avoid responsibility as any self-respecting high school senior would. This follows the well-worn but still immensely entertaining Marvel formula of well-paced action and sneaky bits of humor liberally laced throughout. In the end this felt more like a resetting of the Marvel universe following the climatic events of the Infinity War and they did it with their usual aplomb. Marvel has lost nothing off their fast ball, loved it.

MVP: Tom Holland as a little whiny Peter Parker / Spider-Man

Yesterday

Actors: Himesh Patel, Lily James, Joel Fry, Kate McKinnon, Ed Sheeran

Rating: 9 out of 10, This sported a very interesting concept. After a worldwide blackout certain aspects of culture disappear from people’s memories – including all memory of the Beatles. Except for the hero – a struggling English singer who’s hit by a bus during the blackout. He starts singing some of the well-known tunes and is immediately hailed as a musical genius while struggling with guilt over knowing the truth. Since the Love Actually guys were involved there was a serious grasp for the heartstrings but the true star of the movie was the music. The Beatles music is so ubiquitous that I’d forgotten how poignant and just flat enjoyable their huge legacy of songs really is. The love story is a little too cute as I consider it a gaping plot hole why anybody wouldn’t immediately be in love with Lily James. There are some very funny moments as the singer discovers several other items have also disappeared. This was a nice escapist romp and a very fitting ode to the musical genius of the Beatles, reminding millennials what all the fuss about the Liverpool gents is all about.

MVP: Lily James as Ellie, immense screen presence