Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller

Year: 2014

Country: USA, France

Rating:

Starring: Kevin Costner, Amber Heard, Hailee Steinfeld, Connie Nielsen, Tómas Lemarquis

Director: McG

My Review: 3 Days to Kill - 2014 (Action, drama, thriller) Written (in part) by Luc Besson. Directed by McG (Director of two Charlie’s Angels movies, Terminator Salvation, and producer for many TV shows and TV movies (including the ‘Nikita’ television series). Staring Kevin Costner, Amber Heard, Hailee Steinfeld, Connie Nielsen, Tomas Lemarquis, Richard Sammel and others. I like Luc Besson (for his writing and direction) and Kevin Costner did a good job portraying the aging hitman who wants ‘out of the business’, the story in this movie doesn’t contain anything new in the genre. Kevin Costner plays Ethan Renner, a go-to hitman who does a lot of work for the CIA (I’m not quite sure whether he’s a CIA employee or he’s simply hired to do work for the CIA). When he wants out of the business, his handler’s won’t let him out. As a matter of fact, some has infected/injected/afflicted him with a poison, toxin, modified DNA - I don’t know exactly what, but now he has no choice. He’s got ‘Brain Cancer’ and he has to kill for the CIA or he’s going to die, because the mysterious disease/poison/toxin will kill him if he doesn’t comply with their twisted assassination plans. He’s gotta do what they say in order to get the miracle cure. The villain appears to be a master spy/evil mastermind who enjoys dressing like a Saturday night hooker. Her scariest attribute is her odd ability to cow master assassins with vain threats. A real assassin would have tortured her ass within an inch of her life for threatening him, his family, or his livelihood - I’m sorry but the story really required me to suspend my dis-belief in ways that weren’t plausible or explainable, and this movie really isn’t good enough for me to forgive that sort of problem. In addition to the preposterous ‘must kill’ scenario, the primary character is also saddled with a baby-sitting job. He has to look after his teenage daughter while the ex-wife is out of town. Lot’s of action, explosions, glossy make-up, high fashion costumes and expensive cars doesn’t make this movie good. As a matter of fact, it actually detracted from the movie, made it less believable and more obnoxious. The movie is completely forgettable. There’s nothing novel, new, or worthwhile in the story and the glitzy production didn’t help cover the weak script or lack of character development. I give this movie a 2 out of 5.

Summary: Dying of brain cancer, a dangerous international spy is determined to give up his high stakes life to finally build a closer relationship with his estranged wife and daughter, whom he's previously kept at arm's length to keep out of danger; but first, he must complete one last mission - even if it means juggling the two toughest assignments yet: hunt down the world's most ruthless terrorist and look after his teenage daughter for the first time in ten years while his wife is out of town.

Genre: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi

Year: 2000

Country: USA

Rating:

Starring: Vin Diesel, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, Keith David, Lewis Fitz-Gerald

Director: David Twohy

My Review: Pitch Black - 2000 (Horror, sci-fi, action) Directed and Written (in part) by David Twohy. Starring Vin Diesel (as Richard B. Riddick), Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, Keith David, Lewis Fitz-Gerald, Claudia Black and others. Pitch Black marks the beginning of a movie mythos. I don’t think the producers expected it to do as well as it did, and from it was born a franchise. With a fourth film in production (as of Mar, 2016), this is the movie that started it all by creating a character that couldn’t be ignored. Riddick is a dark hero. A downtrodden victim of a brutal and merciless post-civilized society where there’s only two types of citizens - Those who obey and those who don’t. Riddick is one of the latter. Riddick is a convicted felon on his way to some sort of penal colony along with a ship full of colonists bound for some ‘holy land’. When the transport crashes on a desert planet, only a survivor like Riddick can guide the remaining colonists through a deadly eclipse. The survivors find an abandoned settlement and make an unsettling discovery. This planet is missing its colonists for a very deadly reason. Every 22 years this planet slips into a month long eclipse, and the planets indigenous, subterranean inhabitants come out to play. When the lights go down, these nasty creatures come crawling out of their underground lairs, and the war is on. It’s a non-stop slug-fest where only the deadliest predator survives. What’s more dangerous Riddick or the flesh eating night dwellers? Can they manage to evacuate or will they all die on this desert planet? The casting, direction, pacing and editing are all top notch. The story is a tense race between man and monster. Vin Diesel and the rest of the cast do a great job in their roles, and the colors, sounds and costumes all blend perfectly to create a creepy, frightening sci-fi thriller unlike any other. I give this movie a 5 out of 5.

Summary: The space transport vessel "Hunter-Gratzner" carrying 40 people on-board crashes on a desert planet when the ship is struck in a meteor storm. There are only 11 survivors, among them are pilot Carolyn Fry (Who has assumed command after the ship's captain is killed), bounty hunter William J. Johns, religious man Abu Al-Walid, Antiques dealer Paris P. Ogilvie, runaway teenager Jack, settlers John 'Zeke' Ezekiel and his lover Sharon 'Shazza' Montgomery, and Richard B. Riddick, a dangerous escaped convict. Marooned, the survivors discover the barren and hot desert-scape has sunlight from three suns. Not only must they find food and water and worry about Riddick, the survivors find themselves being hunted by the planet's flesh-eating alien inhabitants when the planet is engulfed in darkness, which happens every 22 years, as they emerge from underground to hunt and eat all signs of life. Fry and the survivors find Riddick is their best chance of survival, as Riddick has surgically-enhanced ...

Genre: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Year: 2013

Country: Canada

Rating:

Starring: Kevin Zegers, Laurence Fishburne, Bill Paxton, Charlotte Sullivan, Dru Viergever

Director: Jeff Renfroe

My Review: The Colony - 2013 (Sci-fi, action, horror) This is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi, horror movie set in the distant future. Written (in part) and directed by Jeff Renfroe, this movie stars Kevin Zeegers, Laurence Fishbone, Bill Paxton and others. The apocalypse came in the form of an ice-age, brought on by Global Warming? The movie was filled with a lot of ridiculous scenarios/situations… In this movie, there are a few colonies of humans eking out a living in underground shelters. Down in the bowels of the earth or the basement of some building, where there’s apparently enough ‘left-over’ electricity to keep things warm. The movie started off kind of slowly, and I thought it might be a good tension building mystery, but that changed abruptly about half way through the movie. These colonies have some marginal form of communication, like Ham Radio and YouTube for survivors. That way when there’s a problem they can post ‘Please come rescue us’ videos - because the radios stop working when there’s a problem, and you have to produce a disaster themed crazy mixed up ‘Help us!’ music video. When another colony of barely surviving humans calls for help, they don’t bother handing out details, and that somehow encourages other desperate colonies to send help? As I said the movie is full of ridiculous plot holes. Now spoiling the movie - because it doesn’t really deserve any further watching… The adversary turns out to be ‘Cannibals’ - We can tell they’re cannibals because they dress poorly, sharpen their teeth into fangs, have superhuman strength, excel at Parkour, like to shave their heads, are immune to the cold, and despite the fact that they can follow a conversation - Prefer to eschew legible communication for the scarier form of communication known as ‘Rawwwr!’ The plot was this. It’s the future, it’s really cold. All our friends are dying, so we should go help them. Oh my, Cannibals! Now run! Any further conversation regarding this movie is just as pointless as the movie. I give this movie a 2 out of 5.

Summary: Groups of people - colonies - are forced underground due to another ice age. Colony 7 goes to check on Colony 5, who they lost contact with. When they get there they find the that the colony has fallen and there is a whole new enemy that they have to face on their way back.

Genre: Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Year: 2011

Country: USA, Canada

Rating:

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright, Michael Arden

Director: Duncan Jones

My Review: Source Code - 2011 (Mystery, sci-fi, thriller) Kim and I had a 'Date Night' the other day. Twice in as many weeks, you'd think we were trying to set a record or something. One movie was on both our lists, so the choice wasn't all that difficult. This movie featured an excellent cast (Jake Gyllenhaal and Vera Farmiga) and a story line that was right up my alley. The story is quite unique. Colter Steven (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) is a member of the military, part of a super secret team fighting terrorists. This team combats terrorism using a rather interesting weapon - Time Travel. Colter has been recruited to work on this super secret team, and he's doing his best to find the man responsible for the slaughter of hundreds of people packed into a commuter train as it makes its way across the american countryside. If Jake and the team can't stop this terrorist, his next target will be far more dangerous, devastating, and 'dirty'. Can time travel change the present? Or will Captain Colter be doomed to repeat this 'no-win' scenario for all eternity? An awesome mind-bending plot with parallel dimensions and time travel plastered all over it. A sci-fi, mystery with excellent writing, editing, direction and technical detail. I loved it so much I bought a copy. 5 out of 5.

Summary: Colter Stevens, a US Army helicopter pilot whose last memory is flying in Afghanistan, wakes up on a commuter train. However, he discovers that he has assumed the identity of another man. 8 minutes later, the train explodes and Stevens finds himself in some kind of pod. He then talks to someone named Goodwin, who tells him he has to go back and find out who the bomber is. He is sent back to go through the whole thing again and attempts to find who the bomber is but fails. The bomb goes off and Stevens finds himself in the pod again. He is sent back another time, yet still cannot find out anything. When he returns, he asks what is going on. Goodwin and Rutledge, the scientist in charge, tell him that he is part of a project that can put someone in another person's consciousness during the last 8 minutes of their life. Stevens then asks why he cannot just stop the bomb. He is told that he is not going back in time but placed in the moment so he can find out who the bomber is and if ...