NoWo's Reviews
Yipie I ay
Cage is in great shape, Mendes is shapely, Elliott is under-used.
The movie is visually pleasant, but incredibly formulaic.
Created: 07-02-2025
Grindhouse Ghost Rider
Cage's weird as a blonde. Well, weirder. And he finally stole that black Mustang.
Fichtner is an absolute blast. He seriously deserves better. Heard is hot as it gets (it's an old movie), and an absolute bitch. She plays one too.
A bit heavy-handed. Milton. seriously? Low budget too, but it's part of the charm. Well, hopefully the budget was low.
And the cinematography does not compensate for it.
Well, they do get 8 shots from a six-shooter. Fanning the hammer's its own kind of magic.
All in all, not so bad.
Created: 06-30-2025
This has no right to be this good.
Well, it's mostly due to Malkovich, who steals the movie despite the paper-thin character he's been given. Buscemi does a smashing job with his own caricature of a character, though. Add Cusack's solid performance, and Cage is out of his depth in this.
Bonus short role by Chappelle.
It's an action movie. It's stupid but enthusiastic, and a pleasant watch.
Created: 06-30-2025
under-used Phillip K. Dick
Cage acts predictably weird, Biel is fascinatingly gorgeous and yet mostly devoid of presence, Moore's stiff as a board (guess she needed the money).
The script is simplified yet satisfyingly creative. I just enjoyed this one.
Created: 06-30-2025
Better than Fast & Furious
and that's sayin' somethin'.
The movie does go full Dukes of Hazzard near the end. Jumps the shark and all.
Also, what with the colour grading? Everything's some tint of orange. You know when you've been tangoed, I guess.
Apart from that, a vehicular action heist movie, with a solid ensemble cast that's almost never on screen (Cage is).
Fast-paced, predictable, rather uninspired.
If possible, I would rate it 50%, it being the most aggressively middle-of-the-road (pun intended) movie I've seen for some time.
Created: 06-30-2025
Falling Down, down under
Or Leaving Las Vegas for Australia.
One could argue this movie finds inspiration in Camus' The Stranger too. The book, not the Visconti movie.
Cage descends into madness in over-saturated hues. So, most of his career, with new colours.
Photography is excellent, Cage does what he does best, but the movie is a bit of a drag. That, or the themes treatment was too subtle for me. Or too heavy-handed, really.
This movie will probably be polarizing. I'm not sold.
Created: 06-23-2025
Sadly, the last of its still-born franchise
The plot twists are all completely predictable, which makes the over-experienced, over-competent main character look like an utter fool for not seeing coming. Because, seriously, it never occured to you?
The world-building is somewhat inconsistent, mostly because everything revolves around only one character, but it is definitely interesting, both visually and creatively.
Diesel with hair does look quite a bit like a chubby Hanks from the 90s, methinks. As an actor, he always gives me an over-compensating short man general feeling. He postures a lot. He's not bad, though. Better than mediocre, not all the way to brilliant.
Wood is excellent as expected, and Caine, is, well, deservedly a legend of British acting.
Leslie is cute as a button but this movie is a 1-seater, a Diesel-only vehicle, with two older, more experienced actors already making space for themselves.
This one really needed a sequel; it's the prototypical awkward first movie in a franchise that could find its stride.
Also, no bullshit.
Created: 06-23-2025
Lots of streets, lack of fire
Basically, the director of The Warriors trying to make lightning strike twice.
The script is fit for a 90s videogame. The 2D, side-scrolling, beat-em-all kind. Although the violence is more of the Hill/Spencer, A-Team slapstick kind. Bozo Duo rather than Double Dragon. Except for the end.
Setting is full-on 50s, with a sprinkle of Western long coats and lever actions. Also, suspenders. Lots of suspenders.
Visuals are mostly music video fare (before music videos really were a thing), but possibly a bit too dark, or not enough. Absolute Beginners and Highlander simply did it better as lighter and darker, with far superior scores. So did the Blues Brothers.
Not saying the music isn't good here, though, boasting the likes of Ry Cooder, Tom Petty or Stevie Nicks.
And this movie probably was pretty innovating in '84. It aged faster, though.
The cast is less stellar. Paré never happened, I never was a fan of Lane, and Dafoe plays his usual character; Dafoe, not Dafriend. Well, he was young then, so maybe before it became his only role.
It doesn't help that the characters are one-dimensional, and rather badly written. They simply lack charisma, which is a cardinal sin for this type of movie.
Nice to see Moranis in an unexpected role, though.
No overt wokeness that I saw, but I had lost interest by the two-third mark.
Could have been a nice movie with better acting, I guess.
Created: 06-23-2025
Sophomore slump
Script is a mess, extends on all directions and doesn't find its way.
Brolin and Del Toro reprise their characters, but with arguable success this time around.
This opus tries to imitate the style of its predecessor, but mostly pales in comparison.
Watch the first one. Skip this. No point.
Created: 06-22-2025
I found myself liking this
Watched this on several friends' recommendations.
Starting with the negative, it's a pretty cookie-cutter story about black ops on Mexican narcos, with out-of-the-box, ready-to-wear characters.
Then again, the actors manage to salvage their paper-thin alter egos. Del Toro and Brolin are excellent as usual, in their favourite register, as usual.
Blunt always brings commitment to her work (from what I've seen), and sells her Clarice Starling rather convincingly. And she's easy to look at. Not the most sugary of eye candies, but she does it for me. Probably not being objective here.
The script is unsurprising, but tightly focused and well paced. I have reservations regarding Villeneuve, but he does know how to tell a story.
What really surprised me, though, was the insane visual quality. Until I checked, and identified the director of photography as Sir Roger Deakins, Knight Bachelor of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. Check him out, the bloke's got legit bragging rights.
As for wokeness, well, bad is bad, morals are grey for they who stare into the abyss, and the boss babe trope is completely avoided: Blunt's character gets manhandled by the bigger fellows around her, as expected given her small frame, and her character's lack of sheer malevolence.
All in all, not a fantastic movie, but a smashing watch.
Created: 06-22-2025
