TRASH IN MY EYE Reviews: Spy

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Sunday, September 1, 2024

Review: Netflix's "THE UNION" is Weak Spy Thriller Tea

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 40 of 2024 (No. 1984) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Union (2024)

Running time: 107 minutes (1 hour, 47 minutes)

MPA – PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, suggestive material and some strong language

DIRECTOR: Julian Farino

WRITERS: Joe Barton and David Guggenheim; from a story by David Guggenheim

PRODUCERS: Stephen Levinson, Mark Wahlberg, and Jeff G. Waxman

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Alan Stewart (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Pia Di Ciaula

COMPOSER: Rupert Gregson-Williams

ACTION/COMEDY/ROMANCE and SPY/THRILLER

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Halle Berry, J.K. Simmons, Mike Colter, Alice Lee, Jessica De Gouw, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jackie Earle Haley, Lucy Cork, Stephen Campbell Moore

SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:

If you are a fan of Mark Wahlberg and/or Halle Berry, you may want to watch this film

Although it does have some good moments and some good production values, “The Union,” comes across as a big-budget made-for-television spy movie or maybe even a straight-to-DVD spy movie

As a romantic comedy, Wahlberg and Berry have good screen chemistry, but the violence in “The Union” makes it hard to be a romantic-comedy

The film ultimately comes across as an average hodge-podge of genres that is only worth your time when you have time to waste

The Union is a 2024 American spy-thriller and action-romantic-comedy from director Julian Farino. Starring Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry, the film is a “Netflix Original,” and began streaming on Netflix August 16, 2024. The Union focuses on a down-to earth construction worker who is thrust into the world of spies and secret agents by his high school sweetheart, who is a secret agent.

The Union introduces, “the Union,” a covert agency whose agents work behind the scenes as everyday blue collar workers such as road crews, construction workers, garbage collectors, and water and wastewater treatment operators, to name a few. The film opens in the Grand Hotel Castelletto in Trieste, Italy, where the Union prepares to bring in CIA turncoat, Derek Mitchell. However, the mission is botched, and only veteran agent, Roxanne Hall (Halle Berry), survives, but she has a plan.

Roxanne returns to her hometown of Paterson, New Jersey, where she recruits her high school sweetheart, Michael “Mike” McKenna (Mark Wahlberg), a construction worker, into the Union. Despite the protestations of her boss, Tom Brennan (J.K. Simmons), Roxanne convinces Mike to join the Union. Before long, Roxanne and Mike are on a mission, but once again, things go awry. Now, the former lovers have to straighten out this mess and recover some sensitive government intelligence that, if sold on the black market, will endanger the lives of every American spy and secret agent.

Comic book writer, artist, and publisher, Jimmy Palmiotti (DC Comics' Harley Quinn and Radical Publisher's Time Bomb), suggested via Twitter that the 2010 Tom Cruise-Cameron Diaz film, Knight and Day, offers something similar to The Union, but is much better at it. I've been putting off seeing Knight and Day for 14 years, and after trudging through The Union, I think it's time I did the damn thing and saw it.

I like Mark Wahlberg, and Halle Berry is one of my favorite Hollywood people of all time. I really wanted to watch The Union because of them, and I found their screen chemistry sometimes sweet and charming. However, I found The Union to be a slog that took me over a week to watch, as I mostly viewed it in bits and pieces. Sometimes, I had to do something, and other times, I stopped simply because I was bored.

However, the film is not a total loss. It is at times, pleasingly pleasant, although had I watched it in an actual movie theater, I would have not found it pleasant at all. Still, there is about a third of a good action movie here. The Union is for serious fans of Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry. That's all I can say. That's all I should say, lest I say worse, and this review comes back to haunt me.

5 of 10

C+

★★½ out of 4 stars

Sunday, September 1, 2024

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Sunday, August 27, 2023

Review: "TENET" May Have Been 2020's Best Film

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 39 of 2023 (No. 1928) by Leroy Douresseaux

Tenet (2020)

Running time: 150 minutes (2 hours, 30 minutes)

MPA – PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some suggestive references and brief strong language

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Christopher Nolan

PRODUCERS: Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Hoyte Van Hoytema (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Jennifer Lame

COMPOSER: Ludwig Goransson

Academy Award winner

SCI-FI/ACTION/SPY

Starring: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Dimple Kapadia, Himesh Patel, Denzil Smith, Yuri Kolokolnikov, Clémency Poséy, Fiona Dourif, Laurie Shepherd, Martin Donovan, and Kenneth Branagh and Michael Caine

Tenet is a 2020 science fiction, secret agent, and action-thriller film written and directed by Christopher Nolan. The film, Nolan's eleventh as a director, is a co-production between the United Kingdom and the United States. Tenet focuses on a CIA operative on a mission to save the world, armed with only one word, “Tenet.”

Tenet introduces a CIA operative known only as "The Protagonist" (John David Washington). The Protagonist leads a covert CIA extraction during a staged terrorist siege at the National Opera House in Kyiv., Ukraine. After he is injured and the mission goes badly, the Protagonist is recruited by a secretive organization known only by the word, “Tenet.” He is told that with a gesture, Tenet can “open the right doors and the wrong doors.”

He is briefed about bullets with “inverted” entropy that move backwards through time. It seems that the man who possesses the technology to invert entropy is a Russian oligarch named Andrei Sator (Kenneth Branagh). The technology has been given to Sator from mysterious forces in the future, and those forces are also sending Sator the pieces of something called the “Algorithm,” which is a threat to the present world.

Suddenly, the Protagonist finds himself surrounded by a menagerie of people he cannot quite trust or really know. That includes the Mumbai-based arms dealer, Priya Singh (Dimple Kapadia), and Sator's estranged and abused wife, Katherine “Kat” Barton (Elizabeth Debicki). Another is Ives (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a Tenet military commander. Most mysterious of all is Neil (Robert Pattinson), who is supposed to be the Protagonist's “handler” from Tenet, and Neil seems to know the Protagonist in ways he does not know Neil. Now, the Protagonist must uncover the secrets of inversion, the secrets of the Algorithm, and perhaps, even the secrets of himself.

Christopher Nolan gained many fans for his series of films starring DC Comics' Batman, known as “The Dark Knight Trilogy”: Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), and The Dark Knight Rises (2012). However, Tenet is closer to Nolan's films such as Memento (2000), Insomnia (2002), The Prestige (2006), and Inception (2010), which, like Tenet, have some combination of complex plots and character time lines, ambiguous elements, and cleverly hidden details that are open to many theories and interpretations.

Tenet freely plays with the themes of free will and determinism. Do people really have free will, or is it better that people think that they have free will? In the end, I think the narrative ultimately decides that free will and determinism are compatible, which is one of many reasons that I love this film. Many secret agent and spy films offer the illusion that the hero (or the protagonist) is in control. From the first movie in Eon Productions' “James Bond film series, Dr No (1962), the hero, James Bond, seems to have a measure of control or at least force of will to save the day or often, the world. One can say the same of Universal Pictures' “Jason Bourne” film series. It starts with The Bourne Identity (2002), and Matt Damon's Jason Bourne seems to exert free will all the more with each film, although his fate was determined and settled before the narrative of the first film begins. In Tenet, free will is a work in progress, exercised within the settled plots of determinism.

I love Tenet's cast. Either The Protagonist was tailor-made for actor John David Washington, or he was the perfect casting. I feel the same way about Robert Pattison's Neil, and Kenneth Branagh is such a fine actor that he can make any role seem like a real person. Elizabeth Debicki, honestly, is Oscar-worthy as Kat Barton, and Dimple Kapadia adds a delightful flavor as Priya Singh. Aaron Taylor-Johnson is all fire, menace, and masculinity as Ives.

I had not seen a Christopher Nolan film since Inception, although I'd planned to see Tenet in a theater. However, I was really wary of returning to movie theaters during the 2020 year of COVID-19 movie theater shutdowns, even after they reopened. In a way, that worked out. I got to savor Tenet on DVD as a way of prepping for eventually seeing his most recent film, Oppenheimer.

I like Tenet's trippy, surreal, time-shifting, inscrutable nature, and I like that Nolan is willing both to throw out a lot of ideas and to engage them. For me, it is mysterious, a mystery worth losing myself in every chance I get. As far as my opinion is concerned, Tenet is Christopher Nolan's best, most imaginative, and truly most inventive film.

10 of 10

Sunday, August 27, 2023

NOTES:

2021 Academy Awards, USA: 1 win: “Best Achievement in Visual Effects” (Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley, and Scott R. Fisher); 1 nomination: “Best Achievement in Production Design”

{Nathan Crowley-production design and Kathy Lucas-set decoration)

2021 BAFTA Awards: 1 win: “Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects” (Scott R. Fisher, Andrew Jackson, and Andrew Lockley)

2021 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Original Score - Motion Picture” (Ludwig Göransson)

2021 Black Reel Awards: 2 nominations: “Outstanding Cinematography” (Hoyte Van Hoytema) and 1 nomination: “Outstanding Production Design” (Nathan Crowley)

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Friday, July 14, 2023

Review: "MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - Dead Reckoning Part One" Embraces the Impossible

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 32 of 2023 (No. 1921) by Leroy Douresseaux

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

Running time: 163 minutes (2 hours, 43 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 intense sequences of violence and action, some language and suggestive material

DIRECTOR: Christopher McQuarrie

WRITERS: Christopher McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen (based upon the television series created by Bruce Geller)

PRODUCERS: Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Fraser Taggart (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Eddie Hamilton

COMPOSER: Loren Balfe

ACTION/ADVENTURE/SPY/THRILLER

Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Frederick Schmidt, Maria Garriga, Cary Elwes, and Henry Czerny

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is a 2023 action-thriller and espionage film directed by Christopher McQuarrie and starring Tom Cruise. It is the seventh film in the Mission: Impossible film series, which is based on the American television series, “Mission: Impossible” (CBS, 1966-73), that was created by Bruce Geller. In Dead Reckoning Part One, Ethan Hunt and his IMF team race to obtain half of a key that is connected to something that could be a doomsday device.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One opens in the Bering Sea. Beneath the surface, an advanced Russian submarine, the “Sevastopol,” prepares to test a new AI (artificial intelligence) system. But disaster strikes.

Later, Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny), the director of the IMF (Impossible Mission Force), offers IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) a new mission. Should he accept, Hunt must retrieve half of a mysterious cruciform key. It is currently in the possession of his ally, the former British agent, Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), who also has had a 50-million-dollar bounty placed on her.

Next, Hunt and his team – Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Luther Stickwell (Ving Rhames) – must trace the current holder of the second half of that cruciform key to a buyer. However, the mission is complicated by the intercession of new players: Grace (Hayley Atwell), a professional thief; Alanna Mitsopolis (Vanessa Kirby), a black-market arms dealers also known as the “White Widow;” and Paris (Pom Klementieff), a French assassin. The most shocking new player is Paris' boss, Gabriel (Esai Morales), a powerful terrorist with an intimate connection to Ethan Hunt's past. Ethan and his IMF team clash with these new people in a struggle for a key that is connected to something that could rule the world or destroy it, The Entity.

I divide the six Mission: Impossible movies into two trilogies. Mission: Impossible (1996), Mission: Impossible 2 (2000), and Mission: Impossible III (2006) make up the first trilogy. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011), Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015), and Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) form the second trilogy.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is something new. It was originally meant to be the first part of a two-part send off for Ethan Hunt, but that has apparently changed. Still, Dead Reckoning Part One feels like the beginning of the end. It's as if Ethan is facing his ultimate test, a mission in which most of the potential resolutions can make things worse for the U.S. and the rest of the world. Honestly, this feels like a mission in which Ethan should not survive.

That aside, should you choose to accept this mission, dear readers, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is a non-stop thrill machine full of heart-pounding races, car chases, standoffs, and Tom Cruise running more than he ever has. I balked at the runtime of two hours and forty-three minutes, but the film doesn't feel that long. It's always moving and grooving to a electrifying pace. The plot is a bit thin, and even that thinness manages to be a bit convoluted, but Dead Reckoning Part One moves too much to allow you to think about any inconsistencies. Why think about plot when the action and thrills are so mesmerizing and exhilarating? I had seen several video clips of Ethan Hunt's motorcycle cliff dive, which is the super-big stunt in Dead Reckoning Part One, but seeing the entire thing on the big, silver screen still made me nervous. That's the peak power of the extravagant action movie treats that this film offers.

Dead Reckoning Part One has beautiful cinematography and a hypnotic, pounding film score, and killer production values. Everyone is dressed so nicely, and all the sets put the art in art direction. The cast is amazing, and I couldn't get enough of Pom Klementieff's Paris. But the stars here are true movie star, Tom Cruise, and director Christopher McQuarrie. They wanted to give people a reason to come back to movie theaters, and they have. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is the kind of high-quality and breath-taking entertainment that demands to be seen in a darkened movie theater with a bunch of other people as equally thrilled as you or I are.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Friday, July 15, 2023

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Tuesday, July 11, 2023

Review: "MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2" is Still on Fire

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 31 of 2023 (No. 1920) by Leroy Douresseaux

Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)

Running time: 123 minutes (2 hours, 3 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of violent action and some sensuality

DIRECTOR: John Woo

WRITERS: Robert Towne; from a story by Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Barga (based upon the television series created by Bruce Geller)

PRODUCERS: Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Jeffrey L. Kimball (D.o.P.)

EDITORS: Steven Kemper and Christian Wagner

COMPOSER: Hans Zimmer

ACTION/ADVENTURE/SPY/THRILLER

Starring: Tom Cruise, Dougray Scott, Thandie Newton, Richard Roxburgh, John Polson, Brendan Gleeson, Rade Serbedzija, William Mapother, Dominic Purcell, Nicholas Bell, Kee Chan, Antonio Vargas, and Ving Rhames with Anthony Hopkins

Mission: Impossible 2 is a 2000 action-thriller and espionage film directed by John Woo and starring Tom Cruise. It is a sequel to the 1996 film, Mission: Impossible, and is based on the American television series, “Mission: Impossible” (CBS, 1966-73), that was created by Bruce Geller. In Mission: Impossible 2 (also known as M:I-2), Ethan Hunt battles a rogue fellow agent in a bid to obtain a genetically modified virus.

Mission: Impossible 2 opens in a lab at Australia's Biocyte Pharmaceuticals. There, Dr. Vladimir Nekhorvich (Rade Serbedzija), a bio-genetics scientist, sends a message to his old friend, “Dimitri,” which is the cover name for Impossible Mission Force (IMF) agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise). Nekhorvich's employer, Biocyte Pharmaceuticals, has forced him to create a biological weapon, which he calls “Chimera,” and a cure for it, which he names “Bellerophon.” Biocyte's CEO, John C. McCloy (Brendan Gleeson), plans to profit from Bellerophon as cure for Chimera after the virus is released into the unsuspecting world.

Nekhorvich injects himself with Chimera and carries Bellerophon with him and heads to the U.S., where he hopes to meet “Dimitri.” However, he is intercepted by IMF agent Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott), who is, in some ways, Ethan Hunt's equal and opposite. Ambrose and his men steal Bellerophon and begin their hunt to obtain Chimera, not knowing that it was inside Nekhorvich.

IMF Mission Commander Swanbeck (Anthony Hopkins) orders Hunt to lead his team – computer hacker, IMF agent Luther Stickwell (Ving Rhames), and helicopter pilot, William “Billy” Baird (John Polson), on a mission to get Chimera before Ambrose does. Swanbeck also orders Hunt to add to his team a professional thief named Nyah Nordoff-Hall (Thandie Newton), who was, until recently, Ambrose's girlfriend. Can Ethan trust Nyah, or has he gotten to close to her? And is Ambrose more than a match for Ethan?

That's just my personal thing. M:I-2 is its own thing. Directed by Hong Kong auteur, John Woo, the film features the hallmarks of Woo's directorial style, including his “bullet ballet” action sequences, stylized imagery, slow motion action and character drama scenes, Mexican standoffs, and fight sequences that recall the Chinese martial arts sub-genres “wuxia” and “wire-fu.” However, the film doesn't really kick into high gear with some of Woo's best flourishes until its second half.

The first half of the film focuses on Ethan Hunt's obsession with Nyah Nordoff-Hall, which mirrors Sean Ambrose's obsession with her. This “love triangle” allows Woo and his screenwriters to build tension between Hunt and Ambrose that explodes with jealousy and rage and eventually leads to a fight to the death. M:I-2 may be the film in this franchise in which Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt shares the most screen time with other characters, especially Newton's Nyah and Scott's Ambrose.

Anyway, the film really begins to rumble in the second half. The last half-hour or so is a masterpiece of directing, film editing, cinematography, and stunt coordinators and stuntmen. My high rating is mainly because of this exhilarating last act, which makes me want to see this movie again.

Tom Cruise was in his late 30s when Mission: Impossible 2 began filming, yet he looks much younger onscreen, about a decade or so (at least to me). His long hair, that boyish grin, his immature and petulant anger and jealousy would be largely gone 19 months later when his trippy drama, Vanilla Sky (2001), arrived in December 2001. So for me, Mission: Impossible 2 is a good-bye to the Mission: Impossible film franchise's beginnings. The series would rapidly begin to morph with the third entry, and boyish Tom Cruise would finally give way to adult Tom Cruise. At least, I now remember why I loved this film so much 23 years ago, and now, I want to see it again.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Tuesday, July 11, 2023

NOTES:

2001 Image Awards (NAACP): 2 nominations: “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” (Ving Rhames) and “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture” (Thandie Newton)

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Friday, April 15, 2022

Review: "THE KING'S MAN" is the Best "Kingsman" Yet

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 23 of 2022 (No. 1835) by Leroy Douresseaux

The King's Man (2021)
Running time: 131 minutes (2 hours, 11 minutes)
MPA – R for sequences of strong/bloody violence, language, and some sexual material
DIRECTOR: Matthew Vaughn
WRITERS: Matthew Vaughn and Karl Gajdusek; from a story by Matthew Vaughn (based on on the comic book, The Secret Service, by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons)
PRODUCERS: Adam Bohling, David Reid, and Matthew Vaughn
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Ben Davis (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Jason Ballantine and Rob Hall
COMPOSERS: Dominic Lewis and Matthew Margeson

FANTASY/ACTION/SPY/WAR with some elements of comedy

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Djimon Hounsou, Rhys Ifans, Harris Dickinson, Matthew Goode, Tom Hollander, Daniel Brühl, Charles Dance, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Stanley Tucci

The King's Man is a 2021 spy and action movie and war drama from director Matthew Vaughn. It is the third film in the Kingsman film series, and it is a “prequel” to the previous two films, Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015) and Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017). All three films are based on characters and elements from the 2012 comic book miniseries, The Secret Service, by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons. The King's Man focuses on an aristocrat and his spy network as they try to stop a plot to pit the British, German, and Russian empires against each other in a war that will wipe out millions of lives.

The King's Man introduces British aristocrat Orlando, Duke of Oxford (Ralph Fiennes). In 1914, Orlando has formed a private spy network consisting of domestic servants employed by the world's most powerful dignitaries. His own servants, his butler, Shola (Djimon Hounsou), and his maid/nanny, Polly Watkins (Gemma Arterton), are his closest aides and confidants. The primary objective of Orlando's network is to protect the United Kingdom and the British Empire from the conflagration of the approaching “Great War.”

Orlando's only son, Conrad (Harris Dickinson), is eager to fight, but Orlando forbids him from joining the British Army and uses his connections to keep him from entering service. Besides, there are other things to keep father, son, and the spy network busy. Orlando's friend, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand (Ron Cook), and his wife are assassinated. Orlando learns that the assassin is part of “The Flock,” a group plotting to pit the German, Russian, and British empires against each other in the Great War.

Orlando and his network then engage in a series of adventures to foil the Flock's plans, that includes killing Grigori Rasputin (Rhys Ifans), the priest and mystic who serves the Flock's mysterious leader, “The Shepherd.” As his personal physician, Rasputin practically controls Tsar Nicholas (Tom Hollander) of Russia. And if Nicholas does as Rasputin wants, Great Britain may be doomed. Can Orlando and his network stop The Shepherd and save the British Empire? And will Conrad remain with his father's network or will he force his way into military service in a war in which young men like him are dying by the thousands?

The King's Man is easily the best of the Kingsman series, thus far. The villain, “The Shepherd,” is ridiculous, but his motivations will make more sense and is more likely to appeal to British audiences. For me, The Shepherd is what keeps The King's Man from being a truly great film.

The film's remix of the history of the “Great War” (World War I) seems inappropriate, but the film's inclusion of WWI is what makes it stand out from other films based on comic books. In fact, The King's Man is grounded in a darker take on that war than another comic book movie, Wonder Woman (2017), which is also largely set during the first World War. In a way, The King's Man seems like a salute to the men who served and the ones who died in the muck and mud of Europe during “the war to end all wars.”

Ralph Fiennes brings a touch of class and some serious dramatic chops to this film. It seems as if director Matthew Vaughn and his co-writer, Karl Gajdusek, take this film more seriously than Vaughn did with the previous two films, which were action-spy movies with a strong comic overtone. The King's Man is a war drama, spy serial, and action-thriller, and Fiennes, as Orlando, the Duke of Oxford, sells this film's seriousness.

Gemma Arterton and Djimon Hounsou are also quite good as Orlando's top lieutenants, Polly and Shola, respectively. As Rasputin, Rhys Ifans offers a performance that is off-beat, over-the-top, and colorful. Tom Hollander, with the help of the make-up and hairstyling crew of The King's Man, is credible in three roles, but makes his most potent turn as Britain's King George. Harris Dickinson as Orlando's son, Conrad, gives the film's most hot-blooded and nuanced performance.

The best way I can describe The King's Man is as being like a serial adventure. The film's plot is comprised of multiple missions and subplots, which keeps the film's narrative hopping. The film moves fast, fast enough to keep audiences from focusing on the film's inconsistencies and flaws in logic, but also fast enough to make the story seem like a non-stop, breathtaking adventure. Like Matthew Vaughn himself, I want to see a fourth film in the series, one that focuses on the characters that make it to the end of this film and on their first decade as the “Kingsman.” I highly recommend The King's Man to audiences that have watched either of the first two films or both. They were really a build up to the best of their lot, The King's Man.

7 of 10
A-

Thursday, April 14, 2022

The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Thursday, April 14, 2022

Review: "KINGSMAN: The Golden Circle" Improves on the First Film

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 22 of 2022 (No. 1834) by Leroy Douresseaux

Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)
Running time: 141 minutes (2 hours, 21 minutes)
MPAA – R for sequences of strong violence, drug content, language throughout and some sexual content
DIRECTOR: Matthew Vaughn
WRITERS: Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn (based on on the comic book, The Secret Service, by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons)
PRODUCERS: Adam Bohling, David Reid, and Matthew Vaughn
CINEMATOGRAPHER: George Richmond (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Eddie Hamilton
COMPOSERS: Henry Jackman and Matthew Margeson

COMEDY/ACTION/SPY/SCI-FI

Starring: Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Mark Strong, Halle Berry, Pedro Pascal, Channing Tatum, Jeff Bridges, Edward Holcroft, Hanna Alström, Calvin Demba, Thomas Turgoose, Tobi Bakare, Bruce Greenwood, Emily Watson, Elton John, Sophie Cookson, and Michael Gambon

Kingsman: The Golden Circle is a 2017 spy movie and action-comedy from director Matthew Vaughn. It is a direct sequel to the 2015 film, Kingsman: The Secret Service. Both films are based on characters and elements from the 2012 comic book, The Secret Service, by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons. The Golden Circle focuses on two elite secret organizations that must band together to defeat a common enemy that is holding the world hostage.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle opens a year after Gary “Eggsy” Unwin (Taron Egerton) defeated and killed the diabolical Internet billionaire, Richmond Valentine. Eggsy has officially joined the independent intelligence agency, Kingsman, and has taken his late mentor. Harry Hart's (Colin Firth) position as agent “Galahad.” Eggsy is also dating Tilde (Hanna Alström), Crown Princess of Sweden, whom he saved from Valentine.

One night in London, Eggsy is ambushed by Charlie Hesketh (Edward Holcroft), a rejected Kingsman applicant. Eggsy defeats Charlie, who escapes. However, Charlie has a new employer, a mysterious organization known as “The Golden Circle.” Its leader, Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore), the world's largest manufacturer and distributor of illegal drugs and narcotics, launches an attack against the Kingsman that leaves the agency devastated. The survivors, Eggsy and Merlin (Mark Strong), make contact with “Statesman,” the American counterpart of Kingsman, which uses a Kentucky-based bourbon whiskey business as a front. [The Kingsman's front is as a Savile Row tailor.]

With the help of the Statesman, Agent Whiskey (Pedro Pascal) and Ginger Ale (Halle Berry), Eggsy tries to stop Poppy Adams' plot to use a toxin in the drugs and narcotics she sells to hold the world for ransom. She wants her demands met or she will withhold an antidote to the toxin, which means hundreds of millions of people will die. In order to stop her, Eggsy will have to face many challenges … and a number of surprising reveals.

I enjoyed Kingsman: The Secret Service quite a bit, but it was mostly a substance-free past-time. As much as I enjoyed the film, I had mostly forgotten about it a few hours after seeing it. Kingsman: The Golden Circle isn't quite as substance-free as its predecessor. The bonds and obligations of friendship and love weigh on the characters, especially Eggsy. He can no longer just live for the job, not when there is a serious relationship commitment in front of him.

I found some of the Statesman characters to be either superfluous or simply boring, with the exception of Halle Berry's Ginger Ale. I am a longtime fan of Berry's, and she makes the casually smart and calm Ginger an endearing character. Elton John also makes a surprising and shocking turn as something of a fun and offbeat action hero.

The film also has a wacky-ass and fun soundtrack. It uses John Denver's 1971 hit, “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” including a poignant version sung by Mark Strong's Merlin. There are a few Elton John hits, of course, some performed in the film by Elton. The best song on the soundtrack may be a funky, country rock version of Cameo's “Word Up” by the German musical act “The BossHoss.”

Taron Egerton as Eggsy has star appeal and leading man quality, which is a surprise to me. I wish the film had given some of the narrative time devoted to the Statesman characters back to Eggsy. Egerton takes the Kingsman film franchise to the next level. Kingsman: The Golden Circle is an improvement over the original film, enough of an improvement that I hope to see another sequel.

7 of 10
B+

Wednesday, February 16, 2022

The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Comics Review: "KING OF SPIES #3" is Just Fantastic ... and It Kills a Pope!!!

KING OF SPIES #3 (OF 4)
IMAGE COMICS/Netflix

STORY: Mark Millar
ART: Matteo Scalera
COLORS: Giovanna Niro
LETTERS: Clem Robins
COVER: Matteo Scalera
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Matteo Scalera; Ozgur Yildirim
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (February 2022)

Rated M / Mature

King of Spies created by Mark Millar at Netflix

King of Spies is a four-issue miniseries created and written by Mark Millar. It focuses on the world's greatest secret agent who has six months to live and won't die quietly in a hospital bed. Published by Image Comics, King of Spies is drawn by Matteo Scalera; colored by Giovanna Niro; and lettered by Clem Robins.

British secret agent, Roland King, is 65-years-old and has just been diagnosed with Glioblastoma, the most aggressive from of brain cancer. Facing an unusual, mid-life turned end-of-life crisis, King decides to go to war with the very system that he propped up for 40 years. Kings, presidents, crooks, and the greedy pigs who treat everything like their personal troughs: King is coming for you.

King of Spies #2 opens in Vatican City. Guess who is on Roland's shit list tonight. Guess why he's on that list. Several killings later, Roland is in Paris where he gets a surprise. His estranged son, Atticus King, has answered the “Code Black” to kill Roland and is leading a team of mercenaries out to put Roland down once and for all. That includes the team of Itzy, who does not have her arms, and Idris, who does not have his bottom half, because of Roland.

Roland's killing spree has taken him to the one opponent he can never beat. With his health declining and his body starting to fail him, does Roland still has one more trick up his sleeve?

THE LOWDOWN: King of Spies is the fifth original comic book property that Mark Millar has created for Netflix since the media giant bought his comic book company, “Millarworld,” in 2017. King of Spies is Millar's second comic book set in the world of secret agents, following the Kingsman series that began in 2012 with the miniseries, The Secret Service.

Thanks to artist Matteo Scalera's supremely skillful graphical storytelling and brilliantly designed compositions and pages, King of Spies may be the best action movie of 2022, so far. King of Spies #3 certainly moves better than most of the dead-on-arrival movies of the last two years that pretended to be action movies.

Giovanna Niro's colors and Clem Robins letters are sinfully good. Niro's colors would have to be to match Scalera's sold-his-soul-to-draw-like-that art. Robins must certainly have a stout heart to letter the outright blasphemy that is the first six pages of King of Spies #3. Well, somebody had to depict such a scene in comic books, so it had to be the mad genius Mark Millar.

I'd say that King of Spies #3 is a wild ride, but it feels like it's riding me … hopefully all the way to the glory of King of Spies #4.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Mark Millar and of secret agents will want to read King of Spies.

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

https://twitter.com/ImageComics
https://twitter.com/mrmarkmillar
https://twitter.com/netflix
https://twitter.com/themagicorder
http://www.millarworld.tv/
www.imagecomics.com

The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Wednesday, February 2, 2022

Comics Review: Mark Millar Ain't Lying! "THE MAGIC ORDER 2 #4" is Sensational

THE MAGIC ORDER 2 #4 (OF 6)
IMAGE COMICS/Netflix

STORY: Mark Millar
ART: Stuart Immonen
COLORS: Sunny Gho and David Curiel
LETTERS: Clem Robins
COVER: Stuart Immonen
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Stuart Immonen; Greg Tocchini
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (February 2022)

Rated M / Mature

The Magic Order created by Mark Millar at Netflix

The Magic Order was a six-issue comic book miniseries written by Mark Millar and drawn by Olivier Coipel. Published in 2018-19, The Magic Order focused on the sorcerers, magicians, and wizards that protect humanity from darkness and from monsters of impossible sizes.

A second six-issue miniseries, The Magic Order 2, has arrived. It is written by Mark Millar; drawn by Stuart Immonen; colored by Sunny Gho and David Curiel; and lettered by Clem Robins. The new series focuses on a magical turf war between The Magic Order and a group of Eastern European warlocks whose ancestors the Order once banished.

The Magic Order 2 #4 opens in Glascow. The allies of the warlock Victor Korne have retrieved another piece of the Stone of Thoth, a talisman from ancient Egypt that summons anything from space, time, and beyond. Standing in their way is The Magic Order … oops.

Standing in the way of The Magic Order is troubled wizard and drug addict, Francis King, who has just killed a fellow member of the Order. What will the Order do? What will Moonstone cousin, Kevin Mitchell, do to Francis? Meanwhile, Korne's forces begin to take their revenge on humanity for spending five hundred years bowing to puny humans.

THE LOWDOWN: With each issue, The Magic Order 2 surpasses it predecessor. That is quite the accomplishment, as The Magic Order is awesome, dude.

I'm getting tired of praising Mark Millar; he's just too good. I can't do words like him, so it is getting hard to praise. But it ain't getting hard to keep on loving his comics. Holla! If only he'd stop writing something great like The Magic Order 2 and write something mediocre like whatever crossover events Marvel and DC Comics are churning out. Harry Potter and Doctor Strange wish they could be as good as The Magic Order 2.

And to Hell with Stuart Immonen and his super-talented ass. He's been rocking my world since Shock Rockers. Here, his storytelling bleeds electricity and casts a glamour on his readers – especially me. With the potent colors of Sunny Gho and David Curiel, Immonen delivers something that is simply great and a blast to read.

God, it's only issue four. I don't know if I can make it two more issues. Dear readers, come on experience the joy of The Magic Order 2.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Mark Millar and of The Magic Order will want to read The Magic Order 2.

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

https://twitter.com/ImageComics
https://twitter.com/mrmarkmillar
https://twitter.com/netflix
https://twitter.com/themagicorder
https://www.mrmarkmillar.com/
http://www.millarworld.tv/
www.imagecomics.com

The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Saturday, January 15, 2022

Comics Review: "KING OF SPIES #2" is an Ass-Pounding Good Read

KING OF SPIES #2 (OF 4)
IMAGE COMICS/Netflix

STORY: Mark Millar
ART: Matteo Scalera
COLORS: Giovanna Niro
LETTERS: Clem Robins
COVER: Matteo Scalera
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Matteo Scalera; Ozgur Yildirim
28pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (January 2022)

Rated M / Mature

King of Spies created by Mark Millar at Netflix

King of Spies is a new four-issue miniseries created and written by Mark Millar. It focuses on the world's greatest secret agent who has six months to live and won't die quietly in a hospital bed. Published by Image Comics, King of Spies is drawn by Matteo Scalera; colored by Giovanna Niro; and lettered by Clem Robins.

British secret agent, Roland King, is 65-years-old and has just been diagnosed with Glioblastoma, the most aggressive from of brain cancer. Facing an unusual, mid-life turned end-of-life crisis, King decides to go to war with the very system that he propped up for 40 years. Kings, presidents, crooks, and the greedy pigs who treat everything like their personal troughs: King is coming for you.

As King of Spies #2 opens, Roland has begun his war. There is a list names, people Roland could not touch when he was the golden boy of British intelligence. These were people so important that the exposure of their crimes and depravities could bring down the system. Tired of killing the wrong people, Roland is going to start killing the monsters.

While Roland is murdering every crooked politician and spymaster he blames for the world being in the state it is in right now, others have quickly realized that he is behind the killing spree of presidents and prime ministers. So they put a “Code Black” on his name. But who can get close enough to Roland to kill him?

THE LOWDOWN: King of Spies is the fifth original comic book property that Mark Millar has created for Netflix since the media giant bought his comic book company, “Millarworld,” in 2017. King of Spies is Millar's second comic book set in the world of secret agents, following the Kingsman series that began in 2012 with the miniseries, The Secret Service.

I like the two Kingsman comic book miniseries, but I have no problem saying that after only two issues, King of Spies is the better of Millar's two secret agent kill-fests. King of Spies proves once again – if it needs proving – that Millar probably writes the best “pop comics.” For me, a pop comic is the equivalent of a “high concept movie,” which was a big thing in Hollywood film-making in the 1980s and 1990s. The 1992 Steven Segal hit movie, Under Siege, was described as “Die Hard on a boat.” That was considered a “high concept.”

King of Spies is “James Bond meets John Wick,” and as a “pop comic,” it is a high-octane adventure with the kind of big action scenes that would look great on widescreen if they were in a movie. Millar has the perfect collaborator for King of Spies in Matteo Scalera. His is the kind of graphical storytelling that unleashes pages of kinetic action that carries the readers along on this insane adventure. Giovanna Niro's colors are perfect for Scalera's art, which needs the glow of a bonfire behind it. The finishing touch comes from letterer Clem Robins, who dots these pages with sound effects and sharp bursts of dialogue.

I need a cigarette … and the third issue of King of Spies.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Mark Millar and of secret agents will want to read King of Spies.

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

https://twitter.com/ImageComics
https://twitter.com/mrmarkmillar
https://twitter.com/netflix
https://twitter.com/themagicorder
http://www.millarworld.tv/
www.imagecomics.com

The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Friday, October 8, 2021

Review: "NO TIME TO DIE," But Plenty of Time to Bore

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 60 of 2021 (No. 1798) by Leroy Douresseaux

No Time to Die (2021)
Running time: 163 minutes (2 hours, 43 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of violence and action, some disturbing images, brief strong language and some suggestive material
DIRECTOR: Cary Joji Fukunaga
WRITERS: Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and Cary Joji Fukunaga, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge; from a story by Cary Joji Fukunaga and Neal Purvis & Robert Wade (based on the characters created by Ian Fleming)
PRODUCERS: Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Linus Sandgren (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: Tom Smith and Elliot Graham
COMPOSER: Hans Zimmer
SONG: “No Time to Die,” sung by Billie Eilish; written by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell

SPY/ACTION/ADVENTURE

Starring: Daniel Craig, Rami Malek, Lea Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Rory Kinnear, Billy Magnussen, David Dencik, Dali Benssalah, and Jeffrey Wright with Christoph Waltz

No Time to Day is a 2021 spy and action-adventure film from director Cary Joji Fukunaga. It is the 25th entry in EON Productions' James Bond film franchise, and it is also the fifth and (supposedly) final film in which actor Daniel Craig portrays Bond. In No Time to Die, James Bond is attempting to enjoy life after having left active service when an old friend asks him to help the CIA secure a dangerous new weapon.

No Time to Die finds former M16 agent, James Bond-007 (Daniel Craig), enjoying life after leaving active service with his lover, Dr. Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux). While vacationing in Matera, Italy, Spectre assassins ambush Bond, and although he survives that attempt, he believes that he has been betrayed. Bond blames Madeleine and leaves her.

Five years later, MI6 scientist, Valdo Obruchev (David Dencik), is kidnapped from an MI6 laboratory. Obruchev was working on a bio-weapons project, “Project Heracles,” at the behest of Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes), also known as “M,” the head of MI6. In Jamaica, Bond's friend, CIA agent Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), asks Bond to help him track Obruchev, but Bond refuses. Later, Bond encounters Nomi (Lashana Lynch), the MI6 agent who has succeeded him as the new “007.” After discovering more about “Project Heracles” via Nomi, Bond agrees to help Leiter find Obruchev.

Bond discovers that his old nemesis, Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), the founder and head of the criminal syndicate, Spectre, is somehow involved with Obruchev. However, the true mastermind behind Obruchev's activities is a mysterious terrorist leader (Rami Malek) on a mission of revenge and harboring plans to kill untold millions of people.

Of the previous Daniel Craig James Bond films: Casino Royale (2006), Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012) and Spectre (2015), the last two join No Time to Die to form some kind of Daniel Craig as James Bond life cycle. When it comes to James Bond, I am not interested in s life story, origin tale, or death story of 007. Craig is the first actor to play Bond who gets a swan song film. All the other Bond actors did not get a goodbye movie; they simply left.

Although it has some good moments and some exceptional set pieces – in the form of extended action scenes – No Time to Die gets old and listless, especially after the action that takes place in Matera. This film is also too long and too tired, especially wants the drama moves to Japan. Even Daniel Craig, who is only 53-years-old, seems to be much older than he really his. His body is tight, but his face is Beetlejuice. It is as if everything about this film inadvertently says that both Craig and Bond are way past their expiration date. In fact, both seem like spoiled milk.

No Time to Die has other problems. Ray Fiennes, with his dour faced portrayal of “M,” only makes things seem more rundown. Naomie Harris is utterly wasted as Eve Moneypenny. Lashana Lynch cannot do much to save her utterly wasted and woefully underdeveloped character, Nomi, the new 007. Jeffrey Wright seems like an out-of-gas old car as Felix Leiter. As for Rami Malek: what could have been is so obvious in how much he gets out of so little.

On the other hand, Rory Kinnear brings some quiet energy as M's chief of staff, Bill Tanner. As usual Ben Whishaw is top notch as “Q,” and I hope the Bond bosses bring him back in the next iteration of the franchise. Also, Bill Magnussen provides an expected pretty boy, watermelon sugar rush as the bright-eyed CIA agent, Logan Ash.

In the final analysis, if I had to do it again, I would not go to a movie theater to see No Time to Die. Don't get me wrong. I am a huge James Bond fan and would see this movie anyway. I will always find a lot to like even in Bond movies about which I have mixed feelings. However, No Time to Die is the kind of Bond movie that I could have waited to see at home. It is sad that Daniel Craig's tenure as James Bond did not so much end as it simply petered out.

6 of 10
B

Friday, October 8, 2021

The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Saturday, January 21, 2017

Review: "Spectre" Tackles the Ghosts of Daniel Craig's James Bond

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 1 (of 2017) by Leroy Douresseaux

Spectre (2015)
Running time: 148 minutes; (2 hours, 28 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, some disturbing images, sensuality and language
DIRECTOR: Sam Mendes
WRITERS: John Logan, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Jez Butterworth; from a story by John Logan, Neal Purvis, and Robert Wade (based on the character created by Ian Fleming)
PRODUCERS: Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Hoyte Van Hoytema
EDITOR: Lee Smith
COMPOSER: Thomas Newman
SONG: “Writing's on the Wall” performed by Sam Smith and written by Sam Smith and James Napier
Academy Award winner

SPY/ACTION/ADVENTURE

Starring: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Rory Kinnear, Dave Bautista, Monica Bellucci, Andrew Scott, Jesper Christensen, Marc Zinga, Tam Williams, and Alessandro Cremona

Spectre is a 2015 spy and adventure film from director Sam Mendes. It is the 24th entry in EON Productions' James Bond film franchise, and it is also the fourth film in which actor Daniel Craig portrays Bond. Spectre reintroduces the global criminal syndicate and terrorist organization, Spectre (formerly SPECTRE), which first appeared in the 1961 Bond novel, Thunderball, written by Bond's creator, Sir Ian Fleming.

Spectre opens with M16 agent James Bond-007 (Daniel Craig) on a mission in Mexico City where he confronts and kills terrorist leader, Marco Sciarra (Alessandro Cremona). It turns out that Bond's mission was unauthorized. That puts Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes), the new “M” and the head of MI6, in a difficult position with one of his own superiors, Max Denbigh (Andrew Scott). Denbigh wants to combine MI6 with MI5 and also to shutdown the “00” (or “Double-0”) program, and he sees Bond's activities in Mexico City as proof that the Double-0 program is outdated.

Bond disobeys an order that he not leave the U.K. and flies to Rome where he attends Sciarra's funeral. He meets Sciarra's widow, Lucia (Monica Bellucci), who tells him that her late husband was part of a mysterious criminal organization known as “Spectre.” Bond learns the location of a secret Spectre meeting and infiltrates it, where he identifies the leader, Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz). However, Oberhauser has been expecting Bond, and much to Bond's surprise, this shadowy leader is apparently and shockingly connected to Bond himself.

This is sort of spoiler warning: Spectre is intimately connected to the previous Daniel Craig Bond films, Casino Royale (2006), Quantum of Solace (2008), and Skyfall (2012). It completes the origin story of James Bond (at least the Craig iteration) and, at the end of the film, seems to send Bond off into retirement with a new love interest, Dr. Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux), who may finally be the real and true love interest for Bond.

Spectre received mixed reviews, but I have to say that I like it a lot and have few complaints. It is reportedly the most expensive James Bond film ever made, with a production budget of about $245 million. The Mexico City set piece alone must have cost millions of dollars to produce. Still, Spectre does not come across as a giant, CGI-laden, blockbuster, event movie.

In different ways and at different moments, Spectre recalls the James Bond movies starring Sean Connery and Roger Moore. When he needs to be, Craig is like Connery's masculine, gentlemanly killer, who was a chauvinist. At other times, Craig is Moore's Bond, a suave secret agent who can cross multiple lines of social class in a single day and who always seems to be thinking at least a few steps ahead of his adversaries. I think that I have always considered Connery and Moore to be the real movie James Bonds, with Moore being my favorite. For me, Spectre solidified Daniel Craig as a real Bond.

Beside Craig, I cannot think of another performance that really captures my attention, maybe Dave Bautista as Mr. Hinx. I found the two-time Academy Award winner, Christoph Waltz, somewhat unimpressive as the villain. I do think that the Bond film series is onto something in giving Fiennes' M, Naomie Harris' Eve Moneypenny, Ben Whishaw's Q, and Rory Kinnear's Bill Tanner something to do other than simply to be at Bond's beck-and-call.

So... being honest with you, dear reader, I have to admit that Spectre hit something primal in me as a fan of James Bond films. My enjoyment of it is so personal that perhaps you should take my rating of Spectre with a grain of salt – in a glass, shaken, not stirred.

7 of 10
A-

Monday, May 2, 2016

NOTES:
2016 Academy Awards, USA: 1 win: “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song” (Sam Smith and James Napier-as Jimmy Napes for the song “Writing's On The Wall”)

2016 Golden Globes, USA: 1 win: “Best Original Song - Motion Picture” (Sam Smith and James Napier as Jimmy Napes for the song: “Writing's on the Wall”)

The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

------------------------

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Review: "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation" a Nation onto Itself

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 8 (of 2016) by Leroy Douresseaux

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)
Running time: 131 minutes (2 hours, 11 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of action and violence, and brief partial nudity
DIRECTOR: Christopher McQuarrie
WRITERS: Christopher McQuarrie; from a story by Christopher McQuarrie and Drew Pearce (based upon the television series created by Bruce Geller)
PRODUCERS: Tom Cruise, J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk, David Ellison, and Don Granger
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert Elswit (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Eddie Hamilton
COMPOSER: Joe Kraemer

ACTION/ADVENTURE/SPY/THRILLER

Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Alec Baldwin, Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Sean Harris, Simon McBurney, Jen Hultén, Hermoine Corfield, and Nigel Barber

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is a 2015 action-thriller and espionage film directed by Christopher McQuarrie and starring Tom Cruise. It is the fifth film in the Mission: Impossible film franchise, which is based on the American television series, “Mission: Impossible,” that was created by Bruce Geller and that originally aired on CBS from 1966 to 1973.

Rogue Nation finds the Impossible Mission Force (IMF) taking on their most impossible mission yet, defeating an international rogue organization that is every bit as highly skilled as IMF. A little over three year ago, I called Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol the best M:I film since the first one, 1996's Mission: Impossible. Now, I think Rogue Nation is the best since the first film.

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation opens in Belarus. Agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is on a mission with his IMF team – technical field agent, Benjamin “Benji” Dunn (Simon Pegg) and IMF agent Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames). They have to intercept a shipment of VX nerve gas aboard an airplane before it is flown away to be sold to terrorists.

Later, CIA Director Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin) and IMF Field Operations Director William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) testify before a U.S. Senate committee. The IMF is currently without a secretary in charge, but Hunley believes that the Senate should not appoint new secretary. He believes that the IMF is dangerous and destructive and that any successes its agents have are the result of luck. Hunley wants the IMF disbanded and absorbed into the CIA.

Ethan Hunt has been trying to prove the existence of the Syndicate, an international criminal consortium. He believes that the Syndicate is both the equal and the opposite of the IMF. It is an anti-IMF that acts as a “rogue nation,” committing acts of terror and assassination. Hunley believes that the Syndicate is a figment of Hunt's imagination and sends CIA agents and assets to capture Hunt. Hunt believes that a mysterious operative, Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), is the person who can lead him to the Syndicate and its formidable leader, the mysterious Solomon Lane (Sean Harris).

I always want to be honest with you, dear readers, even when I'm being a fanboy who really loves a movie in spite of its faults. I absolutely love Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, and I think that it is a genuinely good movie. I don't know if it is possible that any other filmmakers could do a better job than director Christopher McQuarrie and film editor Eddie Hamilton did with Rogue Nation. Maybe James Cameron could?

I think it is preposterous that this movie is so entertaining. The action is so bracing and invigorating. The ebb and flow of the thrills could cause you to ask for a cigarette after seeing this movie. Rogue Nation is a way more entertaining action movie than Jurassic World, which made three times as much money at the box office as Rogue Nation did. I kinda have to admit that I enjoyed watching Rogue Nation more than I did watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens three nights ago. It hurts me to write this, cause I love me some Star Wars, but...

Seriously, Tom Cruise is as glorious as ever as Ethan Hunt. This time, however, the mix of quality supporting cast as IMF agents and as allies, adversaries, and people somewhere in the middle is just right – like a stew or soup with that almost-perfect blend of ingredients, preparation, and cooking. Yes, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is a golden gumbo of flavorful characters, settings, plot, and execution. I plan on experiencing this cinematic dish many, many more times.

9 of 10
A+

Friday, December 25, 2015

The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Review: "A View to a Kill" Still Has its Charm 30 Years Later

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 34 (of 2015) by Leroy Douresseaux

A View to a Kill (1985)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: U.K.
Running time: 131 minutes (2 hours, 11 minutes)
MPAA – PG
DIRECTOR: John Glen
WRITERS: Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson (based on the character created by Ian Fleming)
PRODUCERS: Albert R. Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Alan Hume (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Peter Davies
COMPOSER: John Barry
SONG: “A View to a Kill” performed by Duran Duran
Golden Globe nominee

SPY/ACTION/ADVENTURE

Starring: Roger Moore, Christopher Walken, Tanya Roberts, Grace Jones, Patrick Macnee, Patrick Bauchau, David Yip, Fiona Fullerton, Manning Redwood, Alison Doody, Willoughby Gray, Desmond Llewelyn, Robert Brown, Lois Maxwell, Walter Gotell, and Daniel Benzali

A View to a Kill is a 1985 spy and adventure film from director John Glen. It is the 14th entry in Eon Productions' James Bond film franchise, and it is also the seventh and last time that actor Roger Moore played James Bond. 2015 also marks the 30th anniversary of A View to a Kill's original theatrical release (specifically May 1985).

A View to a Kill takes its title from the short story, “From a View to a Kill,” which first appeared in the 1960 short story collection, For Your Eyes Only. A View to a Kill the movie finds James Bond investigating a horse-racing scam perpetrated by a power-mad French industrialist, who also has his eye on monopolizing the worldwide microchip market.

A View to a Kill opens with M16 agent James Bond (Roger Moore) locating the body of agent 003 in Siberia. From the body, Bond (agent 007) recovers a microchip originating from the Soviet Union. The microchip turns out to be a copy of one designed to withstand an electromagnetic pulse, and one made specifically for the British government by a private contractor, Zorin Industries.

Bond discovers that Zorin Industries' owner, Max Zorin (Christopher Walken), breeds racehorses and may be cheating by drugging his horses. Bond travels to Zorin's palatial estate outside of Paris and pretends to be a prospective buyer of thoroughbred horses. Bond learns, however, that Zorin has even bigger plans on the west coast of the United States, specifically Silicon Valley in California. Before Bond can uncover Zorin's diabolical plot, he will have to survive Zorin's Amazon-like body guard, Mayday (Grace Jones).

Roger Moore was the first actor I saw portraying James Bond, and it only took a few Bond films with Moore before the actor imprinted upon my imagination as being the quintessential James Bond. Over the years, I have pretended, a few times, that I preferred Sean Connery as Bond, especially when I was with friends who claimed that they preferred Connery as Bond. I have even been in the thrall of the three actors who have, to date, succeeded Moore as Bond: Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig. I do think that Dr. No, the first film featuring Connery as Bond, remains the blueprint for both a Bond movie and for a secret agent movie. Still, I come back to Roger Moore as Bond.

The past few years, I have revisited the two James Bond movies that I first saw while in high school, For Your Eyes Only (1981) and Octopussy (1983). I recently revisited A View to a Kill, and after this nostalgic mini-Bond film festival, I am sure of my love for Roger Moore as my cinematic James Bond.

Now, I won't pretend that A View to a Kill is a great film or that it is even the best of Moore's Bond filmography. For one thing, the entire horse-racing subplot feels like padding to make the story longer, but it is fun. Christopher Walken is an engaging Bond villain, and Grace Jones is a delightful riot as his bodyguard, Mayday. Thus, any subplots and story that give them even more screen time is perfectly good padding. In fact, the horse-racing section of the film is the reason we get to see actor Patrick Macnee as Bond's partner, Sir Godfrey Tibbett.

After 12 years as Bond, Moore was, by 1985, the oldest actor to play Bond, being 58-years-old when he retired after A View to a Kill was originally released. He definitely shows his age in this film. Maybe, it was time for him to retire, but, at least, his last film was fun, even if it wasn't outstanding. Yes, Tanya Roberts delivers an awful performance as Bond girl, Stacey Sutton, but Roberts is likable. She puts out the effort, and that is worth something even if the result is pitiful.

Besides, Tanya Roberts helps Roger Moore go out with a bang, as she is the last of the three women he beds in this film (including Mayday). A View to a Kill certainly delivers what we like about Roger Moore as James Bond, and it makes me appreciate him all the more.

7 of 10
B+

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

NOTES:
1986 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Original Song - Motion Picture” (John Barry and Duran Duran for the song "A View to a Kill")

1986 Razzie Awards: 1 nomination: “Worst Actress” (Tanya Roberts)

The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

Friday, August 28, 2015

Review: Villains Rule "Kingsman"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 33 (of 2015) by Leroy Douresseaux

[This review first appeared on Patreon.]

Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: U.K.
Running time: 129 minutes (2 hours, 9 minutes)
MPAA – R for sequences of strong violence, language and some sexual content
DIRECTOR: Matthew Vaughn
WRITERS: Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn (based on on the comic book, The Secret Service, by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons)
PRODUCERS: Adam Bohling, David Reid, and Matthew Vaughn
CINEMATOGRAPHER: George Richmond
EDITORS: Eddie Hamilton and Jon Harris
COMPOSERS: Henry Jackman and Matthew Margeson

COMEDY/ACTION/SPY/SCI-FI

Starring: Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Samuel L. Jackson, and Michael Caine, Sofia Boutella, Sophie Cookson, Hanna Alstrom, Samantha Womack, Geoff Bell, and Mark Hamill

Kingsman: The Secret Service is a 2015 British spy movie and action-comedy from director Matthew Vaughn. It is based on the 2012 comic book, The Secret Service, by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, who are also both executive producers on the film. Millar co-created the comic book, Kick-Ass, and Gibbons co-created the Watchmen comic book. Kingsman: The Secret Service follows a street kid who is recruited into a secret spy organization.

Kingsman: The Secret Service opens in 1997 during a raid in the Middle East, in which an agent sacrifices himself to save his team. Feeling guilt, agent Harry Hart (Colin Firth), code-named “Galahad,” visits the agent's wife and young son. Seventeen years later, Galahad comes to the rescue of the son, Gary “Eggsy” Unwin (Taron Egerton), who is now an unemployed adult.

Galahad introduces Eggsy to the “Kingsman,” a secret intelligence agency comprised of the members of the British upper crust. Galahad convinces Eggsy to join the Kingsman's ultra-competitive training program, but only one member of a recruiting class will become a member of the Kingsman.

Meanwhile, billionaire tech genius, Richmond Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson), has hatched a plan to save the world from environmental catastrophe. His activities draw the attention of the Kingsman, especially Galahad. Because Galahad is his benefactor, Eggsy gets a close-up look of the Kingsman in action, but does this unrefined “street kid” have what it takes to be in this “secret service?”

As a spy movie, Kingsman: The Secret Service is more like some of the early James Bond movies, especially the ones that featured weird sci-fi gadgets. Or maybe Kingsman: The Secret Service is what would happen if Roger Moore's James Bond became the leader of the Impossible Missions Force (IMF) of the old television series, “Mission: Impossible.”

I must admit to enjoying Kingsman: The Secret Service quite a bit, but it is mostly a substance-free past-time. As much as I enjoyed the film, I had mostly forgotten about it a few hours after seeing it. If I watched it again, I would only watch certain scenes – mostly the fight scenes, especially the ones featuring the blade-legged Gazelle (Sofia Boutella). There is not enough of her in this movie.

There are moments in Kingsman when it seems obvious to me that Colin Firth would make a good movie secret agent, not James Bond, but someone like Galahad. [Or maybe that can be said about most quality British male actors.] However, Samuel L. Jackson, as Valentine, seems to be the actor who most bought into the scenario. He and Boutella make a great team and do a lot to make Kingsman a good movie; I wish their characters could return.

On the other hand, Taron Egerton may be an up-and-coming, young British actor, but as Eggsy, he lacks spark and charisma. He is as flat as Sam Jackson is charismatic. Kingsman's concept and story is ridiculous and contrived, but fun. As the villain, Jackson is the one who most sells the movie, even more so than the actors playing the good guys.

A sequel to Kingsman: The Secret Service has already been announced. As much as I enjoyed this movie, I can't imagine the sequel working without another great villainous pair like Jackson and Boutella. I hope they find one.

6 of 10
B

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Review: "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit" a Disappointing Reboot

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 57 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)
Running time: 105 minutes (1 hour, 45 minutes)
MPAA - PG-13 for sequences of violence and intense action, and brief strong language
DIRECTOR: Kenneth Branagh
WRITERS: Adam Cozad and David Koepp (based on characters created by Tom Clancy)
PRODUCERS: David Barron, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Mace Neufeld, and Mark Vahradian
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Haris Zambarloukos
EDITOR: Martin Walsh
COMPOSER: Patrick Doyle

ACTION/SPY/THRILLER

Starring: Chris Pine, Keira Knightley, Kevin Costner, Kenneth Branagh, Lenn Kudrjawizki, Alec Utgoff, Nonso Anozie, Seth Ayott, Colm Feore, and David Paymer with Mikhail Baryshnikov

The subject of this movie review is Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, a 2014 action and espionage thriller from director, Kenneth Branagh. This is the fifth film in the Jack Ryan film franchise, which began with 1990's The Hunt for Red October (based on the novel by the late author, Tom Clancy). Shadow Recruit focuses on a young Jack Ryan as he tries to uncover a Russian plot against the United States.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit opens at the London School of Economics, where Jack Ryan (Chris Pine) is a student. The film also opens on September 11, 2001, the day of the terrorists attacks on New York City and Washington D.C. Ryan joins the U.S. Marines after the attacks, but he is critically injured during a mission. While undergoing recovery, Ryan meets and falls for Cathy Muller (Keira Knightley), a young medical student. Muller, however, is not the only one who is watching Ryan.

Thomas Harper (Kevin Costner) of the CIA recruits Ryan into the agency. A covert analyst, Ryan works for a Wall Street stock brokerage as a cover. There, he discovers a Russian plot to crash the U.S. economy via a terrorist attack. Ryan first dangerous mission takes him to Moscow to face the sinister Viktor Cherevin (Kenneth Branagh), but this dangerous mission suddenly takes a decidedly lethal turn.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is a reboot of the Jack Ryan film franchise. This is actually the second reboot of Jack Ryan, as The Sum of All Fears (2002) was a fresh start for the franchise with Ben Affleck as Ryan. Shadow Recruit is also the first Jack Ryan film not based on one of Tom Clancy's novels. Perhaps, not being based directly on a Clancy novel is the missing ingredient for this film. It lacks the complexity and large size of Clancy's work. As for the screenplay: Tom Clancy ain't Shakespeare, but he was quite good at what he wrote, and screenwriters Adam Cozad and David Koepp are not Clancy

Shadow Recruit does not have to reinvent the action-thriller, let alone the Jack Ryan movie, and it certainly does neither. This film is a well-produced movie with some good moments, especially those that take place in Moscow. Ultimately, Shadow Recruit is nothing special, nor is it particularly slick, a characteristic of big-budget, big studio American action films.

I like Chris Pine, but I think that at the age of 33 (when the film was made), he looks too young and too boyish, and lacks the gravitas to play Jack Ryan. Kenneth Branagh plays beneath his talent here, and it's evident; he looks tired/bored as Viktor Cherevin.

Seriously, I think Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is best as a past-time you watch on an over-the-air television station one lazy Sunday afternoon. Sadly, though, I think the Jack Ryan film franchise is done for, and that's a shame.

5 of 10
C+

Sunday, December 14, 2014

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.