Tag Archives: Lance Reddick

Ballerina (From the World of John Wick: Ballerina) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – It is a perfectly serviceable film with some highlights, but it feels like it is starting to make the same mistakes that all the John Wick films are currently doing.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to view this film.

Eve walks into a gun room.

Ballerina Review –

When I first watched John Wick back in 2014, I knew that I was watching something special, but I never knew the world we were going to find as things expanded. Well, we have had four films and one middling TV series. However, now it is time to branch out and see the other stories that exist in this vast world. Today’s entry is the first attempt to pull that off, and so it is time to see how well they made it work.  

So, to set the scene, Eve Macarro (Victoria Comte) was living with her father, Javier (David Castañeda), in a mansion by the sea. However, one night, evil comes from the water, and while her father fights valiantly, he is not able to save both of them. Thankfully, Eve has a guardian angel in Winston Scott (Ian McShane), who brought her to her family, the Ruska Roma, controlled by the Director (Anjelica Huston). Here, Eve is given a choice, and after many years of training, Eve (Ana de Armas) is now ready to enter the world and take revenge on those who crossed her.   

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Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Prophecy Comes True & Full Season – TV Review

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TL;DR – Some staging issues aside, I am glad to see that Percy Jackson stuck the landing as it brought season 1 to a close.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene.

Percy approaches the tree.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Review –

Well, we have come to the end of the first and hopefully not the last season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians and what a season it has been. But the critical question we must always ask in the final episode of a season-long story is: Did they stick the landing? Which is slightly more difficult with the God of the Skies is your enemy. 

So to set the scene, at the end of We Find Out The Truth, Sort Of  Percy (Walker Scobell) had a revelation about the whole situation and the oncoming war. For you see, there is someone even more ancient than the Greek Gods stirring, and Kronos (Nick Boraine) is not at all happy with the Gods that defeated him, cut him into tiny pieces, and threw him into Tartarus. I mean, fair point. However, before Percy has time to tell anyone about it or possibly return the Master bolt to Zeus (Lance Reddick), he, Annabeth (Leah Jeffries), and Grover (Aryan Simhadri) are confronted by an angry Aries (Adam Copeland) out for blood. We will be looking at the episode and season as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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John Wick: Chapter 4 (JW4) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – In many respects, this is the best John Wick film so far, or at least it would be if the action scenes were a touch more restrained in their length      

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a post-credit scene

Disclosure – I paid to see this film

John walks into a cathedral.

John Wick: Chapter 4 Review –

If there has been one series that has captured my attention in the last decade, it is the Jon Wick films. John Wick: Chapter 1 was an explosive surprise that shifted what action films could do in the modern era. John Wick: Chapter 2 took the world and expanded it in every way. While John Wick: Chapter 3 pumped everything up to eleven. Could they keep ramping up each time? Well, let’s see.

So to set the scene, after Winston Scott (Ian McShane) betrays John Wick (Keanu Reeves), shoots him in the chest and throws him off the Continental’s roof, it looks like the end for John. Well, until he is found by the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne), who is very happy helping John with his revenge mission. But revenge often comes with its own retribution, and The Table strikes back hard and without mercy. Because, as they say, revenge is a dish best served cold or via dog attack. It is one of them.    

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Resident Evil: Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is a silly, over-the-top, ridiculous show in all the right ways …until its not.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this episode.

Welcome to New Raccoon City.

Resident Evil Review –

When the original Resident Evil video game came out, I didn’t have a PlayStation, so I was tangentially aware of it and probably watched someone play it at some point. Still, I would never consider myself a fan at any moment and never had the drive to try and work out the convoluted lore built up over the years. But then the films came out, and at least the first couple were … let’s say engaging, but then they got … well, they got Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. I don’t think it would be hard to say that I was not chopping at the bit for a new Resident Evil TV Series, but then I watched one episode out of interest … and ended up watching them all.

So to set the scene, we opened in a ruined London in 2036, 14 years after the world ended. There are probably only 300 million people left on Earth in small walled communities or the few remaining nations like Fortress Scandinavia or the Umbrella Corporation. But there are 6 billion zombies or zeroes infected by the T-Virus ready to rip anyone’s throat. In a small research camp, Jade Wesker (Ella Balinska) has spent six months researching the Zeroes to see if the virus is mutating and allowing more cognitive control when she accidentally cuts herself and becomes a target for the horde. Back in 2022, three months before the fall, Jade (Tamara Smart), her sister Billie (Siena Agudong), and her father, Albert Wesker (Lance Reddick), have just arrived in their new home in New Raccoon City in South Africa. It has a bland, corporate feeling, but behind the scenes, the new boss of the Umbrella Corporation, Evelyn Marcus (Paola Núñez), is pushing hard to get the new drug Joy delivered to the market. The only issue is just what did happen at their plant in Tijuana? Now from here, we will be looking at the episode and season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.       

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Movie Review – John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (John Wick: Chapter 3, John Wick: Parabellum, John Wick 3)

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TL;DR – It takes everything that worked in the last two films and took it up to 11 

 Score – 5 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. Image Credit: Lionsgate.

Review –

One of the first reviews we ever wrote back in the day was for the first John Wick film and since then we have really had a love affair in this world of under the table dealings, societies in this world but out of this world, visual storytelling, and neon rock operas. This is a world that is told in part by creative directing, interesting stories, and also the sheer determined strength of character that is Keanu Reeves and everyone in the whole cast and crew that make the character of John Wick shine. Today we get to look at the third film in the series that has John at his lowest and discovering there are more places to fall.

So to set the scene, at the end of John Wick Chapter 2, John found himself in a very precarious position. Someone had Marker on John (Keanu Reeves) forcing him to do his bidding (killing his sister) and then turned on John putting a contract out on his life for the before mentioned killing of his sister. After fighting his way through New York he arrived back at The Continental Hotel and though warned by the Manager Winston (Ian McShane) John killed the man on hotel grounds one of the few unbreakable rules in their universe. Winston gives John one hour of life before he is excommunicated from the organisation and this is where we open. John is running through the streets of New York as the skies bucket down because the Gods are at war. He is trying to get to the New York Public Library but as one of the Bowery King’s (Laurence Fishburne) henchmen calls out tick tock, tick tock John.

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TV Review – Rick and Morty: Season 3

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TL;DR – This season elevates the show to heights I couldn’t imagine, the strongest season so far.

Score – 5 out of 5 stars

P.S. – Of course there are post-credit scenes

Rick and Morty banner

Review –

I can remember the first time I watch Rick and Morty, my brother had said I had to watch this weird cartoon that he had stumbled across. So the first episode I ever watched was Anatomy Park, which was this odd sci-fi romp with Hepatitis C being the good guy. It was a weird mess, which is to be expected when you jump in for one episode midway throughout a season. However, a couple of months later the whole season dropped on Netflix, and I thought I’d give it another go, and boy was it worth it. So today we are going to take a look at its third season which finished up over the weekend.

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Movie Review – John Wick: Chapter 2

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TL;DR – John Wick was the gold standard for action films and John Wick Chapter 2 continues this with brutal action, and a deeper insight into this fascinating world.

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

John Wick Chapter 2. Image Credit: Lionsgate.

Review –

Now it should come as no surprise that I love the first John Wick film, from the action, to the world building, to the sheer commitment of Keanu Reeves put into preparing for the role. Indeed I wrote a whole article on how it sets the gold standard for Worldbuilding and Visual Storytelling. The issue is that when you love the first film it is always a bit difficult to look at a sequel with an objective lens, on the one hand, you may be blinded by rose tinted glasses, or you may judge it harshly because nothing can live up to the expectations the first film made. With this in mind, I approached John Wick 2 cautiously but I am still happy to say while it did not quite live up to the first film it is still an amazing film in its own right. Its action is still as good as the first, we delve deeper into this world they are creating, and we get to see what happens when a movie is perfectly cast.

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