Movie review: Cosmic Sin

 Far in the future, a group of soldiers including a disgraced retired general who is recalled, is sent on a preemptive strike against a new alien enemy civilization in hopes of preventing an interstellar war.

Frank Grillo (Ryle), Bruce Willis (Ford), Brandon Lee (Braxton), Corey Large (Dash), Lochlyn Munro (Locke), Costas Mandylor (Bleck), CJ Perry (Cantos), Perrey Reeves (Dr. Goss), Eva De Dominici (Sayle).

Cosmic Sin starts with a bit of reading as we zoom 500 years or so into the future, learn we are not alone in the universe, aliens are not always nice, and interstellar war is on the horizon. To solve this problem, a group of soldiers is sent to attack an alien civilization as a preemptive strike. If that idea wasn't bad enough, a disgraced retired general with past alien issues is recalled to join the mission. The remainder of the film is sci-fi action through the flat ending.

Acting was a bit of a mess here. Grillo was dark, brooding, and sporadically over the top as usual. Willis was in the film, but with his lack of lines or much else, was he really? Large was fun, while Munro and Mandylor delivered their usual. The remainder of the cast was okay.

Camera work, sets, and backgrounds were mild but good. Costuming was well done. Effects were decent with fair attention to detail, good movement, and reasonable fit. Dialogue was on the thin side, while sound and soundtrack are fitting.

Cosmic Sin is very possibly an apt description of this film. The story felt like it was lacking life and energy which, considering the storyline is about saving humanity with an interstellar war, was surprising. The plot lacked originality but okay, Willis is in the film and will save it. Instead, Willis was almost part of the background cast with few lines and even less emotional delivery leaving things to Grillo in a limited role. Most will find the film lacking in several ways.

Some violence, mild gore, and some foul language, but this should bore the socks off anyone over 15 years old quite easily.

Released: 2021
Reviewed: 8.24.21
Star rating: 2 out of 5
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure, Aliens, Action & Adventure

copyright ©2021 Dave Riedel

Movie review: Blood Red Sky

Her transatlantic flight hijacked by terrorists, a mother with a strange illness springs into action to protect her son, exposing her true self in the process and potentially endangering all of humanity.

Peri Baumeister (Nadja), Carl Koch (Elias), Alexander Scheer (Eightball), Kais Setti (Farid), Dominic Purcell (Berg), Graham McTavish (Drummond), Kai Baulitz (Buchner), Roland Moller (Karl), Chici Ajufo (Curtiz).

Blood Red Sky begins at the end before rolling to a flashback and starting over. Here the story jumps right to Nadja to try and give us a sense of her mysterious illness. From there, the hijacking plot takes over for a while before the two are combined into a vampire horror flick with an airplane twist. The film winds back around to what we thought was the ending, adds a twist, and finishes fairly well.

Acting was interesting. Baumeister was completely unlikeable at first, but got much better. Koch was pretty good and brought good depth to the story. Setti was okay, while Purcell was type-cast nicely once again and delivered his usual. McTavish, Baulitz, and the remainder of the cast were decent.

Camera work, sets, and backgrounds felt realistic other than some wide open spaces on the airplane. Effects were handled nicely and fit well. Dialogue was okay with reasonable depth. Sound and soundtrack are fairly lethargic.

In the end, Blood Red Sky sticking vampires on an airplane to create a horror flick is an interesting and fairly unique approach which was managed well. Horror fans, vampire fans, and even plane disaster fans should enjoy this one at least somewhat.

With a fair amount of blood, gore, violence, disturbing images, foul language, some more blood and violence, save this one for older teens and above.

Released: 2021
Reviewed: 8.24.21
Star rating: 3 out of 5
Genre: Horror, Vampires, Action, Thriller, German

copyright ©2021 Dave Riedel
 

Movie review: Hunter Killer

 Unproven submarine Captain Glass is tasked with the extraction of a Navy SEAL team attempting to rescue Russia's president from a rogue general staging a military coup. Instead Glass finds his boat at the center of not only the rescue operation, but possibly a war.

Gerard Butler (Glass), Gary Oldman (Donnegan), Common (Fisk), Linda Cardellini (Norquist), Corey Johnson (Captain), Adam James (Forges), Carter MacIntyre (XO), Michael Nyqvist (Andropov), Toby Stephens (Beaman).

Hunter Killer begins with mild character introductions and setup before quickly moving to the main plot with a somewhat familiar storyline. Unproved submarine Captain Glass is sent to Russian waters to extract a seal team rescuing the Russian president. Instead Glass finds himself essentially at war with Russia, but with a fellow Russian submariner helping him out. The story finishes with a rather bland Happy Ever After ending.

Acting was solid with Butler and Oldman delivering well, though if you were hoping to see Butler in an action role forget it. Fisk fit his role nicely and managed it well, as did Cardellini. Nyqvist was well cast and did nicely, as did MacIntyre and the remainder of the supporting cast.

Camera work, sets, and backgrounds were good with a fairly solid, realistic feel. Variety of settings and use of natural backgrounds were good, while heavy visual effects were well done. Dialogue had good depth and movement. Sound and soundtrack are decent.

Overall Hunter Killer is a solid action thriller with a strong military aspect that most should enjoy despite a few technical plot holes. The story moves along well, the characters are mostly likeable, and the film develops some depth without becoming overly dark or serious.

With some mild violence and some foul language, this should be fine for teens and above.

Released: 2018
Reviewed: 8.24.21
Star rating: 4 out of 5
Genre: Action, Thriller, Military, Action & Adventure, Drama

copyright ©2021 Dave Riedel

Movie review: Fantasy Island

 

Fantasy Island is a magical place where secret dreams come true. Run by Mr. Roarke, guests at the tropical resort live their dreams up until they turn to nightmares and then must solve the island's mystery to survive.

Michael Pena (Mr. Roarke), Maggie Q (Gwen), Lucy Hale (Melanie), Austin Stowell (Patrick), Jimmy Yang (Brax), Portia Doubleday (Sloane), Ryan Hansen (JD), Michael Rooker (Damon), Parisa Fitz-Henley (Julia).

Fantasy Island launches pretty well with some interesting plot setup and character introductions. From there the film turned into a fairly bland suspense style mystery. Guests to the island are allowed to live out a single fantasy however, the island is a bit twisted and so the fantasies take dark turns the guests don't expect. The guests then need to solve the island's mystery to survive, though how exactly that works is itself a mystery. The biggest disappointment with this one; it had none of the energy or fun of the original series and was instead dark and negative.

Acting was actually good here with Pena doing a nice job. Maggie Q was decent, if a bit stiff. Hale was fun as was Stowell, Yang, and Hansen. Doubleday fit her role well and delivered, as did Rooker, also in type. The remainder of the cast was solid and enjoyable.

Camera work, sets, and backgrounds were decent with a fairly solid feel and good fit. Action was good with nice intensity and detail. Dialogue was reasonable and moved things along, though the humor was flat. Sound and soundtrack are solid.

Overall Fantasy Island is a low-energy horror fantasy flick which many will enjoy. Those hoping to find an extension of the TV series will be seriously disappointed.

With some mild sexuality and nudity, violence, gore, and a few foul words, this should be fine for teens and above.

Released: 2020
Reviewed: 8.15.21
Star rating: 3 out of 5
Genre: Horror, Action, Fantasy, Adventure

copyright ©2021 Dave Riedel