Tag: Ian McShane

Kung Fu Panda 4

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★1/2Kung Fu Panda 4

Rated: PG

Directed by: Mike Mitchell

Co-Directed by: Stephanie Ma Stine

Written by: Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger, Darren Lemke

Produced by: Rebecca Huntley

Starring: Jack Black, Awkwafina, Viola Davis, Dustin Hoffman, James Hong, Bryan Cranston, Ian McShane and Ke Huy Quan.

‘There are more ways of helping people than kicking butt.’

The Dragon Warrior, AKA Po (Jack Black) returns, living the good life in the Valley of Peace.

He’s kicking back, catching rays… Literally, chasing down sting rays attempting to eat piglets.

Until rams come running telling tales (ha, ha) of the return of defeated nemesis, Tai Lung (Ian McShane) – somehow returned from the Spirit Realm.  But how?

Enter new enemy, The Chameleon (Viola Davis) – a sorcerer able to change into anything.

How do you defeat an enemy when they can be anyone?

Po, spends time with his dads: adoptive father Mr. Ping (James Hong) and biological father, Li Shan (Bryan Cranston), opening a new restaurant, using his fame to bring in customers -Po’s still ready for anything.  Except the idea of choosing his successor.

And to prove he’s still the Dragon Warrior, Po fights Zhen (Awkwafina), a pesky corsac fox attempting to steal his Staff of Wisdom.

A pesky fox, but not without talents.

Zhen’s in the know, and if freed, will help track down the formidable sorcerer, The Chamilion.

This latest instalment of Kung Fu Panda is full of wry humour.  A classic moment Po meditating to find his, ‘inner peace, inner peace… dinner please… with a side of peas…’

And there’s an underlying theme of dealing with change and growing from a seed pit into a strong tree.

This is a sweet movie that had me smiling all the way through.  Not hilarious, but kid friendly and filled with moments like a paint brush of colour across the screen to emphasize the Kung Fu action.

It’s a little sad seeing Po moving into his next stage of life, but that’s the whole point of the film, change.

Good fun for the whole family – skadoosh!

 

John Wick: Chapter 4

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.3/5) John Wick: Chapter 4

Rated: MA15+

Directed by: Chad Stahelski

Written by: Shay Hatten and Michael Finch

Based on Characters Created by: Derek Kolstad

Produced by: Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, Chad Stahelski

Executive Producers: Keanu Reeves, Louise Rosner, David Leitch, Michael Paseornek

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, Laurence Fishburne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, Lance Reddick, Rina Sawayama, Scott Adkins, Clancy Brown and Ian McShane, Marko Zaror, Natalia Tena.

‘Such is life,’ is the playful yet deadly theme in this forth chapter of John Wick, spoken by Winston (Ian McShane), New York manager in explanation of another sour turn of events surrounding the ever-increasing reward for the fulfilment of the Kill Contract for the unstoppable, John Wick (Keanu Reeves).

This time, the Marquis (Bill Skarsgård) of The High Table has been granted the power to do anything necessary to bring John Wick down.

‘Why won’t you die!’

German assassin Killa (Scott Adkins) exclaims through his bloody, gold capped teeth.

Because fueled by his need for revenge, Wick continues to kill anyone in his way towards freedom.

There’re 14 action sequences in this forth chapter, which is four times more than any previous John Wick film.

I didn’t relish the idea of sitting through nothing but fight scenes but the film draws you into the story before the action kicks in.  And it’s this attention to the story as well as the mind-blowing action that sets the John Wick franchise apart.

I had massively high expectations after being blown away by John Wick 3, but returning Keanu Reeves in the lead role (he’s also an executive producer here) and director, Chad Stahelski, did not disappoint.

Producer Erica Lee notes, it’s, ‘the “bond and trust” between Reeves and Stahelski that has defined the John Wick franchise. “Chad has given so much to the films for the better part of a decade. Keanu loves the series so much – he’s in every script meeting and casting discussion and has come up with some amazing story ideas. Very few franchises have the consistency we’ve enjoyed with our core team.”

Chapter 4 opens in Jordan, with John riding horseback, riffle in hand, to Japan, Berlin and Paris, so there’s some interesting sets for those explosive action scenes here.  And the inventive fights just get more intense from knives, num-chuks, exploding bullets of fire, to cars in traffic used like dodgem cars, where the would-be assassins don’t dodge so much.  And neither does John.

Adding to the fight scenes is the additional body armour of the suits worn by John and The Table killers so weapons get added just to make an opening for a kill: thump with a num-chuk to expose a neck for the kill shot.

There are so many moments of cringe and ouch all the while grinning my face off.  Particularly the last quarter of the movie – the grin just got wider as the action got ridiculous.  In a good way.

The choreography is fast and brutal and smooth like a dance – the sheer number of stunt people in the credits understandable.  “Reeves also did precision driving training and horseback riding training, in addition to instruction in many other disciplines. “Over the course of these films, Wick can sign, speak Russian, and, in CHAPTER 4, speak a little Japanese. So, I’m always picking up different skills,” says Reeves.

There’s also a play of light with John’s reintroduction set with a backing of red light so even the cherry blossoms in the background took on a sinister aspect.  And that red light continues to follow Wick through-out the film, like an illustration of his unrelenting need for revenge.

In addition there’s thoughtful one-liners thrown in, strangely enough from the villain, the deadly Marquis, like: ‘A man’s ambition should never exceed his worth.’

Has to be said, Bill Skarsgård as the Marquis is genius casting and just one of the worthy additions to the story – The Tracker (Shamier Anderson) with his partner killer dog was a little obvious.  But then ended up being one of my favourite characters.  There’s also The Harbinger (Clancy Brown) that adds another layer to the story that is The High Table.

If you’re already a fan of the John Wick franchise, Chapter 4 is obviously a must-see and in my opinion, as good as the previous JW3: the detail, the humour, the dogs, the camera work, those shots from above a seriously successful device to show more of the action…  Action at its very best.

What a journey.

 

John Wick 3 – Parabellum

Rated: MA15+John Wick 3 - Parabellum

Directed by: Chad Stahelski

Screenplay by: Derek Kolstad and Shay Hatten and Chris Collins & Marc Abrams

Story by: Derek Kolstad

Based on: Characters Created by Derek Kolstad

Produced by: Basil Iwanyk, p.g.a., Erica Lee, p.g.a.

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Laurence Fishburne, Mark Dacascos, Asia Kate Dillon, Lance Reddick, Saïd Taghmaoui, Jerome Flynn, Jason Mantzoukas, Tobias Segal, Borban Marjanovic, with Anjelica Huston and Ian McShane.

Time is a running theme in this third instalment of John Wick, building the pressure after Winston (Ian McShane), Manager of The Continental, New York makes John excommunicado (re-cap: The Continental being a hotel that’s a safe haven for assassins seeking sanctuary under the rule of the powerful organisation and international assassin’s guild, The High Table).

John has broken the one rule that cannot be broken: killing another assassin under the protection of The Continental.

Winston has given John one hour before the end of his protection leaving him exposed to an open contract sent to every assassin in the world; the bounty: 14 million dollars.

This is the consequence of John’s revenge.

All he wanted was peace.  But for John to find peace, first he must make war.

I found myself immensely satisfied in the continuity of seeing John Wick in action, 10 minutes after the hanging end of John Wick 2.

The bones of the series continues here, with the same operators taking the same calls for the same organisation.  But take that continuing thread and pull tighter.

The action here is phenomenal – I’d go as far as saying more entertaining and fiercer than the two before. I’m talking knives, hatchets and ninja moves.

Like the familiar Continental concierge, Cheron (Lance Reddick) says, ‘This is serious business’

It’s like watching the fight scenes live, Keanu going into four months of intensive training before shooting so he could fight the scenes himself.  And he outdoes himself, again and again while retaining that incredibly likeable dry sense of humour.

Just when I felt myself start to loose focus, John Wick starts slapping a guy, another assassin appears out of the shadows, the dogs start attacking.  And it’s all played-out in settings of old world charm filled with red velvet and ballerinas to the vibrant burnt orange sands of Morocco to the steaming streets of New York and artefacts set in glass creating a maze so the slash of samurai or the jab of a dagger splinters the glass or John just gets thrown through it.

Aside from the returning favourite characters (can’t forget Laurence Fishburne as reigning Bowery King) there’s new characters to build another dimension and give context to the man, John Wick: The Director (Anjelica Huston) who runs a school for assassins, hinting at John’s Romani past and Sofia (Halle Berry) from John’s origins, a fellow assassin (and the best role I’ve seen Halle Berry in years).

I’m such a fan of Asia Kate Dillon in the TV series, Billions, I was chuffed to see her cast here as The Adjudicator played with cold calculation as she deals out The High Table’s demands with predatory eyes.

So the action is ramped-up with gritty realism, and we get an expansion of the John Wick universe.

Look, some of the story gets a bit thin in places, but it’s so entertaining and the character John Wick is so likeable I was happy to let some of the dubious motivations slide.

I’m still reeling from those fight scenes that somehow managed to tap into that fight response fueling the experience with adrenaline.  It’s just relentless, the hit after hit, I could feel the force as I laughed and cringed and grinned through all the blood and violence because it’s so hardcore it’s funny.  On purpose.

Instant action-thriller classic.

Hellboy

Rated: R18+Hellboy

Directed by: Neil Marshall

Screenplay by: Andrew Cosby

Based on: the Dark Horse Comic Book, “Hellboy” Created by Mike Mignola

Produced by: Lawrence Gordon, Lloyd Levin, Mike Richardson, Philip Westgren, Carl Hampe, Matt O’Toole, Les Weldon, Yariv Lerner

Starring: David Harbour, Milla Jovovich, Ian McShane, Sasha Lane and Daniel Dae Kim.

This is the third instalment of Hellboy, a franchise based on the comics created by Mike Mignola.

Here, we have a new Hellboy and before the screening, I wondered how David Harbour (known for his starring role as Police Chief Jim Hopper on the hit Netflix series “Stranger Things”) was going to fill the iconic role previously played by Ron Perlman.

Without issue, we get that same dry delivery of one-liners like, ‘Hellboy?  No, it’s Josh.  People mix us up all the time.’  He says, drool rolling out his drunken mouth.

What I’ve always enjoyed about the Hellboy films are the incredible effects.  This re-boot is all what the previous films delivered, and more.

Opening on a scene of black and white, we’re introduced to the appropriately named Nimue, The Blood Queen (Milla Jovovich), her red cape the only colour to be seen in the foreground of an ancient tree.

This splash of red is a good indicator of what’s to come – when I say bloody, I mean that visceral, bloody flying through the air with bits of brain and bone, the marrow of people sucked out by giants, limbs torn off monks by a pigman and children eaten by witches.

Hellboy number three is rated R for a reason.

So yes, it’s gory.  But jez, it really is a LOT of fun.

This is a story of Hellboy’s true nature, and why he was brought into this world.

He’s never fit in, looking like the devil himself.  Breaking off his horns doesn’t hide his demonic appearance.  Hellboy admits his, ‘Therapist says I rely on jokes to normalise.’

This is his weakness.  He’s a monster living in a world of people who hate and kill monsters.  And have hunted monsters for centuries.

You can only have people try to kill you so many times before it gets personal.

The Blood Queen understands this.  She’s a monster too.

Bringing Hellboy to her side, to become King would mean the end of the world: the apocalypse.

Starting again, to re-build Eve together; to bring the monsters out of the shadows, doesn’t sound so bad.

So does Hellboy give in to his true nature?  Or does he side with the ones he loves, his adopted father, Professor Trevor “Broom” Bruttenholm (Ian McShane) and friend Alice Monaghan (Sasha Lane), whose life he saved when she was a baby?

The script is a collaboration between the creator Mignola and Andrew Cosby.

“It was important for us, and for the fans as well, to really stick to the roots and origins of Hellboy,” says producer Les Weldon. “No one wants somebody else’s Hellboy — they want Mike’s…”

And it’s one hell of a ride with non-stop action as giants and demons and witches and humans are fought with constant asides from Hellboy to break the, at times, intense tension and scary bits.

There’re monsters that reminded me of the demons from Hellraiser.

Talking of monster’s, we also get the character B.P.R.D. Team commander Major Ben Daimio (Daniel Dae Kim) adding another dimension to the film.  He’s a conflicted ex-soldier-turned-agent also from the Mignolaverse but has never been on the same page as Hellboy.

So bloody and scary, yes.  But then we’ll get Hellboy asking how a terrifying, one-eyed, wooden-legged witch can have hair on her tongue.

And a moth escaping from a cave, deep underground, rising, into the air, high above, only to be eaten by a raven.

We smoothly segue from one entertaining scene to the next that’s both visually stunning and brutally absorbing.

A worthy re-boot that blurs the line between horror and action.

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