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The Union – Julian Farino (2024)

In a fairly unimaginative story we follow common guy Mike (Mark Wahlberg) who is recruited by his ex girlfriend Roxanne (Halle Berry) for some super secret agency. He is forced into a crashcoarse and sent on a mission.

A computer containing all information of every employer of every agency has been stolen and is about to be auctioned. Of course “The Union” sets out to prevent that.

“The Union” is an alright action film with no surprises, but there are some amusing scenes and of course a lot of action.

Sonic The Hedgehog – Jeff Fowler (2020)

I do not think I ever really played it, but I do know the Sonic game. I saw a glimpse of the film (or films, there are three by now) and thought it was some sort of action comedy with comic book elements. Not really. The film is more kids movie with a cuddly hero.

Sonic is portrayed as a lighting fast little creature who is sent to another planet when his life was in danger. That new planet is earth. Trying to life behind the scenes, Sonic becomes the centre of attention when in an angry mood he causes a power surge. Super technician Dr. Robotnik (a very amusing Jim Carrey) is sent after him to capture him.

There is not much to the story. There is the usual obligatory drama, jokes, dumb characters and of course a fuzzy hedghog.

Blade Of The Immortal – Takashi Miike (2017)

Manji is made immortal by a witch who gives him “blood worms” when he is about to die in battle. We immediately jump 50 years into the future. A fighting school aims for a monopoly by rooting out competitors. The daughter of the master of one such eradicated school is spared. Out for revenge, she finds Manji.

Miike tells a bloody story with a lot of sword fighting and gushing blood in which Manji kills his enemies by the dozen. In the meantime a relationship grows based on loyalty, friendship and an imaginative link.

2:20 hours is quite long, but the film is not boring.

Havoc – Gareth Evans (2025)

In a gloomy, crime-ridden city with dirty cops and dirty politicians, a drug deal goes horribly wrong. Tom Hardy plays the cop Walker, who is knee deep in his city’s mud.

Things go from bad to worse. During an escape, a cop get seriously injured, a while later there is a shoot out in an Asian restaurant, which causes an Asian gang to come to town for revenge, one of the suspects is indirectly connected to Walker and his ‘double alliances’ navigate him into a tight spot. On top of all, dirty colleagues prove to be a major player in the whole affair.

“Havoc” is dirty, bloody and dark. A descent Netflix thriller.

Thunderbolts* – Jake Schreier (2025)

And yet another branch on the Marvel tree. The use of a limited group of actors for different characters is starting to become confusing.

“Thunderbolts*” plays in a dystopian American city. The first main character is Yelena, a young gun for hire who suffers from “the void”. She wants more in her life, especially in social terms. Later we run into her father, David Harbour, who plays Alexei Shostakov. This “Red Guardian” is also the father the Black Widow, but Yelena’s sister was killed when just a girl.

Anyway, Yelena is sent on a mission where she meets another few old (and ‘demoted’ Captain America, the Winter Soldier) and new (Ghost) fighting machines. Even though they are supposed to kill each other, they cooperate and after a whole series of fighting and shooting, they team up and become the New Avengers.

Just another Marvel with amusing fighting scenes, a descent joke here and there and an overly dramatic plea against loneliness and for friendship.

Free Guy – Shawn Levy (2021)

Somewhere between The Matrix, Ready Player One and The Truman Show we follow Guy who has the same routine every morning. He lives in a perfect, yet exceedingly violent city where the bank where he works is robbed every day.

Along the line Guy learns that he is a character in a video game and in trying to impress a lady that he met, he becomes a better player than the actual players. Gaining a host of fans, he becomes the enemy of the author of the game.

I am not a big fan of Ryan Reynolds, but in general “Free Guy” is a somewhat amusing action spectacle with the typical Reynolds humour.

Knight and Day – James Mangold (2010)

Apparently for a long time I made an effort to avoid popular Hollywood productions so much that I sometimes run into titles that I am wholly unfamiliar with. So here we have a Mangold with Tom Cruise Cameron Diaz.

Cruise plays Roy Miller whom his employer, the CIA, sees as a rogue agent that needs to be apprehended. Of course Miller is an uncatchable supersoldier. During his operation he runs into car mechanic June Havens (Diaz) and the two are forced to stay together.

Cruise is actually pretty funny and pokerface hitman and Diaz basically only has to look pretty. The result is a highly amusing action film. The story is a bit… well… though.

Enemy Of The State – Tony Scott (1998)

The passing of an actor can be an occasion to pick a film that (s)he plays in. Apparently I have never been a big fan of Gene Hackman (1930-2025) it seems, because most films that I found I had not yet seen.

The main character in this film is Robert Clayton Dean (Will Smith), a lawyer who accidentally becomes the enemy of the state. He has to flee from every imaginable government agency. During the proces he runs into Hackman’s character (“Brill”).

A descent action thriller with an alright story putting the finger of privacy problems due to technology. Scott does give the goverment agencies possibilities that I doubt are even at that level today, but perhaps that makes the film still relevant today.

Captain America: Brave New World – Julius Onah (2025)

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The speed with which new Marvel movies are put out is staggering. This time they did not introduce yet another new set of heroes, but we have a new episode in the series on the oldest of Marvel heroes: Captain America.

I am unsure if I already saw that it is no longer Buck Rogers who is Captain America, but Sam Wilson. In any case, Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) used to be the bad guy, now he is the president of the USA. He is actually trying be good and do something for the world.

A material even stronger than “Vibranium” has been found, Ross tries to prevent falling it into the hands of one country. Of course there is a bad guy with other plans and he elaborately plans the downfall of both Ross and Captain America.

But you know what? Captain America saves the world!

Canary Black – Pierre Morel (2024)

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So, some people wanted to make a ‘one girl army’ movie, but did not have a whole lot of inspiration for a story.

The film starts with Avery (Kate Beckingsale) who is some top notch CIA agent without her husband knowing. Then the husband is kidnapped by terrorists who blackmail Avery to get them some file in exchange for her husband’s life.

No need to tell you what comes after. Avery gets the entire world behind her, but her super skills make her perform her given task. Towards the end there is some drama and revenge.

The film is well produced, but the story is very, very weak.