Every Sunday, Gill delves into his archive of over 800 movie reviews and randomly selects three for your enjoyment! Here are this week’s…
Lockout
The middle hour of Lockout is loads of fun, and exactly what I wanted out of the film: John Carpenter’s Escape From New York, except set inside a maximum security space jail. The action sequences, the villainous inmates, and, of course, Guy Pearce’s wise-cracking anti-hero Snow, all make for a good time and the kind of campy sci-fi that I adore. Unfortunately, the first and last fifteen minutes or so of Lockout are clunky and poorly constructed. The beginning goes way overboard with character and place name text popping up on screen. What’s more, it’s inconsistent! Character names stop popping up after a while, even when new characters are introduced. Sloppy. The special effects in the opening chase are pretty bad as well, and could have used a bit more polishing in post-production. But overall, this is an enjoyable, turn-your-brain-off sci-fi action film that will entertain you for its duration.
3.25 out of 5
Sound of Noise
Somewhere between a heist movie and a musical, I thought Sound of Noise was a brilliantly quirky concept executed well. Six rogue percussionists decide to put on the performance of a lifetime by staging heist-like Stomp-style musical numbers. The film is constructed like Ocean’s Eleven: we’re introduced to each member of the team, each with their own distinct personality (which is cool, since they all play the same instrument), and then follow them as they commit their capers. We also get to follow the detective tracking them, and his story is also fun and interesting, especially when he discovers that he can’t hear the sound made by objects that the musicians have played on. It’s whimsical, fun, and the musical numbers are way cool. If there’s any downside to it, it’s that beyond the interesting premise, the film follows a very familiar plotline. But that’s a minor quibble – I thoroughly enjoyed Sound of Noise. You should watch it.
4.25 out of 5
Guyver: Dark Hero
The sequel to the film Guvyer – a rubber-suited martial arts movie trying to cash in on the success of the Ninja Turtles – Guyver: Dark Hero improves upon its predecessor significantly, but ultimately comes off as a dark and gritty cross between Ultraman and the Power Rangers. The plot is weak, and really the only reason to watch this movie is for the aforementioned rubber-suited martial arts sequences, so if you’re into that kind of thing, this movie gets my recommendation. If you hated the Power Rangers, though, you can skip Guyver: Dark Hero.
2.5 out of 5
See you next Sunday for three more thrilling short reviews!