Fate of the Furious - Snapshot

What started out as an illegal street racing flick for petrol head's, over one and a half decades has transformed itself into a full-blown action blockbuster franchise, taking on the world's deadliest criminals, and cyber villains. In the Fate of the Furious, Dominic Toretto goes rogue, aligning himself with a mysterious terrorist, while Hobbs and the rest of the team try to stop them.

Between franchise writer Chris Morgan, Universal Studios, and the producers including Vin Diesel, they've figured out a successful formula that can be rehashed without end. What's even more intriguing is that in large part it works. While the plots change, and new villains are introduced, the team, the plan, and the impossible antics in cars remain constant. For Fate of the Furious, there's a good deal of well-choreographed car chase sequences, with the hacked car sequence being a new addition, one which was visually lasting. The game is certainly taken up a few notches, from tanks in previous installments to a gargantuan nuclear submarine in this installment; nothing unexpected though if you've watched the trailers. From a narrative perspective, Fast & the Furious is becoming an action soap opera, re-introducing old characters, giving them slightly modified roles, but keeping them all in the mix. Also notable is the slow assembling of an elite squad, similar to Sly's band of brothers in The Expendables movies; regular cast heavyweights now including Vin Diesel, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, and Jason Statham. All of this predictability, coupled with the clearly impossible circumstances, would point towards sure failure, but surprisingly results in an entertainment extravaganza like no other. With the right amount of action, humor, and cool cars, it's not surprising that Fate of the Furious set the global box office record, earning an estimated $532.5 million worldwide in its opening weekend. With that, the Fast & Furious franchise is one of Universal's most successful, grossing over $4.4 billion to date. As a viewer, if you can overlook the sometimes-failed logic, and overly macho dialog, you can expect to be supremely entertained!

My Recommendation: Watch It + (High speed entertainment, now on ice)

Find Me Guilty - Snapshot

I hadn't heard of Find Me Guilty, but it came highly recommended from someone with an eye for quality movies, so I made sure to get my hands on it, and check it out. The movie is a court room drama, based on true events surrounding the longest every mafia trial in US history. The plot follows Jack DiNorscio, a mobster with impeccable integrity, who defends himself, in a seemingly impossible case, with the odds stacked against him.

The lead role of Jackie D, is played by Vin Diesel, which is a huge departure from his usual bad-ass, action hero performances. The narrative rests heavily on his character and his performance is just fabulous.  Historically, Jacky D was a lovable character, who won the hearts of the jury and the public, and in keeping with that, Vin Diesel delivers a Jackie D, who from his smile, mannerisms, and dialog delivery, is truly warm, and all heart. If anyone was under the impression that Vin Diesel was all about crazy, modern, in your face, action roles, guess again. His standout performance in Find Me Guilty, is testimony to his acting chops. Other memorable supporting acts include Ron Silver who plays the judge, and Peter Dinklage of Game of Thrones Fame. Expect great character dynamics, and solid acting, adding a level of intensity to even simple scenes. Though the movie starts of a little slow, it becomes incredibly gripping as it develops. The closing moments are downright emotional. The jazz music that plays throughout in the background is a nice touch, adding to the setting and context of the period. The 6 channel DTS surround soundtrack serves the movie well, creating a fitting courtroom ambience, and ensuring clear dialog delivery from the center channel. If you enjoy courtroom dramas, you'll love Find Me Guilty. It should come as no surprise that the man who brought us 12 Angry Men in 1957, continues to blow us away in this genre. Kudos to Sidney Lumet for yet another work of art. 

My Recommendation: Kick Ass (A courtroom masterpiece, both in terms of direction and performance)

Cyborg X - Snapshot

I decided to check out Cyborg X after seeing some of its promo material; I figured it could make for an off-beat yet interesting sci-fi action movie, like say TC 2000 from 1993.  The plot sounded interesting enough, with weapon manufacturers, cyber viruses, and the battle for humanity.

Sadly, after dragging myself through one and a half hours of drudgery, it was clear that the movie was yet another, low budget, forgettable, TV movie. The plot borrowed elements from the Terminator franchise, with machines supposedly having taken over. Some scenes were literally replicated, like say the carpet of skulls, which is a usual in the opening sequences of most Terminator movies. The execution was also poor, with boring action sequences, and terrible effects. The combat logic was also skewed; in some instances, the cyborgs were made out to be indestructible, but the protagonists would pointlessly waste rounds of ammo on them. But in some other circumstances, they could plainly be taken down. The worst part was the god-awful dialog; Cyborg-X takes the cake for perhaps one of the worst scripts ever. Every verbal exchange was cliché and stereotype. While at times it felt like a spoof, the attempt at keeping it serious was deplorable. Besides the end of the world plot component, the narrative also touches upon a grieving mom, and her assuming a maternal figure of sorts. Sadly, it felt very artificial, and didn’t seem to fit in to the overall story. There was a good deal of dismembering and gore, which was probably aimed at viewers hoping for some slasher sorta appeal. Performances were hopeless, and even Danny Trejo, and top billed Eve Mauro, couldn’t save Cyborg X. Music was the only decent facet, with it setting the mood appropriately at times. The video I was sampling was a DVD rip. Picture was just okay, but audio was terrible; over emphasized bass, which for most part was out of control. Though it was a Dolby Digital AC3 soundtrack, there was no valid use of surround.

My Recommendation: Skip It (A post-apocalyptic, sci-fi, action flick that deserves to be forgotten).