Review: ‘Kill Order’, Genre-Defying Smash ‘Em Up Wastes Its Potential

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February 1, 2018

Do you have a Die Hard fantasy? Do you imagine
that, one day, bad guys will bust into your office and you alone will have to
fight them off and save the day? I do, and I’m sure I’m not alone. James Mark
obviously shares my dream. He wrote and directed a whole movie about it: the
new genre-defying martial arts smash-‘em-up film Kill Order.

Curiously, before it goes into the
fight-off-a-bunch-of-dudes plot that eats up most of its run time, the film instead
introduces itself with a shockingly intense horror prologue. The jarring
opening moments are in a sterile hospital room. Our protagonist is writhing in
agony while chained to a chair, with a demon ordering him to kill everyone he
sees. While it is an impressive and hardcore way to start a movie, what’s odd
about this scene is that the tone is wildly different from everything that
follows. The demonic figure stays around, fighting the hero from within his own
mind, but any sense that this movie is out to frighten you goes away as soon as
the title appears.

We’re then reintroduced to our hero David (Chris Mark), an
awkward high school student trying to ignore his secret murder-demon and live a
normal life. Suddenly, the Die Hard part of the movie kicks into
gear as a big SWAT team of guys with guns burst into his school and hold his
whole class hostage. Understanding the danger he’s in, David gives in to his
demon and allows it to take him over. He then powers up like a Dragonball
Z character (his eyes literally glow blue with killer-demon strength).
The David-Demon kills all the bad guys for about ten minutes before regaining
his composure and escaping. Secret agents working for the task force he just
took out have a cryptic action-movie conversation about how their boss needs
him captured for their mysterious bad-guy plans to work, and that’s pretty much
it.

The rest of the movie is either villains having villain
conversations like that one, or scenes of David fighting and killing more of these
random dudes in new and creative ways. Unfortunately, neither of these types of
scenes carry much weight. David has superpowers, so we know he can’t possibly
lose any of these fights, and we’re not really given any context for this
endless stream of bad guys or what it is they want exactly, so the scenes of
dialogue don’t really do much either.

What’s frustrating is that all of the individual battle
sequences in Kill Order are cool to watch. Chris Mark is clearly a talented
martial artist, and the fight choreography is flashy and fun to watch. James
Mark knows how to shoot action scenes well and highlight Chris’s abilities.
It’s just that none of these things come together to make a feature length
film. Any of these scenes would make an awesome short video on YouTube, but
they simply can’t carry a story any longer than that, and trying to connect
them through a singular plot only serves to crush their potential. I now have
to wonder why a demon is telling this high schooler to kill people, and why
he’s invincible, and why Japanese businessmen want him dead. There are all
kinds of other plot threads, and everything is explained only at the end of a
full length movie, when it’s far too late in the game to help you understand
what you’ve seen. Couple that with an overreliance on cheesy looking CGI
effects and you get a final product that’s nowhere near as good as the talent
behind it.

There’s a lot of potential in Kill Order, it just
doesn’t come together the way I would have hoped. I can imagine this being fun
if you’re just clicking through Kung Fu movies on Netflix, but past that it’s more
a demo reel of the raw talent these artists have and will hopefully put to
greater use in future projects.

2.5 out of 5

‘Black Panther’ Nearly Included Another Cool Black Superhero

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John Nolan

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February 1, 2018

It’s already black superhero overload in Marvel’s upcoming Black Panther movie, but they actually kicked around the idea of adding one more. And this isn’t some loser hero either like Triathlon or something (no offense, Triathlon fans), Ryan Coogler revealed that at one point he considered including Elijah Bradley aka Patriot into the script.

Why would that be a big deal? Well, Patriot is a member of the Young Avengers, but more importantly he’s the grandson of Isaiah Bradley, the first black Captain America.

Coogler tells Cinemablend…

Crazy enough, for comic book fans, we toyed with the character Patriot for a little bit. Early on we were interested to get our hands on him, Joe [Robert Cole] and I, but that ended up going away so we could focus on Wakanda a little more.

The ones that you see were kind of always there. M’Baku, Killmonger, T’Challa, Nakia, Okoye, Shuri, Ramonda, Klaue, Everett Ross… they were always in every draft. So we had to make sure that they all had arcs, and it had something to do with that.

Or at least I think he’s referring to Elijah Bradley and not the brand new Patriot, Rayshaun Lucas, who recently took up the mantle and is now Falcon’s apprentice.

I would love to see Patriot get his shot in the MCU, but preferably in a Young Avengers movie or…waitaminute, isn’t Chris Evans’ contract up? Rather than Falcon or *snooze* Bucky taking over as Cap, why not have Patriot step up to the plate? Either of them.

Black Panther opens February 16th.

‘Men In Black’ Spinoff Lands ‘Straight Outta Compton’ Director F. Gary Gray

By

John Nolan

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February 1, 2018

F. Gary Gray sure has come a long way since he directed Ice Cube and Chris Tucker in Friday all those years ago. Now he commands multi-million dollar budgets as the director of The Fate of the Furious, and makes Oscar-nominated movies like Straight Outta Compton. And now he’s helping Sony to revive their stalled Men in Black franchise by coming aboard to direct the upcoming spinoff.

Just days ago we learned Sony’s Men in Black spinoff had been set for June 14th 2019, and now it has Gray ready to step behind the camera. We still don’t know much about what the film will be, except that it won’t feature original stars Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith. Nor will it be some weird crossover with 21 Jump Street like Sony wanted to do before. Yeah, that’ll never happen.

Iron Man duo Art Marcum and Matt Holloway are writing the script that will introduce some new agents and definitely some new aliens into the MIB universe. [THR]

‘Black Panther’ Targeted By Rotten Tomatoes Score Saboteurs

By

John Nolan

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February 1, 2018

Such is the world we live in that a bunch of disgruntled pantywaists with computer access can sabotage a movie’s box office potential, but that’s how it be right now. The same Alt-Right group that did a massive hit job on Star Wars: The Last Jedi‘s Rotten Tomatoes score is now planning to attack Disney again, only this time they’re targeting Black Panther. The superhero film features a mostly African-American cast and is shaping up to be one of the biggest launches in Marvel history based on presale ticket buys.

The social media group known as “Down With Disney’s Treatment of Franchises and its Fanboys” set up a Facebook event for Black Panther‘s release date of February 15th, and encouraged others to give the movie a bad score. They also hope to ruin the movie by spreading spoilers as far and wide as possible:

“Given the massive success of the audience review rigging on the Rotten Tomatoes site for ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi,’ and due to the sudden rise in those disgruntled with Disney business practices among other factors especially due to the corporate manipulations which created falsified bad press for the DCEU, I feel that it’s time to strike back at all those under Disney and bring down the house of mouse’s actions for paying off the critics that hurt DC Comics on film and for other parties affected by them.”

They add, “I’ll be making events like this for ‘Infinity War’ and the Netflix shows etc so we can rally together to truly make a difference…If you want to spread spoilers to Marvel fanboys, use this event as a platform to inform us of targets!”

Man, I wish Marvel would pay us to trash DC. Can I get in on some of that action?

How much impact stuff like this has is debatable. The disparity between critic and audience scores on The Last Jedi was huge enough that mainstream media outlets took notice and it created a narrative that the film was poorly received. It still went on to gross well above $1B worldwide, although considerably less than The Force Awakens which was not met with such a negative campaign.

On the plus side, there are only 3700 users who have agreed to attend this event, and most of the comments are insults towards the group itself. So we’ll just have to wait and see how this plays out, but my gut tells me Black Panther will do just fine and these nerds with too much time on their hands and no power in their lives will be ignored.

Review: ‘The Music Of Silence’, Andrea Bocelli’s Operatic Rise To Fame

By

John Nolan

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February 1, 2018

The Music of Silence is based on the true story of opera singer Andrea Bocelli, that was adapted from an autobiographical novel from Bocelli himself. This was another film that wasn’t particularly bad; there were no outstanding plot holes, edits, or problems within the story structure, but I do think that this film suffers from something that isn’t necessarily its fault; that being that if you are not a huge fan of Andrea Bocelli or at the very least know much about him, then I do think that you’ll find watching this movie a chore.

The personal knowledge that I had of Andrea Bocelli was pretty limited. I knew that he was an opera singer and that was it. The fact of his blindness was a bit of knowledge that I know that I knew; I recall knowing that he was blind, but it was something that was reminded to me when I read over the synopsis for this film. So, with that being said, you can probably guess where it is that this viewing experience ranks among all of my previous viewing experiences.

I understand that not every film is going to be extremely entertaining in the sense of action sequences, explosions, and pretty lights; and with a film like this that is pretty limited in its storytelling because it is portraying the life of a real person, there’s only so much that they could add in before it crosses the line of authenticity. Even though this film is only based on Bocelli’s story and isn’t necessarily meant to be a biopic of the singer’s life I still think that my point remains.

Just from watching this film I got the sense that his life was pretty conflict-free. I don’t say that to mean that he never experiences conflict or obstacles in his life, the man went blind at the age 12 of crying out loud. However, in this very real world and also commonly reproduced world of musicians and their stories where coke binges, negative experiences with racism, abuse, family turmoil, or corrupt managers are rampant, Bocelli’s story in comparison seemed rather tamed to say the least.

(According to the movie) his biggest obstacles were his blindness and the figuring out of his music career. I don’t mean to downplay these obstacles because I know that they were pretty important and life changing; they made him who he is. However, when you look at it through a story lens, it isn’t the most captivating or intriguing thing. Maybe this is a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” scenario where movies like this have to maneuver that fine line of authenticity and fiction, but I do think that it’s a very real flaw that the filmmakers should have been aware of and tried to figure out.

If you are a fan of Andrea Bocelli and have been interested in his story, then you may actually enjoy the film. A lot of time is spent on his childhood and who he was before his fame really kicked in, so perhaps that kind of information would be interesting to explore for fans of the opera singer. The acting itself, while I can’t speak too much on the accuracy, wasn’t horrible. I think they all did a decent job at portraying authentic people/characters. I also, did like how the movie seemed to explore the idea that seeing is not only limited to the eyes; that clarity can come from different sources and senses, but other than that I didn’t really enjoy this film. I think it’s slowness and lack of a compelling story would be enough to make anyone, fan or not, not entirely happy with the end product.

The Music of Silence releases in theaters and on VOD February 2, 2018.

Rating: 2 out of 5

‘Game Night’ Trailer: Jason Bateman And Rachel McAdams Are Super Competitive

By

John Nolan

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February 1, 2018

I imagine Game Night was a very easy movie to get green lit. The broad studio comedy features a great cast, led by Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams who are always fun to watch, and has a premise everyone can wrap their brains around: a weekly game night goes horribly wrong when their murder mystery party gets a little too real.

Directed by Vacation duo John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, the film also stars Kyle Chandler, Jesse Plemons, Billy Magnussen, Michael C. Hall, Sharon Horgan, Lamorne Morris, Danny Huston, and more. It looks incredibly silly but the trailers make me laugh every time, including this new one. I don’t think we’ve scratched the surface of how funny McAdams can be when given the right material.

Here’s the synopsis: Bateman and McAdams star as Max and Annie, whose weekly couples game night gets kicked up a notch when Max’s charismatic brother, Brooks, arranges a murder mystery party, complete with fake thugs and faux federal agents. So when Brooks gets kidnapped, it’s all part of the game…right? But as the six uber-competitive gamers set out to solve the case and win, they begin to discover that neither this “game”—nor Brooks—are what they seem to be. Over the course of one chaotic night, the friends find themselves increasingly in over their heads as each twist leads to another unexpected turn. With no rules, no points, and no idea who all the players are, this could turn out to be the most fun they’ve ever had…or game over.

Review: ‘Braven’, Jason Momoa Kicks Butt In The Canadian Wilderness

By

John Nolan

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February 1, 2018

He may be busy commanding the seas as Aquaman but the bulk of Jason Momoa’s resume consists of modest action flicks like Braven. To be fair, this one is among the better of that group, a Canadian thriller that finds the former Kal Drogo as a regular joe fighting to save his family in the snowy mountains. There isn’t a ton that you’ll find original about Braven, but if you like Momoa when he plays a man pushed past the breaking point, then this is worth your time.

The directorial debut of stunt coordinator Lin Oedig, Braven has some impressive choreography that takes advantage of Momoa’s physicality. He plays Joe Braven, and while he appears to be just an ordinary logger and family man, his franchise-ready name should tell you he’s secretly a badass. After a violent encounter in a local bar, Joe goes with his Alzheimer’s stricken father Linden (Stephen Lang) to board up the cabin for a harsh winter, only to discover a bag full of heroin has been stashed there. Sure enough before they can jet back home to safety, Joe and Linden are under attack by the drug lord (Garret Dillahunt) and his well-trained kill crew who not only want their drugs back, they want to kill all witnesses. Oh, and Joe’s daughter has stowed along for the ride so he’s gotta keep her safe, too. Kids.

Braven doesn’t set out to reinvent the genre, but those familiar with it will find a lot to like. Joe may not be a natural killer but you never would have guessed it. He’s like friggin’ MacGyver when it comes to finding new ways to off somebody. Bear traps, axes, FLAMING axes, plush toys as convenient decoys, steaming hot pokers, tow cables on runaway ATVs…he’s setting up his own little killer workshop of medieval weapons while the bad guys are trying to set up sniper positions. Joe’s use of everyday tools, and some keen lumberjacking skills in one instance, to defend himself are one way the film sets itself apart when so much else is recognizable. Even Joe’s wife (Jill Wagner, late of the underrated Blade TV series) brings some deft arrow skills to the table. This was the wrong family to f**k with.

While the body count skyrockets, there’s also the father-son relationship that needs to be sorted out, and what better way to bond than against a common enemy? Momoa and Lang, two classic screen tough guys, share at least one awkward scene where their characters try to actually have a conversation, until they find it’s just easier to dodge bullets. There isn’t much of an emotional arc to follow, though, which is disappointing because Loedig shows great proficiency elsewhere. He captures the natural beauty and dangers of the icy terrain, but also the boredom of small-town isolation. Using the natural scenery to the best possible advantage, Loedig hides any budgetary limitations with the exception of one distractingly bad use of CGI in the finale.

A film like Braven isn’t made to be extraordinary, which is fine because it isn’t. This is a well-made, efficient movie that checks all the boxes and provides an entertaining genre experience. At only 90 minutes it packs in as much of Momoa kicking butt as it possibly can, and I suspect that’s what people are coming to see, anyway.

Rating: 3 out of 5

‘The Week Of’ Trailer: Adam Sandler And Chris Rock Square Off In Netflix’s New Comedy

By

John Nolan

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February 1, 2018

Stop me if you’ve seen this comedy before. Two young lovers are about to get married, but the fathers of the bride and groom just can’t seem to get along. Aw man, I hope their sparring doesn’t threaten to ruin the nuptials or anything. Not that we expect Netflix’s deal with Adam Sandler to include wholly original works of comedy, but the trailer for The Week Of, which finds him teaming up with his pal Chris Rock, looks especially familiar.

On the plus side, it’s directed by Robert “Triumph the Insult Comic Dog” Smigel, while Rock is generally good for a few laughs. There isn’t a ton of dialogue in this trailer, mostly just one extended gag about air conditioning that I really hope doesn’t go on for as long as it appears. And is it too much to ask that their racial differences not be too much of a factor? Probably, yeah.

Here’s the synopsis: The comedy tells the story of two fathers who are polar opposites (Adam Sandler and Chris Rock) and the dysfunctional hilarity that ensues when their families come together to celebrate the wedding of their children. They are forced to spend the longest week of their lives together and the big day could not come soon enough.

Also starring Rachel Dratch, Steve Buscemi, Allison Strong, and Noah Robbins, The Week Of hits Netflix on April 27th.

Tiffany Haddish And Paul Thomas Anderson Really Might Make A Movie Together

By

John Nolan

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February 1, 2018

Who needs a leading man like Daniel Day-Lewis when you can have Tiffany Haddish as your leading lady? Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread and There Will Be Blood star may be retiring (We’ll see about that), but the director may have found a new muse in Haddish, whose breakout performance in Girls Trip has clearly left him smitten. He reached out to her at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards through Phantom Thread co-star Lesley Manville, and now Haddish says they are legit talking about a future project.

Haddish tells Vulture, ” I’ve been talking to him on the telephone!. I mean, he put his phone number out there, so I had to call. I’ve talked to him a few times and we’re probably gonna work together.”

So what’s this mystery, previously unimaginable project going to be about? While there’s nothing firm, they have been talking about the golden age of L.A.’s “Little Harlem” in the 1940s when the Hotel Dunbar in South Central, once the epicenter for the African-American arts and jazz scene on the west coast.

Perhaps a film about the hotel’s most famous owner, James “Jimmy” Nelson with Haddish as his wife Katherine? Whatever Haddish and Anderson come up with I’m going to be there and be there early to see it.

Nintendo Confirms An Animated Super Mario Film Is In The Works

By

John Nolan

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February 1, 2018

Grab your favorite raccoon suit and pair of overalls, because Super Mario is headed to the big screen. A few months ago we learned Nintendo and Illumination Entertainment, the company behind Despicable Me and Minions, were in talks for an animated Super Mario Bros. movie. Exciting only because Nintendo has been super strict on using their flagship video game character in anything since the disastrous live-action movie from 1993. Well now it has been made official, thanks to an interesting tweet by Nintendo…

Nintendo and Illumination are partnering on a movie starring Mario, co-produced by Shigeru Miyamoto and Chris Meledandri! pic.twitter.com/wVRPLIzcGJ

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) February 1, 2018

What’s with the parsing of the words, though? “A movie starring Mario” doesn’t necessarily mean a Super Mario Bros. movie. It might be a Dr. Mario movie. Or maybe a Yoshi movie. Or possibly just a video game film that features Nintendo characters including Mario. Maybe something like Super Smash Bros.? That could make or a fun animated beat ’em up movie.

Nintendo’s legendary developer Shigeru Miyamoto will be on hand to produce the film, along with Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri. If this means we’ll get to see a Mario Kart battle with the Minions then I’m all for it.