Although Desolation of Smaug is an improvement over Unexpected Journey, I still wasn’t crazy about the installment with the action scenes, albeit well filmed, seemingly blurring from one to the next and you once more had references to LOTR, a series I have far more interest in re-watching and caring about than this one thus far. Still, fans will probably get more out of this than I did so on that front, it might be worth a rental.
The Fast & Furious franchise continues to rev along gaining more momentum with each new installment and this sixth one offers more of the same with insane, albeit illogical, action set-pieces but thanks to its core cast, doesn’t really miss a beat even if on the whole is not as precise as Fast Five. Given the post credit sequence, I can’t wait to see what Fast 7 has in store.
No One Lives does survive, albeit clingingly, on life support thanks to a simple story, some tense moments and a near masterful and disturbing performance from Luke Evans. This is not a film that will break ground in the horror genre, very few, if any, do nowadays, and the screenplay and acting from some of the supporting players could have been better, but on the whole it’s a worthwhile flick to rent if nothing else comes to mind.
The Raven has some interesting scenes and features fine performances from John Cusack, Alice Eve and, to a lesser extent, Luke Evans (but mainly because the character merely chases down leads).