Tag: Action

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (2025) | REVIEW

Ana de Armas as Eve in Ballerina. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Lionsgate

Directed by Len Wiseman — Screenplay by Shay Hatten.

Only a select few action films of the last ten to fifteen years have become the household name and critical success story that John Wick is. Multiple effective sequels later (as well as an apparently only so-so spin-off miniseries titled The Continental), and now we have the first spin-off film in the franchise. With the clumsily titled From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, the shepherds of the franchise hope to build another film series within the same universe without having to always rely on the presence of the assassin played by Keanu Reeves. At the same time, the film’s title and marketing, which have emphasized the fact that Reeves makes an appearance, still use Wick as a crutch. Admittedly, it does seem slightly desperate, but, in 2025, at a point in time when even Disney can’t rely on a Captain America movie without Chris Evans to make money, a built-in audience is key when launching something quasi-new on the big screen. Those willing to take a chance on Ballerina will be treated to a film that has some of the thrills of the Wick films, but which, however, also struggles in notable areas.

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Fountain of Youth (2025) | REVIEW

John Krasinski, Domhnall Gleeson, and Natalie Portman in “Fountain of Youth,” now streaming on Apple TV+.

Directed by Guy Ritchie — Screenplay by James Vanderbilt.

Guy Ritchie’s Fountain of Youth follows siblings Luke (played by John Krasinski) and Charlotte Purdue (played by Natalie Portman) as they eventually team up to go on an adventure to find — yep, you guessed it — the fountain of youth. While Charlotte works as a museum curator in London, Luke steals paintings to complete a job for Owen Carver (played by Domhnall Gleeson), a billionaire who is searching for the fountain of youth to prevent his own death from a terminal illness. Luke and Charlotte’s paths cross when he steals a painting from the museum where she works, resulting in her losing her job. When one thing leads to another, she reluctantly joins their mission, while Interpol, as well as a secret society dedicated to protecting the fountain, is chasing them.

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Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025) | REVIEW

Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt hanging on to an airborne upside-down yellow biplane in MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING — PHOTO: Paramount Pictures (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Christopher McQuarrie — Screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen.

When Mission: Impossible first took the leap from being a 1960s and 1970s TV series to being a cinematic franchise capable of rivalling both the most iconic spy thriller films and action extravaganzas in 1996, it was Tom Cruise’s first film as a producer. Now, 29 years later, Cruise has become Hollywood’s biggest movie star, and the film series is supposedly (if the marketing and promotion are to be believed) about to conclude with the aptly titled Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, the eighth film in the series. The film features both some of the best sequences in the entire film series, but also one of the messiest opening acts of any of the films.

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Novocaine (2025) | REVIEW

Jack Quaid mid-action in NOVOCAINE — PHOTO: Paramount Pictures (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen — Screenplay by Lars Jacobson.

Dan Berk and Robert Olsen’s Novocaine follows Nathan Caine (played by Jack Quaid), an introverted assistant bank manager, who has the condition known as ‘congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis’ meaning that he doesn’t feel pain and temperature. This diagnosis means that he lives a life defined by his own attempts at protecting himself, by, among other things, avoiding solid foods as he could conceivably bite off his own tongue due to his issues with the sense of feeling. However, one day he runs into someone who could change his life. That person is Sherry (played by Amber Midthunder), an extroverted co-worker, who he is immediately smitten by. They eventually establish a connection, but, right as he is finally starting to discover happiness in his life, she is kidnapped and taken as hostage during a bank robbery. Desperate to save her, he follows in pursuit and is willing to put his body through hell to get her back.

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The Count of Monte Cristo (2024) | REVIEW

Pierre Niney as the title character in THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO — PHOTO: Pathé.

Directed by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière — Screenplay by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière.

Based on Alexandre Dumas’ novel of the same name, The Count of Monte Cristo is set in the 1800s, where we follow Edmond Dantès (played by Pierre Niney), a recently promoted sailor, who, during his wedding with his fiancee Mercédès (played by Anaïs Demoustier), is arrested and accused of being a Bonapartist. Though innocent, Edmond is betrayed by people he thought that he could trust and is, eventually, imprisoned indefinitely on a harsh prison island. When he starts talking to his neighboring inmate Abbé Faria (played by Pierfrancesco Favino), Edmond starts to plan for both an escape and sweet revenge on the people who wronged him.

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Brothers (2024) | REVIEW

Peter Dinklage, Glenn Close, and Josh Brolin in BROTHERS — PHOTO: Prime Video.

Directed by Max Barbakow — Screenplay by Macon Blair.

Max Barbakow’s Brothers, from a script by Macon Blair (I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore), is a buddy action crime comedy that follows twin brothers Moke (played by Josh Brolin) and Jady Munger (played by Peter Dinklage) who, after a shared history of crimes over the years, team-up to do ‘one last job’ together. During their previous ‘last job’ years ago, Jady was apprehended and sent to prison while Moke managed to get away, and so at the start of the film, they find themselves on opposite ends of life. Jady has just gotten out of prison, under suspicious circumstances, while Moke is trying to start a family and live as a law-abiding citizen. However, when Moke loses his job due to his criminal past, Jady finds an angle to convince his brother to join up with him for a road trip and a heist. Meanwhile, we discover that Jady made a shady deal with an aggressive crooked cop (played by Brendan Fraser) and his judge father (played by M. Emmet Walsh), who intend to keep track of whether or not Jady follows through on their deal.

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Rebel Ridge (2024) | REVIEW

Aaron Pierre in Jeremy Saulnier’s Rebel Ridge — PHOTO: Netflix (Still image from trailer).

Directed by Jeremy Saulnier — Screenplay by Jeremy Saulnier.

Over the course of more than a decade, Rebel Ridge writer-editor-director Jeremy Saulnier (who, even, sometimes serves as cinematographer on some of his other projects) has made a name for himself as a promising filmmaker beloved by many cinephiles for his gripping thrillers such as Green Room and Blue Ruin, both of which I am a huge fan of. In 2018, Netflix released his cold Alaska-set thriller Hold the Dark to mixed-to-positive reviews, but the film did not become the critical darling that his aforementioned color-coded thrillers, so to speak, are. With Rebel Ridge, Saulnier has given it another go with a Netflix release. Rebel Ridge, frankly, feels like a return to form. It is a sharp and intense thriller that hits the sweet spot, just like Saulnier’s best films have done in the past.

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The Family Plan (2023) | REVIEW

Mark Wahlberg and Iliana Norris in The Familly Plan, now streaming on Apple TV+.

Directed by Simon Cellan Jones — Screenplay by David Coggeshall.

Simon Cellan Jones’ The Family Plan follows Dan Morgan (played by Mark Wahlberg), a car salesman who lives in Buffalo, New York with his wife Jessica (played by Michelle Monaghan), as well as his children Nina (played by Zoe Colletti), Kyle (played by Van Crosby), and Max (played by Iliana Norris and Vienna Norris). They seem like a normal family, but, in reality (and unbeknownst to his family), Dan isn’t the patriarch of the family’s real name and he is actually hiding from his associates from his past life as a hired assassin. When, one day, a picture of him is posted to the internet, he and his family are targeted. In an attempt to keep his family safe, he makes up an impromptu family vacation and has to keep hitmen off their backs on-the-go. Dan has to work up the courage to tell his family the truth, and, while they are on their road trip, he sees new sides of his beloved family.

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Extraction 2 (2023) | REVIEW

Chris Hemsworth as Tyler Rake in EXTRACTION 2 — PHOTO: Jasin Boland / Netflix.

Directed by Sam Hargrave (Extraction) — Screenplay by Joe Russo (The Gray Man; Avengers: Endgame).

Sam Hargrave’s Extraction 2 takes place nine months after the events of the first film. The so-called ‘myth of Mumbai,’ Tyler Rake (played by Chris Hemsworth) has opted to retire from his time as a mercenary to live a quiet life in Austria and recover. That’s until a stranger (played by Idris Elba) approaches him with another extraction mission. Ketevan (played by Tinatin Dalakishvili), the sister of Rake’s ex-wife, has alongside her two children been locked up by her incarcerated Georgian crime boss husband, who abuses and manipulates his family. It is Rake’s job to get Ketevan and her children out alive, and, in the process, take on a crime syndicate and an entire prison in the process.

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REVIEW: John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)

Keanu Reeves as John Wick and Donnie Yen as Caine in John Wick 4. — PHOTO: Murray Close/Lionsgate.

Directed by Chad Stahelski — Screenplay by Shay Hatten and Michael Finch.

A lot has happened since Chad Stahelski and David Leitch took a Derek Kolstad script with Keanu Reeves attached and successfully revitalized the action genre with an emotional storyline and kick-ass, high-octane action and stunt work. Since then Stahelski’s sequels have consistently upped the ante and topped their own action sequences from chapter to chapter. New locations were revealed, and the world-building just kept on growing eventually introducing everything from a gun sommelier to an Elder who you can only hope to confront in the desert. The films have gone from its gun-fu action and then added in vehicular action and sword fights. With John Wick: Chapter 4, which is the first film in the series not to be written by Derek Kolstad, Chad Stahelski and Keanu Reeves have once again topped themselves with an incredibly accomplished action epic that is both inventive and almost like a greatest hits for the entire franchise. 

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