dcharold

The plot is very slight but Ana de Armas is charismatic and the action is frenetic and often quite funny. "Cool," as she says uncovering a flamethrower. Is Reeves really necessary? Only perhaps to remind us of the world in which the film is set and its odd tropes of tribes and rules. Overall I really liked it and would very happily see more of Armas in this role. While we wait for the Caine spin off this keeps the franchise healthily alive if not exactly adding much to the lore. There were reportedly many reshoots but to the overall health of the film which is in my opinion Len Wiseman's best.

There's plenty of action in the first 50 minutes of this film but around that point it ignited into an astonishing and relentless series of violent shoot outs as original and distinctive in their was as the first John Wick film. This film seems to be quite divisive which means you really do have to see it for yourself. I loved it. Tom Hardy is a gruff, growling presence at the heart of the action but the film has a really excellent ensemble cast with Forest Whittaker and Timothy Oliphant standing out, but also a lot of young talent who give the film their all. No one is wasted. Yes the plot is sort of daft and the twists predictable but that's not really the point. The point is pure havoc on screen. This is action film making if the highest order.

Pacy, wild and surprisingly big hearted film with Josh at the peak of his charisma. Kind of like Bullet Train on a plane but with plenty of character of its own. There's a seemingly endless roll call of crazy characters and ways for them to be dispatched and the plane setting is well used. Is Hartnett about to become the next Keanu? Maybe not but he could replace Jason Statham now he's maybe too big for this kind of wacky, schlocky nonsense. In the UK it went straight to Sky Cinema but was significantly better than most of the films I've seen in the theatre this year (Captain America I'm looking at you). Well worth a watch.