Action

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
  • IMDb: link

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been rebooted so many times over the years it’s hard to keep track of the number of times they’ve changed since they first appeared on comic shelves in the mid-1980s. The latest iteration of the group found in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is neither the best nor worst version we’ve seen. Presenting a grungier animation, likely in hopes of pulling in comparisons to the Spider-Verse movies (it is not on that level), the script takes various aspects of the Turtles origins, altering and updating them slightly for a familiar and fresh feel for the foursome.

…

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant MayhemRead More »

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem Read More »

Special Ops: Lioness – Sacrificial Soldiers

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Special Ops: Lioness – Sacrificial Soldiers
  • IMDb: link

Half of the first episode of Special Ops: Lioness offers insight into the life of an agent of the CIA (Zoe Saldana) on one of her worst days in the field and the immediate aftermath. The various aspect of the story hints at spy craft and the need to route out terrorist cells overseas but really is about the human toll on Joe following the events. The rest of the episode is devoted to Cruz (Laysla De Oliveira) who leaves an unhealthy relationship to join the Marines and eventually get tasked into Joe’s program. It’s this half of the episode where Special Ops: Lioness leans its overtly patriotic messaging and imagery to such a degree it feels more like an Armed Forces recruitment film than drama. By the end of the episode the two women are working together, hopefully removing some of the fractured narrative found here, but the less stylish, but no less simplistic, Michael Bay-ish view of world politics is a tad concerning.

…

Special Ops: Lioness – Sacrificial SoldiersRead More »

Special Ops: Lioness – Sacrificial Soldiers Read More »

Almost Paradise – Breaking Badminton

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Almost Paradise – Breaking Badminton
  • IMDb: link

After uncovering an underground badminton club and drug smuggling enterprise, Alex (Christian Kane) and Ernesto (Art Acuñ)  go in undercover as an unlikely team in the second episode of Almost Paradise‘s Second Season. Alex’s interest in the case comes from a local friend who was killed after discovering the drug smuggling and chose to try and blackmail his way out of his heavy debts. The episode is most memorable for Alex and Ernesto’s time on the courts, including Alex’s kill shot that embeds a shuttlecock into an opposing player’s leg, and Kai (Samantha Richelle) calling a late audible that ends up saving their lives and taking down the drug ring.

…

Almost Paradise – Breaking BadmintonRead More »

Almost Paradise – Breaking Badminton Read More »

Almost Paradise – The Magellan Cross

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Almost Paradise – The Magellan Cross
  • IMDb: link

After defeating his nemesis and reconnecting with his daughter at the end of last season, Alex Walker (Christian Kane) gets pulled into a new case to help Kai Mendoza (Samantha Richelle) and Ernesto Alamares (Art Acuña) to investigate the death of a local priest, the fire which burned down the church, and the theft of a priceless artifact. Also attempting to take his doctor’s advice to get back into the dating pool, the case is complicated by Alex’s feelings for a local woman (Max Collins) who quickly becomes one of their leading suspects. However, the one hiding in plain sight is the easiest one to see coming (except for the police).

…

Almost Paradise – The Magellan CrossRead More »

Almost Paradise – The Magellan Cross Read More »

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
  • IMDb: link

Creating a six-hour action movie and splitting it into two parts is unbelievably self-indulgent. Thankfully, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is worth it (although we’ll have to  reserve full judgement until next year’s release of Part Two). The seventh entry into the franchise once again finds Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team out in the cold on their own on a race to a prize with the safety of the entire world at stake. This time the enemy is both an AI capable of crippling the world with disinformation and its disciple, a spy with a past tied to Hunt’s life before he ever joined the IMF.

…

Mission: Impossible – Dead ReckoningRead More »

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Read More »