Friday, September 18, 2015

Furious 7

Actors: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris Bridges, Jordana Brewster, Kurt Russell, Jason Statham
Rating: 9 out of 10, You don’t go into a Fast and Furious movie expecting grand thespian adventures. What you do get is a series of car stunts, beautiful women, totally impossible action sequences, and some real heart. This was strange on a couple levels. First and foremost was knowing Paul Walker died in the middle of filming. Wondering how they would handle it was in the background throughout. I won’t go into detail in case you haven’t seen it but I thought it was perfect. Understanding we’re not talking War and Peace here but it was classy, poignant, and true to the themes of the series. Nuff said. The other strange aspect was seeing my wife’s favorite boy toy, Jason Statham, as the villain. He’s so charismatic that it was tough reimagining him as truly evil, but he gave it a worthy effort. The film itself was a thoroughly enjoyable romp through the misadventures of the Furious gang, elevating their scams to the global terrorism arena. Needless to say there were the usual plot holes you could drive one of their souped up cars through but this is to be expected and almost reveled in. A lot of harmless fun if you go in sans your Oscar ballot and need for reality.
MVP:  Diesel as Toretta, because this will always be Diesel's show


 

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Mad Max Fury Road

Actors: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Nicholas Hoult, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Riley Keough, Zoƫ Kravitz, Abbey Lee, Courtney Eaton
Rating: 10 out of 10,  picks you up from the first scene of an unfortunate two headed lizard’s demise and deposits you two hours later absolutely spent from the unrelenting action. While this may have Tom Hardy billed at the title character this is Charlize Theron’s movie despite Hardy being a fantastic reboot of the character Mel Gibson lofted to iconic status. Max is making his way through the desolate landscape dodging marauders and memories when he’s accosted by the minions of a truly terrifying warlord. His subsequent road to escape and teaming up with Theron is amazing in the minute details, the horrific battles, and the stunning exterior shots. Make sure you see this movie and see it on the big screen to truly enjoy it. Be warned though, you may leave needing an oxygen mask – great movie!!!!!!
MVP:   Theron as Furiosa – dominates!