Logan (2017) Movie Review

December 16, 2017 Steve Baqqi

After the success of Deadpool, Fox Studios suddenly got the nerve to allow the superheroes in its stable to be placed in R-rated films. Wolverine was the next logical choice. Despite some hit or miss sequels and reboots, terrible prequels, and one decent stand-alone film, the X-Men film franchise, and Wolverine, in particular, have always been bankable. Always repressing unfathomable rage, a living weapon with unbreakable razor claws protruding from his fists, Wolverine is tailor-made for a violent R-rated action romp. James Mangold directed the last successful standalone Wolverine film, aptly titled The Wolverine, and was given the creative reins for what could be Hugh Jackman’s final portrayal. Hugh Jackman has been faithfully reprising his role as Wolverine for seventeen years now and was ready to call it quits. Fan favorite, Patrick Stewart, was also brought back to play Professor X and the film is all the better for it. The result? A somber, neo-noir western that works as a perfect sendoff for both Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, and their respective characters. Logan skillfully integrates visceral action with gut-wrenching emotionality and bleak fatalism.

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The Purge: Election Year (2016) Movie Review

July 24, 2016 Steve Baqqi

The Purge has always been an extremely in your face franchise. The first Purge, to paraphrase MovieBob, was a brilliant idea that was utterly wasted on a silly home invasion movie. It’s sequel, The Purge: Anarchy, (remember Yahtzee’s formula from Independence Day: Regurgence) took the basic idea and setting and turned it into a graphic, intense, revenge action flick. Frank Grillo starred as Sergeant Leo Barnes, part Urban Rambo part Charles Bronson- Death Wish style baby. It was a massive improvement over the original, and par for the course was extremely over the top with its themes and graphic violence. The third sequel, The Purge: Election Year, wisely follows in its predecessor's footsteps by continuing to focus on Leo Barnes and using the extremely tense current (2016) election year as its political backdrop.

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Hardcore Henry (2016) Movie Review

June 7, 2016 Steve Baqqi

I went into Hardcore Henry assuming that the entire first person POV film would give me motion sickness or a headache but was glad that I was afflicted with neither. For those unaware, Hardcore Henry is a new action film set entirely in a first person POV perspective, like a first person shooter video game. Having said that the film is still a mess. It suffers from a poor story, narrative, and incredibly fast action sequences that blur together; making the film difficult to follow. The film thus is ironically held back by the very thing that makes it interesting, it's first person perspective.

Deadpool (2016) Movie Review

April 2, 2016 Steve Baqqi

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Deadpool is fun and violent--that’s it. I could end the review right here given the entire internet is about to combust with all things Deadpool related. The film has already made close to $800 million dollars and is now the highest grossing R rated film of all time, so chances are you’ve also already seen it, but I digress. The film is a diametric opposite to the grim growly seriousness of Batman v Superman. Deadpool (the character) is an unhinged psychopathic Daffy Duck/Bugs Bunny in tights, gleefully murdering everything in sight, while mocking the very notion of being a “superhero”. Thankfully the film doesn’t pander, annoy, or overstay its welcome instead it’s funny, violent, and acutely self-aware of the genre it so irreverently mocks.

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The Hateful Eight (2015) Movie Review

January 23, 2016 Steve Baqqi

I am a Tarantinophile. I can vividly remember the first time I saw a Tarantino movie. I was fourteen years old, and my family had gotten one of those super cable packages that included HBO, Showtime, and Cinemax on demand. Ironically it was my mother, a woman who vociferously hates cursing and violence, who recommended Pulp Fiction to me. I reluctantly tuned to the uncensored HBO showing of this film expecting a miserable affair, but I was instantly hooked by Tarantino’s trademarks: witty banter, extreme violence, bizarre circumstances and situations, and above all his love of movies. Having said all that, The Hateful Eight, is not my favorite Tarantino film. It has the pomp and circumstance of his latter releases (Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained), yet it suffers from what I’d term a ‘reverse Kill Bill’, with much of the setup coming in the first half, and much of the brutal violence coming in the second. The Hateful Eight, like most of Tarantino’s films, is a unique violent medley but it’s not among his best. The film’s interesting premise is let down by a plodding first half which is punctuated by an extremely bizarre scene.

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