The Accountant is a well done, albeit short of greatness, suspense-thriller from director Gavin O’Connor featuring a great performance from Ben Affleck with honorable mention for J.K. Simmons.
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back wasn’t quite an ill-advised sequel but it certainly was unnecessary. As someone who hasn’t read a single Lee Child novel, I never had a problem with Cruise’s casting but here this was a forgettable action-thriller that is worth a rental but nothing more.
The Girl on the Train has to be one of the more disappointing movies of the year as I am a fan of mystery-crime films however the acting isn’t bad led by Emily Blunt with honorable mentions to both Hayley Bennett and Rebecca Ferguson, but even with a so-so script, it might be worth a rental.
Deepwater Horizon is an intense action-disaster flick that takes the genre to the next level considering it’s based on actual events. The performances by Mark Wahlberg and Kurt Russell are top notch while John Malkovich was a bit distracting but still an effective antagonist.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children may not be classic Tim Burton but it is one of his more entertaining outings of late which, with the exception of Frankenweenie, haven’t been great. This might not quite be a film for the entire family as there are darker elements but for older kids, they might dig some of the visuals and characters they might relate with on some level.
Underworld is a rather dated sci-fi horror film that took a lot of influence from the then fresh Matrix yet there’s still some entertainment value and Kate Beckinsale makes the most with the material she was given… and it’s never a bad thing seeing her in tight clothing.
No Escape is an all around entertaining film perfect for a Saturday movie night. No, it doesn’t make you think or have any profound performances but the acting isn’t bad with Owen Wilson serving as a fine everyman type of character and Pierce Brosnan in his small part is a lot of fun. This is probably worthy of a rental.
The Town marks Ben Affleck’s sophomore effort following the excellent Gone Baby Gone and once again he makes a well crafted picture with some solid performances, an intense plotline and an all around finely paced movie that proves Affleck has talent in front and behind the camera
Suicide Squad clearly wasn’t the home-run the DCEU needed as demonstrated by both critics and some audiences but although it is very flawed, particularly with the screenplay, I still found it enjoyable if only to see some iconic characters sharing wonderful chemistry.
War Dogs could’ve been better but as it is, the performances by Jonah Hill and Miles Teller were solid, as was Bradley Cooper’s brief role, yet the story never quite hit its mark for me. At the very least, it is worth a rental.
Jason Bourne had plenty going for it seeing the return of Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass after nearly a decade but what we got instead was a pretty much disinterested party involved and a half-assed script that seems to be a cliché of its previous movies.
Mechanic: Resurrection, while not awful and at times passably entertaining, had not reason to even exist, although from my memory was I guess a tad better than its predecessor. The only reason to even sit through this is for Jason Statham who still possesses great charm, otherwise the stunt work isn’t the best and the plot is incredibly thin.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 is a letdown mostly because it shows why the final chapter didn’t need to be split into two with extraneous scenes that weren’t necessary in telling the story. On the plus side, the performances for the most part were strong especially from Jennifer Lawrence and the production design, as it was with Catching Fire and Mockingjay Part 1, was impressive.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 had a lot of potential especially comig after the well received, and all around well made, Catching Fire. What we got instead is what felt like the middle installment of a trilogy that had a thin story and characters who really didn’t develop that much.
Overall, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is heads and shoulders above the first movie which in itself was entertaining. This is a strong and tighter film in terms of story. The UHD release by Lionsgate is more or less the same as its predecessor: a nice 4K video transfer but not quite amazing or worthy of an upgrade.