"The Brothers Grimsby" Is Downright Painful

The Brothers Grimsby 

Rated R

Starring Sacha Baron Cohen, Mark Strong, Rebel Wilson, Isla Fisher,

Directed by Louis Leterier

The Story:

Nobby (Cohen) and his little brother Sebastian (Strong) were orphaned growing up, and separated by adoption. Nobby has always been waiting to find his long lost brother, and when the two are finally reunited, he actually blows Sebastian's cover as a top MI6 agent, and now Sebastian is wanted for murder. The brothers have to stay alive and clear their names before their reunion is short-lived.

You know those trailers where you think you probably saw all the good parts already?

Well, if you saw the trailer for The Brothers Grimsby, you were pretty much correct.

As this was my first Sacha Baron Cohen movie, I cannot compare it against his previous offerings to decide if this is along the same lines as those films.

It's enough to make me realize that I'm not Cohen's target audience though.

There are glimpses of a smart, Bond-style parody, and getting Leterier to direct an action-comedy was likely a wise choice.

However, the few smart gags that happen are surrounded by a dozen crude jokes with little or no humourous value in them, whatsoever.

Which is a shame, because it wastes a pretty good cast.

That Isla Fisher chose this over Now You See Me 2, time to fire your agent.

And Mark Strong tries to save the movie by being just plain awesome, but it's too little, too late.

I can't, in any good consciousness, recommend this movie.

I will give it bonus points for thankfully being shorter than most movies.

Do yourself a favor, and go watch Kingsman instead.

Final Grade: D+

Your Review, Should You Choose To Read It..."Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation"

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015)

Rated PG-13

Starring Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris, Alec Baldwin

Written and Directed by Christopher McQuarrie

The Story:

CIA Director Hunley (Baldwin) convinces the Senate to disband the Impossible Mission force because they are reckless and are doing more harm than good. While this is happening, Ethan Hunt (Cruise) realizes that there is a sinister agency known as The Syndicate out to destroy the IM Force. He is now alone, but calls in those he trusts the most (Pegg, Rhames) to help him track the mysterious Isla Faust (Ferguson) and stop the Syndicate once and for all.

Over the past few years, the Mission Impossible movies have been getting better and better.

I prefer this series to the Bourne franchise, and I hate to say it, but even Bond is beginning to take a backseat to the IMF.

Sacrilege, I know.

I think a lot of it may be in the handling of the spies themselves.

Whereas Bourne and Bond are unstoppable machines that can pretty much do anything unassisted (gadgets notwithstanding), Hunt relies on the teammates to help him overcome the odds and win the day.

This allows others to shine in the series and make Cruise look good, but vulnerable as our main character.

Twists and turns abound, and these movies take on an air of con-man/heist film in addition to being a spy thriller.

That works for me.

The teamwork required to pull off the elaborate ruse is always a joy, and the addition to Pegg as comic relief has elevated this series nicely.

I enjoyed Ghost Protocol, but I may have to give a tip of the hate to Rogue Nation for being the best of the series.

Like the Fast and Furious franchise, the Mission Impossible series is simply getting better with each installment.

Looking forward to # 6

Final Grade: B+

It's Okay To Watch "The November Man" In The Summer, Right?

The November Man (2014)

Rated R

Starring Pierce Brosnan, Luke Bracey, Olga Kurylenko

Directed by Roger Donaldson

The Story:

Devereux (Brosnan) is an ex-CIA operative who got out of the game to live a quiet life.  When an old flame is threatened, he laces up the boots one last time to get her out, but she is killed.  Devereux survives the attack which was led by his former pupil, Mason (Bracey). Now it's game on as Devereux realizes he must take down the corruption in the CIA and figure out how this all relates to the impending election of a new Russian president.

You can take the man out of the Bond, but you can't take the Bond out of the man.

Will Pierce Brosnan forever be typecast as the smooth operator who is aging gracefully but no matter how retired he is, will always be a danger to others?

And if so, is that necessarily a bad thing?

It's Bond-lite to be sure, or at least new-age Bond with less girls, less gadget and more ruthless aggression.

Brosnan does fine work as an assassin who is pulled in for one last job and then must take on the establishment to make them pay for what they've done and what they plan on doing.

If you want an action-thriller you haven't seen yet, give this one a spin.

Currently streaming on Netflix as of this writing.

Final Grade: B-

Today's Review Is Designed To Fly Under The Radar... "Stealth"

Stealth (2005)
Rated PG 13 for Language

Starring Josh Lucas, Jessica Biel, Jamie Foxx, Sam Shepard

Directed by Rob L. Cohen

The Story:

The Navy has developed a fighter jet with an artificial intelligence running the show.  Teaching it the ropes are three of the Navy's best, Lt's Gannon (Lucas), Wade (Biel) and Purcell (Foxx).  But when lightning strikes the jet, the A.I. malfunctions and decides it must take out all hostiles.  Can the 3 humans talk some sense into their computerized counterpart before World War III starts?


Remember War Games and Short Circuit?  Mash the two together, and there you go.

:)

Okay, not quite, but that might have been more interesting than what we got.

And really, this film isn't really that bad...

It just wasn't as good as it should have been.

Josh Lucas does fine as the leading man, and perhaps of the 3, is the most believable as a great Navy pilot.

Does This Flight Suit Make Me Look Fat?

Biel suffers a similar fate to Denise Richards in a Bond movie, and she just doesn't seem that believable as a fighter pilot.

Then there's Jamie Foxx who rebounded from this one to snag an Oscar for Ray.

Does This Flight Suit Make Me Look Like An Oscar Winner ?

Shepard plays the human villain role, but his is more from a misguided duty than pure evil.

Most disappointing were the cheesy special effects.

No offense, but when a jet smacks into a mountain, don't go slow motion, it just really destroys the credibility of your movie.  Better to just hit it with an explosion than show a really poor model crumbling into a ball.

This is the 2nd time I've seen it since it was released.

I think I liked it better the first time I saw it and thought I would purchase it in the future.

Now?

Final Grade: C-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Nah, future me has talked myself out of it. ;)

Blockbuster Weekend Continues: "World War Z"

Mother Nature's a Serial Killer!

The Story:

Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) is a former United Nations...MacGyver... who has left the U.N. and is enjoying life with his wife and daughters.  Unfortunately, some virus is spreading around the world, and once infected, 12 seconds later, the infected have become a raging... zombie!  Gerry must attempt to save his family, and once he manages to pull that trick off, his next assignment:

Save the world!

If he doesn't, then he and his family will be kicked out of the safe haven.

So much for choices?!

Wow.  I was not expecting to enjoy this one as much as I did.

Perhaps I set the bar low going in, but I was impressed.

First, yes, the zombies are fast.  And I've gone on record as saying I hate, hate, hate, fast zombies. 

But for this film, it works.  In fact, it's the only way this film would work.  Slow and lumbering, the virus would never have spread.

Directed by Marc Forster, who helmed the "disappointing" Bond film Quantum of Solace and the highly underrated Stranger Than Fiction, he is very competent at what he does.  In fact, the gore is kept to a very minimum making World War Z one of those "family zombie flicks" that can be shared with the older kids... if they dare!  It's scary and suspenseful without worrying about the buckets of blood being tossed around the screen.

The movie made great use of the Navy for isolation from the plague.  That was very clever and well thought out.

Then of course, there's Brad Pitt.  One step below superhuman, but really, at the end of the day, this is a tale of a husband and father who will do anything to save his family.

That he's also going to attempt to save the world comes in a distant second.

I've seen and heard negative comments that this film had a lousy ending, but I'm not buying that for a second.  Something that spread globally as fast as the epidemic did cannot possibly be resolved by the end of the movie.

There's more work to be done, and that may mean sequels, with or without Pitt.

I'm fine with that.

Enjoyed the movie, and it's an action film that just happens to have zombies in it.  Worth a viewing!

Final Grade: B+/A- range

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I actually would not be opposed to watching it again, or owning it.

The Reinvention of the Spy Wheel... "Skyfall"

 

The franchise gets shaken... and stirred.

The Story:

Bond (Daniel Craig) is back as 007.  This time around he must save M (Judi Dench) and all of MI6 from the threat of one of their own gone rogue (Javier Bardem).  Meanwhile, as things go from bad to worse for MI6, the British Government is holding hearings on possibly dismantling the section altogether.  It seems that the spy business is a bit outdated, so if the bad guy doesn't do it, the Brits might dismantle it themselves. 

Best. Bond. Ever?

No.

It's good.

Which for this franchise, is good enough.

The title of the film refers to the Scottish home of the Bond family, where Bond makes his final stand against the enemy.

Not everyone makes it out of the film intact and ready to film the next installment.

However the new director, Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes) takes over as M, bringing with him a young secretary named Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) whom Bond will be able to flirt with.

In a cute turnabout, the franchise has gone full circle so that the M that Connery had is the same M that Craig put in the seat.

Of course this can only mean that SMERSH, SPECTRE or whatever acronym they devise for the bad guys in the next film can not be far away.

Don't think about it too much, it will make your head explode.

So yes, it's nice to have the franchise hit the reset button, it's just odd to think of the Brosnan and Craig years as the prequels.

As for the opening song, absolutely dreadful.  I cannot stand Adele, and this theme song, as with every theme song that came after A View to a Kill, is utter rubbish.

Academy Award winning rubbish, but rubbish nonetheless.

Otherwise, not a bad effort from all involved.  This is Craig's best outing in the tuxedo since Casino Royale.

Which if you want to make an argument for best Bond film ever, you will have an easier time convincing me of that film, over Skyfall.

But as we all know, Goldfinger is the best of them all.

Final Grade: B-  A B+ film marred by a screechingly bad theme song! : )

Would I Own It:  Yes, because I own every other Bond film, why stop now.  ; )