The Protege

F**********k, that was good!

Granted I didn't really know too much or really knew what to expect, but Christ that was a good movie. It's not the action movie the trailer leads you to believe, it's here to tell a story, it knows what it wants to be, and it pulls it off in spades. Now the trailer did get me to see the movie, 100% due to it's star power but you get a proper good movie here. Okay so the plot follows two assassins played by Maggie Q and Samuel L. Jackson as they take on another case and hunt some bad guys, typical action movie plot. Then you have the wild card that is Michael Keaton. Now I'm not saying this movie is amazing because of Michael Keaton, I am a huge fan of his but at the same time...his character and the personality he gives to it is what makes the movie so much better than it already is. This dynamic between him and Maggie Q got me super invested and I was already really rolling with the plot and was digging the hell out of it, because they are two pieces on opposite ends of the board here but you see it and hear it in his eyes he does not want our main character dead, far from it even. That added so much for me, I just loved this movie! It's a very character driven story, and you get a few shooty shoots and they're done quite nicely, but it is at the heart of the matter the relationships between Maggie, Sam, and Michael that not only is the majority of the film but pushes it above my expectations. Now I can fully 100% understand why some people would walk out of this movie feeling a bit bait and switched, it's geared up to look like a out for blood revenge story with wall to wall action, but that's far from the truth. I get it. It's fine. Yet everything about this movie clicked with me. I love the actors, I mean anytime Maggie Q is in a new movie is a welcome celebration for me cause she's been kicking ass for years and I truly adore her, maybe even crushed a fair bit on her character. I don't know, a girl with reddish hair, owns a bookshop, and has a love for cats, assassin or not I can see myself settling down with for the rest of my life. Sam is a lot of fun, and has some dang nice chemistry with Maggie and as you learn more about their relationship it only gets stronger. And Michael, holy mother of mercy this is what I signed up for. So funny, can still kick ass, gives just enough of that off-ness to really knock these lines out of the park, and dude that final scene f***ed me up a bit. It really reminded me of Heat, and at the same time gave me final standoff in a western kind of vibe, this is some good stuff man. Like it has been awhile since I gushed about a movie this much, that should be clues enough for you to go check it out. Nothing short of 4 stars, 8.5/10, like man this movie could have a following and I am all there for it. What a high note to go out on this week, I genuinely hope next week can give the same when we look at Candyman so I'll see you soon.

Fantasy Island

Well. That was a movie.

Fantasy Island is a fascinating beast, I really wasn't for it when I saw the trailers, not because of certain actors or how they take a 1970s TV show and add a sinister edge to it, I just didn't think too much about it. Full disclosure, I've only seen two episodes of the original show which takes a page out of Rod Serling's book, centered around a mysterious island and host that makes every person's dreams come true with a moral message in each anthology story. I'm a huge fan of The Twilight Zone and those types of stories so I really should sit down and watch the original show. But how's the movie? Complicated. It isn't hot garbage but it ain't good either. I can easily tell you Michael Pena and Maggie Q are the best characters and actors in the movie. Michael Pena I felt was a strange casting choice for the Ricardo Montalban role but he proved himself with his own story and one small scene with Maggie. Maggie Q is lovely as always and never once have I seen a bad performance from her, who has the most dramatic arc in the story and you really root for her until the end. Everyone else...they're there. We got skinny Joe, dude bro's, and bitchy McQueen, who's only real interesting bits occur when their fantasies actually overlap into one another causing a bit of plot intrigue but not much more. I'm not saying Blumhouse has made Shakespearian characters in the past, but they do good work to make them feel real and even a bit relatable but here it just falls flat. And that's the core problem of the movie, it focuses 99% of the runtime on these characters, and when the majority of them are just sort of there and don't have much to contribute you kinda just keep checking your watch. I'm gonna be a massive dick here but, these were the most basic bitch fantasies like ever. One guy wants to be a soldier so he can Call Of Duty it up, just...ugh. A girl wants to pretty much play Jigsaw and torture a elementary(?) or middle school(?) bully, but she honestly looks like she's still in high school and she just needs to get over herself real damn fast, I mean Christ woman. The bros want a big rocking party which, makes me want to swallow pills and drink heavily, I mean f***ing really that's your fantasy? You weak dipshits. And Maggie Q wants a do-over at a point in her life which starts out boring and cliche but gains a bit of interest near the movie's end. There's a twist and my God is it so uninteresting and just, what? I can't. I will say the location shooting in Fiji, though strangely limited considering they could make the island look any way they want, all you see is the resort, a bit of jungle, and a cave, but regardless looks nice. Even the messages the movie has is admirable, not well executed, but you know reaffirming that revenge is the most worthless of causes, and you can't focus on the mistakes of the past but strive for a better future is not bad stuff to say! I was shocked at the budget, shot only for 7 million dollars which is friggin' absurd to hear nowadays with so much inflated multi-hundred million dollar projects left, right, and center. I do hate how they de-mystified the island and explains how almost everything works, how the fantasies come true, why people are working at this resort on the island, the conditions of the fantasy and their limits, how Mr. Roarke our host got his position, I quite liked the sort of mystery aspect of the show. From what very brief, like 5 minutes reading Wikipedia articles kind of brief, research I did on the show it sounds so damn interesting, and I'd much rather have a unique theory of my own and never know if I'm wrong or right, even the creators and main star didn't know what the deal was with the island (insert Lost joke here), than you tell me everything when I didn't even ask. But I can commend the movie for at least drawing attention to an older show that not many people talk about and one I fully intend to dig into, and with better writing the movie's ideas and tone could make this kind of an underrated gem. It has elements to it that can work, but they needed to spend time on refining it more to make it as good as possible. I give it 2 stars, 5/10, I gambled a bit and got a totally average movie. What's my fantasy? Spoilers.