Redemption

Deeper, more soulful Statham. Less action, more character. At least, that was the intent. Statham plays Joey Jones, an intentionally homeless Afghanistan war vet in London. He falls into an opportunity to get cleaned up, during which time he takes on a mission to earn some money and avenge the death of his homeless friend. This is not a half-bad look at the angst that vets probably experience on return to their home. A sense of hopelessness, lack of control and lack of options. Of course, Statham presents the necessary tough guy routine when it is needed, but that is not the purpose of this film. I am sure that because of this the film doesn't fit any typical demographic. But I liked it...
3 stars (out of 5)

The Hot Flashes

In a small town where not much happens but the local high school sports, a funding decline promises to put the mobile breast cancer screening van out of business. This is just sort of cause that moms can get behind. So the state champion girls basketball team from 20 years ago challenges the current state champion high school girls to a 3 game series as a fundraiser for the clinic. Hijinks ensue. The quality of this film is very Saturday afternoon TV in every way. If you want to see a sports film, see anything else. If you have nothing else going on... well, see anything else.

2 stars (out of 5)

Red Dawn

A cookie-cutter film from a cookie-cutter script. Perhaps it was supposed to be meaningful now because of the North Korean presence in the news, but this is not novel, or even exciting. I would rate this as an excellent B-movie.

2 stars (out of 5)

Karate Girl

A nice little Japanese karate film staring a couple of young Japanese girls who are masters of their craft. When their father is killed, and they are separated as kids, they each develop their expertise with Karate as a way of holding on to what is important. And neither knows the other is still alive. Of course, one is "good" and one is "bad", but when they meet, family is more important. Excellent choreography in the fight scenes and the power and nature of karate is demonstrated beautifully. This is a great late-night movie.
3 stars (out of 5)

Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Film 2 in The Hunger Games trilogy, Catching Fire picks up with life after victory. President Snow is mad about everything, mostly concerned that any spark of hope picked up by the little people will cause him lots of trouble. So the districts become even more restrictive and are locked down under martial law. Snow figures out that to get rid of his antagonists (our protagonists) from District 12, he will send them back into the games. Once again, a well visualized world, contrasting the haves and have-nots. I do think the game arena was not quite as well portrayed, with all the clever subtleties that made it a fantastic arena left out or brushed over. But otherwise, the plot stays true to book, and the created world is both believable and fantastic at the same time.
4 stars (out of 5)

Parker

Jason Statham being Jason Statham. He is a crook working with a new crew on the recommendation of his mentor. The new crew screws up, people get hurt, and that is not how Parker rolls. Oh, and the new crew ripped him off, shot him and left him for dead too. Must be time for some revenge. Parker finds where the next job is, infiltrates, causes havoc, gets revenge. It is funny how you can pass off a character as a thief with morals. Don't hurt innocents? Ok to brutally torture and kill bad guys? This is war mentality. Different morals for different folks, but eventually the lines blur. Does a Parker character's lines of morality make sense if he holds to them?
3 stars (out of 5)

World War Z

It wasn't like the book. Now we have that out of the way, this is a pretty good film. Using the premise of a highly contagious, very short gestation period, viral outbreak that manifests by victims exhibiting zombie characteristics, we are treated to a pretty standard detective thriller. Brad Pitt is Gerry Lang, UN detective extraordinaire who is able to uncover anything hidden by any warlord, weapons dealer or genocide perpetrator. Now he is let loose on nature. Finding the virus cause and potential weapons to use against it requires him to look for subtle clues in an environment that is anything but subtle. This is really not World War Z, but the lead up to the war. This is the shot fired across the bow, as both sides (humans and zombies) figure out who and what they are up against. The real war is just beginning as the final credits role. I appreciate that the filmmakers did not try to throw everything that was possible into the film, did not try to replicate the entire book. As it was, it was enough. Well played.
3 stars (out of 5)