Sunday 26 July 2020

Special: Greyhound, Artemis Fowl, Extraction Mini-Reviews

Greyhound:

Synopsis: In the early days of WWII, an international convoy of 37 Allied ships, led by captain Ernest Krause (Hanks) in his first command of a U.S. destroyer, crosses the treacherous North Atlantic while hotly pursued by wolf packs of Nazi U-boats.

My thoughts: A fast paced war movie? (Insert Allan Parish "What Year Is It" meme). Greyhound makes the most of it's 90 minutes keeping the script and pacing tight for an emotional and action driven ride considering it's a movie about boats running away from submarines. There are some annoyances, sure. Tom Hanks is great and the nicest guy in the world but at the same time how many times can he play the same character? The supporting cast is also nothing to write home about but as far as a direct streaming service movie goes you can do much worse.

Final verdict: 3 torpedo diversions out of 5.

Artemis Fowl:

Synopsis: Based on the first two books in author Eoin Colfer wildly popular children's fantasy series, Walt Disney Studios' Artemis Fowl tells the story of adolescent criminal genius Artemis, who captures a vicious fairy, and attempts to harness her magical powers in a bid to rescue his family.

My thoughts: Let's start with the good, the visuals are stunning and as far as not knowing the source material, which I don't, I had no problems with the story itself. That being said the acting was not strong, neither by the kids or the known commodities as even Josh Gad came off as "try hard". The storytelling itself was all over the place and the movie didn't seem to know what tone it wanted to take from scene to scene. Chaotic and frantic over 90 minutes is not the way to make a film, but it's hardly the giant sticker everyone makes it out to be as at least it spent it's 140 million on special effects and didn't just phone it in.

Final verdict: 2 fairies out of 5.

Extraction:

Synopsis: Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth) is a fearless black market mercenary with nothing left to lose when his skills are solicited to rescue the kidnapped son of an imprisoned international crime lord. But in the murky underworld of weapons dealers and drug traffickers, an already deadly mission approaches the impossible, forever altering the lives of Rake and the boy.

My thoughts: I'd like to simply tell you that this Netflix original is simply a good popcorn flick but it's much more than that. It's got some incredible action sequences (including some long ones that are sure to delight action fans). It's also got thrilling, comedic and the rare emotional element in it as well. It's not a stretch to say this is one of, if not, the best film Netflix has put out this calendar year thus far.

Final verdict: 4 mercenaries out of 5.

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