So I'm going ahead and giving this 10 out of 10 stars, not because I think it deserves it, but because there is a 1 star review entitled "White Supremacy is Cancer" and that seems to be the concept of a LOT of negative reviews.
However, I have actually seen it and I can 100% guarantee that it has NOTHING to do with the content of those reviews. None of that is mentioned or implied.
HOWEVER, there are negative reviews that ultimately say that this is NOT a Rambo film... and that is fair. If you compare it to Rambo First Blood Part II, III, and Rambo the 1 star reviews make sense. It is not at all like 2-4... so if you are expecting a Rambo like the sequels you're probably not going to like it... but you are probably not going to like it for entirely fair reasons.
I won't fault you for that negative review.
It's a lot more like the first film. More like Rambo First Blood... only instead of the military it's a drug cartel and instead of chasing Rambo he's... kind of... chasing them.... kind of... for revenge.
Like all the other Rambo movies, it's formulaic. Once more we start off with Rambo trying to get out of the business, and this time he has gotten out and been adopted as an "Uncle" by a Latino family.
And to follow the formula, like in the Godfather, he gets pulled back in. This time the daughter of said Latino family leaves to track down her family, goes to cartel occupied Mexico, and gets promptly kidnapped, sending Rambo on a blood crazed path to get her back and deliver vengeance on the cartels.
Unlike the sequels, however, it's a little more of a slow burner. It takes a little more time to set up the characters, it takes a little more time to set up the plot and the relationships, and (shockingly given that in most of the Rambo films the enemy is almost faceless he's so under-developed) it actually takes a little time to set up the heavy as well.
And in the end there is a lot of killing, a lot of elderly action, and ultimately a lot of fun... but what there is not a lot of is political messaging... because, at it's heart, it's just another action movie.
Which leads me to the third type of negative review... the reviews critical of it being an action movie... those I don't understand... It's a Rambo movie, you know exactly what it is... and action movie... so what kind of film did they think they were going to see?

This (so called) Movie is just a waste of time. Seems more like a "Build the Wall" advertisment. Did Trump finance this?

The _Rambo_ franchise underwent a massive change after the first movie, and that new direction has stuck with the series ever since they put _Rambo_ in the title. But even all the way back in First Blood, John Rambo's actions seemed to have always been fuelled by desperation. In _Last Blood_ however, Rambo's actions are calculated, and personal. It's something I'd never really considered before, but I actually don't like this direction for the character. It's not that it doesn't make sense, because it does, just personally I preferred when Rambo was surviving the bad world that was happening to him, not creating it.
2008's _Rambo_ was over the top and its very existence seemed bizarre, but it also felt like John Rambo "came full circle" as it were, which sort of justified that existence. _Last Blood_ doesn't really feel like it re-opened or closed any circle. It kind of feels like an episode of a long-running show I haven't watched the last 10+ seasons of. Stallone seems to think he'll be getting a _Rambo 6_ where he's on a Rez, if that's the plan, why bother calling this one "_Last Blood_", and if it's not the case, why make this movie that starts and ends like it's supposed to slot in between other pieces of a story we haven't gotten yet?
End of the day, _Last Blood_ was okay. A low point for the series, arguably even the lowest, but it was a franchise that has always been at least a little enjoyable, so that's not too harsh a burn.
_Final rating:★★½ - Had a lot that appealed to me, didn’t quite work as a whole._

_**Rambo goes to Mexico**_
Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) has been living on the family ranch in southern Arizona for the last ten years. When his niece (Yvette Monreal) goes missing across the border he has to fight a cartel of thugs to get her back. Paz Vega is on hand as a helpful journalist.
“Rambo: Last Blood” (2019) is the fifth and probably last of the Rambo franchise since Stallone was 72 during filming. While the plot is simple, with elements bringing to mind “One-Eyed Jacks” (1961) and “Conan the Barbarian” (1982), the film is a worthy addition to the series, albeit not quite as good as the previous one.
It provides what fans look for in a Rambo flick: A one-man-army situation with a noble cause and plenty of brutal action. While criticized for being “racist,” it’s no more racist than the other Rambo flicks. “Last Blood” never for a second suggests that ALL Mexicans are evil any more than ALL cops, Vietnamese, Afghans and Siamese were evil in the four previous films. Speaking of which, for me, this installment places third after “First Blood” (1982) and “Rambo IV” (2008).
The movie runs 1 hour, 29 minutes, and was shot in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. There’s also an Extended Cut that runs 12 minutes longer.
GRADE: B

Action (and violence) filled sequel (and likely last) in the Rambo franchise. Not nearly as good as First Blood or Rambo (2008), but still darkly entertaining flick with another solid performance from Stallone who thankfully hasn't gone into the lazy realm like Steven Seagal.
There are some plot contrivances one has to get past but still enjoyed this entry and it is one insane of an ending. **3.75/5**

**_Guns, carnage, explosions, and xenophobia - everything you could want from a Rambo movie; hugely entertaining_**
>**Col. Sam Trautman**: _Think about what you're doing. The building's perimeter is covered. No exit. There are nearly 200 men out there and a lot of M-16s. You did everything to make this private war happen. You've done enough damage. This mission is over, Rambo. Do you understand me? This mission is over. Look at them out there. Look at them. If you won't end this now, they will kill you. Is that what you want? It's over, Johnny. It's over._
>**John Rambo**: _NOTHING IS O__VER. Nothing. You just don't turn it off. It wasn't my war. You asked me, I didn't ask you. And I did what I had to do to win, but somebody wouldn't let us win. And I come back to the world, and I see all those maggots at the airport, protesting me, spitting, calling me "baby killer", and all kinds of vile crap. Who are they to protest me, huh? Who are they, unless they been me and been there, and know what the hell they're yelling about?_
>**Trautman**: _It was a bad time for everyone, Rambo. It's all in the past now._
>**Rambo**: _For you. For me, civilian life is nothing. In the field, we had a code of honour. You watch my back, I watch your's. Back here, there's nothing._
>**Trautman**: _You're the last of an elite group. Don't end it like this._
>**Rambo**: _Back there, I could fly a gunship. I could drive a tank. I was in charge of million dollar equipment. Back here, I can't even get a job PARKING CARS. Where is everybody? Oh, God. I had a friend, was in the Air Force. I had all these guys, man. Back there, I had all these fucking guys who were my friends. Back here, there's nothing. Remember Danforth? He wore this black headband, and he took one of those magic markers. He mailed it to Las Vegas, 'cause we were always talking about Vegas, and this fucking car, this red '58 Chevy convertible, he was talking about this car; he said we were gonna cruise 'til the tires fall off. [begins sobbing] We were in this bar in Saigon and this kid comes up, this kid carrying a shoe-shine box. And he says, "Shine, please, shine". I said "No." He kept asking, and Joey said "Yeah." And, I went to get a couple beers, and the box was wired, and he opened up the box, fucking blew his body all over the place. And he's laying there, and he's fucking screaming, there's pieces of him all over me, and I'm tryin' to pull him off, you know, he's my friend and he's all over me. I got blood and everything, and I'm trying to hold him together, put him together, his fucking insides keep coming out, and nobody would help. Nobody would help, and he's saying "I wanna go home. I wanna go home." He keeps calling my name. "I wanna go home, Johnny. I wanna drive my Chevy". I said "With what? I can't find your fucking legs. I can't find your legs." I can't get it out of my head. I've dreamed it for seven years. Every day, I have this. And sometimes, I wake up, and I don't know where I am. I don't talk to anybody. Sometimes a day, a week, I can't put it out of my mind._
- _First Blood_ (1982); Wri. Michael Kozoll, William Sackheim, Sylvester Stallone, (based on the 1972 novel by David Morrell); Dir. Ted Kotcheff
>**Maj. Roger Murdock**: _Trautman, I still don't think you understand what this is all about._
>**Trautman**: _The same as it always is. Money. In '72 we were supposed to pay the Cong four-and-a-half billion in war reparations. We reneged, they kept the POWs, and you're doing the same thing all over again._
>**Murdock**: _And what the hell would you do, Trautman? Pay blackmail money to ransom our own men and finance the war effort against our allies? What if some burn-out POW shows up on the six o-clock news? What do you want to do? Start the war all over again? You wanna bomb Hà Nội? You want everybody screaming for armed invasion? Do you honestly think somebody's gonna get up on the floor of the United States Senate, and ask for billions of dollars for a couple of forgotten ghosts?_
- _Rambo: First Blood Part II_ (1985); Wri. Sylvester Stallone, James Cameron (from a story by Kevin Jarre); Dir. George P. Cosmatos
>**Trautman**: _You expect sympathy? You started this damn war, now you'll have to deal with it._
>**Col. Alexei Zaysen**: _And we will. It is just a matter of time before we achieve a complete victory._
>**Trautman**: _There won't be a victory. Every day, your war machines lose ground to a bunch of poorly-armed, poorly-equipped freedom fighters. The fact is that you underestimated your competition. If you'd studied your history, you'd know that these people have never given up to anyone. They'd rather die than be slaves to an invading army. You can't defeat a people like that. We tried; we already had our Việt Nam. Now you're going to have yours._
- _Rambo III_ (1988); Wri. Sylvester Stallone, Sheldon Lettich; Dir. Peter MacDonald
>**Rambo**: _Go live your life 'cause you've got a good one._
>**Sarah Miller**: _It's what I'm trying to do._
>**Rambo**: _No, what you're trying to do is change what is._
>**Sarah**: _And what is?_
>**Rambo**: _That we're like animals. It's in the blood. It's natural. Peace? That's an accident. It's what is. When you're pushed, killing's as easy as breathing. When the killing stops in one place, it starts in another, but that's okay, 'cause you're killing for your country. But it ain't your country who asks you, it's a few men up top who want it. Old men start it, young men fight it, nobody wins, everybody in the middle dies, and nobody tells the truth. God's gonna make all that go away? Don't waste your life, I did. Go home._
- _Rambo_ (2008); Wri. Art Monterastelli, Sylvester Stallone; Dir. Sylvester Stallone
In the torrent of negative reviews that greeted _Rambo: Last Blood_, one that stood out was Richard Roeper's zero-star rant for _The Chicago Sun Times_, in which he said of the film, "_this is a gratuitously violent, shamelessly exploitative, gruesomely sadistic and utterly repellent piece of trash_". I agree with pretty much all of that sentence. And I loved it. But let me segue into asking a question. Which is the more "responsible" - the hard R-rated movie that makes no bones about its violent content, or the equally violent PG-13 movie that gets around the issue by removing the gore but leaving the savagery? _Last Blood_ is only moderately more violent than the movies in the _Taken_ franchise, for example, but it's a damn-sight more honest in its depiction of the impact of violence on the human body. It's like the old joke about _The A-Team_ - it didn't matter what the level of violence was, the fact that we never saw blood and never saw anyone die meant it was family entertainment. _Last Blood_ is not family entertainment. Nor is it trying to be. Nor does it want to be. It's a throwback to a time before studios saw an R as a death-knell; a threadbare story leading to an extended action scene of ever-increasing ridiculousness and viciousness.
And it's awesome.
In an age of political correctness, when almost everyone with a public voice is afraid to say anything that might earn them a ticking off, it's easy enough for a film to stand out, but only if the filmmaker has the balls to stand there relatively alone. S. Craig Zahler's superb _Dragged Across Concrete_ (2018) was a good recent example, an unashamedly trashy piece of exploitation that wasn't afraid to air opinions that could be considered (say it quietly) right-wing. Now, make no mistake, _Last Blood_ is no _Dragged Across Concrete_; it's barely a movie at all (the script is so rudimentary, it rivals the dizzying complexities of _Rocky IV_), and it's by far the least political entry in the _Rambo_ franchise thus far. Is it xenophobic? Yes. Is it racist? To a certain extent. Is it likely to stoke irrational fears about the evils of Mexico and permeability of the southern border? Possibly. What it definitely is, however, is a film in which Rambo doesn't just kill his enemies, he kills them several times just to be sure (like the unfortunate schmuck who is decapitated via close-range shotgun blast and then shot several times in the torso for punctuation). What it definitely is, is a film in which on no less than two occasions, Rambo uses his bare hands to extract internal organs. What it definitely is, is an immensely enjoyable no-holds-barred revenge actioner that's about as interested in political correctness as it is in millennial angst. Which is to say, not even remotely.
And it's awesome.
When last we saw former Green Beret John J. Rambo (Sylvester Stallone), it was 2008, and he had returned to the US for the first time since 1985. Heading to his father's ranch in Bowie, Arizona, the implication was that maybe, after conflicts in Việt Nam (twice), Afghanistan (where he fought alongside the Mujahideen), and Myanmar (where he faced off against the Tatmadaw), and an extended residency in Thailand, he had finally come home in both a literal and existential sense. _Last Blood_ picks up the story 11 years later. His father has died, but Rambo remains at the ranch, breaking in horses and taking medication to keep his PTSD partially under-control. He shares his home with live-in housekeeper Maria Beltran (Adriana Barraza) and her teenage granddaughter Gabriela (Yvette Monreal), who refers to him as uncle and who he helped to raise. All is quiet until Gabriela is contacted from Mexico by her friend Gizelle (Fenessa Pineda), who tells her she has located Gabriela's father Manuel (Marco de la O), who walked out on her and her dying mother when she was still a child. Soon to be heading off to college, Gabriela is determined to look Manuel in the eye and ask why he left his family. Although advised by both Rambo and Maria not to go to Mexico, she ignores their warnings and heads south anyway. After Manuel proves as cruel as Rambo told her he was, she and Gizelle head out for a few drinks, but she is drugged and abducted by the Martinez brothers, Hugo (Sergio Peris-Mencheta) and Victor (Óscar Jaenada), who run a prostitution ring. Meanwhile, Rambo comes looking for her, but earns a beating for his troubles, only surviving because of the intervention of Carmen Delgado (Paz Vega), a local journalist investigating the Martinez cartel. And so, realising he can't fight the cartel on their territory and terms, Rambo decides to lure them back to Arizona, where he can fight them on his.
Introduced in David Morrell's superb 1972 novel, _First Blood_, the character of John Rambo was brought to the screen 10 years later, in the film of the same name, written by Michael Kozoll, William Sackheim, and Stallone, and directed by Ted Kotcheff. A Việt Nam vet who finds himself unable to integrate back into a society that now hates him, he runs afoul of Sheriff Will Teasle (Brian Dennehy) in the small town of Hope, WA, against whom he wages a guerrilla war. One of many Việt Nam-vet-comes-home-and-is-rejected-by-society films made in the years following the end of the Việt Nam War (1955-1975), the character was praised as a particularly salient embodiment of the problems of unaddressed-PTSD. The novel ended with Rambo's commanding officer, Col. Trautman (played in the film by Richard Crenna) recognising that the man who came home from Việt Nam could never be at peace in the US and shooting him dead in an act of mercy. The film was also supposed to end this way, but test audiences disliked the sense of nihilism with which they were left, and so a new ending was shot which saw Rambo arrested and imprisoned, but very much alive.
Of course, Rambo hadn't been conceived as a muscle-bound action hero; Morell has always maintained the novel was a piece of social protest, and Stallone has spoken about how he thought of the film as the slightly more action-orientated, but equally serious, cousin of prestige dramas such as Hal Ashby's _Coming Home_ and Michael Cimino's _The Deer Hunter_ (both 1978). Nevertheless, it was the action elements of the film rather than the inherent tragedy of the character that audiences embraced, and for _Rambo: First Blood Part II_ (1985), written by Stallone and James Cameron, from a screen story by Kevin Jarre, and directed by George P. Cosmatos, Rambo took his first steps towards becoming a cartoon, as now the misunderstood vet who just wanted to be left alone was given a chance to return to Việt Nam to fight the war the right way, rescuing undeclared POWs from the clutches of a Soviet/Việt Nam conspiracy. With his actions in the second film earning him a pardon for his actions in the first, in _Rambo III_ (1988), written by Stallone and Sheldon Lettich, and directed by Peter MacDonald, things got even more ridiculous, as Rambo, now the embodiment of jingoistic Regan-era American militarism, was tasked with entering Afghanistan in the midst of the Soviet-Afghan War, where he would fight alongside the Mujahideen against the Soviet war machine. Finally, in _Rambo_ (2008), written by Art Monterastelli and Stallone, and directed by Stallone, Rambo must penetrate into Myanmar to rescue a group of Christian aid workers from the clutches of the Tatmadaw, an entire battalion of whom he massacres with a commandeered M2 Browning in a gloriously violent finale.
Undeniably, for better or worse, the _Rambo_ films have always found a way to tap into some of the major geopolitical issues of the era in which they were made. The first film, made in the second year of Reagan's presidency, was a thoughtful and genuinely heartfelt plea for understanding, arguing that you can't create killing machines for use in a foreign war and then simply bring them home and expect them to reintegrate. Indeed, it's a film that's relatively uninterested in violence _per se_ (Rambo only indirectly kills one person, and it's an accident). The next two films also took place during Reagan's presidency, at a time when although the wounds of Việt Nam were still fresh, the idea of American exceptionalism had started to morph into a kind of over-compensatory machismo. It was for this reason that the perceptive and justified seriousness of the first film became diluted as Rambo transitioned from being an allegory for the real struggles of vets to an embodiment of juvenile wish-fulfilment (I mean, in the second film, he literally gets a second crack at winning in Việt Nam). In essence, he had transitioned from a symbol for the psychological damage of war to an undefeatable representative of American military might. The fourth film came out in the final year of George W. Bush's presidency at a time when the US (in no small part because of an illegal war) had once again risen to the position of global police force, although the fact that he's on a mission to save, of all things, Christian aid workers, is a bit on the nose even for this franchise.
All of which brings us to _Last Blood_. Written by Stallone and Matthew Cirulnick, from a story by Dan Gordon, and directed by Adrian Grunberg (_Get the Gringo_), _Last Blood_, of course, comes in the fourth year of Donald Trump's presidency, and sees Rambo facing off against the bad _hombres_ south of the border (they bring drugs, they bring crime, they're rapists, although some, he assumes, are good people). And with a border this porous (characters easily cross over with weaponry, drugs, dead bodies, and, on one occasion, a decapitated head on the passenger seat), the only person who can protect the US of A from such villains is Don J. Trumpo...sorry, John J. Rambo. It's all gloriously juvenile, gloriously transparent, and gloriously entertaining.
However, having said that, this is far and away the least political film of the franchise. Whilst the first and second both dealt explicitly with Việt Nam, the third with the Soviet-Afghan war, and the fourth with the Myanmar Civil War, _Last Blood_ doesn't explicitly deal with a real-world conflict. It certainly alludes to real-world controversies, primarily issues related to the US-Mexican border, but it's not set in an inherently politicised _milieu_ the way the previous films have. And this ties into a crucial point – in moving out of the arena of politics, the storyline is more personal, which is important insofar as Rambo himself is presented somewhat differently this time, showing more emotion than we've seen from him since the opening few scenes of _First Blood_ (which Stallone has rightly pointed to as the last time we saw a vulnerable, very much human Rambo). This aspect of the film, in and of itself, is pretty fascinating, as it's also the only time since _First Blood_ where his PTSD has been so front-and-centre, as that element of his character was downplayed to the point of being virtually forgotten in the other three films. Here, not only is Rambo shown as still suffering the effects, he actually leans into it, using his trauma to motivate himself, essentially getting himself back into a Việt Nam mindset, which is a pretty interesting way of presenting a character who has been rendered in simpler and simpler terms as the films have gone on. In this sense, the early parts of the film work extremely well from a psychological point of view – we see Rambo in a home, we see him trying to keep his demons at bay, we see him, for arguably the first time, with something to lose.
However, for better or worse, the film's big selling point isn't the political allegory or the character's psychology – it's the action, the "suit-up" moment when Rambo unleashes hell. Here, the entire third-act is one long action scene, and it's entertaining enough to temper some of the political immaturity and distasteful stereotypes that lead up to it. Luring the Martinez cartel back to Arizona, Rambo hides out in a series of tunnels under the ranch, stalking and dispatching them one by one with simple, but vicious, man-made traps, in a scene that partly recalls his forest pursuit of Teasel and his men early in _First Blood_.
Well shot by director Grunberg and cinematographer Brendan Galvin (_Veronica Guerin_; _Immortals_; _Self/less_), it's kind of the inverse of the sleek action scenes found in the _John Wick_ films - it's dark, gritty, and brutal, and whereas those films often create the impression of near weightlessness, here, it's the tangible physicality that works so well, the sense of visceral devastation that results from a particular impact rather than anything balletic. Editors Carsten Kurpanek (_Kickboxer: Vengeance_) and Todd E. Miller (_The Expendables 2_; _The Purge: Election Year_; _Mechanic: Resurrection_) also do terrific work here. Large portions of the scene take place in reasonably poorly lit underground tunnels, with very little to distinguish one location from another, so the fact that the grammar of the combat is so well maintained is a credit to them – you always know roughly where you are at any given moment, and never once did I find myself losing consciousness because of a flurry of incoherent edits (another problem with the _Taken_ films).
Of course, a vital aspect of any Rambo movie is that a lot of what some people love will be the exact things that others despise. In this case, it's the laughably simplistic politics, the barely disguised xenophobia, the brutal violence, and the fetishisation of weaponry. On this last point, I can't recall, off the top of my head, another film which is so blatant in its glorification of guns, whether it's the long tracking shots of Rambo's collection of rifles, or the way the film lingers on the destruction they mete out. In short, this is the NRA's wet dream – an all-American hero dispensing biblical assault rifle-based vengeance on a bunch of greasy Mexican scumbags. Charlton Heston would be proud, bigly (yeah, I know, I'm mixing my right-wing references).
The film's handling of the Mexican portion of the story is also a good example of how you either decry the stupidity or celebrate the ridiculousness. The character of Gazelle, for example, dresses like the only research the costume department did was to watch Ramón Menéndez's _Stand and Deliver_ (1988) – she literally wears pleated khakis, a chequered blue and white shirt, dark lip-liner, and a bandana tied at the front. Similarly, poor Gabriela gets abducted after one night (count 'em, ONE night) in Mexico, where, apart from Carmen, every single character we meet is either in the cartel, involved in prostitution, or, in a lot of cases, both. And as for the aforementioned porousness of the border, I'm not sure if it's appallingly lazy writing or satirical genius, but Rambo (who at this point is carrying some questionable items) gets back into the US by simply finding a quiet section and ploughing his truck through the wire mesh fence (ignoring a sign warning against illegal crossings, because Rambo spits at signage). He wouldn't have been able to do that if there'd been a wall.
On the other hand, a criticism that I would treat a little more seriously is that although this is supposed to be the last chapter in the franchise, the script doesn't have any sense of finality. Nothing happens at any point where you could say to yourself, "that seems a fitting send-off for the character". From the generic and mainly faceless villains to the rote dialogue to the poorly constructed narrative beats, never at any point did this feel like a culmination. In fact, the previous film felt more final than this one does, as at least that one gave the character a degree of closure. And speaking of the script, much as _Rocky IV_ was two boxing matches loosely tied together by montages (including a montage in which Rocky thinks about montages), _Last Blood_ is 40 minutes of plot loosely connected to an extended action scene via, you guessed it, a series of montages.
Finally, it would be remiss of me not to mention David Morrell's opinion on the film. At one point, Morrell was actually working on a script for the film with Stallone, which he said gave Rambo a "_soulful journey_", and featured a "_really emotional, powerful story_". However, their draft was rejected in favour of an earlier idea which saw Rambo head to Mexico to rescue a young girl. Upon seeing the completed film, Morrell was far from impressed, writing on Twitter, "_the film is a mess. Embarrassed to have my name associated with it_", and later telling _Newsweek_,
>_I felt degraded and dehumanised after I left the theatre. Instead of being soulful, this new movie lacks one. I felt I was less a human being for having seen it, and today that's an unfortunate message._
Make of that what you will.
In many ways, _Last Blood_ is a hilariously bad film. But it's also a hugely entertaining film. And sure, it continues a process which has seen a character who was once a representative for the nation's wounded psyche and just how dehumanising war can be, transition into an unstoppable jingoistic war machine. And sure, the violence is off the chart. And sure, the politics are hilariously naïve at best, dangerously reductionist at worse, with Rambo coming to embody some of the current administration's most racist ideological arguments. But it's extremely well shot, Stallone gives a predictably strong performance, the action is intense, and, for me, none of the problems are so large as to render the film unenjoyable. Approach it with the right frame of mind, and you'll find much to appreciate.

Jim Carey was the perfect role for this movie. A police officer that has multiple personalities. It's hilarious.

Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010) is a movie built entirely around its 3D experience, and that is both its strength and its downfall. The story takes a slightly better direction than the previous sequels, benefiting from W.S. Anderson’s return as director, but it still lacks depth. The movie leans fully into action and spectacle, with a focus on flashy sequences rather than strong storytelling. Watching it in 3D, the visuals and effects shine, giving a level of immersion that helps mask the flaws, but in 2D, it loses much of its impact and starts to feel more like a video game cutscene than a cinematic experience.
The cinematography and editing are more controlled than in the last two films, making the action at least watchable without feeling overly chaotic. Slow motion is used heavily, almost excessively, but in the 3D format, it works as intended. The film’s standout moment is the chained hammer attack, which delivers one of the most memorable uses of 3D, making it a rare scene that actually evokes a reaction. While the direction is better, the script remains simplistic, offering just enough to move the story along without any real depth.
Milla Jovovich once again carries the film, keeping it entertaining with her presence and well-executed action sequences. The supporting cast is there, but nothing particularly stands out. The soundtrack keeps the industrial rock vibe going, fitting well with the movie’s style. Overall, Afterlife is all about the 3D spectacle. If watched in its intended format, it is an enjoyable action-packed ride. In 2D, however, the flaws are much harder to ignore, making it a much weaker film when stripped of its biggest selling point.

Still in the process of bringing the umbrella company down. Alice finds out about a safe haven from her rescuers.

Second time seeing this one, basically feel the same way, not terribly impressive effort, some spotty visual effects, a few silly fun moments however the finale looked like a poor Matrix copycat. But found some parts entertaining enough, just nothing all that memorable. **2.5/5**

As bad as the rest of the saga.
Tons of action and FX with brainless script and plenty of bad actors.

Tom Hardy is quite accomplished here as he portrays both of the legendary London gangster Kray twins. The pair managed to stay one step ahead of the pursuing constabulary (led here by Christopher Ecclestone's ocassional appearances as "Nipper of there Yard") for many a year living the life of Riley whilst killing, extorting and running a network of protection rackets in the East of the city through their infamous "Firm" gang of henchmen. His persona of Reggie presents us with the more calculating, business-like approach whilst his portrayal of the sometimes gay Ronnie delivers a loose-cannon, violent character - but to be clear, it's pretty safe to say that neither are to be messed with, even by those closest to them. Much of the narrative dwells rather disappointingly on the relationship between Reggie and his first wife Frances (Emily Browning) and actually the rest of this is all rather weak and shallow. Aside from a few flirtations in a seamy gay brothel, the seedier side of Ronnie's life is barely touched upon and the story seems intent more on bringing us the bullet points of their lives rather than trying to develop anything like an insight into their respective (and frequently quite unstable) personalities. It's produced to a very high standard with much attention to the detail of 1960s London, but somehow the whole thing is just a bit too empty. The shell of a story that tries to cram too much into too little screen time. It's watchable, and is certainly better than the 1990 attempt at telling us the story of these brothers - but this is probably a story that can only be told comprehensively in a mini-series that allows the nature of their brutal yet sometimes quite sophisticated personalities to emerge more fully.

'Legend' was not a very good film. It was poorly acted and written on the most part. It was predictable and just seemed like a forgettable straight-to-video gangster film. However, the only saving grace (and a really good one) was Tom Hardy.
Hardy was brilliant in the main roles (playing both of the Kray twins). He made the film funny and really tense when it tried to be. The soundtrack was also really good.
★★★

*Searching* is one of those movies that grabs your attention from the very start with its unique storytelling style. The entire film unfolds through digital screens, which adds an intriguing layer to the narrative and feels surprisingly natural. The story builds a solid foundation, with good pacing and character development that makes you genuinely invested in what’s happening. John Cho delivers a strong and emotional performance as a father searching for his daughter, and the way the movie balances suspense with heartfelt moments is impressive.
One of the highlights of *Searching* is how it incorporates technology into the story without feeling forced. It’s refreshing to see a film that uses tools we interact with every day—like social media and video calls—in a way that feels realistic, even if some details are slightly dramatized. The film does a great job of keeping you on edge, and the twists keep coming at just the right moments to keep things interesting. However, the last act felt a bit underdeveloped, with some pieces of the puzzle not landing as effectively as the rest of the movie.
Overall, *Searching* is a well-executed thriller that deserves credit for trying something different and pulling it off. While it isn’t perfect, especially toward the end, the innovative approach and strong performances make it worth a watch. If you enjoy a good mystery with a fresh presentation, this one’s definitely worth your time.

Searching is a mystery thriller film shot from the perspective of our main characters computer screen. In most movies of this nature, this is done as gimmick and does not feel natural in the story telling. But here, the technology is seamlessly integrated into the story where the two are inseparable. John Cho does an excellent job of being the lead here. His emotional connection with his daughter is a driving force of the plot and the turmoil he goes through in discovering that the connection he has with his daughter was all on the surface is superb. The unknowns surround our leads daughter creates so much tension and mystery as we are trying learn about the character along side the father. The editing is top notch here as the story maintains a very coherent progression while balancing multiple windows and views of the computer screen. There were plenty of twists in the story, some worked well and others fell flat for me. The movie does a little bit too much at the end, but overall was great.
Score: 79%
Verdict: Great

Searching blew me away even though I saw it after Run, Aneesh Chaganty's later feature, and having heard and read everything about how similar Mahesh Narayan's c u soon is. The intensity of the plot, its unpredictability, and the conviction of the characters are what stood out for me in this unconventional thriller that is also so relatable and real. Watch it right now if you haven't. **8 stars**.

**_Terrible plot, but aesthetically well-crafted_**
>_As of January 2019, total worldwide population is 7.7 billion. The internet has 4.2 billion users. There are 3.397 billion active social media users. The average daily time spent on social is 116 minutes a day. Social media users grew by 320 million between Sep 2017 and Oct 2018. That works out at a new social media user every 10 seconds. Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp handle 60 billion messages a day._
>[...]
>_Google processes 100 billion searches a month. That's an average of 40,000 search queries every second. 91.47% of all in__ternet searches are carried out by Google. Those searches are carried out by 1.17 billion unique user. Every day, 15% of that day's queries have never been asked before. Google has answered 450 billion unique queries since 2003. By 2014, Google had indexed over 130 trillion web pages. To carry out all these searches, Google's data centre uses 0.01% of worldwide electricity._
- "122 Amazing Social Media Statistics and Facts" (Kit Smith); _BrandWatch_ (January 2, 2019)
_Searching_ is a film with two main organisational principles; there's the thriller plot, which ostensibly keeps everything moving, and to which everything else should, in theory, be in service. Then there's the aesthetic design, with the entire film taking place online, the images presented taking the form of what is seen on computer screens, iPhones, security cameras etc. One of these principles is exceptionally well handled, the other isn't, and it shouldn't take a genius to guess which is which. If we're being really honest, in fact, the plot becomes more and more incidental as the narrative progresses and ever more ludicrous flights of fancy are introduced, transposing the story from a search for a missing girl into a litany of clichés and melodrama. On the other hand, the main reason, indeed probably the only reason any of us saw the film at all is because of its unique visual schema, and thankfully, this aspect is realised with an impressive degree of craft. You know you're in reasonably secure territory when the filmmakers are self-aware enough to begin an online film depicting the latest in consumer technology with the sound of an old dial-up connection.
Written by Aneesh Chaganty and Sev Ohanian, and directed by Chaganty, the film begins with a montage of video clips depicting various events in the recent lives of David Kim (John Cho), his wife Pamela (Sara Sohn), and their daughter Margot (Michelle La). The montage covers several years, taking in Margot's childhood, Pamela's diagnosis with cancer, the disease going into remission, her relapse, and, finally, her deterioration and eventual death. This brings us up to roughly the present day, with Margot now a teenager who has drifted apart from her father, although David himself doesn't seem to have noticed. In the early hours of the morning on a night when Margot left the house to attend a study group, she calls David three times, but he is asleep and doesn't hear the phone. Seeing the missed calls the next morning, and realising Margot isn't in the house, he tries to call her back, but her phone is turned off. Assuming she left early to attend a piano lesson, he calls the teacher, but she tells him Margot cancelled the lessons six months prior. Thereafter, he discovers that the money he had been giving her for her lessons was instead being deposited into her bank account, and, several weeks ago, the entirety was transferred to a now deactivated Venmo account. Frantic, David reports her missing, with the case assigned to Det. Rosemary Vick (Debra Messing). However, as David and Vick begin to delve deeper into Margot's life, David is shocked to learn she has no friends at school, and has instead an online existence of which he knew nothing. Meanwhile, every investigative avenue seems to throw up another mystery, and as time passes, it begins to look more and more as if Margot has simply run away. David, however, refuses to believe this, with his wildly vacillating suspicions regarding who may have been behind her disappearance ranging from a friendly YouCast (video blogging site) user, a disrespectful pot-smoking Facebook user, his own brother Peter (Joseph Lee), and everyone in between.
Although the plot has a reasonably strong forward momentum, with a well-judged pace, it comes across as initially insipid, and ultimately rather ridiculous. If this was a standardly shot film, without the unique visual design, no one would be giving it a second glance – the thriller plot is clichéd, derivative, and trite, and despite the foolishness into which it descends, it's also fairly predictable (I guessed who the villain was, although not why they were so villainous). In this sense, the film reminds me of something like Robert Montgomery's _Lady in the Lake_ (1946) or Sebastian Schipper's _Victoria_ (2015). Both feature dull and hackneyed plots that serve only as something onto which to hang the structure, rather than the other way around; _Lady in the Lake_ is shot entirely in the first-person, whilst _Victoria_ is shot in a single continuous take, and neither is worth looking at for their plot, characters, or dialogue.
With this in mind, the aesthetic aspect of _Searching_ is much more successful, with almost the entire film taking place on a computer screen, with Facetime conversations, iPhone messages, security camera footage, and TV material rounding out the design. It's a fascinating hook, and thankfully, it does more than simply exist to carry a poorly written plot – the filmmakers actually have something to say, albeit nothing too revolutionary.
The first thing to know is that the aesthetic is extremely well crafted; from Chaganty's direction to Juan Sebastian Baron's cinematography, to, especially, Nicholas D. Johnson and Will Merrick's editing; logistically, this can't have been an easy film to plan or shoot, and the fact that the various components that go into making up the final image all work so well together suggests a great degree of care. In tandem with this, whilst the overarching plot is poor, Chaganty and Ohanian's writing is excellent in terms of how it continually finds natural ways to confine the action to a screen – whether it's David looking into Margot's finances, Vick watching FaceTime conversations, TV news showing security footage – never once did it feel like a gimmick, like it was being forced to stay within the computer screen simply to satisfy an abstract aesthetic rubric. It all worked reasonably organically, and after a few minutes of acclimating yourself, you barely even register it anymore.
Within this, the filmmakers are even able to throw up a few surprises. For example, the structure grants us more access to David's interiority than would be possible in a regular film. How so? Simple – by employing something we've all done, many times. On several occasions, David is shown typing something during a conversation, only to delete it, and send something completely different, whether because the first message was angry, or emotionally revealing, or accusatory etc. Anyone who has spent any amount of time talking online or via text will be familiar with this, and the use of it in the film allows us a glance into his psyche, showing us where his mind is in an unfiltered sense, before self-censorship kicks in. It only happens a few times (if it happened too much, it would become meaningless), but it really does impart a degree of psychological verisimilitude that I wasn't expecting.
Additionally, as mentioned earlier, the film actually uses the visual design to offer some social commentary, which is, again, something I wasn't expecting. Chaganty himself is a former Google Creative Lab employee, so he would know a thing or two about issues such as the uses and over-uses of technology, the unpleasant side of online culture, and the notion of digital footprints, and it is these areas where most of the film's more salient points are concentrated. For example, the addiction to technology and social media so prevalent in today's culture is right there in the set-up – the entire Kim family are obsessed with speaking to one another via phones and computers, and recording pretty much everything, often at the expense of having more natural face-to-face conversations. Another subject is the toxicity of the internet, the prevalence of online troll culture, and the tendency for people to say things online that they never would in person, believing that the anonymity afforded by the internet gives them the right to be unpleasant. This is communicated primarily through one scene – after watching a news report about Margot on YouTube, David begins reading the comments, which almost immediately start making jokes about him having killed her, and being "father of the year" (presented as a meme, obviously, because typing is such a drag).
A very pertinent topic in the wake of Trump's election is the dissemination of fake news, and this is conveyed through a half-funny, half-unpleasant scene – shortly after realising Margot is missing, David speaks to Abigail (Briana McLean), at whose house the study group had taken place, who confesses that she barely knew Margot. Later on, however, when the media is swarming all over the case, she is seen on the news, tearfully lamenting how much she misses her "best friend." The impossibility of ever being invisible online is another topic. Yes, the film is about a person who had an entire online existence that no one knew about, but that was only because no one had looked. Once someone did, and once a few threads were pulled, everything is exposed, as the impossibility of erasing ones digital footprint becomes manifest in the story. Anyone who has spent any amount of time online will be familiar with many of these issues, and the fact that they all ring so true, without the film becoming preachy, is a testament to the quality of the filmmaking.
Finally, and this cannot be overemphasised, the film includes a pitch-perfect, perfectly timed, perfectly delivered Justin Bieber joke that is absolutely hilarious, and has to be seen to be appreciated.

Definitely the best use of this format I've ever seen. I also picked a lot of the mystery ahead of its reveal, but not everything! And I like it when I can't pick everything. John Cho is an absolute champion, and _Searching_ genuinely met my expectations.
_Final rating:★★★½ - I really liked it. Would strongly recommend you give it your time._

Impressive that viewers are able to relate to the characters despite the entire film taking place across the various tech screens of our lives.

Awesome movie. One of my favorites. Very suspenseful. Keeps you interested till the end. The only thing that sucks is once you watch it once, it ruins to watch it again cause you know exactly what's going on. Worth a watch for sure.

**Overall : One of the best plot twists I have ever seen!**
Identity masterfully surprises and misleads every step of the way. What seems to be a run-of-the-mill slasher flick at a rundown motel on a stormy night is anything but average. With incredibly clever writing, Identity is a wild ride that will keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat from start to finish. Even if you are a pro at guessing who the killer is or catching plot twists before they happen, you will be shocked again and again by the twists and turns Identity takes. While it isn't a perfect movie, its creativity and rare brilliance make Identity a must-see film.

It's one of my favorites, I rate it four stars and a half.

His story's so unbelievable, I think it just might be true.
Identity is directed by James Mangold and written by Michael Cooney. It stars John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amada Peet, Clea DuVall, Rebecca De Mornay, Alfred Molina, John Hawkes, John C. McGinley, Jake Busey and Pruitt Taylor Vince. Music is by Alan Silvestri and cinematography by Phedon Papamichael Jr.
Inspired by Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians, Identity pitches 10 characters trapped at a motel who begin getting killed off one by one...
If you are going to do yet another take on Christies superb literary source then at least bring some freshness, so how nice to find that Identity does in fact ironically have its own. Set up is suitably in keeping with murder mystery shenanigans, there’s major flooding and our host of characters are bound to a shabby motel run by a shabby John Hawkes. On the edges of the frame we have another story where multiple killer Malcolm Rivers (the wonderful wobbly eyed P.T. Vince) is under interrogation to test for insanity to stave off his impending execution.
Mangold uses flashbacks to put the various characters at the motel, in how they came to be there. There’s a creative ambitiousness about how Mangold constructs the pic that draws you in, which come the finale will either have you satiated or stupefied. The murder sequences are very well put together, with a couple being well ghoulish, and it’s a very impressive cast of actors working their way through the formulaic but fascinatingly cheat free psychological murk.
It’s not as smart as it thinks it is but this has enough of an absorbing pull, and no little intelligence, to lift it higher than many other Agatha 10 copies. 7/10

GoldenEye is another favourite of mine that is so close to being top 5 Bond.

This actually starts out quite promisingly with a double-hander between Pierce Brosnan's "007" and his colleague "006/Alec" (Sean Bean) having a battle royal then a rogue general pinching the controls for a deadly satellites system - and that's pretty much all before Tina Turner gets her lungs around the theme song. Then, sadly it sinks into a really procedural action drama with some really mediocre writing and as B-level a cast as I've seen for ages. You could see the obvious twist in the plot from the satellite in orbit above, Joe Don Baker's megalomaniac arms dealing "Wade" is almost as comical as Robbie Coltrane's Russian gangster "Zukovsky" who is in turn almost as bad as Alan Cumming's even more thickly accented geek "Grishenko". Dame Judi had the sense to say in London for most of this and so out of harm's way as the denouement lurched into view. There's a nod to the Ian Fleming humour, I suppose, with this one's "Bond" girl being "Xenia Onatopp" (the entirely unconvincing Famke Janssen) but I'm afraid I just lost interest. It's hard to keep reinventing the franchise and to be original - but if it's going to be this hard, then maybe just stop?

This 007 movie begins with Bond and a fellow agent performing heroics, and the other agent is killed.
However, even when this movie was made, it is quite obvious that the other agent wasn't killed, and that he is actually the villain. That isn't even a spoiler.
Bond deals with Russians mostly here. Not surprisingly, any good Russian becomes a dead Russian with the immortal godlike villain at work.
One saving grace is a bit of dark humor with a computer nerd at the end.
That's about it. Otherwise, it's just another depressing Hollywood formula movie, the usual "darkest before the Dawn" that just goes overboard and gets too self indulgent and too contrived every step of the way.

Well, it was nice to see Bond back on the screen, and just in time for me to get my Drivers License, so this isn't the 1st 007 film I ever saw on the big screen, but it's the first that I got to drive myself to.
And I remember that the media kept asking "who will be 007's villain now that the USSR has fallen?" By then I had seen all the Bond films to date, by then I was a 007 fanatic, and that is when I first realized that the media really has the memory of a Goldfish... a lesson that would serve me well later in life and still does to this day.
Anyway, it was pretty classy fun how you only got glimpses of Brosnan for the first few moments of the introduction... it WOULD have been better if, you know, the entire world didn't know he was 007 already, but I guess it was a happy surprise for the few people that were living under a rock for the year or so leading up to the film's release. The few people that missed all of the nonstop hype.
Tina Turner did one of the better 007 songs, Brosnan had a heck of a showing as 007... Onatop was probably the last of the 007 suggestive name tropes to make an appearance in film (unless you count Christmas who was only named so for a closing joke), and for the most part it was a great showing.
I mean, the tank chase alone should sell you on it. As should 006.
But, at the end, it was just a competent and decent showing that is beloved primarily because of relief. Relief that Brosnan was 007, relief that they were making 007 movies again, relief that some fun was brought back to the world.

**Goldeneye is the gold standard of spy movies and Bond films.**
Goldeneye edges out Casino Royale and Skyfall as my favorite Bond film of all time. After decades of campy James Bond movies like Octopussy and A View to a Kill, Bond felt more like a punchline than a suave master spy. The franchise seemed to have lost its way, but Goldeneye brought gritty action, mind-blowing stunts, beautiful and capable Bind girls, and an outstanding cast back to Bond, returning the spy to his iconic and sterling reputation. Pierce Brosnan's Bond convincingly outwitted criminal masterminds and decisively overcame enemy opposition with precision and brutality while also believably charming and romancing beautiful villains and allies. Goldeneye nails every classic Bond element with more tenacity and realism. 006 betraying his country and becoming the evil mirror to 007 provides a deeper antagonist than Bond typically faces. The Bond girls are not helpless damsels but capable enemies or skilled partners that help him save the day. The action set pieces are astonishing, from driving a tank through the busy city streets of St Petersburg to dangling hundreds of feet above the ground in Costa Rice to the incredible base jump in the opening sequence. Even after all these years, Goldneye's effects and action still hold up. It is also the first movie with Judi Dench as M. Goldeneye is quintessential Bond at its absolute best!

_**The Russia installment, plus Pierce Brosnan’s debut**_
Agent 007 (Pierce Brosnan) returns to Russia to investigate the theft of a space-based electromagnetic pulse weapon, which destroyed a radar facility in Siberia with only one survivor (Izabella Scorupco). Sean Bean plays an MI6 agent, Famke Janssen a ruthless assassin, Gottfried John a Russian commander, Joe Don Baker a CIA contact in St. Petersburg and Judi Dench the new ‘M.’
"Goldeneye" (1995) introduces Brosnan for his four-film stint in the series and he does a fine job as James Bond. Some people write him off as a “pretty boy” but, while he’s a handsome man, he’s also masculine and kick-axx. He’s perfect for the role.
While the plot is overly convoluted, the flick delivers the goods. The action highlights include the opening Russian dam sequence, a car chase in Monaco, the theft of an attack helicopter in Monte Carlo, a wild tank chase in St. Petersburg and the action-packed close in the jungles of Cuba with the secret lair thereof.
Izabella Scorupco is gorgeous in a winsome way and more shoulda been done with her. Meanwhile sharp Famke is perhaps the most sadistic biyatch in the series.
The film runs 2 hours, 9 minutes, and was shot in Switzerland (chemical weapons facility); Monte Carlo (casino) & nearby Alpes-Maritimes, France (car chase); England; St. Petersburg, Russia; and Puerto Rico (Goldeneye Satellite Dish & beach scene).
GRADE: B

Really solid entry into the series with Brosnan, who is personally my favorite Bond, is great. The plot is on the thin side but is helped having Sean Bean as the sinister villain and of course Famke Janssen makes for an amazingly sexy psychopath with, ahem, incredible thighs. **4.0/5**