So, I’m glad to say that it was bound to come around that I dedicated a month of film viewing to action films! I’ve enjoyed action films but over the years most of them, to me, have been recycled ideas from older films only with the latest and hottest movie star. There were a lot of films in my March month of film viewing that fit this exactly and there were some that surprised me. More often than not, most of the films I viewed were either mediocre or just plain bad.
So let’s begin!
THE BAD.
Okay, so there are a lot of bad action films out there and I
managed to get through a whole lot of them.
Some of them were on my watch list whereas others just came up as random
and I took a chance on them anyways to my horror. One of the worst films I watched was ALIEN
WARFARE (2019). There is no redeeming quality
in this military verses aliens film that lacks character, story, and above all
else decent SFX. Save this film for a
drinking game of some kind with a group of friends. Other notable “bad” films were JOHN HENRY
(2020), TRIPLE 9 (2016), GET MY GUN (2018), DEVIL’S MILE (2014), and RIOT
(2015). TRIPLE 9 had a great cast of
actors but was just plain dumb in every way; it’s a film that you have to know
the actors wished they could go back and erase from their resumes. Terry Crews does a decent starring role in
JOHN HENRY but the film is so early ‘90s which was the decade of bad action
films. The less said about the others,
the better.
THE FILMS OF ANTHONY MACKIE.
I really enjoy Anthony Mackie as an actor as he always gives
some inspired performances and never seems to just be phoning it in which is
why I was so surprised at the outcome that was TRIPLE 9. This being said, I decided to catch up with a
lot of his other films that I had just not gotten around to which includes POINT
BLANK (2019), IO (2019), and OUTSIDE THE WIRE (2021). While POINT BLANK was just a fun yet mediocre
film, IO was a welcomed departure from the typical sci-fi film. This is a film that is less action oriented
but I think still will appeal to action fans.
OUTSIDE THE WIRE is one of my favorite films of the month as it gives
Mackie the chance to truly shine as a leading man in a lo-key sci-fi,
military-style action film with Terminator overtones. This was an extremely well written and
executed film.
THE MEDIOCRE.
THE FILMS OF BRUCE WILLIS.
Now actor Bruce Willis has fallen on hard times in the last
couple decades and has found himself in one mediocre action film to
another. He’s played good guys and bad
guys and everything in between and so I decided to catch up with a lot of his
films, that frankly, I had no interest in ever really seeing. This includes HARD KILL (2020), FIRST KILL
(2017), and ACTS OF VIOLENCE (2018). FIRST KILL was the best out of all of them
and that’s because Hayden Christensen is actually not that bad in the
film. Willis is a bad cop and pretty
much phones in his performance which is what he does in HARD KILL, which is
just a flat out bad movie. Like in the
other two films Willis plays second fiddle in ACTS OF VIOLENCE which is really
a film for Cole Hauser and Shawn Ashmore to take the lead. I actually like Hauser a lot and wished he
was given more opportunities to headline films.
THE FILMS OF JASON STATHAM.
So, Statham is an actor who makes bad films entertaining and
I actually end up enjoying some of his films more than I should. He’s an actor with presence and commands the
screen. This being said, I viewed four
of his films during the month – HOMEFRONT (2013), REDEMPTION (2014), THE BANK
JOB (2008), and PARKER (2013). PARKER I
thought was the worst of the bunch because frankly it’s just like 90% of his
other films. The same can almost be said
for HOMEFRONT but this film has such an eclectic and amazing cast in what
amounts to a mediocre film. What
elevates it is the presence of Frank Grillo when he shows up. Like in POINT BLANK, Grillo has a knack for
making bad or mediocre films entertaining and fun. THE BANK JOB allowed Statham to step out of
his comfort zone and deliver a film in which he’s not always fighting and
kicking everyone’s ass. I really enjoyed
this film as I did REDEMPTION, which is a much better written film than
expected and actually has something to say.
These last two films are the reason why I continue to enjoy a Statham
film as he tries to mix the Good (REDEMPTION) with the bad (PARKER) with the
ugly (CRANK).
THE GOOD.
I’m a little surprised to say that in addition to OUTSIDE
THE WIRE, I viewed a lot of pretty good action films throughout the month and
they are all very different. Some of
them include BELOW ZERO (2021), COP CAR (2015), VFW (2020), POLAR (2019), THE
TAKE (2016), GHOSTS OF WAR (2020), A BABYSITTER’S GUIDE TO MONSTER HUNTING
(2020), THE BABYSITTER (2017), THE BABBYSITTER: KILLER QUEEN (2020), CLOSE
(2019), and THE MAURITANIAN (2021).
Although GHOSTS OF WAR and THE BABYSITTER films also contain
elements of horror, it is the action that takes precedence and these three
films do an amazing job at mixing the two genres and still are entertaining and
engaging. I was pleasantly surprised by
all three of them and GHOSTS OF WAR easily is one of the best I saw all month.
VFW and POLAR are also oddities as both contain plenty of violence but one is a near post-apocalyptic film (i.e. THE CROW or THE ROVER) and the other is based on a graphic novel, respectfully. Both have aging characters who want to retire and live their lives in peace but the outside world just won’t let them.
The most traditional of the action films is BELOW ZERO, THE
TAKE, and CLOSE. Noomi Rapace shows her
action muscles in CLOSE while Idris Elba does what he does best in THE
TAKE. Both of these films could be
mediocre if not for the stars in both of them that elevate the films. BELOW ZERO is the only foreign film on the
list and it is unpredictable and suspenseful from beginning to end. It keeps you on the edge of your seat not
knowing what is going to happen from one moment to the next.
COP CAR is oddly funny and dark and allows Kevin Bacon to
give an unhinged performance in a film that is mostly told from the point of
view of two children. It’s a dark film
but if you can jump onboard the darkness then you’ll enjoy this film.
THE MAURITANIAN is the only film that I saw in the theater
for the month. This is more a
dramatic-action film but one that is politically charged and hinders on the
amazing performance from Tahar Rahim.
THE TV SERIES.
Just as an added bonus I wanted to add on the two TV series
that I got hooked on during the month! I
ended up watching the first seasons of HYPERDRIVE and FASTEST CAR! HYPERDRIVE is and amazing series that I hope
gets another season as it will appeal to anyone interested in drifting and obstacle
courses. FASTEST CAR is really for those
people who build their own cars to be faster than other cars. This series is good because it goes into the
lives of the people that build the cars before ending each episode with a race
to see who has built the fastest car!
*****
CONCLUSION.
Overall March’s Month of Action Films allowed me to catch up
with a lot of films that had just been sitting on my shelf waiting to be
watched. Some were good, while others…not
so good but I ended up watching several gems that I would have never bothered
with had I not done this. I hope that
you dear Reader have enjoyed this month’s watch list and maybe added a few of
these films to your own watch list.
Next up is my Month of Romantic Films!
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