What Films Have You Seen Recently?

Oh, neat. I never actually read anything with Beta Ray Bill in it, though I've always known of his existence.

I actually watched a couple of videogame films this last week.:

Resident Evil : Apocalypse I have seen this before and enjoyed it at the time but it does seem a bit dated now. It's not terrible and it's not good. But it is enjoyable. Jill Valentine has her classic blue outfit with the short skirt on from RE3 (Nemesis is also the enemy in this film) which I have to say does look very ridiculous in real life - you could never imagine a cop choosing that to fight zombies. She looks more like a model. Milla Jovovich does a lot of ass-kicking as Alice. But who will win the final confrontation between Nemesis and Alice? (I think we know!) I'd give this an average 5/10


Mortal Kombat - the latest film from 2021. It seems like it has a higher budget than the old MK films but unsurprisingly the whole convoluted story is just an excuse for the fighters to eventually face off each other in a tournament format. They tried to make it seem like it isn't a standard tournament but it is really. There isn't really any genuine character development but I did like Kano and Sonya. They seemed to have the most personality. Also I didn't get why the "good" team have to stick to the rules and the "bad" team doesn't? If there is no penalty for breaking the rules then why have them? I'd give this 7/10 for a video game film but as an actual film I'd give it another 5/10. But again, very watchable, just for the action.

I just watched "The Suicide Squad" (I agree with Marty - what a dumb title!) Fortunately my TV box said "Suicide Squad 2" on the TV schedule otherwise I would have missed it. I thought it was pretty good, not as funny as it was trying to be but it was definitely amusing. Otherwise I liked how unpredictable it was and there were some good action scenes too. Not as formulaic as many super hero films. I'd give it an enjoyable 7/10.

I'd be interested to hear what people think about the Suicide Squad films? Because I remember seeing people on social media saying the first one was a terrible super hero film but when I finally saw it - I enjoyed it. For sure it wasn't the best film ever but it was pretty good for what it was.

During the Holidays I re-watched some fantastic classic Hong Kong flicks with a good friend:

Dragons Forever - I think this is the very best of the classic Jackie Chan flicks out there - it has it all, slapstick comedy, good martial arts and the wonderful harmonization between Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. The recent 4K remaster is crisp as a knife, has remixed 5.1 sound and is a perfect excuse to rewatch the movie. I recommend the Japanese cut of the movie though, which has some additional scenes that were cut from the other international versions!

10 out of 10 punches



Wheels on Meals - Probably my second favorite movie of Jackie Chan, which also stars Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. Pretty much one of Jackies most famous Hong Kong flicks and a firework of slapstick comedy, hilarious dialogue and epic stunts (including skateboards, bikes and cars as well). What a delight!

9 out of 10 kicks



Then we also watched two of John Woo's finest heroic bloodshed movies which made him the popular action director that he later became.

First is Hard Boiled, the main inspiration for western movies and games such as Max Payne, The Matrix and much more. It has some rather lenghty scenes throughout the middle of the movie, but the shootouts at the beginning and the end are some of the most awesome in cinematic history.

Alone that is worth 9 out of 10 bullets



A much better movie than Hard Boiled though is The Killer, again starring Chow Yun-Fat as gun-toting superhero. Unlike in Hard Boiled, there's no single boring scene and the shootouts belong to the most over-the-top and spectacular I've ever witnessed. Also the chemistry between the protagonist and his rival are much more refined than in Hard Boiled and at parts absolutely hilarious (for instance, they nickname themselves Dumbo and Mickey Mouse).

Absolutely deserved 10 out of 10 explosions




Sadly haven't watched any DC or Marvel movies in the last 10 years or so, Rik, so sadly I cannot give any feedback to this. :/ (apart from the two Deadpool movies which I found amusingly okay)

I've just watched a couple of films


Godzilla Vs Kong : really enjoyed this. It's completely ridiculous but the film runs with that and it's a lot of fun and has some great action sequences. The best modern Godzilla film yet (although whisper it : it's really about Kong). I'll give it a very fun 8/10


A Quiet Place : Part 2. I liked the first film a lot, felt like one of the new wave of high quality horror films. This is literally a continuation of the story of the first film. It's not amazing in any way but it is very solid - it's dramatic, well acted and the story is told very well. It also has a great intro sequence that's set before the first film that shows what happened the day the aliens first arrived. I will give this a 7.5/10. Very good but doesn't have the impact of the first film.


On a separate note : it's still hard to see those aliens over-running the US military in the first place. Couldn't they set up a safe base on an island? And then just dig a huge pit on the mainland and lure the creatures into it with a siren and blow them all up with bombs? I know their armor is tough but it's not that tough surely? I suppose the idea was that it just happened so fast with all the "meteors" landing that the military couldn't get organised in a proper way.... but it's hard to imagine.

pimsbury haha oh yeah that gave him a chance against Godzilla. This film was miles better than the 2014 Godzilla film which was the last one I saw. That was the only film I went to watch at a cinema and considered walking out of. Just because I felt so bored and like I was wasting time. They just took what was ridiculous subject matter too seriously IMO. This film knew what to do!