Peppermint

First Hit: I enjoy a well-acted and thoughtful revenge film and this one fits the bill.

Riley North (Jennifer Garner), her husband Chris (Jeff Hephner) and their daughter Carly (Calley Fleming) are a happy family except money is always an issue. Chris and  his co-worker Mickey (Chris Johnson) hatch a plan to steal a drug dealers loot. But Chris thinks twice and calls Mickey to tell him he wants out, that he cannot risk himself and his family's well being.

However, the dealer learns of the plot, kills Mickey and sends gang-bangers to kill Chris. They find Chris with his family enjoying an amusement park for Carly's birthday. When they kill Chris they do it with automatic weapons and not only kill Chris, they kill Carly and Riley is shot and injured. After mourning her family and getting nowhere with the police investigation, she disappears for five years. Riley leaves the country and upon her return, she’s transformed herself from supportive housewife to killing machine. While away she's learned martial arts, how to stalk people, how to kill with guns and her bare hands, and new she's back and wants revenge on the whole gang who killed her family.

The police and FBI pick up on the trail of bodies she leaves behind, including the three bodies hanging upside-down on the Ferris wheel at the amusement park where she was shot and her husband and daughter died five years earlier.

Riley is being hunted by the FBI, L.A. Police Department, and the gang. Will she win in the end? What price will she be willing to pay?

Garner is fantastic as Riley, a revenge filled killing machine. Her skills in body movement, and the belief in her eyes, had me rooting for her all the way. Hephner was good in his small role. Fleming was excellent in her role as well. Juan Pablo Raba as drug lord Diego Garcia was very strong. John Gallagher Jr. as Detective Stan Carmichael was excellent. John Ortiz as a seasoned Detective Moises Beltran was perfect. Annie Ilonzeh as FBI Agent Lisa Inman was very good. Chad St. John wrote a strong revenge script. It was this script, Garner’s acting and Pierre Morel’s direction that made it all work.

Overall: This was a excellent revenge film and sometimes a woman’s revenge is best.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout

First Hit: Holds tension and action throughout, however it is long and we all know the ending.

I’ve said this many a time, what I like about Tom Cruise (here as IMF Agent Ethan Hunt) is that he’s always all in for the characters he chooses. As Ethan Hunt he’s one with the role. What is always disappointing is that we always know how the film is going to end. For instance, my previous review of the film Blindspotting, I had no idea how the movie would end, that’s what partly made it great. Watching Mission, I know that Hunt is going to save the day in the nick of time and he doesn't fail.

Despite that, this film is action packed from the very beginning and creates tension by delivering on some hair-raising predicaments and stunts. One of the nice touches was how the film began. Playing the Mission: Impossible theme music, it showed brief pictures of was to come, just like the television show use to do. The cast is solid, especially Hunts team of Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and Benjamin “Benji” Dunn (Simon Pegg). Their chemistry of working together on previous Mission films makes the impossible missions more possible and believable to the audience – they are pros.

The plot has Hunt attempting to obtain three plutonium devices that are on the black market. The US Government want to keep them out of the hands of terrorists. Hunt makes the choice to save the life of Luther over obtaining the devices.

Solomon Lane (Sean Harris), who Hunt previously captured and put into prison, is attempting to obtain the devices through surrogates. He wants to use the devices to make a point that the world must suffer greatly if it is to get better. His former organization, The Apostles, want the weapons as well.

One of the plot devices is to have CIA agent August Walker (Henry Cavill) join the team to protect the CIA’s interest in IMF’s plot to re-obtain the devices. Walker is directly under CIA Director Erica Stone (Angela Bassett). The twist is that Walker is also playing John Lark who is an enemy of the CIA and IMF.

Hunt and his team are under the direction of former CIA Director Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin) who now leads the IMF task force. The film shows the tension between the CIA and IMF because the CIA doubts that the IMF can get the job done.

Another twist to this plot is the MI6 agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) who has to redeem herself to her organization, therefore she must also obtain the plutonium devices.

Lastly, trying to broker a sale of the devices the story has the White Widow (Vanessa Kirby). I'm not totally sure why this part was needed but it worked.

What the film has is a number of different groups trying to get control of;  the plutonium, a captured prisoner, or Hunt.

There are plenty of gun battle scenes, lots of chases (cars, motorcycles, running, and helicopter), and plenty of costume changes that the Mission: Impossible team is noted for. Everything is done very well, and the cliff hanging scene is simply a great cliffhanger. Lastly, one of the highlights for me was the different ways the theme song was used throughout the film.

Cruise always puts everything into his action roles. He can be funny, self-effacing, and believable all at the same time. Cavill is good as the agent with dual identity. Rhames is fantastic as part of the IMF team. He shows smarts, affability, and is fully believable in his role. Pegg is spot on as the one always questioning whether a plan Hunt has devised will work or not. In the end, he does his part and is often the one who figures things out. Ferguson is excellent as one of two women Hunt admires and loves. As an agent of MI6 she’s excellent. Harris is good as the slightly off-base mastermind who wants to teach the world a lesson or two. Bassett is good as the CIA Director that is elusive about her commitment to the IMF team. Baldwin was very good as Hunt’s immediate boss. Kirby was good as the White Widow, but I found it difficult to buy into why she held so much sway. Michelle Monaghan was excellent as Hunt’s former wife who is in jeopardy at the end of the film. Christopher McQuarrie wrote and directed this adventure with complete idea of what he wanted and with a knowing how to build tension to the end.

Overall: This was a fun filled film although it was a bit long.

The Equalizer 2

First Hit: Although the plot premise was slightly forced, I loved how Denzel Washington makes sure he’s on the right side of things.

I had difficulty understanding why the couple were murdered at the beginning of this film. Although the film attempts to provide enough information to make it understandable, for me, something was missing. It needed a bit of context in some way.

However, the subsequent murders by a small group of men, doing cleanup, had more clarity.

Meanwhile, we watch Robert McCall (Washington) living his life as a Lyft driver occasionally, using his killing skills to right a wrong to a friend or a societal criminal activity.

The strongest statement to McCall’s effectiveness as a do-gooder was when he rectifies the wrong done to a call girl by a group of young rich entitled men. After taking the woman to a hospital, he goes back to the apartment and pulverizes the group of men for their actions towards the woman.

His closest friend and former boss, from his active government days, Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo), investigates the initial couple’s murder and because she’s so good, the band of men responsible for the initial killing, decide to kill her as well.

This puts McCall over the line and how he’s out for complete revenge. When he discovers the responsible party for the killings are former men he worked with, he ensures they know he’ll come after them, and that his only sadness will be he can kill them only once.

There is a side story about his wife’s death and his inability to go back to where they lived together.

However, it is his guidance towards Miles Whittaker (Ashton Sanders) that really brings out his deep seated patience, caring and mentorship. Miles is torn between wanting to join a gang to earn some coin for himself and his mama and his ability to draw. His brother died by a bullet and in some ways he wants to get revenge. The other, more sensitive side of him, wants to honor his talent for drawing and painting. The film does take time to explore this side as well.

Washington is perfect as the thoughtful, competent killer. His ability to break into a smile, then look someone down with a glare that exudes death is perfect for this role. Makes me want to hope for yet, another episode. Leo is perfect as the no nonsense former leader of a secret government assassination team. Sanders was wonderful as the young man trying to find his way. Pedro Pascal (playing Dave York) as McCall’s old running mate when they worked for the government together. Thought he carried his role with perfectly. Richard Wenk and Michael Sloan wrote the script. For me, the beginning wasn’t set up well enough with the killing of the couple, but other than this, I liked how it unfolded. Antoine Fuqua directed this film. What didn’t work well for me, besides the opening couple’s murder sequence, was the having the final war between McCall and the clean-up team be shot in a storm. For me it didn’t add to the tense ending only made it harder to follow.

Overall: I love Denzel in this role and therefore I enjoyed the film.

Hotel Artemis

First Hit: Who says Hollywood cannot create a unique and well-acted film.

It’s the future, 2028, and L.A. is caught in a huge riot. However, inside the Hotel Artemis, on the top floor, there is a place of chaotic serenity – a place held together by rules – a place run by The Nurse (Jodie Foster).

Rule 1, you must have a valid membership to enter The Nurse’s establishment. The establishment is a few rooms in the Penthouse at the top of the Hotel Artemis where she fixes up members, mainly criminals, who have been injured.

Helping her is an orderly; Everest (Dave Bautista). I was entranced in his character the moment he points out that as a health professional he has the right to do certain things.

Together they manage the calls that come in for a room or medical assistance. When someone calls, she checks to see if she has a room and if she does, they can be admitted if their membership is valid by scanning their arm next to a scanner in the barred off lobby of the Penthouse floor. If the wound is serious, Everest may be called to help escort the patient to the Penthouse floor.

Each person who’s admitted is called by the name of the room they occupy. In Waikiki is actor Sterling K. Brown who is there because his brother in room Honolulu (Brian Tyree Henry) was shot, bleeding badly, and also happens to have a heroin addiction. Staying in the room Nice, pronounced like the city in France, is an assassin (Sofia Boutella). In Acapulco (Charlie Day) is a healing local thug who thinks he’s above everyone.

The story begins with Waikiki and Honolulu being admitted to Hotel Artemis because Honolulu has been badly wounded. Their running mate Buke was not admitted because his membership has lapsed and the scene where Everest escorts him out of the hotel is excellent.

We watch with fascination as The Nurse goes to work as she fastidiously works her healing magic on patients using a fine marriage of skill and technology. Also we see the intense interactions between Nice, Acapulco and Waikiki in the bar that also set up part of the plot.

We learn that “The Wolf” (Jeff Goldblum) runs L.A. and is the one who set The Nurse up at the top of this hotel for this purpose and to be there when he needs her.

As the story unfolds and The Nurse learns that The Wolf is on his way, all the players have their part in this story of revenge, redemption and freedom.

Foster is sublime in this role. She’s perfect as the fastidious nurse who wants to play by the rules, has a past sadness, and is afraid to go outside of the hotel. Bautista is profoundly excellent as The Nurse’s bodyguard, fixit man, and orderly. I loved his character. Brown is excellent as the guy who’s upended his life for his brother and continues to support him, no matter what. Henry is good as the shot junkie brother. Boutella is outstanding as the assassin. Her intensity and clarity of movement during her scenes were wonderful. Day was great as the kind of person you don’t want to like. His ability to portray arrogance and racist leanings were perfect for his role. Goldblum was wonderful as The Wolf. His supreme attitude towards his stature in L.A. worked perfectly. Drew Pearce wrote and directed this unique story. Kudos for trying something different when all Hollywood can seem to do this throw up retreads of past stories.

Overall: I fully enjoyed this unique story and the excellent acting by all the actors.

First Reformed

First Hit: A slow paced, thoughtful, story about a confused tormented priest.

In upstate New York there is a small church called First Reformed. Its leader is Reverend Toller (Ethan Hawke) who is troubled because of his past military experience and from losing his son. He’s also ignoring his illness, has a small congregation of six or seven people, and drinks a lot to push his troubles away.

He begins to start a journal which serves, from time to time, as a voice over during the film.

The church is going to celebrate it’s 250th anniversary and the big famous church in town, led by Pastor Jeffers (Cedric the Entertainer) is sponsoring the celebration. The celebration will have the mayor, the governor and a leading business executive – specifically a deep pocket financial partner named Edward Balq (Michael Gaston) who owns a company that pollutes the environment.

The complications in the story come from Mary (Amanda Seyfried) and her husband Michael (Phillip Ettinger). She’s pregnant, he wants Mary to abort the child because the polluted world the child will be born into is not something he can support. Michael is a serious environmental activist. This is born out when Mary finds a vest bomb he's made. Mary has asks Reverend Tollar to step in and help. This is difficult for Tollar.

Also, Toller’s ex-wife works for Pastor Jeffers and wants to be involved in Toller’s life but he’s pushes her away whenever possible.

The key in this story is about Michael’s activism and how it affects Reverend Toller. Toller thinks about what is happening to the earth and plans to make a big statement about this at the celebration because he dislikes Balq’s attitude and Pastor Jeffers’ control and support of Balq’s polluting company.

The pacing was very methodical and therefore the film was long. I think it could have been tightened up a bit. The ending was a bit odd as well, and it fit the overall films oddity.

Hawke is strong as the tormented reverend. He’s good in these types of roles and here he continues to excel. Seyfried is excellent as the confused activist wife whose opinion was changed by her own pregnancy. Cedric the Entertainer was very strong as the Pastor of his big time evangelical church. Ettinger was good as the confused and depressed Michael. Gaston was strong as the business man who thinks money fixes everything. Victoria Hill (as Esther, Toller’s ex-wife) was excellent. Her care and out reach was perfectly annoying to Toller. Paul Schrader wrote and directed this film. I liked the dialogue, however the pacing was just a little too slow for me.

Overall:  This film is complex in that it is about, environment issues, loss, abortion, religion and big business all mixed into one story.