Reboots the word right now in theaters
Click here to catch my previews of this weeks movies and DVD releases
Tomb Raider
Well, get ready Lara Croft is back again and so is Tomb Raider, the latest franchise to be rebooted. New cast, some new effects, and new techniques in movie making, but it’s still a reboot.
This version is very action based with long, drawn out action sequences and some of them very good. Others too long. Lara has gone to the edge of the world to try to save the world from a horrible company that wants to unleash a global genocide from a log sealed tomb. It’s Lara’s job to stop them, and also find her thought-dead father who has the key that protects anyone from opening the tomb.
This is basically OK, not a bad day at the movies, we’ve just seen this whole thing before. And for a movie called Tomb Raider, there isn’t a whole lot of “tomb raiding” till very late in the movie. This is what it is. New fans will call this their franchise, and older gamers will compare it to the originals.
Tomb Raider. For the new target audience? This will be just fine.
Hurricane Heist
Very short and sweet. Why? Why to theaters? This is the poster child for straight to video or streaming services.
Hurricane Heist. Can we just…..
Red Sparrow
I understand that is almost a crime in today’s movie going world to not rave about a Jennifer Lawrence flick, but I can’t here yet again. This new political thriller is not a total wash, but is riddled with problems and overall comes up very short.
First of all, could this be any longer? And any more belabored than it is? This anti Russian Intel / anti-CIA flick takes far too long to make its point. Sparrows, are Russian women who are secretly trained in very sexual and specialized areas to root out foreign spy’s, and diplomats, and Lawrence plays one of them. But what this actually does is make you wait for something to actually happen that matters. Yes, there are compelling moments here, but overall this is drawn out to the extreme.
Also, there is a certain level of predictability that makes this all the more cliche’. This has a nice supporting cast with Joel Edgerton and Jeremy Irons, but they seem under utilized and trivial in the end. This is Lawences flick, and being fair, she holds up her end of the bargain for the most part. But some bad writing editing spoil the party. This is also very brutal at times with torture and moments of general tastelessness that will be tough for some.
Red Sparrow. Not so good.
Death Wish
Here we go again, rebooting an old movie series for a new audience, and this time it’s Bruce Willis in the old Charles Bronson series, Death Wish. The original from 1974 has been updated for a more modern feel, but the basic premise is still in tact.
Dr. Kersey (Willis) is a surgeon and his wife is killed, and young daughter is brutally attacked in a home invasion. And the good Dr. decides on a life of vigilantism. This is based on a very successful book from 1972, that actually refutes being a vigilante, as where the original and this, embrace it. This movie is not totally tone deaf to violence. This has many scenes where gun laws and our culture are put on wide display. It does make its feelings known on its stance on gun laws, and accessibility to getting potentially dangerous information.
This is very violent, and very graphic at times. But in the end, what this is, is a dad protecting his family much like the original. This will find a following, and this is set up for more. But is this good movie making? Well, not really but the basic story and premise are timeless and so there is always room in the early spring for a movie like this. Better than some, worse than others.
Death Wish. Again, driving down memory lane.
scott@wqmx.com