Havoc | Review by: Benjamin Garrett

Compensating for its formulaic plot with a whole lotta violent action, Havoc is a sufficiently entertaining bloodbath. This is essentially an 80’s b-tier action movie with a shiny modern coat of paint, and despite its shortcomings, it emerges as a passably fun watch.

Nearly character in this story is a different level of corrupt. Dirty cops, dirty politicians, gang members, drug dealers - they’re all involved in shady business at varying levels. Tom Hardy’s character is among the least corrupt (but still a little corrupt to keep things interesting), so that makes him the protagonist by default. He plays a detective in the back pocket of a powerful politician, sent to do one last job before he can get out and live a clean life. Sound familiar? That’s because we’ve seen variations on this trope a million times before. It’s a tired story beat that does this movie no favours in the originality department. Hardy is reliably entertaining in the role, with some surprisingly great comedic delivery to boot.

…But then the bullets start flying, and the blood starts splattering, and you think “huh, maybe I don’t really care about the plot all that much”. You can kick back, turn your brain off and enjoy the carnage at face value. The action is frenetic - unwieldy and messy at times, but effectively so. The camera sticks tight to the action, shakily navigating through each shootout and brawl in ways that make the cameraman feel like he’s trying to dodge bullets too. There’s some wonky CGI used during a chase scene that opens the movie, but it surprisingly fits with the gritty tone and attitude the movie constantly exudes. There’s also a grainy film stock filter that helps mask some of the digital deficiencies.

Havoc takes aim and opens fire on a weak script with a full clip. What it lacks in narrative originality and at times coherence, it makes up for in pure violent bliss. Chaotic action sequences, a slick soundtrack and a solid lead performance from Hardy make this sturdy popcorn streaming flick worth a watch.

3/5

Review by: Benjamin Garrett

Boss Level Film Review

Boss Level is a new addition to the time loop genre, with a twist. Ex-special forces officer, Roy Pulver, played by Frank Grillo, relives the same day until he dies. Every day he is hunted by assassins and when killed, he wakes up back in his bed where he started, only to have to try and survive all over again. Roy has no idea why he is stuck in this infinite time loop but he must do what he can to survive, and the longer he survives, the more he uncovers about his particular situation. Unlike most action films that take time to build up, this film gets right into it and offers tons of non-stop combat sequences that would satisfy any lover of action films. Its erratic flow makes for some fun action scenes which come out of nowhere since Roy can expect the assassins to attack at any moment. If you play video games often and have ever been stuck on a level for hours or even days, you know the feeling of having to repeat the same thing over and over again u...

Godzilla vs. Kong Film Review

Godzilla versus Kong is the action movie we have been longing for since all major blockbuster films pushed back their release dates. After three solo films between Kong and Godzilla, we finally see the two titans clash on film for the first time in what is the culmination of the Universal Monsterverse. The story is split nicely in two as team Kong and team Godzilla each have their own mission. Team Kong is on a secret mission to the center of the earth to uncover the mystery of the titans. This team consists of Dr. Nathan, Dr. Ilene, Maia, and the Youngest character in the film, Jia. Team Godzilla consists of Madison, Josh, and Bernie who are also on a secret mission, to infiltrate Apex Cybernetics with the theory that they are up to no good and are the reason why Godzilla has been acting up recently. The dynamics of the teams are well balanced as the Kong story provides us with serious and more action-heavy bits in contrast to the Apex team story that ...

Better Man | Review by: Benjamin Garrett

What at first feels like a CGI gimmick allows Better Man to climb and swing it’s way beyond standard biopic conventions. This larger than life musical is worth a watch even if, like me, you needed to ask “Who the hell is Robbie Williams?”. A pop icon in the UK who didn’t quite make a household name for himself in North America, Robbie Williams bares his life (the good the bad and the drug fueled ugly) in this dazzling account of his rise to fame. Musician biopics often focus too heavily on the creation of the artist’s work, and not enough on the actual artist. Better Man gives audiences a sobering portrait of the man behind the monkey, with his songs placed in pivotal life and career moments to move the narrative forward. This works especially well if you aren’t entirely familiar with Williams’ work, because you won’t find yourself waiting to hear specific needle drops. Instead they flow organically into the story, with gorgeously choreographed musical numbers. And bo...

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