Back In Action

2025 Netflix

Rated: PG-13

Length: 1 hr 54min

Action ~ Adventure ~ Comedy ~ Family ~ Spy

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, Andrew Scott, Jamie Demetriou, Kyle Chandler, and Glenn Close.

“What if Mr. and Mrs. Smith had kids?”

Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz star as Matt and Emily, Secret Agents for the CIA. Matt and Emily have done what spies aren’t supposed to do, fall in love with each other. Right before their assignment, Emily realizes she is pregnant. Their mission doesn’t go as planned and they end up on a plane fighting off the crew who turn out to be covert spies themselves. Right before the plane goes down, they share a parachute and escape, landing safely. They both agree that, since Emily is pregnant, this is the perfect time to fake their deaths. Disappear off the grid, start from scratch and build a family.

Fast forward fifteen years and they are the typical suburban family. Matt and Emily are raising their fourteen year old daughter Alice and their twelve year old son Leo. Constantly battling too much screen time on their children’s devices, juggling work and after school activities. They even drive a mini-van to soccer practices and games that Matt coaches. As they try to control Alice’s covert underage nightlife activities, their cover is blown and they are forced to take the kids into hiding with them. They head to England where Emily’s Mom Ginny (Glenn Close), a former Secret Agent for the MI6, lives on a sprawling countryside estate outside of London.

There are plenty of story twists and turns as they try to vanish again, and protect their kids. It is a familiar storyline but then aren’t all the spy movies. The agents go on an assignment to retrieve the thing the bad guy has that will disrupt the working order of our world. That’s always the mission, but this time it involves kids, and Matt and Emily love their kids. The kids are awesome on their own, they have been raised well and being a spy runs in their blood. They just don’t know it yet. I really liked McKenna Roberts as Alice, and Rylan Jackson as Leo. There is plenty of action and a few laughs as Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz hold their own on the fight floor and the acting stage.

It has been over a decade since Cameron Diaz made a movie. She had decided that she needed to focus on her personal life, raise a family, and get off the Hollywood grid. Jamie Foxx approached her with this film and she said, “If I’m going to do a movie, I’m going to do it with Jamie. No questions asked.” It was really good to see her “Back In Action”, I think she did an awesome job, kicking butt and taking names, the Cameron Diaz we all know and love. You could feel the chemistry and the love between Jamie and the kids. She can still hold her own acting and fighting. Job well done and welcome back Cameron Diaz.

I had watched Jamie Foxx’s Netflix special on Netflix What had happened was….where he talks about his medical ordeal for the first time. Very touching story, if you get the chance you should watch it. In a nutshell Jamie came down with a mysterious illness, basically his brain started hemorrhaging for no apparent reason. He almost died, was in a coma, came to but couldn’t move his body. He then spent agonizing months in rehab and physical therapy learning how to walk again. Seeing him “Back in Action”…..you want to jump up and scream YEAH! GO JAMIE!!!! Job Well Done on all accounts, and welcome back Jamie Foxx. Ya still got it!

I love the soundtrack to the fight scenes, perfect! I loved the story, I loved the action, I loved seeing Jamie and Cameron together raising kids, I could feel the love! They did everything to protect their kids and it shone through in the movie. I didn’t pay much attention to what the bad guy was up to or the device he wanted, a mere subplot behind the parents fighting for their family and their kids.

Yes, yes and yes. I can’t wait to watch it again, and I just know there’s a sequel coming…BRING IT ON!

Highly Recommended!

Two Thumbs up!

The Creator

2023 20th Century Studios

Rated: PG-13

Length: 2 hr 13min

Action ~ Adventure ~ Drama ~ Epic ~ Sci-Fi

Directed by: Gareth Edwards

Starring: John David Washington, Madeline Yuna Voyles, Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe, Sturgill Simpson, and Allison Janney.

NIRMATA:

¹ (Nepalese for The Creator) The mysterious unknown architect of advanced A.I.

² A Being worshipped by Artificial Intelligence as their creator; savior; God

SYNOPSIS:

The evolution and integration of Robots and A.I. has permeated and changed every aspect of life in the near future. In 2055 as Robot driven A.I. has surpassed man, A.I. accidently detonates an Atomic Bomb in Los Angeles. This starts a war between A.I. and Humanity. The West vows to drive A.I. into extinction, while A. I. vows to drive humanity into extinction. The West drives A.I. into the New Asia region consisting of east and south Asia. The USS NOMAD Space Station has been developed to hunt and destroy A.I. bases. Word has spread that A.I. has developed a weapon that could destroy the once thought indestructible NOMAD.

A covert military operation is planned to enter New Asia, find and destroy the new A.I. weapon. John David Washington stars as US Army Sergeant Joshua Taylor who has gone undercover in New Asia as part of the mission. As he tracks and finds “The Weapon” he discovers it is a child-size “Simulant” with growing powers to control technology with supernatural ability. He names the child “Alfie”, short for Alpha after the name of the operation. Alfie is played by newcomer 7 year old Madeline Yuna Voyles. And the race is on to protect Alfie from getting back into the hands of the A.I. and protecting her from his own forces who seek to destroy a child.

Visual Effects, CGI, and Filming:

Absolutely stunning scenery for a sci-fi movie. The effects and visuals were literally out of this world. A dash of Star Wars, a pinch of Blade Runner, a bit of I-Robot, a little Terminator, and an essence of Edge Of Tomorrow. I thought the Visual effects, CGI and the filming were all incredible.

John David Washington:

Absolutely a great performance. I remember him in BlacKkKlansman and just saw him in The Piano Lesson. Denzel has got to be proud, I think he is absolutely carrying on in his Father’s footsteps and completely doing a great job at it. Watching this I could hear Denzel in his voice and demeanor, even though he has his own style and character. This is a guy to watch as one of the next big Hollywood Stars. Great job in this one.

Madeline Yuna Voyles:

Madeleine is the star of this movie without question. The young Actress from San Diego, California was 7 years old when she acted in this movie. Her first role and in my opinion she absolutely nailed it. Obviously a completely natural talent with an incredible depth of emotion at her disposal. She has already garnered nominations for Best Young Actress and Best Actress in a Science Fiction Movie. I loved every minute of her screen time performance. Keep your eyes out for this one….again, one to watch as one of the next big Hollywood Stars.

Script/Writing/Storyline/Directing:

Somebody somewhere mentioned swiss cheese…. I think the line was this script has more holes than a slice of swiss cheese. I couldn’t agree more. It was as if each scene was absolutely perfect on it’s own merit, but from different scenarios. Like a patchwork of independent stories. Sure the central theme was there but there was so much that just felt stitched together from different fabric entirely. I felt like everybody did the best they could do given the limitation of the direction they were led in by the director.

Final Thoughts:

I am a huge Sci-Fi fan. Blade Runner is one of my all time favorite movies. The premise of the movie is so time relevant given the current advancement of A.I. and Robotics. I just saw where robots are becoming lifelike very quickly and Elon Musk just said that A.I. has already surpassed all human knowledge….and that was last year. It won’t be long before A.I. draws it’s own conclusion about the human species being absolutely useless for the future of this planet.

John David Washington and Madeline Yuna Voyles gave absolutely outstanding performances. This was a joy to watch and visually stunning to see BUT…….. it should have been much more. This should have been a Blockbuster of a movie, a touchdown. The ball got dropped somewhere and my suspicion is in the script/Directing Department. That being said I liked it, I loved John and Madeline’s performance and chemistry, but something was off that kept this from being the tremendous award winning Sci-Fi Epic Blockbuster it should be.

Regardless of what I think, you owe it to yourself to give it a watch and experience The World of The Creator.

Plane

2023 Lionsgate

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 47min

Action ~ Adventure ~ Thriller

Directed by: Jean-François Richet

Starring: Gerard Butler, Mike Colter, Yoson An, and Tony Goldwyn.

“The crash was only the beginning…….”

Gerard Butler stars as Captain Brodie Torrance, an airline Pilot for Trailblazer Airlines. He is piloting Flight 119 on New Years Day from Singapore to Tokyo. There are 114 passengers and three crew members on board. At the last minute Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter), a fugitive wanted for murder is being brought on to the plane by the police. Handcuffed and with a police escort, he is escorted to the back of the plane. As Captain Brodie and his Co-Pilot Samuel Dele (Yoson An) prepare to take-off they notice that their flight plan takes them right through a very bad storm.

The Flight Director assures them that they will be fine flying into the storm. It is a shortcut and if they fly high enough they should avoid the worst of the storm. They take-off and shortly after encounter the storm. They climb high enough to avoid the turbulence, and at first everything seems to be ok. Then all of a sudden there is a lightning strike and the plane loses it’s avionics. As it gets tossed around, Captain Brodie takes a good hit to the side of his head. The Officer escorting Louis Gaspare and a stewardess who were unbuckled get knocked around like a couple of rag dolls and are killed.

Captain Brodie decides to use the ten minutes of battery power they have left to land as quickly and safely as possible, otherwise they will drop out of the sky and crash. They bring the plane under control and prepare to land in the water, but at the last possible moment Captain Brodie sees land. They manage to land on a dirt road and stop the plane with minimal damage but soon realize that it is a hostile island with no authorities. Gangsters and criminals run the island and Captain Brodie and Louis Gaspare team up to find a way to get the passengers out safely.

Like the tagline says, “The crash was only the beginning……..” It is a thrilling action adventure that will keep you on your toes. Gerard Butler is a bad-ass in this right behind Mike Colter who completely goes rogue and mercenary on the local criminal population. There is a lot of tense drama as they fight their way through trying to escape. Gerard Butler did a movie I reviewed last year entitled Last Seen Alive. I gave it and Gerard a pretty negative review, BUT he redeemed himself with this one. The Gerard Butler I’m used to, the down to earth normal guy who’s not afraid to kick your ass if he needs to. Anything he needs to do to save his passengers. He is the Captain and they are his responsibility and he takes that very seriously.

Yup, this is a good one!

Two Thumbs Up!

Daniella Pineda as Bonnie Lane, Gerard Butler as Brodie Torrance, and Yoson An as Samuel Dele in PLANE. Photo Credit: Kenneth Rexach
Courtesy of Lionsgate

Mike Colter as Louis Gaspare in PLANE. Photo Credit: Kenneth Rexach
Courtesy of Lionsgate

PLANE Movie Poster
Courtesy of Lionsgate

Twister

1996 Warner Brothers

Rated: PG-13

Length: 1 hr 53min

Action ~ Adventure ~ Thriller

Directed by: Jan de Bont

Starring: Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, Jami Gertz, Cary Elwes, Lois Smith, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alan Ruck and Sean Whalen.

“When you said you chased tornadoes, deep down I always thought it was just a metaphor.”

Helen Hunt star as Dr. Jo Harding, a Meteorologist in Oklahoma leading a group of storm chasers. Having lost her Dad to an F5 Tornado when she was very young, she has been obsessed with chasing tornadoes and trying to figure out what makes them tick. If she figures out the secret to a tornado’s make-up, she might be able to find a way to predict them better. Which would lead to better early warning systems and save people’s lives. Jo and her team are attempting to launch “Dorothy” for the first time, a device that contains hundreds of small sensors into a tornado. They are gathered together preparing Dorothy when her estranged husband………….

Bill (Bill Paxton) shows up in his brand new red Dodge Ram pick-up truck and his fiancé Melissa (Jami Gertz). Bill got tired of chasing tornadoes and arguing with Jo, so he moved away to the city to become a Weatherman. He has come to get Jo to sign the divorce papers she has stalled on. Before Bill can get Jo to sign the papers, she shows him Dorothy. He immediately gets excited because Dorothy was his invention, and just then there is word of a big tornado touching down nearby. They all race to hit the road so they can launch Dorothy into the tornado and Bill just can’t not be a part of it and joins in the hunt.

And what follows is a thrilling chase through the Oklahoma countryside chasing the perfect tornado to launch Dorothy in. To make the chase even more thrilling, there is another storm chasing team that is Bill’s old rival from the past. He has developed technology that looks just like Dorothy and the race is on to be the first to change Tornado technology. The action is non-stop as they get dangerously close to tornadoes trying to launch Dorothy. Bill was always something of a Tornado whisperer, Jo’s team calls him “The Extreme”, and leads them in the right direction while his rival is often a step behind.

I remember seeing this when it first came out. Back in the day I probably saw it half a dozen times. I have to say almost thirty years later it still holds it’s own. The close-up of the tornadoes and the noise is terrifying. And the CGI still holds up, the tornadoes look like giant mad demons picking up and throwing everything in their path. I witnessed a waterspout one time, it appeared very suddenly and we were way closer than I wanted to be. I’ll never forget the sound and the sight of it. It is definitely an entity all it’s own. So powerful, I can’t imagine being anywhere near an f3,4 or 5 tornado.

Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton were perfect in this movie, the real deal. The rest of the cast were awesome as well, Jo’s team had some very young unknowns at the time who later became very popular. Philip Seymour-Hoffman for one. I loved and still love everything about it, even the soundtrack. A classic in my opinion. I would definitely recommend it, especially before the new movie Twisters, which I just saw yesterday. I should have watched Twister first. Either way they are both really good movies.

Highly Recommended.

Two Thumbs Up.

Twisters

2024 Universal Pictures

Rated: PG-13

Length: 2 hr 2min

Action ~ Adventure ~ Thriller

Directed by: Lee Isaac Chung

Starring: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos, Brandon Perea, Maura Tierney, and Sasha Lane.

“If you feel it, chase it.”

Daisy Edgar-Jones stars as Kate, a Muscogee, Oklahoma University Student studying Meteorology who wants to be able to “Tame” a tornado. By understanding how it works she has a theory that she can insert material and chemicals into a tornado to rob it of it’s energy. She and her team of students set out to test the theory in real life but the experiment ends badly. Kate eventually moves to New York city to live and work as a meteorologist, giving up on her idea to “Tame” tornadoes. Five years later Kate is surprised by a visit from her old team mate……………

Javi (Anthony Ramos) who convinces Kate that he and his team back in Oklahoma have new technology that could help in identifying and warning people about potential tornadoes and need her expertise. She agrees and goes back to Oklahoma with Javi and meets his team of storm chasers backed by a wealthy investor. As they are getting ready to head out and chase a possible tornado, a rowdy bunch of storm chasers arrive led by a Red Dodge Pick-up Truck driven by a brash YouTube personality by the name of……….

Tyler (Glen Powell) and his associates are rough and rowdy storm chasers with their own YouTube channel of a million subscribers and are accompanied by a photojournalist from England. They are a rag-tag looking bunch with their beat up Red Dodge Truck, old vintage RV and VW wagon. Tyler and Kate immediately dislike each other and both teams try to outwit one another to be the first to reach a tornado. I have to say I really like the ingenuity of Tyler’s team with the truck. They have welded a square tube steel frame all the way around and encased 4 augers that dig down into the ground. In essence anchoring the truck to the ground.

I am a fan of the movie Twister that came out in 1996, back then it was a blockbuster. I just went back and re-watched it before I watched Twisters. Does it compare, yes. It is as good? I’d have to say yes. Is it a sequel? It is a stand alone sequel that actually pays more homage to the original than being a sequel in my opinion. For an in depth comparison, check out Twister, Twisters & Twisted Trivia.

Yes I recommend it, I think it’s a good one that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Two Thumbs Up!