John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019)

Picking up from where 2 leaves off, John Wick is on the run and being hunted by what appears to be half the city. In the JW Universe, hit-man is a popular career choice. If you’re in the mood to bathe in violence, John Wick will be seeing you.

Rating: C

Hidalgo (2004)

A "based on a true story" action movie. Pretty good.

Rating: C

G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra (2009)

Looks and sounds amazing on screen, but it's hard to ignore the terrible script and delivery.

Rating: D+

Wonder Woman (2017)

Mildly entertaining. The best bits where during the planning phase in London when character nuances had a chance to surface. But I had a running list of complaints.

1. Did it not dawn on them that if Ares never returned, they would all die off in a generation’s time, you know, since there were no men around to get them pregnant?
2. Their home island made use of too much CGI. Might as well have been a cartoon.
3. Training with real weapons would have surely led to accidental beheadings and dismemberment. Where were all the disfigured chicks who failed warrior academy?
4. When WW dives into the ocean to save the pilot, she misses certain death on the rocks by a few feet. Does she have sonar? That’s not a dive I see them practicing.
5. I don’t care how important your mission is. If you wash up on the shore of an island full of sexy Amazon ladies, your new mission is to enjoy every second of the rest of your life.
6. Did anyone else not feel like this was a direct ripoff of The Truman Show?
7. One bad guy kills himself with cyanide to avoid giving up secrets whilst the others are knocked out, readily available for questioning. Do they bother? No.
8. Crossing No Man’s Land she deflects a few bullets with her wrist guards, but then hides behind her shield as the gatling gun starts. Um, how did her legs not get blown to bits?
9. Why does WW’s sword never have any blood on it?
10. In the end, it turns out she’s basically invincible, which renders all previous action sequences meaningless. Everything leads up to two “gods” duking it out in a pointless fight.
11. WW is victorious after she decides love can conquer all. Heavy stuff.

Rating: D+

Vantage Point (2008)

Like watching an extended episode of Boomtown, but with a bigger budget. Expect to be entertained and not much more.

Rating: C

American Hustle (2013)

A-list actors putting on a clinic of how it’s done. David O’ Russell, one of my favorite directors, makes the 70’s shine like it hasn’t in a long time. Nonstop eye candy on screen. The story played second fiddle to everything else going on, and I was ok with that. Certainly some nomination-worthy material here, although it wouldn’t be my pick for Best Picture.

Rating: B+