Jim_Screechy

And by that I mean, let's face it, this is a sub genre to the John Wick Franchise which itself has declined in quality and value with every subsequent rendition. So why would anyone expect this to deliver.

Well actually it does, in spades. For sheer engagement and entertainment it certainly does what it says on the tin, and without the need to overly rely on John Wick precludes for support.

I rolled my eyes when I heard about this movie - please god not another female hero come badass assasin who beats men up whout breaking a sweat while standing 5 foot nothing and barely outweighing my thirteen year old son. In truth there is a bit of that, but its done sensibly and without obviously trying to beguile you into beliving that women are equal to men in raw strength and hand to hand combat.

What they have done instead is (for the most part) have her really need to labour through her battles and for her victories. She never looks like she's going to have an easy win and in fact sometimes she's on the end of some severe beatings before managing though wit, cunning and shear determination to produce a victory. Its a pretty far cry from the 'women are as strong as men' narrative we've been fed over recent years and it goes a long way to giving the fight coreography credibility. Hats off to them for getting this right. OK, its not all celebration, even with the stabbings, kicks, punches and beatings she takes, there's barely a bruise on her, but... baby steps eh.

The movie is an action feast from start to finish and even though the story is a little threadbare, its no more so than any prior JW installment, so I'm not going to split hairs. There are certainly less intriguing things to do than watch Ana de Armas fight on screen while looking nothing less than enticingly appealing, but in fairness she's well suited for this role.

It's a bit of a strange one, because its both memorable and forgettable at the same time, but in truth I enjoyed it, and I didn't think I would. I can ask little more from a film production than to be entertained and this movie did thaat quite comprehensively.

I'm giving it a generous 7/10.

I understand that there are limitations in just how much realism from various aspects of true life can be practically depicted in cinema, but in the opening sequences when I saw the casual handover between drivers in the Daytona race I had to roll my eyes and thought 'here we go'. It was as though I was watching Morgan Freeman preparing to 'Drive Miss Daisy' such was the cusory demeanor at play.

Having said that the movie does have it's moments. Did they get everything about F1 right, was it a true portrayal of F1 events? Absolutely not; but for the purposes of movie magic, did they do well in giving taste of reality, excitement and competition, absolutely! I can imagine this serves the F1 fraternity well, and those never have seen a race will clamber to find a channel or event they can attend. Will they be dissapointed with the real thing? Actually I don't thin so. The movie does a good job in preparing them for what to expect, and while the experience may differ from the impression the movie gives, the true experience will be a intense and worthwhile one.

I'm not going to go into any depth on specifics... direction, casting, performances etc, I'm sure others will give you all the information you need. I'm simply going to focus on what the movie delivers.

So, is the movie any good? Again yes, its entertaining at the very least, so it delivers on what it promises. If you've seen any of the top gun movies they you should know what to expect as it varies very little in the formulaic production that is offered. True, the story is a little weak, but the movie makes good on its strengths and doesn't attempt to 'hoodwink' you into thinking this is a masterpiece of story telling, and again, it does well with the story it IS trying to tell.

Despite my criticisms I liked it. I'm giving it a generous 7/10 because in spite of the things I didnt like, not only did it do a great job with the things I did, but I felt entertained, and I can't ask more of a movie than that.

I had to remind myself before watching that it is not an F1 documentary, it goes as far to say 'F1 THE MOIVE' quite clearly to make that distinction. Particularly if you're an F1 fan I think if you bare this in mind you'll probably enjoy it too.

7/10 from me.

Pretty good.

I really wanted to love this movie having seen the trailers and had my interest and desire suitably stimulated; unfortunately it simply fails to live up to the hype and ends up being at best, another run of the mill spy movie... but actually not quite that, since it really doesn't meet even a mediore standard in what it offers for either excitement or enjoyment.

I think Rami Malek is miscast for this role. He's out of his depth in portraying a character that requires a much larger range of capabilities than he's required previously or has at his disposal. This becomes fairly obvious very early on in the movie, and I'm only surprised this limitation wasn't flagged as problematic and addressed.

That said, though this certainly detracts from the movies ability to engage, it isn't the only or even main issue with this production. It's difficult to accept his character swanning about in foreign lands unchallenged, unseen and unintercepted by the miriad of serveilance cameras agents and technological capabilites that persist in today's society. This may have worked pre-millenium, but not today and it's just one of the many issues the movie has. Again, this isn't the only issue, some things that occur, particularly during his ascent to assasin while learning the art of counter intelligence as an agent... are simply ridiculous. I'll not going into detail, it could take a while. Suffice to say, it's a little ridiculous.

However!, the main issue is the movie just isn't that good. The story is poorly written and badly executed. Our protagonist largely goes about his business of becoming a spy, come assasin with relative ease, and by that I mean without the movie offering up any real challenges to his progress. Hell if it's that easy, which it certainly seems to be, I think I could do it as a veteran IT hotshot with a half decent IQ.

Plot holes and oversights aside I can forgive a lot if I'm ultimately entertained and engaged in what's on offer. Here I wasn't and wasn't, and in truth barely made it to the end.

5/10.