moviesareawayoflife

Under Siege released in 1992 followed on from a string of Seagal hits starting with Nico in 1988. Co-starring with Steven Seagal in this one were the star pairing of Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey, along with Baywatch babe Erika Eleniak. The premise for Under Siege is very simple..Die Hard on a boat. Seagal plays cook Casey Ryeback a former Navy Seal who just happens to be on hand when a ship loaded with nuclear weapons is taken over by Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey. Directed by Andrew Davis who also directed Nico, Under Siege is a very well shot film. Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey steal the show as the main villains bringing all the charisma they both possess. All the supporting cast are solid, and even Seagal cracks a wry smile or two. Action is good when it happens, and there are instantly quotable one-liners abound. Eleniak is a little forgettable as the love interest though and has zero chemistry with Seagal. A problem i have always had with Under Siege is that it does actually lack action. Some scenes lag a little and Busey's death is a blink and you miss it demise which goes against the grain as his performance is so memorable. We don't really see Seagal's trademark hand to hand combat until the final showdown with Tommy Lee either, everything before seems to be gunfights. On a more positive note the soundtrack is fantastic and Andy Romano as Admiral Bates gives an entertaining performance which lifts the film. Ultimately Under Siege did big numbers and was Seagal's biggest hit. For me, i like the film but do not regard it as his best, ranking several other titles above it. There is no denying however Under Siege is great fun and worthy of a watch.

Fantastic Four (2005) and its sequel Rise Of The Silver Surfer (2007) had not done the numbers the studio wanted so in 2015 the Fantastic Four was rebooted. Starring Miles Teller, Jamie Bell and Michael B Jordan the film starts the origin story again. I have to say on watching this for the first time the first two thirds of the film are very good, setting up the characters well and providing the insight needed on how they got their powers. All performances are strong and the effects very good. The film has a very washed out grey look to it, but i think that was done on purpose. It did take some getting used to though. Normally i am all for films being a bit shorter these days as everything seems to be 2hrs plus, however in the case of The Fantastic Four running at 1hr 35 minutes really hinders it. In essence this is an origin story, and once that has been set up we literally have about 20 minutes left of the film where Doom reappears and carnage ensues. The final third of the film although entertaining is a complete mess and anti-climatic. The film really needed to be longer to build up Doom's motivations and plans for the Four to overcome. Ultimately Fantastic Four (2015) was a flop on release and the planned sequel never happened. What we have here is a fatally flawed but very entertaining film that could have been so much more.

Arcadian is a low budget sci-fi horror film starring Nicolas Cage. Set in a post-apocalyptic world it follows the plight of a father and twin son family as they struggle to survive and ward off the terrors of the night. From the offset as an audience we are dragged into this desolate world. The film is shot very close up with a grittiness to it, and in a shaky cam style. Cage gives a commanding performance as the boys father playing things very straight and understated. He is sidelined the latter half of the film and the actors playing his sons give good performances carrying the film forward. Thrills and shocks are built up through sound and quick cuts, and we never really see the monsters until late in the film. The effects once we do see the monsters are great and suitably scary. At 90 minutes long Arcadian is a relatively short film, however it did not need to be any longer as the pacing of the film is quite slow anyway. Ultimately i found Arcadian a pleasant surprise. It shows you don't need big budgets and masses of CGI to make a thoughtful and entertaining film. Arcadian is truly a hidden little gem of a film and if you get the chance i recommend you watch it, hopefully you will enjoy it as much as i did.