Jason Statham

Fast X

/ / Uncategorized
  • Title: Fast X
  • IMDb: link

Having nowhere new to go with the series, the Fast & Furious franchise looks backwards by photoshopping Jason Momoa into the events of Fast Five (the best movie of the hit, and mostly miss, franchise) and quickly elevating him to one of its most dangerous villains. At least more enjoyable than the last entry, Fast X is mostly harmless with some extravagant special effects sequences including our heroes chasing a giant bomb crashing through the streets of Rome. Its also mindbogglingly twenty minutes too long while making no effort to wrap up events before the credits roll. How can a movie this long never end?

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Wrath of Man

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Wrath of Man
  • IMDb: link

Guy Ritchie and Jason Statham unite for a by-the-numbers revenge flick. Statham stars as a notorious violent crime lord who takes a job as the new security guard for an armored car company that has been the target of several recent robberies, including one that killed his son. It doesn’t take long for the other members of the company to discover H (Statham) is way overqualified for the job and there’s obviously something more to the story of what he’s doing there (which will be exposed slowly in a series of flashbacks that lead to inevitable questions of how blind everyone working for the company is in not recognizing H).

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Hobbs & Shaw

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw
  • IMDb: link

Hobbs & Shaw movie reviewThe Fast & Furious franchise has produced a series of films over the past two decades that range from fairly okay (Fast Five and Tokyo Drift) to largely forgettable (see everything else). Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw may not have a lot going for it but it does have Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Jason Statham who take their bickering to the next level when forced to work together on a joint CIA and MI6 assignment (despite neither one working for either agency).

The plot steals more than a little from M:I-2 when an agent (Vanessa Kirby) injects a deadly virus into herself rather than let it fall into the hands of terrorists. Hobbs is tapped to find the agent, who our suped-up super-villain (Idris Elba) and his super-secret villainous organization have framed for the theft and deaths of her team. Ryan Reynolds gets a fun, if largely unnecessary, cameo to bring the hero onboard. Shaw‘s motivations are far more personal.

The film offers plenty of chase sequences but far less muscle cars and heists than the usual Fast & Furious flick. In fact, other the the forced family theme shoved down the audience’s throat at every turn, Hobbs & Shaw feels like a rather purposeful departure from the franchise which spawned it.

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The Fate of the Furious

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Fate of the Furious
  • IMDb: link

The Fate of the Furious movie reviewHow did this franchise manage eight films? When The Fast and the Furious was released in 2001 to mixed reviews I doubt anyone foresaw the series generating seven sequels. Following in the path of the previous films, The Fate of the Furious is a pretty dumb film that provides entertainment mostly through the more ridiculous pieces of its plot (and let’s be honest, it’s all ridiculous).

When the series began there was a focus on racing, real stunt work, and fast cars. Over the recent entries the series has devolved a bit into a live action cartoon making it impossible to take anything seriously. Remember the last (almost completely forgettable) movie had a tank and cars jumping through buildings? Well this on has a submarine!

Playing on the themes of friendship and family, the latest entry pits Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) against the team he put together when the world’s best hacker known as Cipher (Charlize Theron) blackmails him into joining a crew that actually doesn’t need his help (seriously, every piece of Cipher’s plan is only made harder by Dom’s involvement, as it brings in his team to stop them).

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Mechanic: Resurrection

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Mechanic: Resurrection
  • IMDb: link

Mechanic: ResurrectionThe follow-up to 2011’s The Mechanic returns Jason Statham as retired hitman Arthur Bishop. After faking his death, Bishop has lived the good life in Rio until a courier (Yayaying Rhatha Phongam) for an old frenemy (Sam Hazeldine) throws Bishop’s life into chaos. After falling for the honeypot (Jessica Alba) sent in to earn his trust, Bishop is blackmailed into committing the impossible assassinations of the world’s three largest arms dealers (Femi Elufowoju Jr., Toby Eddington, and Tommy Lee Jones) in a matter of days when he fails to prevent her kidnapping.

Better than the first film, director Dennis Gansel relies too heavily at times on close shaky-cam quick-cut action scenes. The script by Philip Shelby and Tony Mosher is more convoluted than necessary for a rather straightforward action film. Because of this the story requires a bit more set-up, following the open action sequence, before the movie really gets going. The set-up is really just an excuse to throw Statham into action scenes in multiple exotic locales (Thailand, Brazil, and Australia). On that level it works pretty well, especially during it’s best scene involving Bishop’s murder by swimming pool.

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