Ed's Review Dot Com

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Marv Films, Cloudy Productions,

Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Caine, Taron Egerton, Mark Strong, Sofia Boutella, Sophie Cookson

A young boy, Eggsy (Taron Egerton) loses his father while he was very young. He’s grown ihttp://www.edsreview.com/wp-admin/edit.phpnto a troubled kid, but underneath it all he seems to have a good heart. When he finds himself in serious trouble, he remembers a pendant his father gave him when he left the last time, with a message to call the number on the back side. He called the number, and Harry Hart (Colin Firth) appears and takes care of the problem and brings Eggsy to the headquarters of a top secret spy organization that is called upon when there’s a global crisis. Eggsy’s father was a spy, and Harry sees good in him and begins his training. But as an evil technology wizard sets in place a plan to take over the world, Eggsy finds himself in the middle of the struggle.

My first thought in watching this film is that it is really a rip off of James Bond. Secret rooms and equipment that is extremely technological, like umbrellas that are bullet shields and hand grenade lighters are some of the things they use. Then the second thought was that it was really kind of silly. Then after finishing the film, I found that I did kind of enjoy it a lot. Further reading and I found out that this is based on a comic book and it all fell into place. Not intended to be serious literary content, it’s a comic book. That makes perfect sense. Colin Firth was pretty good, even though over the top a bit, it suited his character, and he had some of the funniest action battles I have ever seen. Samuel L Jackson is a really unusual bad guy, and he too has some really funny parts. He can keep up with the best James Bond villains. He was really good. All in all, it’s a fun superhero type film that is not all that serious but was a lot of fun after all. If you enjoy the superhero or the super spy films, then his one is right up there with the others. I recommend it, but remember that you’re going in to a comic, not classic literature.

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Emmett/Furla Films, Aperture Entertainment, Grindstone Entertainment,

Jason Patric, Bruce Willis, John Cusack, Rain, Jessica Lowndes, Johnathon Schaech, Gia Mantegna, 50 Cent

Paul (Jason Patric) used to be a mafia hit man, but has gotten away from the mob and is living peacefully as a mechanic. His daughter is in college, or he thinks she is, but he soon finds she has dropped out. Trying to track her down, he finds she has gone with a guy to New Orleans and has dropped out of sight, so Paul has to head back to New Orleans to find her. He soon finds out that an old rival leader, Omar (Bruce Willis) is behind the plot to kill Paul and he sends his best goons out to take him out.

This is not a big budget film by any means. Bruce Willis is in it, but not that much, and though he’s good when he’s on screen, most of the time he’s just a threat. John Cusack is also a bad guy in this film who isn’t bad, but isn’t that great either. Jason Patric has the largest role, but though the movie starts out pretty well, it slowly turns to a crawl. It’s not a horrible film at all, but it’s probably not worth the effort to seek it out. I can say that it’s very predictable, and the ending has no surprises. Also when it should be building up to a big finish it’s petering out to a fizzle. This is available in streaming and on cable, so if it came on, I wouldn’t mind watching it, but I was not overly impressed. Basically a few days after you’ll think of The Prince and can’t remember what it was about. It’s highly forgettable.

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Columbia Pictures, Happy Madison Productions, Hey Eddie,

Kevin James, Raini Rodriguez, Eduardo Verástegui, Daniella Alonso, Neal McDonough, David Henrie

Paul Blart (Kevin James) is back. Since we last saw him at the heroic crime bust at the mall, he has gotten married (for 6 days) and divorced, and become somewhat of a recluse. He still does his job, but it seems to have taken a lot out of him and he’s pretty down. But he’s invited to the security guard convention at the Encore in Las Vegas, and rumor has it that he’s going to be the keynote speaker. So that picks him up as he and his daughter Maya (Raini Rodriguez) head out to Vegas for a fun time. But Maya is hiding a secret from her Dad, and between the two of them they figure somethings wrong. Turns out a huge robbery is in progress and it’s up to Paul and his security guard buddies to get to the bottom in this comedy sequel to the original Paul Blart: Mall Cop.

The critics killed this movie. It’s available very cheaply on Amazon. But, perhaps there’s no one on the planet that has the taste in movies like me, cause I really enjoyed it. Am I a fan of Kevin James? Well not really, but I think the Paul Blart character is lovable and inept, but with such a big heart that he’s really likeable. I guess one thing that tickled me a lot was the fact that it was filmed in the wynn and Encore hotels in L.V. on site, and I am very familiar with the location. We had a birthday celebration with my daughter on her 21st birthday and stayed at the Encore, so the locations, the buffet, the pool, the rooms, the casino, the gardens, etc. were all very recognizable. This added a lot to the reality of the film since it was such a good attempt at making it real. There were even some scenes inside the wonderful La Reve show that I have watched twice and really enjoyed. Yeah, Paul is Beverly Hillbillies/Green Acres funny, down home good ole slapstick and pratfalls, and some people can’t deal with that anymore, but somehow I enjoy that kind of mindless humor. I like Paul Blart, and I felt bad when things went badly for him, and I was proud and happy when he did good too. Not nearly as stupid and silly as Dumb and Dumber, but on the same wavelength in a way. It is adventure and suspense and the crime part was somewhat believable and credible, so it was a real situation, although exaggerated for comedic effect. Kevin had some good backup players, the most misfit gang of partners I think I have ever seen, but the have each other’s backs. This may be the anti-Ocean’s Eleven, now that I think of it. I felt this was a harmless adventure through the lights and glamor of Sin City, and I really enjoyed it from start to finish. I recommend this comedy to anyone who wants to have a light evening of laughs and enjoyment and a visit to Vegas. Nice job.

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Ego Film Arts, The Film Farm,

Ryan Reynolds, Scott Speedman, Rosario Dawson

Cass (Alexia Fast) was 9 years old when she was riding home with her Dad Matthew (Ryan Reynolds). Matthew stopped at a little cafe to pick up a pie for a party and when he returned to the car, Cassandra was gone. She was captured by an evil ring of men who kidnapped children and held them captive while putting them on webcam so that members could watch the kids around the clock. Cassandra was held for 8 years. Now that she is grown, the clients have lost interest in her, but the captors use her to lure other girls to be captured. But though her parents have never lost hope, the police believe that somehow Matthew is behind her disappearance. The captors are playing a game however, leaving little clues that Cassandra is still alive. Since so much time has passed, and with no one to believe him anyway, it’s up to Matthew to sort out the truth on his own.

This is a suspenseful little film, and the frustration that Matthew feels is very deftly portrayed by Ryan Reynolds. He does a wonderful job in this film. Another standout is Rosario Dawson who plays a missing person’s detective who has a special bind to the missing children. The story is very smartly written, and though we also can tell that Ryan’s character is telling the truth, in true Hitchcock style (were they intentionally paying homage to him), every step of the way makes Matthew look guilty. This is a stolen child story, but with all the modern technology, it shows how the bad guys have a leg up on the police, and how frustrating it is trying to solve these cases. This was filmed in Canada and takes place in Niagara, so there are some harsh winter scenes. Ontario gets a lot of snow from the lakes, and winters are long and cold. This suits the film very well too, as most of it takes place in the winter. I felt this was a very good little mystery/suspense picture, and I enjoyed it very much. I can recommend this if you like a good thriller from time to time. Not a major motion picture, but well worth watching. Look for it.

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Forward Pass, Legendary Pictures,

Chris Hemsworth, Wei Tang, Viola Davis, Ritchie Coster, Holt McCallany, Yorick van Wageningen, Leehom Wang

Nick Hathaway (Chris Hemsworth) is a world class hacker who has been sent to prison. He is given a “Get Out of Jail Free” card when a cyber-hacker from the Balkans pops up somewhere in Southeast Asia. Nick is sent out with a team to assist the American and Chinese experts in attempting to find and contain the danger. Before long, Nick is out on his own and in grave danger, but using his skills and his wits and with the help of his new girlfriend Chen Lien (Wei Tang) they attempt to solve the puzzle and save the world.

This is very much a Chris Hemsworth movie. They took the story and handed it to him and said, “Make it so”. Boy does he. He sells the part 100%. This is a James Bond style tale with lots of locations all over the world as they unravel the story. Chris did an excellent job, as did the other characters. This is not a huge film, but as a little computer thriller with lots of action, beautiful scenery, and major suspense, this film is well worth watching. The technical details are believable, and the LACK OF APPLE EQUIPMENT allows me to raise the score a half a point. At one point Nick even asks for an Android phone and I almost squealed with delight. Basically this is a pretty decent little suspense film, and worth the effort to find it. And if you’re a Hemsworth fan (I.e. female) what more could you ask for?

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