‘Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning’ Is No James Bond
The action in Mission Impossible: Dread Reckoning, Part One merely updates director John Glen’s James Bond set pieces from a more primitive time in cinema: the 1980s.
adventure
‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ Doesn’t Dig Very Deep
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny should have taken a thoughtful approach to Harrison Ford’s aged hero, as James Mangold did in the superior Logan.
‘The Flash’ and Its Disposable Heroes of Multiversity
The story that takes up most of The Flash’s running time is about something that never happened, and worse, the film skips over the hard part of multiversity storytelling.
Hideo Gosha’s ‘Samurai Wolf’ Is a Man of His Sword
Hideo Gosha’s Samurai Wolf films contain scenes and elements that feel like nods to Akira Kurosawa.
‘The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan’ Is an Honourable Iteration
The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan lacks the literary poetry and grace of Dumas’ sprawling novel, but Martin Bourboulon’s iteration honours its spirit.
Fregonese’s ‘Marco Polo’ Traveled a Twisty Road to Production
Hugo Fregonese’s 1962 Italian-French production of Marco Polo is a film whose history is more twisty than the spaghetti Marco Polo discovered in China.
‘Secret of the Incas’ Is Finally Exhumed from Hollywood’s Tomb
The 1954 Hollywood adventure film Secret of the Incas may have a whiff of Indiana Jones about it to contemporary viewers, but it’s better than expected for a film that’s almost been buried in a tomb.
The Uncomfortable Reflection in Sci-Fi ‘Landscape with Invisible Hands’
Premiering at Sundance 2023, Cory Finley’s Landscape with Invisible Hand effectively uses sci-fi to gaze into the future and look back on humankind’s dark heritage.
‘Raw Wind in Eden’ and the Promise of Almost-Sex
Taken within its lush Hollywood limitations, ‘Raw Wind in Eden’ remains a highly watchable and attractive melodrama that measures a certain depth in the tides of social evolution.
Post-Apocalyptic ‘The Last of Us’ Begs the Question – Do We Ever Learn?
The characters in Craig Mazin’s hit series, The Last of Us, are just like the rest of us – violent, tyrannical, and on the verge of being irredeemable. Yet we hope for them, still.
The High Before the Fall: Terry Gilliam’s ‘The Adventures of Baron Munchausen’
Stranger than Terry Gilliam’s 1990s hits and less aggressive than his later work, the glorious fantasy The Adventures of Baron Munchausen was the last film where his talents fully flowered.
‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ Should Have Cut the Carnage
Little did the filmmakers behind Ruben Fleischer’s Venom know that Carnage would become a poisonous burden to Andy Serkis’ sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage.