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Spenser Confidential

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  • Title: Spenser Confidential
  • IMDb: link

Spenser Confidential movie reviewSpenser Confidential is loosely based on Robert B. Parker’s novels about a smart-ass Boston private investigator. And when I say loosely, I mean screenwriters Sean O’Keefe and Brian Helgeland may have glanced at the spine of one of the dozens of Spenser novels written by Robert B. Parker over the decades. The film re-imagines Spenser (Mark Wahlberg) as a recently-paroled cop who spent five years in prison after beating up his superior officer (Michael Gaston) on his front lawn after the police captain buried evidence on the brutal murder of a protester (Avery Grant).

With dreams of being a truck driver, Spenser is pulled back into the muck when the police captain and another officer are murdered on the day Spenser is released from prison. Although only a suspect for about five seconds, Spenser decides to look into the situation on his own. Hawk (Winston Duke) is re-imagined as a young kickboxer rather than the world-class hitman with a shared boxing past with Spenser. Alan Arkin co-stars as gym owner Henry Cimoli who, along with training Hawk and giving Spenser a place to stay, helps Spenser and Hawk on the case.

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Sonic the Hedgehog

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  • Title: Sonic the Hedgehog
  • IMDb: link

Sonic the Hedgehog 4K reviewSonic the Hedgehog is a borderline kid’s film likely too juvenile for those who grew up with the SEGA games and relying a bit too much on nostalgia to connect with younger viewers who may not know who Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz) is. James Marsden stars in a role not dissimilar to the human he played in 2011’s Hop who befriends, and has his life turned upside down by, an animated character. After fleeing his home dimension, Sonic has been hiding in the woods outside of the small town where Tom (Marsden) works as sheriff while dreaming of being a big city lawman.

We’re told Sonic has managed to stay hidden for years (incredibly unlikely from what we see here). A power burst by the hedgehog brings in Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) to hunt down Sonic who the mad scientist believes can power his various machines. Carey is completely over-the-top here and the script offers him plenty of opportunities to gorge himself on as much scenery as his appetite allows.

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Superman: Red Son

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  • Title: Superman: Red Son
  • IMDb: link

Superman: Red Son Blu-ray reviewBased on the comic mini-series of the same name, Superman: Red Son re-imagines a world where Superman‘s (Jason Isaacs) rocket crashed in the Soviet Union rather than Kansas. As with Mark Millar‘s comic, the film’s greatest strength is the set-up and the juxtaposition of seeing Superman grow up under a Communist regime rather than learning to fight for truth, justice, and the American way.

The script by J.M. DeMatteis makes changes from the original comic which are most evident in in the character of our protagonist who is far darker than as presented in the comic. DeMatteis certainly take’s the nurture over nature view as this Superman has far less respect for life than any we know (with the exception of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel). A common conceit is that Lex Luthor (Diedrich Bader) would have been a great hero if not for Superman. While still a flawed human being, the version of Lex is certainly less gray than even the Red Son mini-series portrayed.

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Bloodshot

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  • Title: Bloodshot
  • IMDb: link

Bloodshot DVD reviewBased on the comic of the same name, Bloodshot is a sci-fi action flick starring Vin Diesel as United States Marine Ray Garrison resurrected using nanite technology which can repair his body making him an ideal candidate to join the team of enhanced soldiers (Eiza González, Sam Heughan, and Alex Hernandez). Haunted by fragments of memory, Garrison leaves Rising Spirit Tech to kill the man (Toby Kebbell) responsible for his wife’s (Talulah Riley) death… or so he thinks.

The character seems tailor-made for Diesel with simple motivations (honor, family revenge) and a desire to kick-ass. The basic set-up works fine for an action flick, even if the value of the other soldiers is questionable. Then there’s the twist of the CEO (Guy Pearce) reprogramming and sending the half-cocked Garrison after targets by fabricating memories that never existed. The problem, of course, is once the truth is revealed the movie doesn’t really have anywhere interesting to go as it devolves into a basic shoot ’em up with hacking and science-driven subplots that get increasingly ridiculous as the film slogs its way to the finish line.

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Guilty Pleasure – American Outlaws

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  • Title: American Outlaws
  • IMDb: link

American Outlaws Blu-ray reviewBy any objective standard, you can’t call 2001’s American Outlaws a good movie. The western is historically inaccurate in countess ways, features over-the-top performances from a number of actors, feels far too modern in tone and style, is punctuated with juvenile humor, and ignores almost any context for its characters’ actions and place in history. What you can say about American Outlaws is it’s dumb fun in the style of Young Guns (which obviously inspired it). Heavy on dumb, yes, but still fun.

Opening at the end of the Civil War, which involves some heroic foolishness by our leading man almost single-handedly winning the group’s final battle, the film stars Colin Farrell as Jesse James, Gabriel Macht as his brother Frank, and Scott Caan and Will McCormack as Cole and Bob Younger. The weary soldiers return home from war only to find railroad baron Thaddeus Rains (Harris Yulin) pushing families off their farms in the name of progress through bribes, theft, arson, threats, and murder.

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