Just Drive..."Wheelman"

Wheelman (2017)

TV-MA

Starring Frank Grillo, Caitlin Carmichael, Wendy Moniz,

Written and Directed by Jeremy Rush

The Story:

The Wheelman (Grillo) is out of prison, but has to make some runs to pay off his debts that he owes the mob. However, when a job goes sideways due to a betrayal, things get personal when they go after The Wheelman's family!

Netflix keeps churning out original content, often with little or no fanfare other than the movie shows up on the home page for a day or two, then it disappears into the sea of streaming content.

You've got to give it to Netflix though, they are giving subscribers new content seemingly on a weekly basis.

Wheelman is a no frills, all thrills movie shot almost entirely from within the car, so it's pretty much Frank Grillo's movie to carry.

Thankfully, he does a fine job, and much like he did in The Purge sequels, especially Anarchy, he shows that he's more than qualified to be a leading man carrying an action film.

Jeremy Rush also shows promise with his first feature film as both a writer and director.

Not a bad first gig for him.

So if you like thrillers, it's worth taking the ride.

See what I did there? :)

Final Grade: C+

The Man Who Would Be King..."Black Panther"

Black Panther (2018)

Rated PG-13

Starring Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Sterling K. Brown, Angela Bassett, Andy Serkis, Forest Whitaker

Directed by Ryan Coogler,

The Story:

T'Challa (Boseman) is crowned the King of Wakanda following the passing of his father. However an outsider (Jordan) threatens the entire fate and kingdom of Wakanda in a bid to release vibranium weapons on a global scale.

Welcome to your spoiler-free review of Black Panther.

It's movie number 18 in the Marvel Cinematic Universe corner of your local movie-plex, and I think it's about time we come to a few facts:

1) These movies aren't going away anytime soon.
2) Fans should be glad of that.
3) Audiences apparently aren't suffering from superhero fatigue like critics seem to think every time a new superhero movie is released.

And I think it's time to start honestly talking about when will the Academy take MCU films seriously and consider them for ...

dare I say it...

Academy Awards.

Last year the big ground swell was Patty Jenkins deserved it because Wonder Woman was "amazing". (Meh...I wouldn't go that far, but still, if it furthers the superhero cause, I'm in) and because she's a woman.

Again, I hate the affirmative action take on it, I would hope it's based on merit, not gender or...

Color. 

Which brings us to Ryan Coogler, who has in the eyes of critics AND fans, yet to deliver a bad movie.

Here, he takes Wakanda and delivers the sum total history of an isolated African nation from the dawn of time to present day and given it the rich backstory it deserves.

He also populates it with some of the best second and third-tier characters in any Marvel Studios franchise.

He also delivers the Wakandan equivalent of a James Bond movie interlaced throughout the film as well.

Pick anyone from the cast, and odds are by the end of the movie, if not long before, you're slightly itching to see that character, or characters, receive their own MCU film from Marvel Studios in the near future.

So if you weren't part of the history-making audience that made Black Panther # 1 at the world-wide box office, smashing all sorts of February records along the way...

Don't delay, you'll want to see this one on the big screen.

Final Grade: A+

Proof That "The House" Doesn't Always Win

The House (2017)

Rated R

Starring Will Ferrell, Amy Poehler, Jason Mantzoukas, Ryan Simpkins, Nick Kroll,

Directed by Andrew Jay Cohen

The Story:

Scott (Ferrell) and Kate (Poehler) are excited that their daughter Alex (Simpkins) will be winning their annual community scholarship program. However when budget shortfalls kill the scholarship, they panic and turn to Frank (Mantzoukas) who suggests they earn the money by turning their house into a casino.

Game on.

This had to be a can't miss on paper.

Ferrell and Poehler.

Two Saturday Night Live legends starring together in an R-Rated comedy.

However, whatever paper it was written on, was not the paper that ended up getting filmed.

That said, there are some tremendously funny spots in the movie, some great cameos, and Mantzoukas doing what he does best, and that's making every movie he's in better than it should be.

Unfortunately it's not enough to save the film.

It's watchable, but sadly, it's forgettable.

Too many missed opportunities like this in the movies lately, especially for both leads.

Maybe next time?

Final Grade:  C

Cupid, Draw Back Your Bow..."When We First Met"

When We First Met (2018)

TV-14

Starring Adam Devine, Alexandra Daddario, Shelley Hennig, Andrew Bachelor, Robbie Amell,

Directed by Ari Sandel

The Story:

Noah (Devine) met Avery (Daddario) 3 years ago, and fell head over heels. The problem? After that first date, Noah found himself in the "friend zone" and now he's watching the girl of his dreams get engaged to Ethan (Amell). However, when Noah discovers that he can go back and try and fix that night, he realizes he can make sure that he's the one that winds up with Avery, and not Ethan!

The Rom-Com is alive and well, and thriving on Netflix. :)

Just in time for Valentine's Day comes When We First Met, a fun comedy that comes squarely from the "What if we took Groundhog Day and made it a ...." family of films.

Thankfully, I'm a big fan of that genre of films, and this Netflix Original didn't let me down.

The cast clicks nicely together, and Devine anchors the film with his weary Noah, chasing after the girl of his dreams, regardless of what it takes to woo her.

However, as with all good Groundhog Day-type movies, he's got to learn a few things along the way, and he does.

And it's what he learns along the way that makes this one not necessarily follow the beat for beat pattern that we get used to with these films.

Sure, there's some things he needs to change in his life, but Noah himself is not a bad guy, far from it. :)

And, as with apparently all Robbie Amell Netflix originals, he apparently is required to be shirtless in at least one scene in the movie!

It's a fun one, and doubtful you'll be disappointed.

Final Grade: B Ah heck,  in the spirit of the holiday, B+  :)

Stop Monkeying Around..."War For The Planet Of The Apes"

War For the Planet of the Apes (2017)

Rated PG-13

Starring Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn, Amiah Miller,

Directed by Matt Reeves

The Story:

When Caesar's (Serkis) world is destroyed, he decides to take his revenge against the Colonel (Harrelson) and his army. There is no avoiding war any longer.

Easily better than the Transformer saga, the Planet of the Apes trilogy concludes (?) with quite possibly the best of the series.

That said, I was never the biggest fan of these films anyway, so my judgement might be slightly askew. :)

Caesar's tale wraps up, and they establish enough pieces that it can conclude wrapping back to the original Planet of the Apes film, or they may just continue and keep retelling future chapters.

Beautifully shot, and the incredible production values, if you've come this far into the series, you won't want to stop now.

Harrelson is also a wonderful foil for Caesar and personalizes the war, on both sides.

Final Grade: C+

Cold War Cliches..."Atomic Blonde"

Atomic Blonde (2017)

Rated R

Starring Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, Eddie Marsan, John Goodman, Toby Jones, Roland Moller

Directed by David Leitch

The Story:

Agent Broughton (Theron) is the best in the business, and that business is spying. It's the height of the Cold War, and a list of double agents has gone missing, and she must travel to Berlin to retrieve it before it falls into the wrong hands. Naturally, she shouldn't trust anyone...

How do you make an 80s action thriller spy movie for a 21st century audience?

You turn James Bond into Jane Bond, and set the screen ablaze with something the audience hasn't seen before.

Except the whole list of double agents things was played out long before the 90s even ended, so it seems all so familiar, no matter how much action and great soundtrack they attach to it.

Or maybe I'm jaded because it was as good as the trailer indicated, but didn't rise to be any better than that.

Can I really blame a movie for simply repeating what has come before, 100s of times? It's not their fault the audience has seen them all already, so it's hard to reinvent the genre.

Theron makes a great action star, and I won't lie and say I won't be back again if there's a sequel.

Hopefully, there will simply be a bit more to the story to really stand out and make it a must see affair the next time around.

Final Grade: C+

Locked And Loaded..."The Punisher"

The Punisher (2017)

TV-MA

Starring Jon Bernthal, Amber Rose Revah, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ben Barnes, Jaime Ray Newman, Deborah Ann Woll,

Created by Steve Lightfoot

The Story:

The world thinks Frank Castle (Bernthal) is dead. However Agent Madani (Revah) believes he might be alive and well, and back to racking up the body count in New York City.

You know, after watching this one, it wasn't nearly as violent and bullet-riddled as I thought they would make it.

Sure, it was still worthy of a series starring Marvel's biggest vigilante.

But there was a lot of new characters introduced in the series, and aside from Karen Page (Woll) it opens up a whole new section of the Marvel Universe on Netflix.

Sadly, it will also be the last new series that makes it to Netflix since Disney is starting up their own streaming service in a few years.

Still, we'll take what we can get, and Bernthal, who was the best part of Daredevil Season 2, brings Frank Castle to life.

We get to relive Frank's tortured backstory as it slowly unfolds and we find out who killed his family and why.

As with all of the 14 episode Netflix series, it's a bit padded with juggling side stories from the new characters.

That said, it's one of the best Marvel series on Netflix.

Give it a whirl and judge for yourself.

Final Grade: B+

Good...Not Great..."Battle of the Sexes"

Battle of the Sexes (2017)

Rated PG-13

Starring Emma Stone, Steve Carell, Andrea Riseborough, Bill Pullman, Sarah Silverman, Elisabeth Shue

Directed by Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris

The Story:

In 1973, Bobby Riggs (Carell) challenged Women's # 1, Billie Jean King (Stone) to a tennis match to prove that men were the superior sex in the world of sport. Shenanigans ensued.

I'll file this under uneven, and leave it at that.

Except, where's the fun in a one line review?

So stretching to 2 hours, because half the movie seemingly focuses on King's sexual discoveries with hairdresser Marilyn Bennett (Riseborough).

It's a necessary portion for a biographical picture such as this one, but it's also the weakest part of the entire movie.

Much more interesting were the break from the tennis circuit by King and all the ladies under the leadership of Gladys Heldman (Silverman) and their clashes with Jack Kramer (Pullman).

Even more interesting was Bobby Riggs and his quirks that were quietly destroying his relationship with his wife (Shue).

When it's Riggs vs. King at the finale of the movie, the energy is there and it's quite good.

I'd go so far to say that it's Carell and Pullman in the adversarial roles that helped shaped King's career that make this movie as watchable and entertaining as it is.  Remove them, and this would be a bland mess.

Final Grade:  B-