Skyscraper 2018 8+ out of 10

Skyscraper 2018   8+ out of 10

Let's face it Skyscraper is just a remake of Die Hard with a different name.  In the world of where everything is remade it is surprising that they didn't actually do it under the Die Hard brand.  But whether it says Die Hard on it or not it is a basically a Die Hard film.   So what does this film have going for it to make it special??  Dwayne the Rock Johnson of course.

The Rock stars Will Sawyer as a former FBI Hostage Rescue Team Leader and war veteran that lost his leg from an explosion shown the beginning of the film.  The film picks up 10 years later and his character has been hired as a security expert to assess the world's newest and tallest skyscraper.  This thing is supposed to be the safest building in the world.  Whenever you brag about the world's tallest and safest building it is of course doomed like the Titanic.  Of course a crime syndicate is after some evidence that the owner of the building holds and decide to set the building on fire after disabling the buildings alarms.   Will Sawyer's family happens to be in the building at the time and he has to climb a construction crane and leap with his one leg into the building and then take on the syndicate.  

The film is totally ridiculous and over the top and that is a good thing.  The Rock just has whatever it is in Hollywood.  He is this generations Arnold Schwarzenegger.   He shines in this role as a father trying to save his family against the odds.  The film is full of fun action sequences and was a fun summer action film.  If you like the Rock you will enjoy this flick.  The only thing the original Die Hard has on this film is a better villain.   You just can't beat Alan Rickman in Die Hard.

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Rampage 2018 7 out of 10

Rampage 2018  7 out of 10

When I first heard that they were going to turn the arcade game Rampage into a movie I laughed.   The game was a simplistic game that gave the player control of one of three monsters basically putting the player in a King Kong or Godzilla like characters with the goal of destroying a city.  I wondered how they were going to turn such a simple concept into a film?

Well the answer is that they really didn't put much more thought into the movie than the that.  The plot of Rampage was simple and silly and totally predictable from start to finish.  While watching the film I was laughing at how simple and completely unbelievable the film was.  This film is definitely not winning any awards for screen writing and yet somehow it didn't matter.   This totally flawed and silly monster movie still succeeds at being entertaining.    

One of the main reasons for the film being enjoyable is Dwayne the Rock Johnson who plays a primatologist named Davis who has works at the zoo and has a great relationship with a large albino Gorilla named George.  The Rock is just so likeable of an action star that he can pretty much make any film he is in watchable at this point.  The silly story didn't hinder the enjoyability of the over the top film because the relationship between this gorilla and The Rock is so good.  Big props to the CGI department for helping create such a believable character in George the Gorilla.

In the arcade game humans turn into the giant Monsters after taking a genetic potion.  The film slightly spins this into the monsters basically happening as a result of a greedy corporations genetic experiment from space crashing to earth and infecting several animals including George.   After being infected George starts to rapidly grow and show fearsome behavior.   The film then becomes a race as The Rock tries to race to get an antidote from the evil corporation before the enlarged out of control creatures destroy the city.

Aside from The Rock we didn't tune into this film for the story....we came for the giant monsters destroying the city and battling each other and in that aspect the third act of the film doesn't disappoint.  If you played the video game there are numerous nods to the game including one of the arcade games itself in the offices of the evil corporation.   The monsters climb the side of buildings and punch helicopters just like in the game.  At the same time that I was laughing at how stupid the plot was I was also kind of smiling at how all that didn't matter because it was still fun.  Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Negan from the Walking Dead )  also stars in the film as a government agent that at first seems like an antagonist to the Rock at first and yet isn't exactly what he seems.   I thought it was funny that he was basically playing a nicer version of Negan  (even saying some of the same lines that his Walking Dead character says).   

If you like Giant Monster movies  then just enjoy this silly film for what it is......a giant predictable tasty and cheesy bucket of popcorn.

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Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle 2017 8+ out of 10

Jumanji Welcome to the Jungle 2017  8+ out of 10

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was a surprise box office hit of the holiday season.   When I first heard they were doing a new Jumanji I wasn't confident that they would get it right.   The original Jumanji starred Robin Williams and is concerned a classic.   Would a Reboot/Remake go over well in 2017?  Apparently the answer to that question was a hug yes.    Jumanji crushed at the box office coming  out shortly after The Last Jedi and holding surprisingly well for weeks into 2018. The film ended up grossing over 900 Million Worldwide.

How they got it right:
1. Jumanji wasn't really a remake it was a sequel.  I'm glad they went this route with the film.  The original film lends itself to sequels and it is surprising that one wasn't made sooner.  A sequel of sorts was made by John Favreau 2005 with the film Zathura that was based on a book by the same author of Jumanji.  It wasn't a direct sequel but the themes and stories were the same with an outer space theme replacing the jungle setting.  This Jumanji movie starts out with the board game from the original and mentions characters from the original and has visual references or Easter eggs from the first film.

2. They took the sequel in an interesting new direction.  The original movie featured the board game that when you play it the spaces on the board game that you land on come to life.  The sequel puts a spin on that when the magical board game turns itself into a video game to entice the new character that finds in 1996.   Then a group of 4 different high school students that are basically like The Breakfast Club get detention and stumble across the game.  It magically transports them into a video game version of Jumanji.  It also  involves body switching in a clever way that turns the high school kids into completely different characters.

3. The cast works surprisingly well together.   The Rock and Kevin Hart had already demonstrated their own screen chemistry in a previous film.   I'm not normally a fan of Jack Black.  In fact several of the worst movies I've seen over the last decade were Jack  Black films.  Jack Black played as a hot selfie crazy popular girl stuck in Jack Black's body withing the game worked great.  Karen Gillian as the Ally Sheedy character turned bad ass skilled in dance fighting in the game was terrific as well.  She rounded out the cast with a great sense of humor, especially when she is trying to be sexy which she played to comic effect.

4. The story of the movie was solid and entertaining.  It is basically a video game that the characters have to navigate.  Working together and completing tasks to get to the end of the game before they run out of lives.  This allowed you to have the characters randomly die in funny ways.  Jack Black is standing next to the river and giving a speech and ends up getting Deep Blue Sea'd.   Kevin Hart's character has "cake" as a weakness.  He eats the cake and blow up. 

Jumanji is a great, fun entertaining family film that is sure to get another sequel based on the box office results.

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Central Intelligence 2016 7 out of 10

Central Intelligence 2016  7 out of 10

Central Intelligence is a good buddy cop adventure starring Kevin Hart (playing himself as always) and Dwayne the Rock Johnson.   The plot is silly and The Rock's character (despite being kick ass is odd throughout the film, which was a strange choice.  They almost lead you to believe he is faking how his character is a first---but it turns out that isn't the case.

A 20 year reunion is approaching and an old class mate know back in the day as  Geeky Outsider named Fat Rob contacts Kevin Hart's character who was the ultimate athlete student back in the day for a drink.    The flashback to The Rock singing in Fat makeup is probably the best part of the flick.   I think and entire movie with Fat Rock would have made a better film    Anyway.....Fat Rob is now kick ass Rock a CIA Agent gone Rogue and unknowingly enlists the help of his old classmate.  The two end up embroiled in CIA Espionage situation situation.    The movie has some good action sequences and chemistry between The Rock and Kevin Hart clicks.   The movie had some funny moments.  The Rock  even in a odd character role) can make any action movie enjoyable.   

(Spoilers)

The weak point of the movie was the attempt to try and convince the viewer that The Rock may be the bad guy after all....This red herring just never works and as much as they try the viewer never really buys into this angle.   The Rock is too likeable in the the film for the viewer to want to buy into that and so the tension you are supposed to feel in certain scenes isn't really there.    I loved the references to Sixteen Candles which is supposedly The Rock's characters favorite flick.

A decent buddy cop film worth a rental.

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Hercules 2014 6 out of 10 Taking the Myth out of Mythology

Hercules 2014  6 out of 10

I was looking forward to Hercules.   Dwayne the Rock Johnson is one of the few legitimate action stars today and his casting as Hercules was a role he was meant to play, unfortunately this was not the Hercules we were looking for.  They basically took the Mythology out of Hercules and tried to play it straight without the mythical elements that make Hercules so legendary.  I felt the advertising for this film was misleading in regarding that and the film suffered from misleading me into thinking I was getting a different film.  They took would could have been an epic story and instead made a much smaller, less inspired and more predictable movie.   It was really a waste of the Rock's talents as well as Rufus Sewell (Dark City) and Ian Mcshane (Deadwood).    Hercules and his crew of misfits from "many previous adventures" get hired to protect a city from terrible invaders in exchange for gold.  They even have a dull "Let's train the farmers how to fight segment".

Hercules teaching the citizens of El Poco (Three Amigos) to sew like the wind is not really the type of epic adventure we would expect from Hercules.  I was hoping for a modern day Jason and the Argonauts with major special effects.  Instead they gave us a story where Hercules legends are just that "Legends".    The story has a predictable twist  (SPOILER)

 It turns out that Hercules was played for a fool and was fighting for the wrong side all along.  He then decides to make things right.   One of his crew pulls a Han Solo and is happy to take his reward and leave and basically even gives the same speech about it being a suicide mission that Han gives Luke in Star Wars.  The rest of Hercules band wanders straight into a trap and should have been killed except for the infamous James Bond villian moment where they tell them their plan and then set them up for a slow death.   If this was Game of Thrones Hercules head would already be on a pike outside the city.   Of course Hercules buddy that pulled a Han shows up at just the right moment and rips of another line from Star Wars---and Hercules finally has to show some of his legendary strength to save the day.

The only redeeming thing about the movie was that some of the action sequences were decent --despite lackluster plot.

My Advice ----It is worth a rental if you are looking for a little action--just don't get your hopes up for an epic film.

Doom 2005 7+ out of 10

Doom  2005    7+ out of 10

Based on the first person shooter video game of the same name....this action adventure sci-fi film stars The Rock.......and he is cooking up some video game style action.    This is the perfect kind of movie for The Rock's talent --kick ass action Arnold style. The movie is thin on plot which consists of  some space marines  (a direct rip-off of Aliens)  being sent to  investigate events at a government outpost on Mars.    Things on Mars are not going to well and the marines must take out a bunch of genetic mutants video game style and make sure that they don't get through a Stargate like portal back to Earth.   It is a good film action packed film that takes place mostly in the dark with the mutants unseen for a major portion of the film  trying to draw on the typical Alien movie wannabe Horror device of tension of the unseen.   It works fairly well as the marines are snatched and attacked in the dark  The best part of the movie came near the end in an exciting recreation of the game sequence that played out just like the game.
It is no Aliens.....but one of the better Alien rip-offs out there.

Journey 2:Mysterious Island 2012 8 out of 10

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island   2012  8 out of 10   is a action adventure family film that focusing on a  17 year old boy (Josh Hutcherson) and his   search  for his missing grandfather with the help of his step dad ( Dwayne the Rock Johnson).  He decodes a secret message that takes the 2 on a wild adventure to The Mysterious Island from Jules Verne's book, while bonding in the process.  They actually find the mythical place and his grandfather and  few extra surprises along the way with the help of an island hopping helicopter pilot  (the comic relief) and his daughter (the love interest).  

The Rock is great as the step dad....he is the Arnold of this decade of action movies and shines even in these more kid friendly roles.   Michael Cane is also well cast as the adventure seeking grandfather.   The visuals in the film are fun and vibrant....even when they borderline on silly.   Despite some serious plot issues  with the film it was a fun and enjoyable ride...Kinda of a kids introduction into better adventure  films like Indiana Jones or Pirates.

Brad's top 10 movies for 1996

Daily countdowns on my Movie Facebook page
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Coming in at number 10

The Frighteners 1996 8 out of 10
Peter Jackson's transition movie from cheap New Zealand horror to Hollywood.  Michael J Fox is a Ghostbuster that uses ghosts to help him make money until he runs into an actual serial killer ghost.

Number 9

A Very Brady Sequel 1996 9 out of 10
More Great Brady comedy and music.....LOVE IT.  They touch on the classic trip to Hawaii in this one....Great stuff.  The scene where they break into song in the aisle of the airplane is awesome.

Number 8

Cable Guy 1996 9 out of 10
Jim Carrey at the top of his game.....Many were disappointed by this Darker turn by Carrey.. I thought it was genius.  The series of phone call messages his character leaves is classic.

Number 7

Twister 1996 9 out of 10
Bill Paxton rocks man..It is all about the special effects in this crazy twister chasing flick....and Bill Paxton.

Number 6

Eraser 1996 9 out of 10

"Relax---you've been Erased" Classic Arnold action

Number 5

The Huncback of Notre Dame 1996 9 out of 10
Typcially great Disney film....Hellfire is probably the most daring Disney song yet

Number 4

Independence Day 1996 9 out of 10
Aliens blowing shit up real good....That is how you have an end of the world movie

Number 3

Mother 1996 9 out of 10
Albert Brooks is a comedic god.  The scene where his mother keeps offering him food from the fridge is brilliant

Number 2

The Rock 1996 9 out of 10
Badass action with Sean Connery and Nic Cage. Ed Harris as the villian that actually has a reason to be a villian is great.

Number 1

The Nutty Professor 1996 10 out of 10
Eddie Murphy shines as his entire family...Excellent performance and really funny movie.  Eddie,Eddie and more Eddie...keep it coming.