Rate The Last Movie You Saw

I can't vouch for this exact movie (haven't seen it), but over the last decade and a half, there have actually been some pretty good movies to come out of the DTV space. John Hyams (son of Peter) and Isaac Florentine are two directors who grasp the nuts and bolts of action direction better than a lot of big budget filmmakers. You don't get the benefits of that bigger budget (bigger scale, deeper casts), but for well executed no frills action, you could do a lot worse.

The best way to sum up Adkins' appeal is if the classic JCVD or Seagal vehicles had an actual good actor as the star. (Oddly enough, JCVD became a legitimately good actor after his career tanked and he started doing DTV stuff.)

Wrath of Man - Looks like Guy Ritchie is two for four when it comes to his projects starring Jason Statham with Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch being superior and memorable productions. Revolver was just a convoluted mess though and this one falls somewhere in between. Having it set in Los Angeles means there's none of the offbeat British gangster appeal and instead it's peopled with wall-to-wall loathsome characters. I don't know if it's Ritchie's take on American boorishness or if he was going for hard boiled and failed.

Anyway, the story is told in semi-flashback style in four parts that eventually flow together. It opens with an armored truck robbery gone wrong told from the guards perspective in which the two and a civilian are killed. Flash forward five months with Statham playing Patrick "H" Hill, brand new hire at Fortico Security, a "cash truck" company. And, according to the script, just about everyone with a speaking role employed at Fortico is a misogynistic, homophobic mouth breather. They also have totally butch nicknames like Bullet (Holt McAllany) and "Boy Sweat" Dave (Josh Hartnett). I mean, I can sort of understand where they're coming from with this stuff. You get a bunch of guys together and they'll eventually get around to busting each others balls. But here there's no nuance you can use as a barometer. There's regular a-holes and even worse a-holes. Even Statham's surly protagonist is obnoxious.

Once Hill starts working there's the requisite few runs before another attempt at a robbery is made and Hill gets to show his skills where he quickly neutralizes the entire gang. This is where it got sort of confusing, at least for me. According (again) to the script, Los Angeles is a hotbed of armored car robberies with a veritable mosh pit of numerous gangs swarming over each other to knock them off. Andy Garcia shows up as a Federal agent and it's not entirely clear if he's there as a Basil Exposition type because his contribution serves to muddy the waters even more. There's a supposed crime lord pulling all the strings but which of these robbery crews does he control? All of them?

Stick with it and there's a bravura big score and accompanying shoot out at the end. Some will be okay with the intertwoven plotlines and time jumps, while others will find it needlessly complicated. But hey, it's Guy Ritchie and you have to expect this kind of trickery and embellishment from him.

70/100

James White, 2015

James White (Christopher Abbott) is a twenty-something man with a drinking problem who we first meet mourning the recent death of his mostly absentee father. James convinces his mother, Gail (Cynthia Nixon) to sponsor him on a vacation to Mexico so that he can "process". But during his vacation Gail summons James back to New York---her cancer has returned and she has to go into another round of treatment. James does not deal well with this news, and even his best friend Nick (Kid Cudi) and his girlfriend, the high school age Jayne (Makenzie Leigh) can't keep him under control.

This is a well-observed, slice of life film that takes a stark look at the way that a trauma or challenging event can impact someone with a mental health issue or an addiction. It's a oft-seen trope that tough times really teach someone to clarify their priorities and get their life together. But the reality for many people is that a dying loved one does not cure alcoholism, and that stress and anger are not emotions that often lead to positive life changes.

Christopher Abbott has quickly become someone I get excited to see on screen. I really liked his performances in both Sweet Virginia and Possessor, and he does a great job here as well. James is a character who wants a solid life--a job, money, a girlfriend--but is fundamentally unwilling or unable to put in the work on himself to make it happen. With his mother dying, his last unquestioning support system is going away and he can't handle it.

The movie does a great job of simply observing James, which is wise because he is for the most part a pretty unsympathetic character. Frequently drunk, getting drunk, or hungover, he's the kind of person who will show up to a job interview in dirty clothing smelling of alcohol and then act baffled when told he's being unprofessional. He also, you know, seduces a teenager (who is often more mature than he is and seems to realize her mistake yet is not able to cut ties with him). His best friend is the kind of person who clearly cares about him, but makes horrible mistakes himself and doesn't do much to pull James out of the fire. Whether James is in this situation because of choices he's made, because of the way his parents raised him, or because of some underlying addiction/mental health reasons, you can at least realize that this is a person in pain whose life is probably only going to get worse.

Nixon is a strong supporting character as a mother who, facing her own mortality, must also worry about the child she's leaving behind. At this point, it is too late for her to course correct. She wants to allow James to be part of her care and her final days, but he is irresponsible and unreliable and she is losing her own mental and emotional capabilities.

This is a very well acted character study and I'd highly recommend it.

Seagal was perfect. Period. Adkins is possibly the best modern B-action star, but he never could have done the old Seagal films.

__________________

Scott Adkins is superior to Seagal and JCVD both in acting and martial arts ability by a sizable portion, and I say that as a fan of many of their films. Adkins prowess is almost unmatched in western cinema with only certain stunt doubles or other DTV stars like Michael Jai White rivaling him.

His output is also consistent, in which even if the movie around it isn’t great, the action is almost always amazing. His works like Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, Ninja 2, Accident Man, Triple Threat and Avengement are better than practically anything mainstream Hollywood has churned out in the genre. Comparing the action in those to the various Neeson (the modern closest parallel) or even bigger stars like the Rock is… well, there’s simply no comparison.

John Hyams, Isaac Florentine and Jesse V. Johnson are among the most talented action directors in the biz right now and I’m shocked the MCU hasn’t stolen them away.

That said, Abduction is abysmal and the worst Adkins film I’ve seen by a fairly large margin. Namely because it is effects driven (with TERRIBLE effects) and rarely allows Adkins to show off his action chops.

Agreed. Though I do think that Van Damme has significant charisma in films like Universal Soldier even when his acting is spotty. Seagal has never really worked for me, and finding out that he's also a sexual predator hasn't made my opinion of him more charitable.

Also agreed. Sigh.

I kept hoping it would get better and it most definitely did not.

Yeah, this is a good one!

__________________

I’m a big fan of JCVD and consider a lot of his early films to be camp action classics. However, he’s never proven himself capable of complex choreography like Adkins. All of his work is very editing, often repeating the same kick numerous times to seem like a flurry. But his performance in “JCVD” and Jean Claude Van Johnson have shown tremendous growth as an actor, if not a martial artist. The man can certainly do the splits though.

Seagal kinda sucks. Whereas someone like Chuck Norris has no charisma, Seagal has an anti-charisma, with his sleaziness just permeating through every performance. Some of his early films are strong despite him (Under Siege, Above the Law, and Marked for Death) but he brings neither chops more a martial arts skill that actually lends itself to cinematic fighting. He's also the world's most comically inept runner in cinema history.

I picked up the Blu-ray of Abduction for a whopping $3 and discovered there were two cuts of the film. I don't remember which I watched but the special effects looked incomplete. It hurt to look at because they clearly chose the effects over building competent action. It was like they stuck Adkins in an Asylum film. What a waste. Never watched the other cut so maybe it was less shockingly poor.

Blasphemy! Seriously, early Seagal films have some of the best fight scenes ever put on film. They're so far away from the usual 80s jumping and high roundhouse kicks, and I absolutely adore the fact that his character being a mega bad mofo actually shows in his films and he basically mops the floor with most of his opponents. If I'd had to compile a list of the best movie fights, half of the top ten would probably be Seagal.

He's a better and more believable fighter than Rudy Ray Moore. I'll give him that.

Okay, forget my review. This is all anyone needs to know about Abduction.

I agree. It was a tad slow to start while it was setting up the wacky premise. But from then on it was madcap.

Maybe. But at least he's a great dancer.

Notice how she's careful to keep her distance.

There are (1) pants on his body and (2) multiple witnesses. Two things we have learned are not always things women are lucky enough to have in his presence.

Honestly, this is just sorta the exact kinda popcorn flick I avoid. I don't know why. I remember when it came out and I felt a sort of repulsion, like it was a cockroach on my pancakes.
I am no hi-brow when it comes to movies, I love The Ice Pirates and even like The Boogens for gods' sake... but I just can't bring myself to watch this kinda thing or DTV actioners. I just can't do it.

Hmmm... that's actually interesting.

Alright, let's just say I was actually gonna add one or two of these to my queue - not saying I'll watch 'em but maybe put 'em in the queue and who knows what could happen some rainy day - y'all give me Adkins' best and one other of these to put in those slots. Please.

The thing I love about Seagal - Old Seagal, I never had too much affection for him at his, erm, peak - is that no parody of him could be as much of a parody of him as he actually is. Of him.

__________________
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page