Fighter (2024)

Director: Siddharth Anand

Starring: Hrithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone, Anil Kapoor

A reckless yet brilliant squadron leader and his team of elite fighter pilots face mortal dangers and inner demons as they unite for a deadly mission.

There’s no way you’re going to watch ‘Fighter’ and not compare it to ‘Top Gun’ (providing off course you’ve seen ‘Top Gun’). In fact, this film is so similar to ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, especially, that it might be considered a Hindi remake. There are moments when Hrithik Roshan looks like a spitting image of Tom Cruise with his jacket, shades, and riding a motorcycle! (Speaking of Hrithik; oh that sculptured body!!)

The best combat pilots in the Indian Air Force are members of the Air Dragons unit. Squadron Leader Shamsher Pathania – or Patty – (Hrithik Roshan) is the best pilot, and his attitude confirms this. His best friend is Taj, and together with the rest of the members they are a close-knit circle of friends. They are introduced to Minal Rathore – or Minni – (Deepika Padukone). Her Dad never wanted her to become a pilot, as he views it as a man’s job. The film quickly establishes a romance between Patty and Minni. I suppose they feel the viewer roots more for the characters if there’s a romance…

The antagonist is Pakistani terrorist Azhar Akhtar (Rishabh Sawhney), who intends destroying the Indian Air Force. He is a so-called freedom fighter in the name of Kashmir. There’s plenty of action as war ensues between Pakistan and India.

For most parts, the action sequences were entertaining. My biggest criticism here were the explosions, which were so obvious CGI. I also found the film a bit sensational (and not always realistic), but overall it was entertaining enough to satisfy my needs for an action film. ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, off course, is far superior, but let’s not be too critical. At least India tried. Oh, and the Indian film makers do love their slow motion effects and musical segments in their films, don’t they!

In Hindi.

Would I watch it again? I don’t think so. I’d much rather spend time watching ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ again. I also found ‘Fighter’ far too long a movie.

The Great Escape (1963)

Director: John Sturges

Starring: Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson

Allied prisoners of war plan for several hundred of their number to escape from a German camp during World War II.

I’ve been wanting to see ‘The Great Escape’ for a while, and now that I’ve seen it, I’m a bit disappointed. I’ll tell you why in the closing paragraphs, which will contain spoilers.

A Group of Allied airmen are taken to a new prisoner camp, and from the moment they arrive, they make plans to escape. Steve McQueen stars as Hilts, who is known to be an escape artist. However, he fails several times which sees him being sent to ‘the cooler’.

Bartlett (Richard Attenborough) then comes forward with a daring escape plan. They are to dig tunnels to the nearby forest, and about 250 men will be able to escape at once. The film follows the realization of this plan. This is a very long film and most of the film revolves in the execution of this plan.

And this is where I’m going to tell you why I’m disappointed in the film, so if you haven’t seen the movie yet and don’t want spoilers, stop reading now. When an escape plan is set into motion, the excitement comes in the anticipation of seeing them succeed. However, in ‘The Great Escape’ they don’t! Only 76 of the men manage to escape, but most of them are killed, while the rest are captured again. Hardly a great escape, is it? Supposedly based on fact, the film is however mostly fictional for the sake of a wider appeal.

This highly acclaimed film is also notable for its motorcycle chase and – apparently – the motorcycle jump scene. Let me put this in perspective: the ‘jump’ scene literally lasts all but a second, and isn’t truly all that magnificent. Back then I suppose it was, but looking at how stunts have evolved over the years, the stunts in this film are nothing in comparison. Even the chase scene, which was intercut between other scenes, wasn’t all that exciting (by today’s standards). Unfortunately, this is the problem with many of the older films: they become so dated that they don’t compare well to new films – especially action films.

There’s no doubt in my mind this film must have been extraordinary back in 1963, but the film industry has come a long way over the last six decades!

‘The Great Escape’ earned $11.7 million on a budget of $3.8 million. It received several accolades including an Oscar nomination for Best Editing.

Would I watch it again? From this review it should be obvious: no.

Riders of Justice (2020)

Director: Anders Thomas Jensen

Starring: Mads Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Andrea Heick Gadeberg

Markus goes home to his teenage daughter, Mathilde, when his wife dies in a train crash. All appears to be a tragic accident until a mathematics geek, who was also a fellow passenger on the train, and his two colleagues show up.

Fate is an interesting thing. It has its own plan for every individual, whether for the better…or not.

Trivial events lead to Emma and her daughter Mathilde taking the train instead of the car. When mathematician Otto gave up his seat on the train for Emma, fate was in his favour, but sadly not for Emma, and she was killed in what appeared to be a freak accident.

Otto believes nothing happens by chance, and he finds evidence that proves the accident was no accident. It turns out a key witness in a gang-related case and his lawyer were also on the train. Eliminating the witness, meant the gang members would go free. The gang in question: The Riders of Justice.

When Otto approaches Emma’s husband, Markus (Mads Mikkelsen) with his findings, Markus is skeptical at first, but when irrefutable evidence indicates it was indeed no accident, Markus vows to avenge Emma’s death and take out the gang members. With the help of Otto and his friends Lennart and Emmenthaler, they track down the Riders of Justice. Hungry for revenge and justice, Markus – a hardened soldier – is about to unleash his fury.

‘Riders of Justice’ is miles better than vengeance movies like ‘John Wick’ (ugh, hate that franchise!). It has more substance and character development than any John Wick film could ever wish to have. ‘Riders of Justice’ also has emotional depth, and fantastic performances all round. I also loved the subtle humour.

‘Riders of Justice’ takes us on a wild ride in a movie full of surprises. In a way, the film reminded me of films like ‘Rendel’ and ‘Nobody’. I loved it!

‘Riders of Justice’ received 43 award nominations, winning 9 including Best International Feature, Best Supporting Actor, Best Actress, Best Original Score, Best Visual Effects, Best Actor, and Best Narrative Feature.

In Danish.

Would I watch it again? Yes.

Lost Bullet (2020)

Director: Guillaume Pierret

Starring: Alban Lenoir, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Ramzy Bedia

A small time delinquent, turned police mechanic for a go fast task force, is forced to defend his innocence when his mentor is killed by dirty cops.

Having made an impression on me in his latest film ‘The Wages of Fear’, I’m fast becoming a big fan of Alban Lenoir and his work as an action star. The more I see of him, the more I want to see (erm, his films, I mean…).

Alban Lenoir stars as Lino, a thief who is jailed after a daring but failed robbery attempt. Lino’s passion is making cars faster and stronger. Because of this talent, he becomes the only man for a job, and police detective Charas gets him released from jail to engineer police vehicles. Just when things are looking up for Lino, rogue cops Areski and Marco kill Charas.

Having witnessed the killing, Lino is now being pursued by Areski and Marco. Desperate to prove his innocence and bring the rogue cops to justice, Lino reaches out to officer Julia, Areski’s ex-girlfriend. Julia finds herself caught in the middle between the rogue cops and Lino and is not sure who to believe.

The film features excellent fight choreography and Alban Lenoir is once again fantastic! There’s more than enough action to please action junkies and some incredible crash scenes. I actually didn’t expect the film to also have such emotional depth. I rooted for Lino all the way. ‘Lost Bullet’ is a thoroughly entertaining, high octane action film!

In French.

Would I watch it again? Yes.

The Beekeeper (2024)

Director: David Ayer

Starring: Jason Statham, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Jeremy Irons, Bobby Naderi

One man’s brutal campaign for vengeance takes on national stakes after he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organization known as “Beekeepers”.

If type casting could be given a name, it would be Jason Statham. I mean, this man has become the very definition of ‘type cast’. He portrays the same cold, rough and tough character in all his movies. I must confess to enjoying him in ‘The Beekeeper’ and actually thought he was perfectly cast.

With phishing scams at the order of the day nowadays, ‘The Beekeeper’ is current and relevant. Cocky twenty-year-old Derek Danforth operates his multi-million dollar scamming enterprise under the façade of a software company.

After being scammed out of more than $2 million, Eloise Parker is so devastated that she commits suicide. Adam Clay (Jason Statham), who used to rent a barn from Parker, finds her body, just minutes before her daughter Verona (Emmy Raver-Lampman) arrives on the scene. Verona is an FBI agent and notices on her mother’s computer that she has been scammed. With the scamsters being identified, Adam burns down the call centre who took Parker’s call.

Now, Derek wants revenge, and in turn Adam wants revenge, too. Thus, a cat and mouse game ensues with plenty of violence. In the middle of the feud is Verona and her FBI partner Matt Wiley. While Matt agrees Adam is the right man to deal with scamsters, Verona believes in justice, although she also wants revenge for her mother’s death. Matt in a way served as the (subtle) comic relief, and he was wonderful.

It turns out Adam is no ordinary beekeeper. He is a highly trained retired CIA agent who once worked for a specialized unit called the Beekeepers. This time, the scamsters met their match as he releases his fury on them.

The events are not realistic and in true Hollywood blockbuster style purely sensational, yet I found it rather exciting and certainly very entertaining. Statham is in top form as usual (just a pity they didn’t find an excuse for him to take off his shirt as usual…). The film becomes very violent and the death toll rises as if this is a ‘John Wick’ film, but this seems to be the norm for action films nowadays after the success of aforementioned film. Personally, I found the body count a bit too much with innocent people (FBI agents) caught in the crossfire.

If you’re interested in watching several dozen people die violent deaths fighting just one man, then ‘The Beekeeper’ is sure to satisfy your needs. If it’s loads of action you’re after, you’ll find that, too, here. If it’s a vengeance movie with a ‘fu*k yeah’ conclusion you’re after, ‘The Beekeeper’ won’t disappoint.

At the time of writing this review, ‘The Beekeeper’ was 2024’s highest grossing film with box office takings of $125 million (although this figure will still increase).

Would I watch it again? Strangely; maybe.

Furie (2019)

Director: Le-Van Kiet

Starring: Veronica Ngo, Mai Cát Vi, Thanh Nhien Phan

When her daughter is kidnapped, a desperate yet determined mother treks through her former gang’s turf in Saigon to track down the abductors.

Hai Phuong is a debt collector. She is a tough woman who knows how to fight thanks to her upbringing. She is a single mother and people are talking behind her back. Her daughter Mai is being bullied at school for not knowing who her father is.

When Mai is kidnapped by a gang of child traffickers, Phuong will stop at nothing to get her back. What follows is loads of action, with brilliant cinematography, photography and editing. I mean, this film is stunningly filmed. The score is also very effective.

Not having faith in the police to find Mai, Phuong decides to investigate and find Mai herself. She is a determined character and I rooted for her. Veronica Ngo delivered a good performance as Phuong.

I was totally captivated by the film until around the end of the second act when one of the characters asks Phuong “do you watch American movies?”. This was followed by what looked like a mockery of Hollywood cinema, and from there the film became cliché upon cliché. From the fighting on top of a train, to the fighting sequences, to the close encounters, to the hand-to-hand combat… It’s as if they had no idea how the final act should play out and then made a ‘best of’ from Hollywood films of the same genre. There were even scenes that reminded me of ‘John Wick’, filmed in similar style.

Despite my opinion of the third act, ‘Furie’ is still a good watch and a well made film. It pretty much is a combination of films like ‘Taken’, ‘Nobody’, and ‘John Wick’, but with a female protagonist.

In Vietnamese.

Would I watch it again? No.