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Just got back from a screening. All I can say is that the current 5.6 rating on IMDb is a damn joke. I really think people do not understand what a good action movie is anymore. We've been inundated with so many bloated, poorly paced comic book movies (that take themselves so seriously that they demand completely unnecessary 150 minute runtimes) that we've lost sight of what pure entertainment actually is. Hell, less than a month ago I saw a Star Wars movie that took 90 minutes to get to a decent action scene.
Return of Xander Cage is easily the best paced, big budget action film since Mad Max: Fury Road. Don't get me wrong, because it is an incredibly stupid film, but it's also damn entertaining from start to finish. For example, Donnie Yen is finally allowed to do what he does best in a Hollywood movie. It's not rocket science - let the guy kick some ass. The only negative that popped out to me was the awkward sexual innuendos near the beginning, which felt very out of place and a bit cringeworthy. Other than that, this is fantastic action trash that everyone should go out to support.
You get 3 action scenes within the opening 30 minutes, then a truckload of action afterward. Just as importantly, every single moment between the action is used to drive things forward. This movie does not waste time, so it safely avoids the "dull filler" that can drag these movies down. I really enjoyed the cast as well. It may have been a corporate suit who decided to cast a different actor from every country for the purposes of box office appeal, but it felt like these people had a blast making this movie and they seemed to have good chemistry together despite the fact that the character development was basic at best. Tony Jaa ditches his serious mug for a loony, dance-crazy role that had me in stitches. Nice to see "The Hound" from Game of Thrones here too.
The action is completely ridiculous, but it's certainly plentiful enough and has good enough quality to be satisfying. There are certain instances that overuse editing, but it's only an issue at certain points and I was not distracted by it for most of the runtime. It's certainly better than most of Paul Greengrass's titles.
I almost never say this about a big budget Hollywood action film, but I want a damn sequel!
Just got back from a screening. All I can say is that the current 5.6 rating on IMDb is a damn joke. I really think people do not understand what a good action movie is anymore. We've been inundated with so many bloated, poorly paced comic book movies (that take themselves so seriously that they demand completely unnecessary 150 minute runtimes) that we've lost sight of what pure entertainment actually is. Hell, less than a month ago I saw a Star Wars movie that took 90 minutes to get to a decent action scene.
Return of Xander Cage is easily the best paced, big budget action film since Mad Max: Fury Road. Don't get me wrong, because it is an incredibly stupid film, but it's also damn entertaining from start to finish. For example, Donnie Yen is finally allowed to do what he does best in a Hollywood movie. It's not rocket science - let the guy kick some ass. The only negative that popped out to me was the awkward sexual innuendos near the beginning, which felt very out of place and a bit cringeworthy. Other than that, this is fantastic action trash that everyone should go out to support.
You get 3 action scenes within the opening 30 minutes, then a truckload of action afterward. Just as importantly, every single moment between the action is used to drive things forward. This movie does not waste time, so it safely avoids the "dull filler" that can drag these movies down. I really enjoyed the cast as well. It may have been a corporate suit who decided to cast a different actor from every country for the purposes of box office appeal, but it felt like these people had a blast making this movie and they seemed to have good chemistry together despite the fact that the character development was basic at best. Tony Jaa ditches his serious mug for a loony, dance-crazy role that had me in stitches. Nice to see "The Hound" from Game of Thrones here too.
The action is completely ridiculous, but it's certainly plentiful enough and has good enough quality to be satisfying. There are certain instances that overuse editing, but it's only an issue at certain points and I was not distracted by it for most of the runtime. It's certainly better than most of Paul Greengrass's titles.
I almost never say this about a big budget Hollywood action film, but I want a damn sequel!