Today's Triple News: dark equalizer games

It took a while for worthy news to appear online, but after a week of not posting any, I got back in shape:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/157083/nieuwe_trailer_monsters_dark_continent_

Wow, the scope of this franchise certainly got a lot bigger. In fact, we can finally speak of a franchise now. Not that these are positive developments per se. It's happened countless times before that a cheaply produced movie that connected with an audience got one or more unwanted sequels that failed to do so again. Even though Monsters made its money back (it was hard not to, considering its shoestring budget) and its director, Gareth Edwards, has since gone on to dabble in big budget, heavy FX films like Godzilla and now Star Wars, I doubt many people will be familiar with the original movie when the sequel hits theaters. In fact, I kinda suspect this will be released straight to VOD and the home video market in the Netherlands. It hasn't got much going for it to warrant a theatrical release here. There's no big names in the cast, it's not released by a major studio and the Monsters franchise won't ring a bell to so many people. Apart from the home cinema market, this is really the stuff of film festivals and such (bet we'll be seeing this on Imagine 2015!). Considering Monsters: Dark Continent, too, is done on not that large a budget (though still considerably more than the peanuts its predecessor cost), that doesn't necessarily mean the movie is doomed in tersm of boxoffice. Wouldn't surprise me if this too made enough dough to excuse a third installment. Again without Edwards, who will be slaving away on Godzilla 2 in Hollywood by that time.

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/157093/nieuwe_trailer_en_poster_the_equalizer

Though there's some good people in the cast, this movie doesn't excite me in the least. Man with a shady past and a talent of getting things done the violent way turns vigilante and fights the mob on his own. Nothing new here. Except maybe it's the Russian mob ingredient, as muscle flexing Russians are kind of a thing in the media right now. Denzel Washington seems very capable in the lead role. Also not a surprise, as this character bears similarities to his persona in Training Day, which, under the guidance of the same director, won him an Oscar over a decade ago. Seems like actor and director figured they might find similar success again doing a similar thing. At least Marton Csokas looks positively creepy as the Russian mob boss (which I know perfectly well he's capable of, as he's an underestimated character actor in my mind) and Chloë Grace Moretz sheds her Hit Girl image a bit by playing the victim for once. She makes a cute underage prostitute, enough for any middle-aged man to get sentimental over when she's taking punches in public. Of course, this movie will do well enough because people keep falling for runaway vigilantes effectively fighting a one-man war against crime. That's what we all wished we could do when it came down to it, eh? I bet Washington will succeed in his noble quest in The Equalizer, as there don't seem to be many surprises here otherwise. He'll probably die in the process though, or something like that. Unless they want to keep an opening for a second film. Remind me again, why did this typical action flick take precedence in IMAX over the visually much more intriguing The Maze Runner?

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/157114/eerste_poster_katniss_voor_hunger_games_mockingjay

It took a while, but there's finally a Mockingjay teaser poster for Katniss Everdeen too. Virtually the entire supporting cast had preceded her until now, either in Capitol prisoner gard or full-on revolutionary soldier gear. Now that the main character has been added to the teaser campaign, it's high time the visually more enticing one-sheets were rolled out. If Catching Fire's poster campaign is any indication, it seems like Mockingjay will easily outdo it. Recurring theme of course being the Mockingjay itself, which already made its presence known on virtually all of the earlier ad artwork. It's done more subtly on this latest teaser poster though, but the message is pretty clear as it leaves little to the imagination that once again the nature of Katniss as a symbol for rebellion against tyranny (whether she likes it or not) is emphasized. And Jannifer Lawrence's backside looks good too, as always.

Today's Mini-Review: 2 Guns

2 Guns: ****/*****, or 7/10

Now this is a buddy movie if ever I saw one. The one buddy is Denzel Washington starring as an undercover DEA-agent aiming to bring down a drug lord, the other is Mark Wahlberg starring as an equally undercover Navy intel officer attempting to secure the same kingpin's cash to fund covert Naval operations. Naturally, neither is aware of the other's actual identity – if you think different government situations could adequately work together for a change, think again! – and they know they'll have to kill their partner somewhere down the road, but not before said road screws them both and they can't trust their own employers no more, which leads them to forge an uneasy alliance to get through their common misery alive. It's basically the 'why so serious' version of The Departed, except here the moles have to dig themselves out together. Of course 2 Guns never reaches that film's level of quality, but it surpasses most other recent action movies, mostly thanks to excellent chemistry between Washington and Wahlberg (giving the latter another chance to prove he can actually act, which is still a matter of debate in some circles). The successful and catchy interplay between Washington's relaxed and calculating thinking man and Wahlberg's charming but obnoxiously loudmouth man of action is the result of an admittedly fairly solid script containing plenty of witticisms, absurd but surprising narrative situations and, as expected, a decent amount of gunfights. The movie betrays its comic book roots in an overall over-the-top attitude, with delightfully ridiculous action scenes, the use of politically incorrect stereotyping here and there (the vile and racist border patrol cops for one) and an excessively eerie and villainous bad guy with a routine for sadistic interrogation techniques (Bill Paxton!). Coupled with an abundance of snappy dialogue throughout, as well as a fairly intelligent, though at times a little convoluted, plot for this type of high octane action flick, it makes 2 Guns one of the more pleasant and enjoyable of this year's thrill rides. Ideologically speaking, the movie suggests there's nobody you can trust but your gun. You certainly can't trust government institutions, since they use you and abuse you at their convenience (which makes it all the more ironic I saw this film on the same day US government services throughout the country shut down due to the inability of American politicians to agree on budget measures, leaving the States in chaos). The DEA is corrupt, the Navy is a tool that only cares about its own prestige and turns a blind eye to injustice amongst its ranks for the greater good, and the CIA is nothing but an out of control private army for its top brass who utilize it to get filthy rich by smuggling drugs into the country in cahoots with the Mexican drug lords that only serve as their stooges. Heck, the Mexican drug lord in this movie (an unconvincingly Hispanic but convincingly scary Edward James 'Adama' Olmos) has more scruples and honourable sensibilities than any of the goverment's top dogs! When it comes down to mutual self-preservation you can rely on your best buddy, but once the dust has cleared you can only trust him as far as you can spit, as illustrated by the protagonists' continuing eagerness to plant a bullet into each other even up till the end of the film. It's a dog-eat-dog world, 2 Guns states, but with a good gun you can make sure you're the canine doing the eating, while getting away with a load of cash while you're at it.