2011’s Colombiana is your typical B-movie revenge flick that is elevated by the casting of Zoe Saldana as Cataleya, an orphan from Bogotá whose live was laid out when her parents were murdered by a cartel in front of her at the age of nine. Managing to make it the United States, her drive for revenge is molded by an uncle (Cliff Curtis) in Chicago allowing her to become a top-tier assassin and lay the groundwork for her eventual revenge.
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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.
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Special Ops: Lioness – Sacrificial Soldiers Read More »
The unlikeliest hit of any Marvel Studios movie was 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy. After a so-so sequel, and appearances in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, the gang reunites one last time for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Jumping between stories involving a nightmarish version of Halfworld and exploration of Rocket‘s (Bradley Cooper) past, the return of the most unlikable version of Gamora (Zoe Saldana) we’ve seen on film, the bug-eyed machinations of the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), and the (completely unnecessary) addition of Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), Guardians 3 is a mess. Don’t get me wrong, at times it’s an entertaining mess, but it’s a mess nonetheless.
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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Read More »
2009’s Avatar made its way into my list of that year’s best films by delivering an unique and wholly immersive cinematic experience quite unlike anything released in theaters in years. 13 years later, the return to Pandora feels a bit more well-trodden than I’d like. Not learning from the mistakes of The Matrix sequels, writer/director James Cameron chooses to resurrect the same villain despite having an entire world in which to discover newer (and far more interesting) ideas and conflicts.
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Avatar: The Way of Water Read More »
James Cameron‘s Avatar hit theaters a week before Christmas of 2009 and quickly claimed a spot on my list of best films of that year. With the first of its long-overdue sequels finally making its way to theaters this winter, Avatar returns to theaters in hopes of rekindling the magic movie goers discovered more than a dozen years ago. While it wasn’t the best film that year, it’s one of the most watchable, and I’ve returned to Avatar multiple times over the years always being entertained.
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