Action

How it ends (2018)

Published

5 years ago

August 3, 2018

I only have one question for you.
Are you coming with me?

“How it ends.“. Well, I’ve never seen a movie title that sounded so ambiguous afterward. They should have replaced the period with a question mark. Even though I was very enthusiastic in the beginning. Once again a film from the Netflix Originals stable. Moreover, Forest Whitaker is playing in it. Without a doubt, one of my favorite star actors. When there’s a film with this versatile actor in the starting blocks, I’m eagerly waiting to see it. The calmness he radiates is magisterial. Even though he’s about to explode like an awakened volcano. Unfortunately, he can’t take this no-win movie to a higher level. When the end of the world becomes as boring as this movie, the tedium will kill me.

It’s more about bonding. Not just the chaos.

“How it ends” is the umpteenth film about a post-apocalyptic world with the usual clichés. Something that Theo James already has experience with after his participation in the “Divergent” franchise. Now, I’m not a real fan of the “Divergent” saga, but I have to admit that it had much more to offer in terms of content and visuals. “How it ends” is monotonous and has a repetitive character. I hoped that this film would be a combination of “Cell” and “Mad Max“, but it turned out to be a miserably long road movie with always the same recurring events. Eventually, I understood it was more about the relationship between Will (Theo James) and his father-in-law Tom Sutherland (Forest Whitaker) than about surviving in a chaotic debris-ridden world. The two have a very difficult relationship. And during the long trip to Seatle, you gradually see a mutual respect growing. But that’s just not what I wanted to see.

Let’s find some more fuel. Over and over and over again …

What you get is a sort of cross-country through the U.S. along dusty roads, deserted ghost towns, and endless vistas. And of course, there are the usual obstacles of military blockades (which, if Tom uses the correct pep talks, step aside and let them pass) and distraught people who only want one thing. And that is to get away from the disaster as quickly as possible. And it’s not exactly an easy task without fuel. The result is a struggle for this precious stuff. Mind you, this goes on the entire film. And as is customary in post-apocalyptic films, they are the heroes, who are moving against the current instead of fleeing. Closer to the source that causes all the misery. Add to that a pile of dusty desert sand and a bunch of weirdos (the Apocalypse brings out their rebellious nature) who are wildly waving around with their shotguns, and the picture is complete. They should have worked harder on the content. Now it seemed like a collection of ideas that have been raked together.

Now for something positive.

No, you can hardly call this overwhelming. In “Seeking a friend for the end of the world” there was just as much to see. But the latter was at least interesting and entertaining. Still, some positive comments. First, the girl Ricki (Grace Dove). Her remarks and actions were clever, bold and sometimes also quite humorous. Her remark about the names of American combat helicopters made me raise my eyebrows for a moment. I never looked at it that way before. And then the way in which everything was portrayed, is also worth mentioning. But otherwise, this would-be dystopian film completely missed the mark. It’s not really a rich addition to this well-known genre.

My rating 4/10
Links: IMDB

FILM RATING

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Action

Godzilla Minus One | Official Trailer #2

Post war Japan is at its lowest point when a new crisis emerges in the form of a giant monster, baptized in the horrific power of the atomic bomb

Published

3 weeks ago

November 6, 2023

Staff

Genre:

Action, Adventure, Drama

Release Date:

December 1, 2023

Director:

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Plot Summary:

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FILM RATING

Action

The Continental Review: Not The Prequel We Needed

Published

2 months ago

October 4, 2023

Kevin Verma

Ever since Lionsgate greenlit this series in early 2017, fans of the franchise have been eagerly anticipating to see how the John Wick universe expands. 4 movies in, the John Wick franchise is widely known as one of the greatest action movie franchises of all time with our titular character (a.k.a Baba Yaga) becoming one of the most iconic and bad-ass figures ever in Hollywood. The Continental: From The World of John Wick is a prequel series that tells the story of Winston Scott and how he became the manager of New York’s The Continental branch.

The miniseries was developed by Greg Coolidge, Kirk Ward and Shawn Simmons. It is executive produced by Paul Wernick, Rhett Reese, Derek Kolstad, David Leitch and Chad Stahelski, the director of all four John Wick movies. It is structured as a 3-night event told through three 90-minute episodes. The series was originally supposed to air on Starz, but the network sold it to Peacock in 2022. After 6 years in development, it finally aired on Peacock this September.

A lot has been made of the subtitle of the project ever since it was announced. The fact that the makers needed to include it says a lot about the show. It almost felt like the prime marketing asset for it many times as the other promotional material didn’t necessarily create a lot of hype for the show. Albert Hughes directed the first and third episodes, while Charlotte Branstrom directed the second, and disappointingly both directors do not bring the same novelty or creative prowess that Chad Stahelski managed to bring in the John Wick movies.

The show also surprisingly lacks any real star power. This franchise is one of Lionsgate’s most prized assets, so you would imagine that they would make sure to get a big cast and crew for this prequel miniseries, but they didn’t. Colin Woodell as Winston Scott is the clear standout among the cast despite delivering only a decent performance, which says a lot about the acting standards in this 3-episode miniseries. Many have criticized the casting of Mel Gibson in the series, but I personally had no issue with his performance and he’s also the most recognizable member of the cast despite having no real audience pull anymore.

The writing doesn’t offer too much to ponder upon or any seriously shocking turns in the story as most of the focus is on making the product as epic, badass and action-packed as possible. Some of the characters had some interesting layers to them, especially Charon (Ayomide Adegun) and Lou (Jessica Allain). Lemmy (Adam Shapiro) provides some much-needed comic relief with his witty dialogues. The structuring of the story works really well as a 3-night event which sets the high stakes and sets a standard of intensity for the narrative.

But the thing that people were most looking forward to, was the action and how it fared against John Wick. Unfortunately, that department was inconsistent as well. Ben Robson’s fight sequence in the early part of the first episode was great and it makes you optimistic that the action would get better from here on, but it never does. Most of the action blocks here involve explosions and guns rather than the hand-to-hand combat John Wick franchise is known for. Some of the action was awesome and some of it sadly wasn’t.

The Continental: From the World of John Wick brings a lot of glamour as it tries to expand its world but fails to engage with its paper-thin plot. The characters are mostly dull with a formulaic villain and misses the presence of a magnetic protagonist like Wick. A prequel about Wick’s backstory would’ve been much more interesting than this inconsistent prequel event saved by its style and some great action. It has almost enough to be its own thing but doesn’t quite have enough to match its parent movies.

The Continental: From the World of John Wick premieres on Peacock in the US and Prime Video in the UK and Australia on 22 September, with new episodes weekly.