mikeprior-83108 Reviews

Road House (2024)

Another underwhelming remake

[6/10 · 23 March 2024]

Alas another remake with no real reason to exist.

Doesn't really bring anything new to the party, has a weird tone where it can't decide if it's being wacky or not and the action is directed really distractingly.

Weird given how much work Gyllenhall obviously put into getting into that physical condition that he spends most of the film turning in a performance somewhere between bored and catatonic.

Conor McGregor obviously fancies being the next Dave Bautista.

Also - and it's not a spoiler to reveal that the baddie wants the Roadhouse out of the way so he can get rich off some development project - honestly, he couldn't just arrange a suspicious fire? If they set this in Glasgow the film would last 10 minutes.

Really wanted to enjoy this more but really doesn't have any of the charm of the original and I doubt I'll revisit it.

One More Shot (2024)

Oh dear.

[4/10 · 16 January 2024]

One More Shot

In my defence it was Sunday afternoon and I felt like some daft, brainless action but the words 'a Sky Original' should always be approached with caution.

A sequel I'm sure nobody asked for to a similarly micro-budgeted Brit action flick One Shot, starring Scott Adkins, the Lidl version of Jason Statham and centred around the 'single shot' approach, as briefly popularised by Sam Mendes in 1917.

The first one was "ok" - basically a first person shooter video game brought to live action - running round a series of bunkers in some 'black ops site' but the second one, still adhering - very unwisely - to the 'single shot' maxim shifts to what they attempt to convince us is Washington airport when it's screamingly obvious that it's Stansted, deserted for no doubt budgetary reasons.

Adkins is a decent action performer and there are a handful of well-choreographed hand to hand combat scenes in between endless shakycam running about, shooting and ducking, occasionally nipping out of shot to, oh I don't know, go to the loo or something. The one shot premise gives us intentional highlights like an extended scene of the main character ascending an escalator, or walking round a deserted airport. The whole thing is like a rejected plot for a series of 24 that was sent back with 'too hackneyed, try harder' written on it.

We get the unedifying spectacle of a desiccated Tom Berenger who is quite obviously being fed his lines through an earpiece, complete with unnatural gaps and pauses, like someone relaying the instructions to reset the burglar alarm after it's gone off.

Mercifully short, Sky presumably get some sort of tax break for churning out this sort of stuff.

Secret Invasion (2023)

What a waste of talent

[5/10 · 26 July 2023]

Take a good premise, an absolutely stellar cast, a reportedly generous budget and somehow get.....this???

This badly made, cheap-looking, muddled, dull, bland excuse for an espionage/action thriller?

The occasional scene where individual performances occasionally manage to elevate the awful material aside, this was an absolute train wreck.

Confusing narrative, badly shot, character motivations all over the place, what should have been major.plot revelations (and character deaths) were tossed away without any sense of import or gravitas.

God knows where the reported $200m budget went, this had the production values of a daytime soap apart from the obligatory CGI finale (which sets up more narrative problems for the future in itself)

Looks like it was reshot extensively, someone needs to carry the can for this bin fire.

Echo 3 (2022–2023)

Disjointed and overlong but with some qualities

[6/10 · 14 January 2023]

First the positives - it looks great, it's shot beautifully. Evans (especially) and Huisman are excellent. The big action set pieces are terrifically staged, tense and compelling.

The negatives - the character of Amber is fundamentally unsympathetic and basically irritating from the start, which is a problem when the whole point of the show is that these people love her so much to go to war to get her back.

Also there is no need for 10 episodes- this feels like - a 4-6 part series stretches out to 10.

Fundamentally flawed but just about worth it for the action set pieces and Luke Evans was a standout throughout.

Eric Clapton: The 1970s Review (2014 Video)

Comprehensive and balanced

[8/10 · 13 October 2022]

This was well researched, comprehensive and well balanced, focussing on an era of Clapton's career which is generally skimmed over in terms of the bullet points of Layla-heroin-comeback-Wonderful Tonight then fast forward to about 1985.

Interviews with the likes of George Terry, Bonnie Bramlett and Bobby Whitlock were excellent and informative. Only minor quibble would be the absence of his voice directly but can't be helped.

Also does not gloss over or shy away from the alcoholism or indeed *that* racist outburst in 1976.

A good companion piece to Life in 12 Bars would like to see a further volume on his 80s work.

The Gray Man (2022)

Tremendously entertaining action romp

[8/10 · 23 July 2022]

Well put together by the Russo brothers, moves at a cracking pace with some superb action set pieces.

Gosling is charismatic and cool with a few quippy lines, Ana De Armas is building a real reputation and Chris Evans runs away with the film as the villain.

Highly entertaining action romp.

The Pentaverate (2022)

Unfunny ego trip

[3/10 · 12 May 2022]

Painfully unfunny, meandering, pointless ego trip of a programme

Myers is a talented performer but basically letting him play dress-up with about half the characters as a set up for bad jokes about bodily functions does not come close to the quality of his best work.

Can only imagine what this bin fire of a show cost while Netflix are cancelling shows like Glow and Archive 81.

Avoid avoid avoid.

Dexter: New Blood (2021–2022)

A worthy redemption of a series that lost its way

[8/10 · 10 January 2022]

Having lost its way badly after the peak of S4 and meandering along for far too long, stretching the format beyond breaking point, culminating in THAT finale, Dexter New Blood proves a redemptive, satisfying conclusion for the show and character.

A rare example of where bringing back a moribund character & series has paid off in a very entertaining and satisfying way.

The King's Man (2021)

Overlong and too many ideas

[7/10 · 27 December 2021]

Overlong and trying to fit in too many ideas - the core concept of tying events up with real historical events is a decent one but does slow things down somewhat as well as bringing in whiplash like changes of tone.

Rhys Ifans chews the scenery and comes back for seconds as Rasputin, Tom Hollander briefly has some fun but casting him as all three of the cousins - King George, Kaiser Willhelm and Czar Nicholas - at the centre of the narrative isn't really explored to its full potential.

The main villain is for reasons again not fully explained, a shadowy mad Scottish pro independence type, written as some sort of Victorian Begbie but whose wandering accent strays too far into Groundskeeper Willie territory.

There are lots of good people in this with not enough to do - Gemma Arterton as the earthy Mancunian nanny with unexplained skills as a marksman for instance - plus the likes of Stanley Tucci in a tiny role presumably intended as a set up for the sequel I'm not sure will get greenlit.

Also portrays Lord Kitchener (played by Charles Dance) rather more sympathetically than I'm used to.

Fiennes does good work and looks like he's enjoying himself. It's way too long and the tone is all over the place but it's not without its pleasures and held my interest.

Jupiter's Legacy (2021)

Cheap looking and dull. A mess.

[5/10 · 11 May 2021]

Whomever decided to "age up" the cast for the majority of the show should be fired. It looks ridiculous.

A cast of B and C list actors you may recognise from the background of movies like Iron Man and Rogue One, a dull, po-faced tone that never once acknowledges the innate ridiculousness of the whole situation, dreary "action" and horrible writing.

It thinks it's The Boys, it's closer to something like the Arrowverse or Titans.

If it's renewed it needs a massive massive reboot.

Charlie's Angels (2019)

Pleasantly surprised

[7/10 · 28 March 2021]

Glad I watched this despite the iffy reviews and negative buzz it was a pleasant surprise.

The leads were all excellent with good chemistry and the action sequences were very well executed. The editing between the different Angels fighting in the sequence in the quarry was excellent.

Would recommend this.

Behind Her Eyes (2021)

Terrible

[3/10 · 24 February 2021]

Absolutely awful. Dreadful acting, the worst attempts at a Scottish accent by not one but two principal cast members and....*that* ending.

One of the worst things I've seen in a long time. Only stuck with it to see what the fuss was about.

I Care a Lot (2020)

Terrifically entertaining

[8/10 · 20 February 2021]

Top notch cast at the top of their game. Very dark, no likeable protagonist to root for but a cracking film nonetheless.

Looking at some of the negative reviews I can only assume some incels were hoping for some sort of mafia slasher/revenge flick and have issues with a strong female antagonist.

Pike is outstanding in this, as are all the leads.

Ignore the negative reviews and get it watched. A dark delight.

Two Weeks to Live (2020)

Frankenstein's monster of a show

[6/10 · 5 September 2020]

Basically Killing Eve meets Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt with a bit of Fleabag energy thrown in.

Got some laughs in it and it's well acted but suffers under the weight of its (very obvious) influences.

Navy Seals (1990)

Sub par Top Gun wannabe

[5/10 · 30 August 2020]

This film wants to be Top Gun with commandos so badly it's hilarious. Even the font on the credits, the score, the radio squawking over shots of an aircraft carrier at the start...all lifted from Top Gun. (The shoehorned in "recreation scene" of the SEALs goofing off playing golf to a Bon Jovi cover of Thin Lizzy is hardly the same as topless volleyball)

It lacks the charisma and charm not to mention the glamour and visual style of Top Gun though, wasting a decent cast (including TG alumni Rick Rossovich) on the sort of boiler plate plot that Golan Globus churned our in the 80s.

Michael Biehn in particular deserved so much better than this.

The Old Guard (2020)

Show don't tell!

[5/10 · 13 July 2020]

This is nowhere near as much fun as it should be.

It could be a modern day Highlander instead it drowns under a sea of ennui and weariness. The supporting characters are under written and forgettable, largely due to the lack of any proper backstory, the villain is dull and unthreatening and the (limited number of) action sequences are flat and poorly shot.

Some more flashbacks instead of endless exposition and some better action choreography could have made this a fun watch. As it is not even Charlize Theron can save this.

The Irishman (2019)

Ironically would've been a better TV series

[6/10 · 2 January 2020]

Overlong, self indulgent, self obsesssed.

Yes it has an amazing cast and a legendary director but it was like the film equivalent of a music "supergroup" where every second song has a 10 minute drum solo.

The de aging doesn't work - one early scene is laughable - and detracts from the story.

Whole film completely lacks the narrative drive or propulsion of Scorsese at his best.

Ironically if this had been a 3 or 4 part limited series it could have worked superbly. Instead it's self indulgent, glacially paced wallpaper.

Dublin Murders (2019)

Absolute rubbish

[3/10 · 27 November 2019]

What a waste of time and effort.

8 Interminable hours, countless timelines, characters dropped in and out, a completely new story rammed in, midway through the narrative (the second of which is never actually satisfyingly resolves)

No idea if the loose plot threads are supposed to be for a second series or not but I certainly won't be watching. Avoid avoid avoid

World on Fire (2019–2023)

Soapy and implausible

[5/10 · 12 November 2019]

Good premise spoiled by soap opera level plotting and wildly implausible plot contrivances and character motivations.

Acting is wildly uneven - Sean Bean is great as always, as is the Polish girl but the fella playing Harry is absolutely hopeless.

Almost injured myself eye-rolling when a character apparently walks from Poland to Dunkirk.

Disappointing

Robin Hood (2018)

Lousy interpretation of the classic

[2/10 · 24 September 2019]

Terribly misconceived. Trying too hard to make it contemporary but still in the same period setting. So clothes, haircuts, weapons, geography etc are all massively off and it's never not jarring.

Waste of a good cast, incredibly the Costner film remains the last watchable big screen Robin Hood

Aquaman (2018)

Diabolical

[4/10 · 12 July 2019]

I was prepared for it to be daft, wacky nonsense but it's badly put together and the CGI looks cheap and unfinished - they couldn't even be bothered shooting something like a scene on a jetty on location, it's all green screen bilge.

Reminds me of Die Another Day, but worse.

Terrible, terrible, terrible movie.

Venom (2018)

Appalling

[3/10 · 25 June 2019]

Just dreadful. Badly edited, appalling writing and a waste of a good cast. Didn't make it to the end, it was THAT bad.

Years and Years (2019)

A great idea that falls apart under appalling writing and overwrought direction

[4/10 · 18 June 2019]

It was a good premise and started well but as it's gone on I've just found it increasingly annoying.

Everyone speaks in great big thundering expository speeches, plot points are foreshadowed in fifty foot high neon signs, subtext is applied with the subtlety of a boot up the arse.

Call me old fashioned but I like it when actors don't look they're acting.

It also wants to have its cake and eat it in terms of Black Mirror-esque "5 minutes from now future shock" but has layered on a stupid amount of technological developments in a ridiculous amount of time yet the gran is still alive and healthy and apart from Rory Kinnear's hairline, none of the characters have undergone any change in appearance.

Oh and I hate absolutely everyone in it, every single character. Apart from the poor Ukrainian fella.

And the score is appalling - that OTT faux gothic horror at every plot development (including running over someone's bike)

The most grossly over-reviewed show I can remember in a long time.

The Losers (I) (2010)

Missed opportunity

[5/10 · 18 March 2019]

Watched this as the premise (grown up A-Team) was intriguing and most of all - an absolutely outstanding cast; Evans, Elba, Saldana are all A-listers now and Morgan is an agreeable screen presence.

Fairly dull overall, let down by mediocre action sequences and cheap-looking CGI.

Watchable in a wet-afternoon-on-Netflix way but don't go out if your way.

The Last Ship: Commitment (2018) Season 5, Episode 10

Cheap and silly

[2/10 · 22 November 2018]

Granted they don't have the budget but we're suppsoed to believe that the entire might of the US military is...300 marines, one frigate and one helicopter. Okaaaaaaaay....

I'm assuming numerous plot strands were left unresolved because they were hoping to squeeze a sixth season out of this long-dead horse. Or maybe they just got bored. Or ran out of money.

Shame they couldn't get Rhona Mitra back for a final cameo with the other ghosts.