“Hey, John, that was a pretty good fight, huh?”
Near the end of the first act a battered and bruised Wick is getting his first chance to breath without the incoming threat of combat, walking through the backs stage dressing rooms of some kind of ballet-assassin school. We pause for a moment as John glances over as one of the trainees rips her chewed up toenail off her bloody, marred toe.
Art is pain.
Stahelski and company put their blood,…
“This is not mission difficult, Mr. Hunt, it's mission impossible. Difficult should be a walk in the park for you.”
Usually labeled “the worst Mission Impossible movie”, M:I-2, 2000’s highest grossing action film, works perfectly as a capstone to 90’s action cinema. John Woo infuses the film with all of his signature trade marks and uses Tom Cruise as his American Cho Yun-Fat stand in to be the duel wielding catalyst for the action, filling into those shoes with ease.…
Could use a little more oomph when it comes to its storytelling and character work, but man, this thing really worked for me. Anchored by Sophie Wilde stellar performance and propelled by some really sharp filmmaking that utilizes a lot of creepy practical effects and fun camera moves. Baller ending. Very much looking forward to what Danny and Michael do next.
Two acts of pretty dull corporate espionage and science mumbo jumbo (which feels especially trite when you have stuff like Statham free swimming between underwater stations at 25000 feet right after someone face implodes when their helmet cracks) with the occasional moments of campy goodness, but last act is a blast when Statham is on a jet ski with explosive harpoons against multiple megs, Spartan kicking enemies into sharks, octopus versus helicopters, and dousing prehistoric lizards with gasoline and then blasting them with .50 cals.
Can’t recommend, but the last act should have just been the whole film cause it’s a hoot.
If you are a wanna-be-cinephile between the ages of 15-21 with a stack of the most basic Criterions, this is the film for you.
No one films night time cityscape like Mann. Easily one of Mann's best films that is powered by several stellar supporting performances from Foxx, Ruffalo, Smith, Bardem, and others, but the truly elevating performance is from Cruise, as the electrifying hitman Vincent.
