Guns Akimbo directed by Jason Lei Howden; starring Daniel Radcliffe, Samara Weaving, Ned Dennehy, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Grant Bowler and Edwin Wright

A nerdy computer programmer finds himself forced to compete in an underground death match with guns bolted into his hands.

The fun setup translates into a script with plenty of action and clever twists, and a straightforward efficiency achieved through some cheap but forgivable tricks.
In the lead, Daniel Radcliffe delivers a gritty performance, contributing nicely to the movie's wry tone.
There's also some clever direction from filmmaker Jason Lei Howden whose innovative camera work creates some memorable moments, though he tends to overdo it as a whole.
A definite visual style rounds up the film nicely to make it one of the most original and unapologetic action movies in recent history. 

Amazon Prime / Rating: B

We Can Be Heroes directed by Robert Rodriguez; starring YaYa Gosselin, Pedro Pascal, Priyanka Chopra Jones, Lyon Daniels, Andy Walken, Hala Finley, Lotus Blossom, Dylan Henry Liu, Andrew Diaz, Isaiah Russell-Bailey, Akira Akbar, Nathan Blair and Vivien Lyra Blair; written by Sara Endsley, Dan Foos and Robert Rodriguez

When their superhero parents are captured by alien invaders, their children must master their powers to save the Earth.

This distant sequel to "The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D" could have been another witty comedy take on the genre, thanks to its clever premise and its skillful cast.
However, even allowing for the fact that the film is aimed at young children, the design and effects look silly and outdated, and the script doesn't take its story seriously enough for anything to really matter.
Behind the camera, director Robert Rodriguez still has a few tricks up his sleeve but too often gets bogged down in lengthy exposition and cheap montages, problems exacerbated by the script's overabundance of characters.

Netflix / Rating: D -

Secret Magic Control Agency directed by Aleksey Tsitsilin; starring Nicholas Corda, Sylvana Joyce, Alyson Leigh Rosenfled, Erica Schroeder, Georgette Reilly and Mary O'Brady; written by Analisa LaBianco, Vladimir Nikolaev, Jeffery Spencer, Aleksey Tsitsilin and Aleksey Zamyslov

To find the king's kidnapper, special agent Gretel must reunite with her scoundrel brother Hansel.

There's a fun premise here with some decent twist on the source material, a promising world-building and some interesting elements.
But the blunt graphics leave no space to imagination, the story's messy structure robs it of suspense and the direction, completely devoid of pacing or foreshadowing, completes the disaster.

Netflix / Rating: D -

Breach directed by John Suits; starring Cody Kearsley, Bruce Willis, Rachel Nichols, Kassandra Clementi, Johnny Messner and Corey Large; written by Edward Drake and Corey Large

The crew of a colony ship fleeing an inhabitable Earth must fight an alien parasite.

At its core, the script tries to be an "Alien" / "The Thing" mash-up. Ambitious but you certainly can't fault the filmmakers for their taste in sci-fi horror. And since they've clearly seen those masterpieces, you'd hope that they learned a thing or two from them.
Alas, they haven't. The script is an appalling succession of poor structure, lazy clichés, cheap plotting and bad dialogue, all of which is devoid of such basic concepts as character arcs, foreshadowing or suspense. Apathy is also rampant as, after a third of the movie's running time, nothing significant has happened plot-wise and yet both character development and useful exposition are still at an all-time low.
The movie's one passable aspect are its sets which are vaguely convincing, until John Suits' inept direction make it blatantly obvious that they are mostly reusing the same bit of corridor over and over again.
In the midst of all this crap, Bruce Willis does the bare minimum to collect what can only be hoped is a fat paycheck while trying to pretend he gives a crap and utterly failing at it.

Amazon Prime / Rating: F - -

 This free site is ad-supported. Learn more
​