As others have noted, this is basically Paul W.S. Anderson's attempt to set up a new franchise for his wife Mila Jovovich, now her role in the Resident Evil franchise has played out, and is being rebooted WITHOUT her, which of course will probably doom it to failure. Hollywood has very few original ideas anymore, so, if they aren't making a sequel, they're copying some older property and just amping up the FX for a cash grab.
This wasn't that bad, as, it's always fun to see Mila in her element, and Tony Jaa has really been underutilized until recently. Once again the trope is proven true that (usually) black folks in Sci Fi films equal TOS Redshirts, but then, it WAS just T.I. and Megan Good, so..., meh.
Ron Perlman and his magnificent blond hairpiece do an adequate job as the wizened Leader of the "other world" folks tasked with closing the portal betwixt our world and the next, lest Smaug escape Erebor and destroys all Middle Earth.
Could have been a fun one off, but, the clumsy, hackneyed ..."to be continued" (hopefully) ending was more suited to a made for TV series season ender, than a major motion picture, in spite of the awesome fighting Ninja kitty.
Ooooh, was that Sauron lurking under that grim reaper cloak at the (very) end, or, perhaps he who shall not be named? I get my tropes and memes confused sometimes.
It's an OK watch if you're not doing anything one afternoon during lockdown. But, if the do greenlight another chapter, perhaps they can flesh things out a bit more between the actiony bits.
Review by Paladin5150BlockedParent2021-02-16T12:50:27Z
As others have noted, this is basically Paul W.S. Anderson's attempt to set up a new franchise for his wife Mila Jovovich, now her role in the Resident Evil franchise has played out, and is being rebooted WITHOUT her, which of course will probably doom it to failure. Hollywood has very few original ideas anymore, so, if they aren't making a sequel, they're copying some older property and just amping up the FX for a cash grab.
This wasn't that bad, as, it's always fun to see Mila in her element, and Tony Jaa has really been underutilized until recently. Once again the trope is proven true that (usually) black folks in Sci Fi films equal TOS Redshirts, but then, it WAS just T.I. and Megan Good, so..., meh.
Ron Perlman and his magnificent blond hairpiece do an adequate job as the wizened Leader of the "other world" folks tasked with closing the portal betwixt our world and the next, lest Smaug escape Erebor and destroys all Middle Earth.
Could have been a fun one off, but, the clumsy, hackneyed ..."to be continued" (hopefully) ending was more suited to a made for TV series season ender, than a major motion picture, in spite of the awesome fighting Ninja kitty.
Ooooh, was that Sauron lurking under that grim reaper cloak at the (very) end, or, perhaps he who shall not be named? I get my tropes and memes confused sometimes.
It's an OK watch if you're not doing anything one afternoon during lockdown. But, if the do greenlight another chapter, perhaps they can flesh things out a bit more between the actiony bits.