Movie Review - The Naked Gun

Director: Akiva Schaffer
Genre: Comedy/ Action
Runtime: 85 minutes
Year: 2025
Starring: Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Danny Huston, Paul Walter Hauser, CCH Pounder, Kevin Durand,
 
Description: Only one man (Liam Neeson) has the particular set of skills – to lead Police Squad and save the world.
 
Review: “The Naked Gun” is a new film, not so much a remake of the 1988 version, but more a continuation. Because Liam Neeson plays Frank Drebin Jr., the son of the late Sr. (Leslie Nielsen). Together with his partner he is investigating a seemingly innocent accident involving a self-driving car. The victim’s sister, Beth Davenport (Pamela Anderson), approaches Drebin with suspicions that this is not what it seems. She turns out to be right, and Drebin starts his investigation.

That this new version takes over the same humor from the original series is immediately clear from the opening scene, in which a little schoolgirl walks into a bank during a robbery and turns out to be Liam Neeson ins disguise. You know it’s silly, but you laugh anyway.

As it should be, this film is crammed with jokes from start to finish. Not all of them are brilliant, but because they keep coming, you can’t help but laugh. The plot, present but paper-thin, is purely a hook for adding as much nonsense as possible. There is even room for a parody of Wham’s “Last Christmas” music video, which takes a very bizarre turn.

For some reason, Liam Neeson is the perfect man for the job. Known for mainly serious roles, and in the last years action films, it’s somehow a breath of fresh air to see him in such a ridiculous role. And Neeson delivering silly lines with a straight face somehow works perfectly.  

Pamela Anderson is also surprisingly funny. Her singing the fictional jazz song “Sassafras Chicken” is super weird, but kind of funny too. She is on par with Priscilla Presley (who appears in the movie for a quick second) from the original series.

The running gag in this film is the coffee joke, where Frank is always being handed a cup of coffee, no matter what situation he is in. It works best when the joke hasn’t been used for a while and then suddenly reappears in an unexpected situation. They do miss the mark a bit when the are lowering themselves to the easy poop and sex jokes, which hardly ever works for me. But fortunately they are limited.  

If you’re a fan of the original films and you like silly humor, you will not be disappointed. When the film was first announced, I never expected it to work as well as it did.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

10s Movie Review - Edge of Darkness

Director: Martin Campbell
Genre: Drama/ Thriller/ Crime
Runtime: 108 minutes
Year: 2010
Starring: Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, Frank Grillo

Description: As homicide detective Thomas Craven (Mel Gibson) invstigates the murder of his activist daughter, he uncovers a corporate cover-up and government conspiracy that attracts an agent tasked with cleaning up the evidence.

Review: Mel Gibson hasn’t been in too many films in the 2010s. “Edge of Darkness” was one of them. The plot isn’t all that original. Gibson plays detective Thomas Craven. He is spending time with his daughter Emma. When she is feeling sick and Thomas is trying to get her to a doctor, someone shoots and kills Emma. Thomas does everything do find the person responsible for this.
Surprisingly enough director Martin Campbell wasn’t surprising and fresh for this thriller, when you come to think that he also directed “Casino Royale”, where he blew new life into the James Bond franchise. It’s a straight-forward thriller which follows the standard path.
They did try hard, because when a story is so standard you have to work harder to keep your audience’s attention. It does have some good fight scenes and car chases, but not enough to save the entire film. And the ending was not all that surprising.
“Edge of Darkness” is by no means a terrible movie, it’s just not original and it’s all been done before. With a bit more guts, this thriller could rise above average.

Rating: 2,5/ 5

Movie Reviews - Game Night

Director: John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 100 minutes
Year: 2018
Starring: Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Billy Magnussen, Kyle Chandler, Jesse Plemmons, Michael C. Hall, Danny Huston, Chelsea Peretti

Description: A group of friends who meet regularly for game nights find themselves entangled in a real-life mystery when the shady brother of one of them is seemingly kidnapped by dangerous gangsters.

Review: Two months after “Jumanji”, we get another fulm about dangerous games. But “Game Night” is not a blockbuster that has extravagant sets and special effects, but a satire mocking over-the-top action movies.
“Game Night” opens with Max and Annie meeting. They are both very competitive and love games. And game night is a regular thing in their lives. It’s basically just innocent games of Monopoly, Life, Charades and Scrabble. When Max’ brother Brooks joins them, he insist on hosting a game night himself. He thought of a murder mystery. But this game turns into a real kidnapping situation.
“Game Night” is at its best when Max and Annie are constantly trying to over throw everyone. Jason Bateman has played the role before, but it’s Rachel McAdams that steal the show. She doesn’t do this kind of comedy often, so it’s a real breath of fresh air. She is already one of my favorite actresses and I loved her in “Game Night”.
There is an element of surprise, which at one point they take a bit too far. But the camera techniques they use are really cool. And the jokes are sharp and quick. It sometimes has a hard time finding a balance.
“Game Night” is a fun comedy, that has Rachel McAdams and Jesse Plemons as its stars. It’s probably not a comedy classic, but it’s definitely a fun night.

Rating: 4 / 5

00s Movie Review - 30 Days of Night

Director: David Slade
Genre: Horror/ Thriller
Runtime: 115 minutes
Year: 2007
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, Ben Foster, Danny Huston, Manu Bennett, Mark Boone Junior

Description: After an Alaskan town is plunged into darkness for a month, it is attacked by a bloodthirsty gang of vampires.

Review: Comic books are perfect source material for film makers. Off course superhero movies, but films like “300” and “Sin City” were based on craphic novels. The dark comic “30 Days of Night” caught the interest of director David Slade and producer Sam Raimi. A story of vampires that haunt a Alaskan town that lives in total darkness for 30 days.
The town is called Barrow. Most citizens leave Barrow before the last sundown. But there are people left behind. On the evening before the 30 days of darkness begin, dog are brutally killed, cellphones are burned and computers are disconnected. The vampires know what to do to cut the people of from the rest of the world.
The vampire look not like your every day blood suckers. And they don’t just bite your neck to drink your blood, they rip their victims apart with their knife sharp teeth. And you can’t kill them, unless you cut off their head. And they speak a language we don’t understand. The leftover citizens, led by sheriff Eben, have to either avoid or beat the vampires to survive.
Although “30 Days of Night” is seen as a mediocre horror film and doesn’t get raving reviews, I always thought that it was an underrated film in the genre. The premise is really terrifying. A town in total darkness, being terrorized by creatures of the night. And it being a distant town makes it even scarier. This is a movie that genuinely scares me, what a horror movie should do.
Off course it has its flaws. The characters lack depth and the story overall is a bit thin. But there is enough to see and the film is visually very well done. And those flaws are easily forgotten. “30 Days of Night” is, in my eyes, an excellent film in the vampire horror genre.

Rating: 4 / 5

100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 78: Wonder Woman

Director: Patty Jenkins
Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Fantasy/ Science Fiction
Runtime: 133 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen, Robin Wright, Danny Huston, David Thewlis, Ewen Bremner, Lucy Davis

Description: Before she was Wonder Woman she was Diana (Gal Gadot), princess of the Amazons, trained warrior. When a pilot (Chris Pine) crashes and tells of conflict in the outside world, she leaves home to fight a war to end all wars, discovering her full powers and true destiny.

Review: DC isn’t doing as well as Marvel at the moment. “Batman V Superman” and “Suicide Squad” both disappointed, and “Man of Steel” got mixed reviews. Well, leave up to the women, because “Wonder Woman” is an amazing film. Director Patty Jenkins didn’t have an easy task, but she did a fantastic job.
The biggest strength of “Wonder Woman” is portraying believable, human heroes in an extravagant world.
Gal Gadot has a lot of room to develop Diana Prince. She grows up as a strong woman, wanting to fight for justice. A bit naïve she goes into the world to end World War I. Gadot is very charismatic, gorgeous and impressive in her role as Diana Prince. Chris Pine is her love interest and the two have amazing chemistry. The dialogues between the two are great and the romantic elements are kept to a minimal. And the humor is subtle.
The film is action packed, but it’s the right amount of action we get. There is only violence when it really matters. There is more room for character development. But whenever there is an action sequence, it impresses. Sometimes you see Zack Snyder’s influence, especially in those slow-motion moments.
Did I like “Wonder Woman”? No. I loved it. I always love watching strong female characters come to life on the big screen, it just happens that this one is also physically strong. And that a film like this is directed by a woman is also something that makes me happy. “Wonder Woman” is what DC needed right now and what I needed.

Rating: 4,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 15: Big Eyes

Director: Tim Burton
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 104 minutes
Year: 2014
Starring: Amy Adams, Christoph Waltz, Krysten Ritter, Jason Schwartzman, Danny Huston, Terence Stamp, Jon Polito, Elisabetta Faontine, James Saito, Guideo Furlani, Delaney Raye, Madeleine Arthur, Emily Bruhn, Alan McFarlane, Tony Alcantar, Jaden Alexander

Description: A drama about the awakening of the painter Margaret Keane (Amy Adams), her phenomenal success in the 1950s, and the subsequent legal difficulties she had with her husband (Christoph Waltz), who claimed credit for her works in the 1960s.

Review: Margaret Keane’s paintings were famous in the fifties and sixties. Even pop art front man Andy Warhol liked them. The paintings were characterized by portraits of children, with bid sad eyes. One problem: for a long time people thought Margaret’s husband Walter Keane was the creator of the paintings.
If you look at the design of the paintings, it’s typical Tim Burton. Not such a strange choice for a director. On the other hand, it’s not a typical Burton movie. We know Burton as the maker of fanciful, fairytale like movies like “Edward Scissorhands” and “Big Fish. “Big Eyes” is a true story.
“Big Eyes” starts off at the moment where Margaret is leaving her first husband, together with daughter Jane. Painting is the only thing, beside her daughter, that gives her joy. When moving to San Francisco, she continues to paint but without success. When she meets the charismatic Walter Keane, her live changes. He paints street sights of Paris and has talents as a salesman. Margaret and Walter see that they can offer each other a lot, so they decide to marry. When Margaret’s paintings get noticed, Walter takes credit for her work.
Burton choose to stay as close to the real story as possible. With that the story sometimes drags a bit and feels tedious at times. The fact that the movie is narrated, doesn’t help it. The movie also feels fragmentary, because the events follow each other rather quick.
Positive note is the superb enactment. Amy Adams is one of my favorites and I love her timid yet powerful performance. Christoph Waltz breaths charisma and that is again present in “Big Eyes”. That comedic court room scene, only Waltz can get away with that. Tim Burton, master of unlimited fantasy, took it easy by making “Big Eyes”. His movies didn’t bring him success lately and I’m afraid “Big Eyes” won’t change that. The film is okay, but the performances are better than the movie itself.

Rating: 2,5/ 5