Action

The Rundown

  • Title: The Rundown
  • IMDb: link

Following his appearance in The Mummy Returns and The Scorpion King, in 2003 Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson began a series of middling to fair action flicks (most of which are easily forgettable, although The Rundown is one of the better ones). The Rock stars as Beck, a retrieval specialist working off his debt to Billy Walker (William Lucking) who offers to cancel Beck’s debt if he retrieves Walker’s loudmouth son Travis (Seann William Scott in the kind of role Ryan Reynolds would corner the market on by the end of the decade) from the Amazon where he’s searching for treasure.

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War 2

  • Title: War 2
  • IMDb: link

A direct sequel to 2019’s War, although other films within the shared YRF Spy Universe take place in between, War 2 returns Hrithik Roshan as Major Kabir Dhaliwal who, by all appearances, has been working as a mercenary for hire while only his longtime friend Colonel Luthra (Ashutosh Rana) knows is still putting India first even if it is no longer as an official member of the R&AW. The first thing you notice from the film, in an extended action sequence in the mountains of Japan, is how much sleeker and polished it looks compared to the first film (having more than double the budget than the original War).

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War

  • Title: War (2019)
  • IMDb: link

Part of the shared YRF Spy Universe, 2019’s War stars Hrithik Roshan as Major Kabir Dhaliwal, the best agent of R&AW who goes rogue forcing his prized pupil Captain Khalid Rahmani (Tiger Shroff) to go after him. Kabir’s struggles with initially training Khalid (although the film is dripping with homoerotic overtones regardless whether they are working together or opposed in any individual scene), and his reasons for later going rogue, are shown in extended flashbacks finally uncovering the motivation for the spy’s killing spree and ultimate goal.

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Nobody 2

  • Title: Nobody 2
  • IMDb: link

Bringing back the core cast from the 2021 film, Nobody 2 takes the Mansell family on vacation as Hutch (Bob Odenkirk) attempts to recreate a vacation from his childhood for his kids (Paisley Cadorath and Gage Munroe). However, it doesn’t take long for the family to get into trouble and for Hutch’s attempt to deescalate the situation to do quite the opposite as the small town known for its water park is actually a town run by a ruthless gangster (a too-far over-the-top Sharon Stone) and a shitkicker sheriff (a completely miscast Colin Hanks).

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Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

  • Title: Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
  • IMDb: link

Adapted from Patrick O’Brian’s nautical novels, 2003’s Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World takes us aboard the HMS Surprise captained by Jack Aubrey (Russell Crowe) during the Napoleonic Wars. After barely escaping an attack by a superior French vessel, Aubrey and his crew repair the ship at sea rather than flee home in disgrace. After being bested again, and learning a bit about camouflage from a discussion with the ship’s doctor (Paul Bettany) about an insect on the Galapagos Islands he wishes to study (along with other flora and fauna), the captain sets on a plan to give his ship a fighting chance.

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