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Project Power

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  • Title: Project Power
  • IMDb: link

Project Power movie reviewThere’s an intriguing kernel of an idea in Project Power about the possibility of a drug that could deliver short-term super-powers. Set in New Orleans where the drug has popped-up, we’re introduced to morally-ambiguous but self-righteous cop Frank Shaver (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who uses the drug to fight off criminals using the drug to get away with crimes. Frank buys the drugs from a teenager (Dominique Fishback), who is a nice drug dealer that only sells drugs to get her mother much needed surgery just like Frank is a nice drug user only taking Power in order to become temporarily invincible and take down those with worse intentions.

That’s enough for story for the film to delve into, but there’s also a former soldier calling himself Major (Jamie Foxx) rousting local dealers in hopes of working his way up the chain to the supplier. As for the supplier, the script feels a bit unsure if they are government or corporate (we know from Frank that the experiments started in the United States Armed Forces, but we see no actual government agents at work other than a couple of Men in Black stand-ins who are never identified).

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LEGO DC: SHAZAM! – Magic & Monsters

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  • Title: LEGO DC: SHAZAM! – Magic & Monsters
  • IMDb: link

LEGO DC: SHAZAM! - Magic & Monsters Blu-ray reviewBilly Batson (Zach Callison) was previously introduced as a supporting character in LEGO DC: Batman – Family Matters. LEGO DC: SHAZAM! – Magic & Monsters introduces us to his super-hero alter-ego complete with origin story, some classic villains, and a lesson for kids about trust.

There are three separate plots in LEGO DC: SHAZAM! – Magic & Monsters. The straight-to-video allows for the origins of the hero formerly known as Captain Marvel to be explored along with his introduction to the Justice League. There’s also a plot by Mr. Mind (Greg Ellis) who, with the help of Dr. Sivana (Dee Bradley Baker), transforms the Justice League into kids where they will be more susceptible to his mind control and retrieve the food he needs for his transformation. And last, but not least, is the appearance of Black Adam (Imari Williams), the Wizard’s former warrior, who breaks out of the Rock of Eternity and attacks the Wizard and his new champion.

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Red Penguins

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  • Title: Red Penguins
  • IMDb: link

Red Penguins movie reviewRed Penguins looks back at the Pittsburgh Penguins owner Howard Baldwin bailing out the once great HC CSKA Moscow hockey team. Completely unprepared for what they were getting into in a country still struggling with replacing Communism with Capitalism, the Penguins hoped to lay the foundation for Russian players making their way to Pittsburgh and the NHL. A young marketer named Steven Warshaw was sent over to try and drum up support for the flagging team and bring a bit of capitalist know-how and 90s marketing to the former Soviet Union.

The engaging documentary is a bizarre tale including interviews from both American and Russians about the partnership which only lasted two years but involved a strip club under the hockey rink, free beer, a culture clash, the Russian mob, a potential business partnership with Disney, the Russian Army, corruption, and the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Despite the insanity and mismanagement, the Russian Penguins (as they were rebranded) were a short-term success only to be mismanaged leading to the end of the team and leaving behind a bizarre legacy and a legend of dazzling failure.

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The Old Guard

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  • Title: The Old Guard
  • IMDb: link

The Old Guard movie reviewIn the first three minutes The Old Guard introduces not one but two action movie cliches. They will not be the last. We’re introduced to the movie through the voice of a grizzled veteran (Charlize Theron) who in the movie’s first scene is offered a mission she knows better than to accept. The leader of the elite covert squad made up of Marwan Kenzari, Matthias Schoenaerts, and Luca Marinelli takes the foursome to the South Sudan where they are promptly betrayed, ambushed, and riddled with bullets allowing the film to reveal its big twist.

The four characters are immortals who have walked the Earth for hundreds of years. Borrowing more than a little from the original Highlander, it doesn’t attempt to explain the immortals’ existence while offering a circumstance where they can die (along with flashbacks to lives throughout history). On the run from an evil pharmaceutical executive (Harry Melling), did I mention the script really loves cliches, who wants to use them as lab rats, the four attempt to keep their existence secret and deal with the birth of a new immortal (KiKi Layne) not ready to leave her old life behind.

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6 Underground

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  • Title: 6 Underground
  • IMDb: link

6 Underground movie reviewEven for a Michael Bay film, 6 Underground is a dumb action flick which isn’t much more than problematic story used to tie together a series of impressive action sequences. Despite these limitations, the film offers some basic dumb fun largely due to a cast better than its source material and several lengthy stunts including parkour, magnets, car chases, guns, explosions, and lots of dead bodies.

Our heroes are a no-name team brought together by billionaire turned would-be savior (Ryan Reynolds) who operates a private group hoping to do good in the world by performing coup d’etat (apparently under the nose of every intelligence organization on the planet). His team includes a spy (Mélanie Laurent), hitman (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), acrobatic thief (Ben Hardy), doctor (Adria Arjona), driver (Dave Franco), and sniper (Corey Hawkins).

The group’s mission, what we’re told is the first of many, after a botched opening mission that left one of them dead, involves taking down a foreign head of state (Lior Raz) and replacing the dictator with his more moderate brother (Payman Maadi).

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