No Escape is a combination of Behind Enemy Lines, Argo, and World War Z. Unfortunately, it is not nearly as good as any of these movies. In fact, it wasn’t good at all. It certainly wasn’t the worst movie I saw in 2015, but so far it’s been the most disappointing. The previews for this movie make it look great. If you’ve seen any movie this summer, you’ve undoubtedly seen the extended clip of Owen Wilson, in a last-ditch effort to save his family, hurling his young daughter from the roof of one building to another. It makes the movie look like the most intense movie of the year. Unfortunately, this scene is easily the best of the film, and the movie ultimately falls apart after that. Unfortunately, there is no escape from my giving this movie a poor review. It’s so bad that it’s not even the best movie named No Escape. The 1994 Ray Liotta effort was much better and more deserving of your time.
Category Archives: Action
Ant-Man (2015)
I’ll preface this review by saying that I liked Ant-Man, but that I know that if I do end up seeing Ant-Man 2, I won’t enjoy it. I say that because traditionally I like superhero origin stories (except for when that same character gets retold over and over and over again like Superman, which, on a side note, I have yet to see a Superman movie that I’ve even remotely enjoyed, but I am expecting huge things from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice). However, as with over 90% of movies that have sequels, superhero movies generally get worse (usually much worse) with each subsequent release.
Of course, there are exceptions. Batman Begins was fantastic, but The Dark Knight is my favorite superhero movie. Iron Man and Spider-Man are both incredible movies, but there wasn’t much drop-off to Iron Man 2 or Spider-Man 2. Now Iron Man 3 and Spider-Man 3 were both much worse. But when you think about it, when is the 5th, 4th, or 3rd movie of a franchise ever really the best one? Hardly ever. 90% of the time, it’s the first franchise movie that is the best. I wish viewer franchises would make movies. I want to see even fewer remakes. But that is a different topic for another day. Continue reading Ant-Man (2015)
Terminator Genisys (2015)
I wanted to like Terminator Genisys. I did. I know it got slammed by the critics (26% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), but I am a fan of the franchise. I even watched Terminator Salvation (a movie that Christian Bale should never have wasted his time with) a few days prior in anticipation of this movie. I knew all about the movie’s problems. I knew that fans of the franchise would, at the very least, be disappointed. I knew that many of the die-hards were upset with this movie. I had heard that it was confusing and difficult to follow. I knew that the trailer gave away the movie’s major twist. Yet I was willing to forget all of these things and held out hope that this movie could be more. I mean, this was the Terminator franchise. It couldn’t be worse than Predators, Live Free or Die Hard, or Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, could it? Those three movies were packed full of junk (especially Indiana Jones) and should never have been made.
Jurassic World (2015)
It’s been 12 years since we last saw the Tyrannosaurus Rex tearing up the supposedly revamped dinosaur park in Jurassic Park III. While much better than the 50% rating it earned on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie signaled the end of the franchise. Gone were Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum. There was talk over the last decade to reinvigorate the series, but nothing ever materialized. Then came the decision to call this Jurassic World rather than Jurassic Park IV and add all-new players to the game.
Had this movie been released in 2005 (to continue the pattern of every three years), this movie would have stunk. Even with its 2015 release date, it still could have stunk. But it didn’t stink. It wasn’t the original (93% on Rotten Tomatoes and $350 million domestically + another $50 million on re-release in 2013, not to mention the millions it earned overseas and through rentals). However, it was still very, very good. If this were the first movie with “Jurassic” in the title, it would have earned a higher rating than its respectable 71% on Rotten Tomatoes. With over $200 million drawn on opening weekend, it’s likely to smash any of its predecessors at the box office (by contrast, Jurassic Park earned just $50 million in its first weekend). Regardless, if the movie received a rating of over 65% fresh, it would probably do very well at the ticket office. I didn’t think it would do this well. But it deserves its positive reviews and its revenue. It was a very entertaining movie, and I recommend seeing it on the big screen.
The Equalizer (2014)
Geez, The Equalizer was going very well through the first half. And then it unraveled. Denzel Washington (Training Day, Flight) was great, but this movie had many holes, most of which couldn’t have been avoided. Based on the television series of the same name. I was unaware it even existed before the film’s release. This wouldn’t exactly be a show I would be watching when it aired between 1985 and 1989 (I was too busy watching shows like The Cosby Show, Family Ties, and Alf during that time). It was inferred that those watching this movie had seen the television show, which was not the case. More important than the lack of knowledge of its lead character and how he got to be the way that he is would be the movie’s unevenness. How it starts is certainly not how it ends up. It’s an entertaining movie with Denzel taking out bad guys, but then again, so was Home Alone with Macaulay Culkin doing the same.