Movie Review : Mercenaries (2014)

 WildCinema Presents

Movie Review : Mercenaries (2014)

 The Lowdown

With the recent success of such ensemble movies as The Expendables and Fast and Furious 6 it was only natural that a female led action flick would come about. Most people assumed it would be the long in development "Expendabelles" movie that hollywood has been trying to put together, no sadly someone beat them to it. Asylum fills the void with their very own "chick flick" Mercenaries aka Prison Raid featuring such female action legends as Brigitte Nielsen, yeah you read that right Red Sonja is back baby. Sarcasm aside the cast is decent enough, starring stunt woman Zoe Bell, Terminator 3's Kristanna Loken and martial arts queen Cynthia Rothrock this had all the makings to be a decent action flick so does it deliver? Well not really seeing as this is an asylum movie, the CGI is terrible, the acting is wooden and the whole thing looks like it was shot on your next door neighbours camcorder but to be fair at times it is quite fun. The plot is thin as our female team infiltrate an enemy compound in order to rescue the presidents kidnapped daughter but the action is plentyful, its just a shame the shootouts are terrible, the hand to hand combat scenes however are much better and upto standard of what you would expect from this type of yarn.

Final Verdict

This type of movie was never going to win any awards so it should at least provide us with some kickass action but Mercenaries can barely even do that, the CGI blood and muzzle flashes are terrible and take you right out of the action and the choreography is bland to say the least, however the hand to hand combat scenes are competent so its not all bad, Zoe Bells martial arts skills are captured in stylish slow motion and look cool enough to make this straight to video trash watchable. Overall this movie falls short on what the trailer showed us, it looked like it was going to be a so bad its good kind of movie, instead we just got kind of a bad movie. The budget seems none existant, the cinematography is terrible and the action is mostly underwhelming. However the cast is great (i just wish Cynthia Rothrock got more screen time) and do the best with what they're given. Check this one out if you like any of the cast, or if you're B movie mad, just be expecting to laugh more than genuinely thrilled and you should be fine.

Rating

1.5 out of 5

Movie Review: Machete Kills (2013)

WildCinema Presents

Movie Review: Machete Kills (2013)

THE LOWDOWN

Starting life as a mock trailer the original Machete provided Danny Trejo with a badass action hero to call his own. And it seems that Danny and director Robert Rodriguez were just warming up beacuse Machete is back to kick more ass and once again save the day in this fun action packed sequel.

Yet again featuring an all star cast Machete Kills ups the ante considerably in true sequel style by recruiting the likes of Sofia Vegara, Lady Gaga, Charlie Sheen, Antonio Banderas, Cuba Gooding Jr and Mel Gibson to name a few and lets just put it this way, the cast does not disappoint, each celeb gets to ham it up. Sofia Vegara in paticular seems to enjoy parading around with machine guns for breasts and generally playing an over the top female badass, Mel Gibson is an unstopable supervillain and Charlie Sheen is the womanizing President of the United States. Also male viewers take note, theres lots of eye candy on offer here, attractive women fill nearly every frame of this movie, if you're in the mood for hot babes kicking ass, give this movie a try.

The plot is simple and the action is frequent, whats makes Machete Kills so watchable is its senseless and often times comical violence featuring Machete dispatching hordes of bad guys in inventive ways, some that wouldnt seem out of place in a Friday The 13th movie, Machete wipes out waves of enemies with a whole host of weapons, my personal fav being the inside out gun which turns people - you guessed it - inside out and leaves them as a huge pile of guts on the floor. Pretty cool if you ask me. Machete kills is action packed, its got supervillains, prostitute assasins and shapeshifting hitmen, but if you're looking for substance your watching the wrong movie.

Machete Kills ends showing us glimpses of whats to come next, Machete Kills in space, and if you ask us that looks like its going to be a hell of a good time, but given the film bomed at the box office who knows if we will see Machete in another outing, which is a shame as this is a great tongue in cheek action series and i would be sad to see it end here when the film makers are only just getting warmed up.

FINAL VERDICT

Babes, guns and buckets of blood. What more does a grown man need on a friday night?

 

Rating

3.5/5

Atmospheric Animated Short "Batman Vs The Terminator" Trailer HERE

Batman VS The Terminator

Being a huge fan of Batman and The Terminator i regularly scour the web looking for news on two of my favorite franchises. Well today i came across something very cool indeed, a Trailer for an animated short film Batman Vs The Terminator by Mitchell Hammond which will be out later this year. You can watch the video below, it looks pretty cool if you ask me.

It looks like the short film accurately captures the post apocalyptic brilliance we saw snippets of in the first two terminator movies and throwing batman into the midst of judgment day is a really great concept, im looking forward to seeing how this plays out when the full thing is released. The score by noir deco also sounds fantastic, capturing the pulsating beat and emotions that made Brad Fiedel's two terminator scores iconic. With an 80s anime feel, a pulsating soundtrack and two iconic characters be sure to check back for news on this one as we learn more.

Other Articles You May Enjoy:

Top 5 Superhero Movies Ever Made

Coffy Review

Top 5 Halloween Sequels

Ryan Gosling could be the new Batman?

The Future Of The Terminator Franchise

Movie Review: Coffy (1973)

WildCinema Presents

Movie Review: Coffy (1973)

                                                 Director: Jack Hill

                                                 Starring: Pam Grier, Booker Bradshaw, Sid Haig

 

 The Lowdown:

Lets travel back to the 70s for a minute. Forget Cgi, lets embrace real down and dirty film-making for a second. And films dont come anymore down and dirty than Coffy. An incredible mixture of sex, violence and gratuitous nudity, Coffy is one hell of a fun ride.

Pam Grier plays Coffy, a nurse by day, vigilante sex pot by night, seeking vengeance against drug dealers for getting her sister hooked on heroin. That's basically the plot minus a few twists and turns here and there. 

What makes this film so great is the sum of all its parts. Pam Grier is incredible to look at, even if her acting is a little bit wooden, we can overlook it as she has one hell of a screen presence..and possibly one of the best racks of all time, she is pure badass as Coffy. The soundtrack is funky and sleazy and really gets you in that 70s mood. And did i mention Coffy features one of the best death scenes of the 70s? RoboCop's Robert DoQui gets tied to the back of a car and gets taken for one hell of a ride, resulting in, you guessed it, his bloody demise. That's worth seeing the movie for but, there's more! "Coffy" features possibly the best fight scene of all time. Coffy gets into a brawl with a room full of hookers and throws them around while also ripping open their shirts to reveal their big floppy breasts! Fantastic! 

There's so much to love about this little gem id hardly fit it all into a digestible review. This is a great piece of 70s kitsch that any film fan should check out. You wont be disappointed! 

Final Verdict:

Featuring Nudity, Violence, Pam Griers breasts and a rocking 70s soundtrack Coffy is a rip roaring 70s flick that everyone should see. Buy it, Rent it or steal it, Just watch it.

Rating:

Exploitation doesn't come any better than this 4 out of 5 stars for this classic.  

Pick it up on Amazon here : Coffy [DVD]

Movie Review: Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)

WildCinema Presents

Movie Review: Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)

                

                               Director: Tommy Wirkola

                              Starring : Gemma Arterton, Jeremy Renner

                           

  

The Lowdown:

With a name like Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters you might be forgiven for thinking you stumbled upon some lost 80s b movie classic. Sadly thats not the case. But whats presented here is a nice enough combination of guns, horror and female eye candy to entertain any man on a friday night.

The plot is paper thin and the action vfx heavy and frequent. But if that's how you like your entertainment you're in for a treat, the film follows Hansel (Jeremy Renner) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton) as they hunt a big bad witch who holds the key to their past.

The action is quite bloody, to be honest i wasnt expecting much gore as films are pretty tame these days, but Hansel and Gretel goes all out. Exploding heads, severed limbs and buckets of the red stuff, this isnt the Fairy tale we all heard growing up. This is that fairy tale on steroids. And at times its a lot of fun. 

Gemma Arterton stood out initially to me. She could have a career playing kick ass action heroines clad in tight leather if she so wished after this and i dont think anyone would complain.

Overall this is a feast for the eyes, VFX and witch design are fantastic, action is first rate. Its worth a look.

Final Verdict:

Boasting impressive visual effects and eye candy Hansel and Gretel is a fun way kill 2 hours.

Rating:

Gemma Arterton in tight clothing earns this a 2.5 out of five.
 

Buy at Amazon Here : Hansel and Gretel 

The future of The Terminator Franchise.

WildCinema Presents

The Terminator Franchise : The future

The Terminator has always been near and dear to me. Seeing the first two films at a young age clearly shaped my love for well written genre bending sci fi, and to this day the first two installments remain two of my favorite films.

Its after the first two installments where things took a nose dive quality wise. 2003's Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines was for most fans a disappointment. Gone is the James Cameron magic. Gone is Brad Fidel's haunting score. What we got was a pale imitation of a Terminator film that left a sour taste in everyone's mouth.

Terminator Salvation in 2009 seemed like it could be the film we had all be waiting for since 1984. A film that would show us the dark future of the previous three entries. But what we got barely resembled a Terminator flick. And with that, I and every other Terminator fan lost all hope.

Now in 2013 T5 is a certainty. Scheduled to start shooting in early 2014 what can we really expect?

Can we really expect anything as good as, or dare i say it better than James Cameron's own sequel Terminator 2:Judgment Day? Highly unlikely.

However we can all hope for a quality Terminator film. One that brings the series back from the brink. I guess we will all just have to hold our breath until more details are announced.

For now im just going to assume Hollywood will do us Terminator fans right and give us the dark gritty future war movie we all want and so desperately need.But with Schwarzenegger signing on who knows what angle this new film will take.Hopefully the right one. 

We need L.A. 2029 and we need it now. Whose with me?

Buy the Terminator Quadrilogy from Amazon here :

Terminator Quadrilogy [DVD] [2009]

Movie Review: The Last Stand (2013)

WildCinema Presents

Movie Review: The Last Stand (2013)

                

             

                                     Director : Kim Ji-woon  

                                     Starring : Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jaimie Alexander

                          

The Lowdown:

Arnold Schwarzenegger is back in his first starting role since 2003s Disappointing Terminator 3: Rise of the machines. Does he still have what it takes to be a leading man at the age of 65? Don't be an idiot, of course he does.Arnold plays Ray Owens, the sheriff of the small town Summerton, who finds himself gearing up for battle to stop a dangerous felon passing through his town and reaching the Mexican border.

The Last Stand is the perfect comeback vehicle for Schwarzenegger and features top notch action and surprisingly enough some decent gore. But the only downside of the movie is it takes a while to get going.and at times it feels like Arnold doesn't get enough screen time.

 His Co-stars do an ample job, Jaimie Alexander in particular gives a good performance as one of Schwarzenegger's deputies who isn't quite ready for the ensuing battle but nevertheless steps up to the plate. There's also a love story thrown in for good measure but that's not why we came to see this is it, we came for the action and one liners and on that front it delivers.

When the action kicks in Schwarzenegger is back to what he does best, firing big guns and sprouting off humor laced one liners. Notable ones this time being "Welcome to Summerton" after dispatching loads of bad guys with an antique machine gun and "I'm the sheriff" after putting a bullet through a guys head who asked who the hell he is. The Last Stand also features Schwarzenegger's finest hand to hand combat fight which is quite a feat considering he is 65.

Fans of Johnny Knoxville may be disappointed to find out Knoxville s part is no more than an extended cameo but he does a fine job with the material he is given.

Final Verdict:

While not on par with Schwarzenegger's classics such as Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Predator , The Last Stand is certainly a much better film that the box office numbers would have you believe. Filled with impressive action, witty one liners and thrilling car chases,

The Last Stand is a great film for old school action junkies and Schwarzenegger die hard's alike. Its a perfect way to "Let off some steam".

Rating:

Ignored by the general public, The Last Stand is Schwarzenegger back doing what he does best. Ignore the naysayers its a blast. Here's to Arnie kicking ass till hes 85! 3 out of 5 Stars.

But at Amazon : The Last Stand [DVD]