Movie Review - Six Gun Savior

Six Gun Savior

2016

The Cast

This is a mixed bag of the good the bad and the downright ugly.  It's a real hit and miss affair... and, unfortunately, is mostly miss.

The story isn't anything we've not seen before.  The Devil buys the soul of our hero and sets him out on a tour of duty chasing down his adversaries.  Of course, since this is good old Lucifer we're talking about, there are a few double crosses along the way.  Not too bad a tale, though as I said, nothing new.

The Good...  I really did enjoy Robert's portrayal of Ol'Scratch himself.  He gives off an air of jubilance and arrogance, which suits Beelzebub well.  Kove gives a strong performance as "The Mentor", which is a pretty well thought out character as he's as cunning and tricky as a fox.  Shame he only appears halfway through.  Then there's Maya Tremblay as Muna, the female shaman.  Though she's silent for the most part, she's still a strong enough actress to give a character to her portrayal.

The Bad...  Rose as Liz Russell is the apotheosis of this film.  When we first meet her she is pretty terrible... then a couple of scenes later, she's quite good... throughout the film her acting ability jumps between the two, making the film awkward and disjointed.  The directing is just too average.  It's not terrible but it's not good either.  The horse chases could have been handled a lot better than they were.  The same can be said about the fight sequences too.  They needed to be better choreographed and acted and filmed.  This is where the film is let down the most as these are meant to be exciting but they're not that interesting or invigorating to watch.  The music... the director opted for a classic western overture feel.  Which may have worked had they had a full orchestra.  Then there's the pace of the film.  I always thought westerns played too slowly and that was why I loved the spaghetti style better.  But this is a supernatural western and as such should have been eerier, tenser, and more atmospheric... but it just felt like a second-rate '50's western, which in this case is bad.

The Ugly... Oh, My God, I don't know which was worse, Matthew Ziff's wooden acting, as the antihero, Kyle "Hawk" Hawkins, or his weak Clint Eastwood accent, which he slipped into when he needed to play the hardened hero.   Though, even Matthew Ziff looked like an Oscar nominee for "Best Actor" when he played opposite his mom Lorraine Ziff, who plays the bad girl Zathera; a supernatural being with the ability to pull a person's life-force from them and has the ability to shape-shift.  The other thing that was off was the second evil-smiting team.  There really wasn't any need for these to be in the film at all.  It just appeared a way to get Russ, who played Ezekiel Roak, into the film.  It also seemed that we should know these people and have an already formed opinion about them.  If that's not the case then they could be planning a spin-off movie with these characters.  Either way, it just reeked like a month old Stilton, left out in the sun.

So if you're a fan of westerns, with a supernatural twist, this may be up your street... though I would recommend you wait for a snow day and only then if you've exhausted all other viewing possibilities.

I give this flick a Good, Bad, and Ugly 4.75 out of 10.

The Trailer

 

Movie Review - Captain America: Civil War

Captain America:

Civil War

2016

Marvel Studios / Vita-Ray Dutch Productions / Studio Babelsberg / Deluxe Digital Studios / Marvel Entertainment

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Netflix / Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

8.5 / 10

Just when the Avengers stories were getting stale and very familiar, writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely along with directors Anthony and Joe Russo bring us the best Avengers movie to date... except that it isn't since it's Capt's film.

Let's get this out of the way, this is loosely based on Mark Millar's opus though it could never reach the depths of characterisation or story in just the two and half hour runtime.  Though the story has been pared down to the minimum basics of the original, what we do get is very entertaining.  After the disastrous effects of Age Of Ultron the governments of the world are wanting to put a leash on the Avengers and all other heroes.  Not all of the heroes are accepting of this arrangement, especially Captain America who goes off on his own.

The only thing I would have liked in this film is a deeper look at the psychological effects the Sokovia Sanctions, which are addressed in the graphic novels.  This would have made it stronger and more accessible to adults.  They could have done this without changing the certification.

It was also nice to see the other newbies to the Marvel universe - Ant-Man, The Black Panther, and of course The Amazing Spiderman.  It was great seeing Spidey finally mixing it up in the with The Avengers and with the changing eye lenses in his costume and the best and most accurate portrayal yet, from Tom Holland - Awesome.  Though I'm not too sure about the upcoming Homecoming movie or the role Stark is to play in Peter Parkers costume.  The star of this film though has to be The Black Panther - Chadwick Boseman gives a brilliantly cool portrayal of the hero prince of Wakanda.

The rest of the cast give the performances we are used to from the rest of the series.

Thanks to the directors, the action is fast and furious, and thanks to Spidey and Ant-Man pretty funny.  The effects are superb, as always, and they don't overpower the story or the screen as with previous films - the fight scene on Ultron was too busy and confusing (and too short).  The pace is varied and creates a rollercoaster ride of a film which helps keep the emotions of the viewers fluctuating between excitement and the dramatic.  This is a well-constructed and crafted movie.

For me, this third instalment of the Captain America series is the best; and as I stated at the start it's also the best Avengers movie too.  If you've not started watching any of the Marvel Universe films yet then this is one to catch.  It works as a stand-alone movie as it references the previous films in a way that you don't need to see them to know what's happening here.  In regards to both Captain America and The Avengers, this is the only movie in each of the series which I will watch more than once, it is that enjoyable.

Movie Review - Batman: Return Of The Caped Crusaders

Batman

Return Of The Caped Crusaders

2016

Warner Bros. Animation / DC Entertainment : Warner Bros. / Warner Home Video

4.5 / 10

I am a big fan of the Batman '66 comic so when I saw this naturally I thought all my birthdays had come at once...  Damn, birthdays have gotten worse!!!

This is nothing but a poor imitation of the '66 series.  Granted the vocal talents of Adam West, Burt Ward, and Julie Newmar was a wise choice though only Ward still had the youthful sound.  I am sorry to say that West and Newmar both sounded as though they were having trouble getting a sentence out while breathing...  Then we get to the vocal talent of the other villains.  Jeff Bergman was responsible for killing the Joker; he tried so hard to carry off Ceasar Romero's voice, though by halfway through his first scene it was evident he didn't have the talent to carry it off.  Both William Salyers as Penguin and Wally Wingert as the Riddler just used their villains most recognisable vocal - so for the Penguin, it was "Wark!  Wark!  WARK!" and for the Ridler, it was his laugh.  One of the better vocals was Lynne Marie Stewart as Aunt Harriet and the worst voice was Thomas Lennon as Cheif O'Hara - If you thought Stafford Repp's "Begorrah" was bad just wait till you hear this one... I nearly hit stop at this point.

Then there was the story, though the plot and premise were solid it was the incidentals which spoilt it.  The constant in-jokes which parodied the original series got a little tiring.  The worse part was that most of the jokes just weren't funny.   Though, I did like the idea of this Batman going Dark Knight, though it could have been done much better.  One of the best parts of the story was when Batman see's three catwomen - Julie Newmar, Lee Merriwether and Eartha Kitt (her voice is spot on).

There are two heinous crimes that the writers and director Rick Morales cannot be forgiven for...

There is no Narrator's voice, "Meanwhile, back at stately Wayne Manor..."  He is there, but in such a limited manner they may as well not have used him at all.

Worse still Robin NEVER say's, "Atomic Batteries To Power; Turbines To Speed!"

On the whole, the animation is okay, though the CGI cars stand out, which isn't a good thing.  This is not one of Morales' best-directed films as the pace is all over the place and gives the movie a rambling and disorganised feeling.

I would stay away from this one if you're a Batman fan, especially of the cheesy '66 series.  Buy the original movie or rewatch the series as both are a hundred times better than this film.