Category Archives: Martial Arts

2019, Acceptable Trash, Action sequences, Amazon Prime, Bloody scenes, Bullying, Controlling personality, Corny at times, Corrupt Pharmaceutical Firm, Ending demands sequel, Explicit sex, Extremely Violent, Fantasy, Father-son relations, Fist Fight, Flashbacks, Greed vs Common Good, Invincible villain, Lesbian Theme, Love Story, Martial Arts, Mayhem, Mother-son relations, Narcissist, Nudity, Outrageous Behavior, Political references, Pornographic Scenes, Revenge, Sex Scenes, Some exaggerated violence, Somewhat ridiculous plot, Super Hero, Violent, Vulgar

The Boys (2019)

From Amazon Prime:

THE BOYS is an irreverent take on what happens when superheroes, who are as popular as celebrities, as influential as politicians and as revered as Gods, abuse their superpowers rather than use them for good. It’s the powerless against the super powerful as The Boys embark on a heroic quest to expose the truth about “The Seven,” and their formidable Vought backing.

With the help of Amazon Prime you might be willing to waste your idle time streaming 3 seasons of this super romp.  Each season consists of 8 episodes. Each episode lasts about 1 hour.

Calling all “adolescents at heart.”  There is very little point in being serious about this endless 24-episode mindless fantasy,  although I am forced to admit that despite all the nonsense, the acting is at times (but only at times) in the ranges acceptable to good.  Moreover, if you are interested in pornographic nudity, you will not be disappointed in this often raunchy farce.

2022, Abduction, Action Film, Action Hero, Action sequences, Blackmail, Bloody scenes, Career Competition, Chase film, Child Hostage, CIA, Conspiracy, Contract Killing, Corrupt Politicians, Cover-up, Cynical, Father-son relations, Fist Fight, Government cover-up, Government-hired assassin, Hostage Taking, Improbable details, International thriler, Invincible Hero, Martial Arts, Mayhem, Monstrous Father, Murder, Must suspend disbelief, Narcissistic Personality, Netflix Streaming, Physical fighting, Political Conspiracy, Political Intrigue, Ruthless Killer, Sniper, Sociopath, Suspense, Torture, Uncle-Niece relations, Unscrupulous drive to power, Violent

The Gray Man (2022)

From IMDB:

Six, a highly-skilled assassin in the deep-cover Sierra program of the CIA, is the agency’s best merchant of death. However, a mission goes bad and now Six is on the run from the CIA with sociopathic former agent Lloyd Hansen hot on his trail. Aided by agent Dani Miranda and handler Donald Fitzroy, Six must be his most ruthless to avoid Hansen, who will stop at nothing to bring Six down.

From Netflix you can stream this 2 hour 9 minute complete film.

Car chases, martial arts fights, guns, dead bodies everywhere, explosions, expensive destruction, official corruption. Could this perhaps be an action film? In fact that is pretty much all that this film is: one amazingly filmed, completely unbelievable, but really fun to watch action sequence after another. Do you suppose Ryan Gosling actually performed any of these stunts?

Four lead actors are:

  • Ryan Gosling plays Six.
  • Chris Evans plays Lloyd Hansen.
  • Ana de Armas plays Dani Miranda.
  • Billy Bob Thorton plays Donald Fitzroy.

Netflix supposedly spent $200 million producing this mass execution. You might as well watch the violent fun.

2018, Abduction, Acceptable for teenagers, Arson, Bloody scenes, Chase film, Culture of India, Drugging as a weapon, Explicit sex, Fantasy, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Fight Scenes, Gangs, Gay theme, Highly acceptable trash, Human experimentation, Improbable details, Lesbian Theme, Martial Arts, Medical Theme, Monstrous Father, Murder, Must suspend disbelief, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Sex Scenes, Violent

Sense8 (2018)

From IMDB:

A group of people around the world are suddenly linked mentally, and must find a way to survive being hunted by those who see them as a threat to the world’s order.

From Netflix you can stream 2 seasons of this fantasy soap opera. Each season has 12 episodes. Each episode lasts about an hour except for episode 1 of season 2 which runs 2 hours.

Members of a sensate group are mutually mentally and visibly present to one another.

Given all the sex scenes (sensate group sex anyone?) ,  romances, violence, evil villains, and impossible rescues,  a fitting category for this watch-a-thon might be “highly acceptable trash”.

Don’t be surprised if at times you are not quite sure what is happening in the plot. Just play along for the fun of it.

 

2022, Acceptable for teenagers, Acceptable Sci-Fi, Action Film, Action sequences, Corny at times, Failed Father, Father-son relations, Fighter Pilot, Happy ending, Martial Arts, Maudlin, Mother-son relations, Netflix Streaming, Physical fighting, Time Travel

The Adam Project (2022)

From IMDB:

A time-traveling pilot teams up with his younger self and his late father to come to terms with his past while saving the future.

From Netflix you can stream this 1 hour 46 minute complete film.

Consider it a rarity to find a film that both adults and kids can enjoy.  About the only suggestive comment made is that a man’s suit jacket is so tight it looks like a condom made of tweed.

“Kid” material includes Star Wars light sabre dueling, exploding reactor parts, and fighter pilot maneuvers. “Adult” material includes fathering skills (or the lack thereof),  mother appreciation, and several maudlin episodes.

Ryan Reynolds during filming was 46 years old which is the perfect age to portray the older Adam. Mark Ruffalo is now 55 years old and also fits the part of Adam’s somewhat absent physicist father. Catherine Keener is the wicked witch Maya. Walker Scobell is sharp as the young Adam.

Don’t expect to understand the time travel scientific blather. Not a bad B+ expenditure of screen time.

2010, Acceptable Trash, Amazon Prime, B-movie, Car Chase, Chase film, Comedy, Contract Killing, Everybody lies, Exaggeration Comedy, Extreme Violence as Comedy, Father-daughter relations, Frenetic, Government-hired assassin, Happy ending, Martial Arts, Mayhem, Mother-daughter relations, Physical fighting, Ridiculous plot, Romantic comedy, Ruthless Killer, Surprise Ending, Violent

Killers (2010)

From Amazon Prime:

Spencer Aimes (Ashton Kutcher) is just your average, undercover, government-hired super-assassin. When he meets Jen Kornfeldt (Katherine Heigl), he finds true love… Enjoying a picture-perfect marriage, Spencer becomes the target of a multi-million dollar hit. Now Spencer and Jen are on the run for their lives.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 40 minute complete film.

Why brood over Putin’s invasion of the Ukraine when you could waste some quality time watching this B+ rom-com violent piece of cinematic fluff?

Did I mention that this film is violent from start to finish?  However, as bizarre as it sounds, the constant shooting, car chases, and martial arts fighting are not to be taken seriously and are really part of the fun.

Tom Selleck plays Tom Selleck, which actually works well in this plot.

Moreover, everyone except the scores of dead people live happily ever after.

2022, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Action Film, Action Hero, Amazon Prime, Based on a Book, Binge worthy, Bloody scenes, Bullying, Cancer theme, Car Chase, Contract Killing, Corny at times, Corrupt Corporation, Corrupt policemen, Corrupt Politicians, Corrupt Prison Guards, Could Be Hard To Watch, Counterfeiting, Country Music, Cover-up, Crime thriller, Detective, Disturbing Image, Dog episode, Extremely Violent, False Imprisonment, FBI, Fist Fight, Forensics, Gory, Greed, Gritty, Hostage Taking, Invincible Hero, Lee Child, Martial Arts, Maudlin, Mayhem, Military, Mother-son relations, Murder, Nudity, Physical fighting, Police Corruption, Police Investigation, Prison, Psychopath, Romance, Ruthless Killer, Sadism, Suspense, Thriller, Torture, Violent, War Veterans, Wrongful Arrest

Reacher (2022)

From Amazon Prime:

When retired Military Police Officer Jack Reacher is arrested for murder he did not commit, he finds himself in the middle of a deadly conspiracy full of dirty cops, shady businessmen and scheming politicians. With nothing but his wits, he must figure out what is happening in Margrave, Georgia. The first season of Reacher is based on the international bestseller, Killing Floor by Lee Child.

From Amazon Prime you can stream the 8 episodes of season 1. Each episode lasts about 50 minutes.

Lee Child’s hero Jack Reacher is supposed to be a big, powerful, imposing man that can intimidate his opponents. Alan Ritchson amply fills that bill (as opposed to Tom Cruise who is much smaller). Ritchson played the superhero Hank Hall in the TV series “Titans”.

Violence is the dominant theme. Part of that violence involves gruesome scenes of torture such as nailing a naked man to a wall followed by much worse. Children should NOT watch this series.

Sad to say, violence in the form of watching Reacher beating and killing villains was for me a satisfying vicarious pleasure.  Making the criminals truly repellent is an effective way to rationalize enjoying such a slaughter.

Reacher never misses a shot, wins every hand-to-hand combat, is always the smartest person in the room, and is a multi-decorated war hero. Have I missed anything? Oh, yes – Reacher speaks Farsi.

In to make this epic a bona fide adolescent entertainment,  Reacher must fall in love with Roscoe the female cop but, of course,  is ever the loner who must eventually move on (so that the series can have another season). Expect many maudlin scenes.

Against my better instincts, WATCHING WAS A LOT OF FUN!

2021, Abduction, Acceptable for teenagers, Action Film, Ambitious Dirty Tricks, Amusing banter, Art theft, B-movie, Bromance, Buried Treasure, Career Criminal, Chase film, Comic Moments, Complicated Scams, Confusing Plot, Conspiracy, Martial Arts, Mayhem, Must suspend disbelief, Netflix Streaming, Plot twists, Suspense, Torture, Witty dialog

Red Notice (2021)

From Netflix:

An FBI profiler pursuing the world’s most wanted art thief
becomes his reluctant partner in crime to catch an elusive
crook who’s always one step ahead.

From Netflix you can stream this 2 hour complete film.

Brainless but fun, what else would you expect from a combination like Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds?   Both of them have found their cinematic niche – stupid action films.

Funny bromance banter,  great action (the body doubles are capable athletes),  some surprising plot twists, explosive digital effects, and the usual requirement to suspend disbelief all provide the entertainment.

Popcorn and a cessation of cerebral activity make for a fun watch.