action Archives – Page 4 of 20

Review: ‘King of Killers,’ starring Alain Moussi, Marie Avgeropoulos, Georges St-Pierre, Stephen Dorff and Frank Grillo

October 15, 2023

by Carla Hay

Shannon Kook, Gianni Capaldi, Kevin Grevioux, Ryan Tarran, Marie Avgeropoulos and Alain Moussi in “King of Killers” (Photo courtesy of Lionsgate)

Directed by Kevin Grevioux

Some language in French with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place primarily in Tokyo, the action film “King of Killers” has a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few Americans and Asians) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A master assassin assembles other assassins in a competition to try to kill him to prove their worth.

Culture Audience: “King of Killers” will appeal primarily to people who are just want to see a movie with mindless violence and don’t care if the movie’s story is awful and filled with plot holes.

Frank Grillo in “King of Killers” (Photo courtesy of Lionsgate)

“King of Killers” is a terribly conceived mess with bad acting and a nonsensical plot about an assassin overlord pitting other assassins against each other. For an action movie, there are too many scenes of people having boring and witless conversations. Avoid this tone-def and idiotic flop.

Written and directed by Kevin Grevioux, “King of Killers” starts off by showing protagonist Marcus Garan (played by Alain Moussi) being attacked in a warehouse. Marcus is a “wet man” for the U.S. intelligence community, with options to be hired by non-U.S. entities. Will he survive this attack? The movie makes people wait a long time to find out the answer, because it then switches to a flashback that took place one year before.

In this flashback, Marcus is shown to be a loving husband and father. His wife is named Karla Graran (played by Amy Groening), and his daughter is Kimberly Garan (played by Zoe Worn), who’s about 8 or 9 years old. Marcus speaks to Kimberly in French.

Stephen Dorff shares top billing for “King of Killers,” but his role is a useless cameo. He plays a character named Robert Xane, who asks Marcus to do a job for the next day. However, Marcus declines the offer because the next day is the wedding anniversary of Marcus and Karla.

One evening, Marcus is at a bar called Coal Train, where he has certain people under surveillance. In a back room of the bar, there are three men at table. One of them holds what’s called a cyrstal matrix unit that can replace hard drives of any kind. It can contain information for over a million supercomputers.

Marcus barges in on this meeting and gets into a shootout with about five men. He survives, but unbeknownst to Marcus, his wife Karla had followed him to the bar. She was standing outside the room where the shootout took place. And to Marcus’ shock, he sees that Karla has been killed.

The movie then fast forwards to on year later. Marcus is raising Kimberly with the help of Karla’s mother. He’s still working as a secretive operative. Marcus gets a mysterious phone call from a Scottish man named Roman Korza (played by Gianni Capaldi), who tells Marcus about a job offer that will pay $10 million and requires a trip to Tokyo.

Roman is vague about the details of the job, such as who’s doing the hiring and what the job entails. Roman says that Marcus will get the details after Marcus meets with Roman in Tokyo. Marcus thinks he doesn’t have enough information, so he turns down the offer.

But then, Kimberly ends up in hospital because she has an enlarged heart. The medical diagnosis is that her heart is deteriorating and will lead to heart failure, unless she can get a heart transplant, which is a high-priced medical procedure. Marcus suddenly sees how $10 million can come in handy, so he takes the job in Tokyo. (“King of Killers” was actually filmed in Winnipeg, Canada.)

When Marcus arrives in Tokyo, Roman takes him to a remote mansion, where Marcus finds out what the “job assignment” is really a twisted game set up by a self-described master assassin named Jorg Drakos (played by Frank Grillo), who has assembled other top asassins from around the world. Jorg announces to the people in this assembled group that their task is to see which one of them can kill him first. Whoever “wins” by killing Jorg first will get the $10 million. Anyone who doesn’t want to participate will be killed by Jorg. In other words, it’s not a fair fight.

Besides Roman, the other people in this group are:

Scott Angus, a deposed J2 member, who set off a war between terrorist factions.
Asha Khanna (played by Marie Avgeropoulos), an ex-MI6 operative, who left MI6 after 16 years because she got tired of the “rat race.” Marcus already knows Asha as an assassin rival.
Dyson Chord (played by “King of Killers” writer/director Grevioux), a former U.S. Marine Force re-con commander for Dark Forces and a former National Security Agency sweeper.
Rick Nigel (played by Ryan Tarran), a former ASIS International security employee, who plays many sides and almost “put a hit on himself.”
Ren Hiro (played by Shannon Kook), a Japanese-trained protector whose services go to the highest bidder.
Zach Hebron (played by Dennis Lafond), a freelance sniper for military companies.

One of the people in the group doesn’t go far in the game, because this person refuses to participate and gets shot to death by Jorg. The rest of “King of Killer” is a vapid and turgid series of scenes where some of the assassins decide it’s better to eliminate each other first, and the last person standing will be the one to take on Jorg. It’s as stupid as it sounds. Needless to say, Jorg wants to kill them too. Jorg wears a ridiculous-looking green goblin mask as part of his rampage.

Even worse, there are scenes where Jorg could easily be killed by any of the other assassins in the room, but that doesn’t happen, because these dimwits think it’s better to stand around and talk. That’s essentially what clogs up much of the screen time in “King of Killers,” which is truly bottom-of-the-barrel garbage filmmaking. Not even a “plot twist” at the end can redeem this awful movie, which hints at a sequel that will most likely never happen.

Lionsgate released “King of Killers” in select U.S. cinemas, digital and VOD on September 1, 2023.

Review: ‘Jawan’ (2023), starring Shah Rukh Khan, Nayanthara and Vijay Sethupathi

October 10, 2023

by Carla Hay

Shah Rukh Khan in “Jawaan” (Photo courtesy fo Yash Raj Films)

“Jawan” (2023)

Directed by Atlee

Hindi with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Mumbai, India, the action film “Jawan” has an all-Indian cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A prison guard hijacks a subway to get money for financially struggling farmers, and he finds out that he has a connection to a law enforcement captain who is at the scene of the crime.

Culture Audience: “Jawan” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and action movies that have secret identities as part of the plot.

“Jawan” uses a lot of familiar plot devices in these types of lengthy action films about revenge, corruption, and people with secrets. Some of the story’s twists could have been handled better, but the performances remain engaging. A major plot twist can be predicted by looking at certain characters in the movie.

Directed by Atlee (who co-wrote the “Jawan” screenplay with S. Ramanagirivasan), “Jawan” begins by showing a subway train being hijacked in Mumbai, India. The hijacker is named Azad (played by Shah Rukh Khan), and he is a prison guard at a women’s jail. Azad is holding the subway hostage and has six women prisoners who are helping him. He wants ₹40,000 crore as ransom for the hostages. He says he wants the money to use the money to help farmers in India.

The other main character in the story is Captain Vikram Rathore (also played by Khan), who was a special ops commando the Indian Army. Captain Rathore has a connection to Azad that is a major plot reveal that won’t be mentioned in this review. However, viewers can easily figure it out when they notice that the same actor is playing both roles.

Khan handles these dual roles with aplomb, even though it can be a little distracting when the plot twist is revealed. The movie should have shown this plot twist much later in the film. As it stands, “Jawan” has plenty of suspense in this “Robin Hood”-type of story that raises provocative questions about wealth inequality and what or if anything should be done about it.

Yash Raj Films released “Jawan” in select U.S. cinemas and in India on September 7, 2023.

Review: ‘Raid on the Lethal Zone,’ starring Ou Hao, Jason Gu, Alan Aruna, Yu Hao Ming and Huong Yao

September 16, 2023

by Carla Hay

A scene from “Raid on te Lethal Zone”(Photo courtesy of China Lion)

“Raid on the Lethal Zone”

Directed by Herman Yao

Culture Representation: Taking place in the 1998, in Yunnan, China, the action film “Raid on the Lethal Zone” has an all-Asian cast of characters representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: During a raid, an anti-narcotics unit of law enforcement takes on drug dealers during a flood.

Culture Audience: “Raid on the Lethal Zone” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of action-packed movies about good versus evil.

“Raid on the Lethal Zone” is an effective combination of a crime drama, action movie, and disaster flick taking place during a flood. The visual effects are convincing. And although there are some formulaic elements, not everything is predictable.

Directed by Herman Yao and written by Pang Xiao,” (which takes place in Yunnan, China), Raid on the Lethal Zone” jumps right into the action of showing the story’s main conflict: a battalion called 8007 has been tasked with taking down drug dealers who recently blew up an anti-narcotics truck in Meng City. This law enforcement squad is part of the Border Defense Force. The squad leader is Wang Jin Hou (played by Ou Hao), who reports to Captain Zhang Li (played by Zhao Xuan) and who has to lead his team during this flood, which includes avalanches of cascading water.

Meanwhile, Hou is dealing with issues in his personal life. He is still pining over his ex-girlfriend Yao Yao (played by Huang Yao), who is a police officer. Another soldier named Luo Qui (played by Liu Jun Qi) has mental health issues. Also on the squad are Commander Sun Ji (played by Yu Hao Ming) and soldiers Liu Chun Sheng (played by Shi Peng Yuan and Kong Zhu Guo(played by Martin Wang), also known as Da Zhu.

The homicidal leader of the drug-dealing thugs has the nickname Dragon (played by Alan Aruna), who is as ruthless as you would expect him to be. “Raid on the Lethal Zone” doesn’t delve too much into the characters’ backstories. About 95% of the movie is about the crisis during the flood. Therefore, all the action that happens won’t be revealed in this review. It’s enough to say that there so much life-and-death tension in “Raid on the Lethal Zone,” which has very good cinematography, after the movie is over, you might feel exhausted from watching a movie that has all this non-stop action.

China Lion released “Raid on the Lethal Zone” in select U.S. cinemas on September 8, 2023.

Review: ‘Born to Fly’ (2023), starring Wang Yibo, Hu Jun, Zhou Dongyu

September 8, 2023

by Carla Hay

Wang Yibo in “Born to Fly” (Photo courtesy of Well Go USA)

“Born to Fly” (2023)

Directed by Liu Xiaoshi

Culture Representation: Taking place in China, in 2008,, the action film “Born to Fly” has an all-Chinese cast of characters representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A hotshot pilot for the Chinese military experiences triumph and tragedy as part of an elite fighter squad.

Culture Audience: “Born to Fly” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of movie’s headliners and films that are inspired by the “Top Gun” movies.

A scene from “Born to Fly” (Photo courtesy of Well Go USA)

“Born to Fly” goes down a very simplistic and generic path in this often-trite story about fighter pilots. Some of the aerial scenes look good, but when the story is on the ground, much of the dialogue and acting performances are a little cringeworthy. The plot for “Born to Fly” borrows heavily from 1986’s “Top Gun.”

Directed by Liu Xiaoshi and written by Gui Gan, “Born to Fly” (which takes place in 2008) has a main character named Lei Yu (played by Wang Yibo) who is handsome, heroic, and a risk taker in the Chinese military. Some might consider Yu to be a little reckless. Yu is part of an elite squad of young fighter pilots

Early in the movie, Yu is found to be at fault for a speeding mishap when he sought to defend airspace from mischief-making American fighter pilots. His speeding caused his plane to malfunction and forced Yu to make an emergency landing. Yu is reprimanded but he is soon introduced to someone who will become his mentor: commanding officer Zhang Ting (played by Hu Jun), who will be working with this squad to develop the Chengdu J-20 fighter plane at the Flight Test Bureau. Commander Zhang will also be training the squad on how to fly this plane. He makes the recruits repeat: “The last battle is the first battle.”

The other members of the squad are Gao Yingjun (played by Bu Yu); muscular Xia Pengfei (played by Zhai Yujia); Li Xioahang (played by Edwin Liu), who is Pengfei’s wingman; Tong Gan (played by Wang Zichen); friendly Jia Shengli (played by Jeremy Qu); and arrogant Deng Feng (played by Yu Shi). All of them get along with Yu, except for Fang, who is very competitive and wants to be the star of the program. Fang sees Yu, who is new to the program, as Feng’s biggest threat.

In this training program, the pilots are Golden Helmets and Golden Darts as rewards for excelling in certain challenges. In the beginning of the movie, Pengfei has one Golden Helmet and one Golden Dart. Gan has a Golden Dart. Fang has three Golden Helmets. There’s a certain stretch of the movie where Fang and Yu compete to see who can get the most Golden Helmets.

Since “Born to Fly” uses a lot of the same ideas that were in “Top Gun,” it should come as no surprise that one person on this team will die in a plane crash. Fang and Yu, the two rivals, have to learn to put their differences aside to complete a mission in honor of their fallen team member. It’s all so predictable.

And just like in “Top Gun,” a woman who looks very glamorous for the military is part of the story, although she doesn’t get to the biggest scenes with the fighter planes, because she’s a military doctor. Her name is Shen Tianran (played by Zhou Dongyu), and she’s treated like a “token woman” in the movie because her main purpose in “Born to Fly” is to be the potential love interest of the “hero.”

Yu, who has a background in engineering, has a tense relationship with his father (played by Yao Lu) who is very hard to please. (Yu’s parents don’t have names in the movie.) There’s an early scene in the movie where Yu is talking to his mother (played by Jiang Hong Bo) on the phone, and he asks to speak to his father. His father is home but doesn’t want to talk to Yu and tells his wife to lie and tell Yu that he’s not home. Yu’s parents want him to be in the military, but they worry about the deadly risks in his job, and they don’t want him to do anything that would embarrass their family.

That’s why Yu sees Commander Zhang as more than just a mentor. Commander Zhang becomes almost like a father figure to Yu. Commander Zhang invites Yu over to Commander Zhang’s house to meet his wife and children. Yu is welcomed into the home and treated almost like a family member.

Because “Born to Fly” is so formulaic and derivative, there’s hardly any suspense in the movie, although the aerial scenes have a lot of adrenaline-like energy and are filmed from some eye-catching angles. The cast members’ acting isn’t bad but it isn’t great either. Main character Yu is quite generic though and doesn’t do much to stand out from the long list of movies about heroic military fighters

Well Go USA released “Born to Fly” in U.S. cinemas on April 28, 2023, the same date that it was released in China. UPDATE: “Born to Fly” will be released on digital and Blu-ray on March 26, 2024.

Review: ‘Fist of the Condor,’ starring Marko Zaror, Gina Aguad, Eyal Meyer, Man Soo Yoon and Fernanda Urrejola

September 4, 2023

by Carla Hay

Marko Zaror in “Fist of the Condor” (Photo courtesy of Well Go USA)

“Fists of the Condor”

Directed by Ernesto Díaz Espinoza

Spanish with some Chinese in subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Chile, the action film “Fist of the Condor” has a predominantly Latin cast of characters (with a few white people and Asians) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A warrior battles several assassins who want a book with ancient secrets of a deadly fight technique called Fist of the Condor.

Culture Audience: “Fist of the Condor” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of martial arts films that have uncomplicated plots and deliver exactly what they advertise.

Gina Aguad in “Fist of the Condor” (Photo courtesy of Well Go USA)

No one watching “Fist of the Condor” should expect great acting performances. This action flick delivers exactly what its intended audience wants: impressive martial arts and other adrenaline-packed stunts. The movie’s story is mildly entertaining.

Written and directed by Ernesto Díaz Espinoza, “Fist of the Condor” (which takes place in Chile) is divided into nine chapters. The movie has an introductory statement that explains the background story. This introduction is told in a voiceover.

The statement is: “In the 16th century, at the capture of the Atahualapa, there were still tribes that did not surrender to the conquerors. To counter the Spanish firearms, masters of the Rumi Maki tried to spread a deadly technique amongst the Incas: The Fist of the Condor. But the Spanish stole the sacred manual. The few remaining rebels gave their lives rescuing the book, and the only survivor escaped with it, so that it would never get in the wrong hands again.”

The statement continues: “The legend says that he took refuge in a mountain in the southern part of the world. Whoever has an honest heart would inherit the technique. This is how the manual has been passed down from generation to generation. These warriors are called Masters of the Fist of the Condor.”

“Fist of the Condor” has a simple plot it, but it would give away too much to say everything that happens in this plot. It’s enough to say that the hero is named Guerrero (played by Marko Zaror), and he has a twin brother named Gemelo (also played by Zaror), who are rivals to each other. There’s an elder sage named Wook (played by Man Soo Yoon), who trains/mentors Guerrero’s opponents.

Wook tells a nameless alum (played by Jose Manuel), who’s gettng ready to fight Guerrero: “He’s a perfect fighter. … He left his conscience behind. He doesn’t follow doctrines or laws. He’s an animal!”

There’s also another elder sage named Mujer Condor (played by Gina Agaud), who does her own kind of training that is more rooted in mysticism. “The ego,” she says, “is the inner Satan. If you want to kill him, you have to see him first.” Part of her training involves teaching people how to walk on the edge of a wooden basket.

The movie also has an unhinged villain named Kalari (played by Eyal Meyer), who doesn’t have the biggest muscles but he uses his unpredictability as a way to catch his opponents off-guard. Kalari wears a lot of heavy eyeliner and looks like he’s auditioning to be in an emo rock band. Guerrero’s other opponents are completely generic and nameless.

“Fist of the Condor” has almost non-stop action in many well-choregraphed stunts. It’s not a movie for people who are easily offended by on-screen violence that goes beyond the norm. For example, there’s a scene where Guerrero beats up and urinates on an opponent. The movie’s climactic scene is especially bloody.

Since “Fist of the Condor” is a martial arts movie, this isn’t the type of film that’s going to have intellectual dialogue or lots of character development. The outcome of the movie can easily be predicted. However, there’s a fairly interesting story about twin brothers who are pitted against each other in ways where they become more dangerous to each other than any strangers who want to take them down.

Well Go USA released “Fist of the Condor” in select U.S. cinemas on April 4, 2023. Hi-YAH! premiered the movie on April 7, 2023. The movie was released on digital and Blu-ray on May 23, 2023.

Review: ‘Akelli,’ starring Nushrratt Bharuccha, Amir Boutrous, Rajesh Jais and Tsahi Halevi

August 31, 2023

by Carla Hay

“Akelli”

Directed by Pranay Meshram

Hindi and Arabic with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Iraq and in India in 2014, the action film “Akelli” has an all-Asian cast of characters representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: An Indian woman is kidnapped by ISIS terrorists in Iraq and must fight to survive.

Culture Audience: “Akelli” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and tacky “women in peril” movies.

Tsahi Halevi in “Akelli” (Photo courtesy of Reliance Entertainment/Zee Studios)

“Akelli” is such a relentlessly moronic film, it almost seems like a parody of bad movies, except this awful action flick takes itself way too seriously. The airplane scene toward the end is one of the worst. “Akelli” is just a pile-on of bad dialogue and one unrealistic scenario after another.

Directed by Pranay Meshram, “Akelli” was written by Meshram, Gunjan Saxena and Ayush Tiwari. The movie takes place in 2014 and begins by showing garment factory worker Jyoti Arora (played by Nushrratt Bharuccha), who is a native of India, with other women from the factory being herded like cattle in Mosul, Iraq. The women are being kidnapped by ISIS terrorists, who want to abuse the women and force them to take part in terrorist activities.

How did Jyoti end up in this awful situation? “Akelli” (which means “alone” in Hindi) has flashbacks to show the events that led up to this kidnapping. Six months before the kidnapping, Jyoti (a bachelorette with no children) living in Punjab India, and working an airport employee whose job was to direct planes on the tarmac. However, Jyoti gets fired when she interferes in a fight between an elderly co-worker named Devendra Suri (played by Nand Chopra) and an aggressive passenger.

Jyoti goes to an employment agency and asks supervisor Ranjit Chawla (played by Rajesh Jais) for help in finding a job. Ranjit tells her about a “temporary” job working in a garment factory for one month. The pay is ₹80,000 for the month, which would be about $1,296 in U.S. dollars in 2014. The catch is that the job is in Mosul, Iraq.

Ranjit says the employer will pay for all the travel expenses. Jyoti is desperate for money, so she accepts this job offer. Jyoti’s mother thinks it’s a bad idea. Jyoti’s young niece Mahi (played by Mannat Duggal) also doesn’t want Jyoti to go, because it would mean that Jyoti would miss Mahi’s birthday.

Jyoti goes to Iraq and finds out that the garment factory job is a “sweatshop” situation with long hours. The workers who have arrived from India have their passports confiscated by factory supervisor Noor Bano (played by Shivani Sopori), who turns out to be a hellish boss. Shortly after arriving in Iraq, there’s word that the Oman capital of Muscat will soon be invaded, and all Indian citizens must evacuate territories where there is active ISIS terrorism.

Jyoti hears from employment agency supervisor Ranjit that a plane ticket has been sent for her to go back to India. She asks Noor about it, but Noor says she hasn’t heard anything about a plane ticket for Jyoti. (Noor is lying, or course.) With no money and with her passport confiscated, Jyoti is stuck in Iran. And then the kidnapping happens.

The rest of “Akelli” shows many melodramatic and increasingly silly ways that Jyoti fights to survive. There’s also some sexual violence depicted in the film. Jyoti is told that she has to be the “wife” of a terrorist soldier named Afra (played by Munisa Halmanova), who rapes her. Afra’s cruel ISIS commander is Wahab (played by Amir Boutrous), who has an even more ruthless ISIS commander named Assad (played by Tsahi Halevi), who notices that Jyoti is more courageous than the average kidnapping victim.

“Akelli” is almost offensive to real-life kidnapping victims in how it presents this survival story, especially a scene near the end when Akelli takes a big risk on a plane that would surely get her killed in real life. The acting performances in the movie aren’t very good. There’s also a lot of manufactured suspense, while many of the fight scenes look too phony. “Akelli” seems to have no self-awareness of how horrible it is. This lack of self-awareness makes a bad movie look worse.

Reliance Entertainment/Zee Studios released “Akelli” in U.S. cinemas and in India on August 25, 2023.

Review: ‘The Equalizer 3,’ starring Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning and David Denman

August 29, 2023

by Carla Hay

“The Equalizer 3”

Directed by Antoine Fuqua

Some language in Italian with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in various cities in Italy, the action film “The Equalizer” has a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few black people) representing the working-class, middle-class and criminal underground.

Culture Clash: Vigilante crusader Robert McCall does battle against Mafia gangsters in Italy, as he crosses paths with a U.S. DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) official, who is on the trail of drug-smuggling terrorists.

Culture Audience: “The Equalizer 3” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of star Denzel Washington and “The Equalizer” movie franchise, but “The Equalizer 3” is blandly predictable and doesn’t offer anything innovative to the franchise.

Giorgio Antonini and Andrea Scarduzio in “The Equalizer 3” (Photo by Stefano Montesi/Columbia Pictures)

Even with the acting talent of star Denzel Washington, “The Equalizer 3” is a soulless, formulaic and often idiotic action flick about the protagonist fighting Mafia gangsters in Italy. It’s easily the worst movie of this franchise. New characters are introduced but are barely developed. The movie’s “plot reveal” is not surprising at all.

Directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by Richard Wenk, “The Equalizer 3” is the follow-up to 2014’s “The Equalizer” and 2018’s “The Equalizer 2,” which were also directed by Fuqua and written by Wenk. All of these movies are inspired by “The Equalizer” TV series, which starred Edward Woodward and was on the air from 1985 to 1989. The lazy screenplay of “The Equalizer 3” is the weakest link in the movie.

“The Equalizer 3” is the type of mindless story that’s in a low-quality action flick, but “The Equalizer” has the high budget of a major studio movie. In other words, “The Equalizer 3” looks slick, and it has the star appeal of Washington, but it’s ultimately a very hollow movie with a basic plot that’s been seen and done many times before in other action movies where the “hero” fights gangsters. Just because “The Equalizer 3” changed the story’s location to Italy (the first two “Equalizer” movies took place in Boston) doesn’t mean that “The Equalizer” has anything new and interesting to say.

The opening scene of “The Equalizer” takes place in Sicily, Italy, and shows a crime lord named Lorenzo Vitale (played by Bruno Bilotta) driving himself and his unnamed grandson (played by Adriano Sabrie) in a Land Rover to a house in a fairly secluded area. While his grandson (who’s about 11 or 12 years old) waits in the car, Lorenzo is greeted by an armed security guard, who shows Lorenzo the massacre that took place inside the house. The bloodied bodies of about eight or nine men are shown in various places throughout the house.

In one of the house’s rooms, the man who caused this massacre is being held at gunpoint by two thugs. This vigilante is a loner named Robert McCall (played by Washington), a former U.S. Marine and a former U.S. Defense Intelligency Agency (DIA) official, who is based in Boston and currently makes a living in working-class jobs. (Robert worked at a hardware store in “The Equalizer” and as a Lyft driver in “The Equalizer 2.”) Robert’s skills as a former government assassin come in handy when he goes on his vigilante missions.

What is Robert doing in Italy? And what does he have against Lorenzo? Robert snarls to Lorenzo: “You took something that didn’t belong to you. I’m here to take it back.” Through some highly implausible fight tactics, Robert then proceeds to kill everyone in the house. Most of the murder scenes in “The Equalizer 3” are very graphic and seem to revel in the violence. For example, when Robert murders everyone in the house, he shoots a man through the eye so that the bullets can shoot another man.

Robert thinks he can make an easy getaway, but he doesn’t know until it’s too late that Lorenzo’s grandson is outside. Lorenzo’s grandson has a shotgun that he uses to shoot Robert, who fires his gun in the air. This gunfire scares the boy, who runs away. Robert soon finds out he’s been shot in the back. Robert is able to get in his car before he starts to lose consciousness.

Robert is found unconscious in his car and rescued by a local man, who brings Robert to a doctor named Enzo Arisio (played by Remo Girone), who performs surgery on Robert in Enzo’s home. Why didn’t Enzo take Robert to a doctor or contact police? Enzo lives in an area that is ruled by the Mafia, so he knows that when a stranger with a gunshot wound is in the area, there’s a good chance it has something to do with the Mafia.

Enzo asks Robert what his name is, and Robert says his name is Roberto. Enzo then asks Robert if he is a good man or a bad man. Robert says that he doesn’t know. Enzo doesn’t ask any more questions and decides to let Robert stay in Enzo’s house while Robert recovers from his injuries and surgery. Enzo tells Robert that Robert is lucky that he was shot with a .22 caliber bullet instead of a more high-impact bullet.

After the fight/killing scene in the beginning of “The Equalizer 3,” not much happens in the movie for the next 20 minutes. Robert is seen walking around with a cane, as he gets to know Enzo and some of the other local people. Eventually, Robert no longer has to use a cane. For someone who was shot in his back, Robert makes a remarkably quick recovery. The movie doesn’t bother to show Robert go through any realistic physical therapy.

Robert becomes friendly with a generous and amiable restaurateur named Angelo (played by Daniele Perrone), whose employees include a cook in his late teens or early 20s named Khalid (played by Zakaria Hamz) and a server in her 30s named Aminah (played by Gaia Scodellaro), who shows a semi-romantic interest in bachelor Robert. Aminah literally doesn’t do much in this movie but smile a lot, work in the restaurant, and show Robert some of her favorite food places in the area. Aminah’s presence in the movie has no effect on the overall plot.

There aren’t many female characters with speaking roles in “The Equalizer 3.” The female characters who speak are only in this movie to react to whatever the men do. There are many superficial male characters in “The Equalizer 3,” but at least they are given more to do and have more action-oriented roles. The women in “The Equalizer 3” who have the most dialogue in the movie all look like overly polished and attractive actresses instead of looking more realistic for their roles.

Angelo owes money to local gangsters who are led by the ruthless Vincent Quaranta (played by Andrea Scarduzio), a not-very-interesting stereotype of a Mafia leader. Vincent has his equally sadistic younger brother Marco Quaranta (played by Andrea Dodero) do a lot of the dirty work for the gang. All the gangsters except Vincent and Marco are generic with forgettable dialogue. There’s also a Mafia cartel called the Camorra crime family that figures into the plot.

During his stay in Italy, Robert makes a phone call to DIA official Emma Collins (played by Dakota Fanning) at her headquarters in the United States. Emma is later revealed to have a connection to people whom Robert knew in his past. (This connection is fairly easy to predict.)

Robert passes along an “anonymous” tip to Emma about drug smuggling of synthetic amphetamines in Italy. Emma is immediately able to trace the call and find out who made the call. And it isn’t long before Emma arrives in Italy and makes contact with Robert. Emma’s supervisor Frank Conroy (played by David Denman) occasionally shows up to give orders.

“The Equalizer” takes place in various locations in Italy, including Sicily, Rome and Naples. There’s some moronic mush in the plot about the connection between the drug smuggling and terrorism. But that potentially intriguing story is just a backdrop to the movie’s ultra-violent but ultimately quite tedious scenes involving fighting, torturing and killing. No one is expecting “The Equalizer 3” to be award-worthy, but this shallow movie really insults the intelligence of viewers on the most basic levels, with its dull ripoff ideas, far-fetched scenarios and stupid dialogue.

A local police marshal named Gio Bonucci (played by Eugenio Mastrandrea), his wife Chiara Bonucci (played by Sonia Ben Ammar) and their daughter Gabriella “Gabby” Bonucci (played by Dea Lanzaro) are among the targets for the gangster violence. The local police, led by Police Chief Barella (played by Adolfo Margiotta), might or might not be trustworthy, depending on their level of ethics or corruption. All of these supporting characters are either very underdeveloped or are cartoonish caricatures.

“The Equalizer 3” is the type of idiotic movie where the villain in charge could easily kill the “hero” in the middle of a violent fight scene, but instead the villain just glares and makes threats with a weapon in his hand. There are some overly choreographed fight scenes that might impress some viewers, but it all just looks so phony. Washington’s charisma is mostly muted in “The Equalizer 3,” which makes Robert into nothing more than the type of two-dimensional character that might be in a video game. “The Equalizer 3” has some lovely aerial shots of Italy’s landscape, but the ugly truth is that “The Equalizer” is too much of a disappointing slog of missed opportunities to be a genuinely unique and exciting action film.

Columbia Pictures will release “The Equalizer 3” in U.S. cinemas on September 1, 2023.

Review: ‘King of Kotha,’ starring Dulquer Salmaan, Shabeer Kallarakkal, Prasanna and Gokul Suresh

August 26, 2023

by Carla Hay

“King of Kotha”

Directed by Abhilash Joshiy

Malayalam with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place mostly in 1996, in the fictional city of Kotha, India, the action film “King of Kotha” has an all-Indian cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: Two former best friends battle each other for control of a drug empire in Kotha.

Culture Audience: “King of Kotha” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and don’t mind watching messy and nonsensical movies about drug dealers.

Prasanna in “King of Kotha” (Photo courtesy of Zee Studios)

“King of Kotha” is nothing more than a semi-convoluted soap opera about feuding drug dealers. There’s nothing really original in this soulless tale that shows the expected betrayals, revenge plots, and violence. The musical numbers look very misplaced.

Directed by Abhilash Joshiy (his feature-film debut) and written by Abhilash N. Chandran, “King of Kotha” takes place in the fictional city of Kotha, India. The movie’s timeline is mostly in 1996, but there’s a significant flashback to 1986. The movie tries to do too much with a very weak story.

“King of Kotha” begins in 1996, with the arrival of circle inspector (CI) Shahul Hassan (played by Prasanna), who has been transferred to Kotha, which is a city with a major drug problem. The current drug lord of Kotha is Kannan Bhai (played by Shabeer Kallarakkal), who has been in a longtime feud with his former best friend Raju Madrassi (played Dulquer Salmaan) over control of the drug trade in Kotha. Shahual gets the backstory on this feud, which is shown in the movie as a flashback.

The feud has been going on for 10 years and involves friends, family members, and lovers. There’s also an awkward subplot about Raju and his gang being part of a soccer team called Winner Kotha. The movie has a lot of heinous violence that just becomes mindless after a while. None of the acting is good.

“King of Kotha” piles plot twist on top of plot twist, until it becomes a jumbled, unrealistic mess. To make matters worse in this bombastic film, almost all of the characters are unlikable and unrelatable. Avoid this abomination at all costs.

Zee Studios released “King of Kotha” in U.S. cinemas and in India on August 25, 2023.

Review: ‘Blue Beetle,’ starring Xolo Maridueña, Adriana Barraza, Damían Alcázar, Raoul Max Trujillo, Susan Sarandon and George Lopez

August 16, 2023

by Carla Hay

“Blue Beetle”

Directed by Ángel Manuel Soto

Some language in Spanish with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place primarily in the fictional U.S. city of Palmera City, the sci-fi/fantasy/action film “Blue Beetle” (based on the DC Comics character) features a Latin and white cast of characters (with a few African Americans and Asians) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: Recent college graduate Jaime Reyes has his body invaded by a super-powered beetle scarab, and he becomes the superhero Blue Beetle, battling his evil former boss who wants the scarab to create an oppressive army of robotic enforcers.

Culture Audience: “Blue Beetle” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of superhero movies, the film’s headliners and adventurous stories about underrepresented people who are the stories’ protagonists.

Elpidia Carrillo, George Lopez, Xolo Maridueña, Belissa Escobedo and Damián Alcázar in “Bue Beetle” (Photo by Hopper Stone/Warnet Bros. Pictures)

“Blue Beetle” sometimes gets trapped in a familiar superhero formula, but the movie’s comedic charm, rollicking style and authentic chemistry among the cast members are a winning combination. As an origin story, “Blue Beetle” won’t rank among the very best for superhero movies based on DC Comics, because there are a few too many superhero movie stereotypes in “Blue Beetle’s” action scenes. However, “Blue Beetle” has enough uniqueness and charisma in its characters that will give this movie a loyal fan base.

Directed by Ángel Manuel Soto and written by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, “Blue Beetle” tells the story of 22-year-old Jaime Reyes (played by Xolo Maridueña), an optimistic recent college graduate who has returned to his hometown of Palmera City, a fictional U.S. city based partially on El Paso Texas. DC Comics’ “Blue Beetle” stories have more than one person who is the character of Blue Beetle: archaeologist Dan Garrett (a character that debuted in 1939); inventor Ted Kord (debuted in 1966); and Jaime Reyes (debuted in 2006), a Mexican American who lives in El Paso.

In the “Blue Beetle” movie, Jaime (who is the first person in his family to graduate from college) has come back home to live in a family household that is going through some drastic changes. Jaime lives with his supportive parents Alberto Reyes (played by Damían Alcázar) and Rocio Reyes (played by Elpidia Carrillo); Alberto’s sassy mother Nana Reyes (played by Adriana Barraza); Jaime’s 17-year-old outspoken sister Milagro “Millie” Reyes (played by Belissa Escobedo); and Alberto’s eccentric brother Rudy Reyes (played by George Lopez).

Soon after arriving home, Jaime finds out that the family will be moving out of the house in the near future because the family can no longer afford the house rent, which has “tripled” due to gentrification. The family’s auto body shop is going out of business. Alberto is also recovering from a recent heart attack. Jaime is shocked to hear this news and asks why his family didn’t tell him sooner. They say it’s because they didn’t want anything to distract Jaime from his studies at school.

Jaime is hopeful that his college degree will help him get a job that pays enough to get the family out of these financial problems. He’s also hoping to go to law school someday. “I’ll get the money to save this place,” Jaime confidently tells Milagro. She isn’t so sure this goal will be as easy as Jaime thinks it will be. In the meantime, Jaime and Milagro work in sanitation and groundskeeping at Kord Industries, a massively successful technology corporation whose specialty is security.

The leader of Kord Industries is the ruthless and cruel Victoria Kord (played by Susan Sarandon), who took over the company after her brother Ted Kord disappeared. Ted inherited the company from his father. Victoria is still bitter and jealous that Ted got this inheritance. The opening scene of “Blue Beetle” shows Victoria and some of her minions discovering something near an asteroid that has fallen on Earth. Victoria gleefully says, “I’ve been looking for this for 15 years!”

Viewers later see that what they found is a blue beetle (about the size of a hand) called the Scarab, which has extraordinary powers and a mind of its own. Victoria wants the Scarab for a new Kord Industries invention: One Man Army Corps, a group of super-powered robots described as “the future of private policing.” Victoria’s brooding, hulking henchman named Conrad Carpax (played by Raoul Max Trujillo) is her most-trusted right-hand man to do her dirty work. Victoria’s leading scientist who works for her is Dr. Sanchez (played by Harvey Guillén), a long-suffering employee who experiences some of Victoria’s noticeable racism.

Not everyone is happy with Victoria’s plans for One Man Army Corps. Ted’s smart and independent daughter Jenny Kord (played by Bruna Marquezine), who is in her early 20s and is originally from Brazil, is the complete opposite of Victoria, when it comes to their outlooks on life. Jenny cares about humanity, the environment, and having socially responsible and ethical business practices. Jenny suspects but can’t prove that Victoria is behind her father Ted’s disappearance. (Jenny’s mother died years ago.)

Over the course of the movie, Jenny and Victoria clash in a number of ways. Anything that Victoria wants to do, Jenny wants to dismantle. Jenny isn’t afraid to openly defy her domineering aunt, who becomes infuriated and vengeful when she sees how far Jenny is willing to go to stop Victoria from Victoria’s nefarious plans. Early on in the movie, Victoria snarls to Jenny: “You are nothing to this company. You are a brat … Your father abandoned this company, and he abandoned me.

At first, Jaime is eager to impress Victoria. When Jaime sees Victoria on the company property, he tries to get her attention, but Victoria doesn’t even notice Jaime and other low-paid workers at the company. Milagro is with Jaime when he tries and fails to get Victoria’s attention. Milagro comments to Jaime: “We’re invisible to people like that.”

It isn’t long before Jaime and Jenny meet when Jenny is at Kord Industries headquarters. Jaime’s attraction to her is immediate. Jenny plays it cool, but it’s obvious that she will be Jaime’s love interest. Perpetually skeptical Milagro thinks that Jenny is out of Jaime’s league and tells Jaime, Milagro assumes that Jenny is just another spoiled rich kid who wouldn’t want to associate with people in the Reyes family. Through a series of events, Jaime will cross paths with Jenny until they both find out that they have a common goal.

Jaime and Milagro get fired after Jaime tries to defend Jenny during an argument between Jenny and Victoria. Later, Jenny (disguised as a Kord Industries lab worker) steals a security key card to gain entrance to the lab where the Scarab is being secretly kept. Jenny then takes the Scarab, which she knows Victoria needs to make the One Man Army Corps. However, Dr. Sanchez (who was not in the lab during this theft) comes back and sees the Scarab has been stolen and quickly gives a security breach alert.

The Kord Industries building goes on a security lockdown, but Jenny quickly gives the Scarab (which is in a box) to an unwitting Jaime, who is headed for the exit with other visitors, who have been told to evacuate the building. Jenny tells Jaime that what’s in the box is an important secret, and she warns him not to open the box. But, of course, as shown in the “Blue Beetle” trailers, Jaime opens the box when he’s at home with his family.

The Scarab enters Jaime’s body (painfully), and he becomes the Blue Beetle, a superhero with physical characteristics of a giant beetle and a blue superhero suit of armor. This transformation is shown in the “Blue Beetle” trailers, so there’s no mystery about it. After the Scarab melds with Jaime’s body, he can hear the voice of the Scarab as being an entity called Khaji-Da (voiced by Becky G), who gives Jaime/Blue Beetle advice on what to do when he’s in superhero mode.

The rest of “Blue Beetle” goes through a lot of over-used superhero movie motions of “we have to save the world from an evil villain.” However, thanks to engaging dialogue (some of it is hilarious, some of it is hokey) and a likable rapport between the Reyes family members, “Blue Beetle” can be very enjoyable to watch. It’s suspenseful and dramatic in all the right places.

Maridueña, who was previously best known for his supporting role as Miguel Diaz in Netflix’s “Cobra Kai” karate drama series, gives a star-making performance in “Blue Beetle.” He perfectly embodies Jaime’s amiable personality, which is a mixture of hopeful, curious and insecure about what he perceives as his shortcomings. Maridueña also adeptly handles the wide range of emotions that Jaime goes through in the movie.

It should come as no surprise that Lopez, who has a long history in comedy, gets the best and funniest lines in the movie as Uncle Rudy, who just happens to be an underappreciated tech whiz. Barraza as Jaime’s seemingly mild-mannered grandmother also has a few moments to shine in ways that aren’t too surprising, since the movie keeps dropping hints that there’s more to Nana Reyes than being a kind grandmother. Alcázar, who portrays the easygoing Alberto, has some well-acted heartfelt moments in scenes between Alberto and Jaime, who inherited is father’s positive attitude.

Victoria obviously represents corporate greed that’s out of control. Sarandon plays this villain role to the hilt, but Victoria might not impress some viewers who like superhero movies to have chief villains with superpowers. “Blue Beetle” also has some commentary and observations (but not preaching) about racism, such as a scene where Jaime goes to a Kord Industries reception area, because he has a meeting with Jenny, and the snooty receptionist (played by Brianna Lewis) automatically assumes that Jaime is a delivery person.

The visual effects in “Blue Beetle” are perfectly fine, but they’re not going to win major awards. Some of the action scenes are clumsily staged and could have been better, in terms of visual style and how events unfold in the screenplay. A mid-credits scene in “Blue Beetle” hints that a certain character will be in a “Blue Beetle” sequel, while the end-credits scene in “Blue Beetle” is a bit of fluff that has no bearing on any DC Comics movie. Overall, “Blue Beetle” is a solid superhero movie that doesn’t have a lot of originality in its “good versus evil” story, but the movie has appealing messages about family unity during tough times that can resonate with audiences of many different backgrounds.

Warner Bros. Pictures will release “Blue Beetle” in U.S. cinemas on August 18, 2023.

Review: ‘Jailer’ (2023), starring Rajinikanth

August 15, 2023

by Carla Hay

Rajinikanth in “Jailer” (Photo courtesy of Sun Pictures)

“Jailer” (2023)

Directed by Nelson Dilipkumar

Tamil with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Chennai, India, the action film “Jailer” has an all-Indian cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A retired police office goes after a criminal who caused harm to his son.

Culture Audience: “Jailer” will appeal primarily to people who want to watch a formulaic and stale action movie.

Vinayakan in “Jailer” (Photo courtesy of Sun Pictures)

“Jailer” is yet more of the same type of long-winded revenge action tale with fake-looking stunts, mediocre-to-bad acting, and an absurd plot that doesn’t look believable. How many more movies does this world need about a retiree who becomes a vigilante? Apparently, for the filmmakers of “Jailer,” there’s not enough of these types of movies.

Written and directed by Nelson Dilipkumar, “Jailer” (which takes place in Chennai, India) follows the same old tired formula of retirement-age man who’s out to avenge something that’s happened to a loved one. In the case of “Jailer,” the vigilante on the loose is retired police officer “Tiger” Muthuvel Pandian (played by Rajinikanth), who goes on his rampage in ridiculous and over-the-top ways.

Tiger’s son Arjun Pandia (played by Vasanth Ravi) is an assistant police commissioner who was investigating a gang leader named Varman (played by Vinayakan), when Arjun suddenly disappeared. Arjun’s colleagues tell Tiger that Arjun probably went somewhere to commit suicide. Tiger doesn’t believe any of it, so he sets out to find the truth.

The rest of this 168-minute movie is a dreary and mindless slog of predictable things that Tiger does to get his form of justice. There is absolutely no originality in the movie, which has unimpressive acting. “Jailer” is perhaps an appropriate term for the movie, since anyone stuck watching it until the very end might feel like it’s being imprisoned in a cinematic hell.

Sun Pictures released “Jailer” in select U.S. cinemas and in India on August 11, 2023.