This movie is balls to the wall action, and it's action done right. Sure, it's not like there's a compelling story and interesting characters holding it up, but part of what makes it successful, is that it doesn't pretend to be anything different. Yeah, sure, they very well could have included the 15 to 20 minutes of typical Hollywood formulated bullshit, but instead, they kept it extremely minimal, and I think that that was a great choice. Not only does it help get straight to the action that you paid for, but it makes the fight scenes more tense as well. For most of the movie, there's no real clues as to whether or not the character that you're watching in this particular fight scene is completely expendable. Unlike the Expendables, where the characters are anything but expendable. This is a film where you're actually able to feel scared and get a rush of adrenaline from the fight scenes, because the character you're watching has a good chance of dying. Who would have thought it would have taken this long to figure out that action scenes work better when the characters participating in them aren't invincible? Not only that, but the choreography itself in the fight scenes is very well done. There's none of that typical Hollywood quick-cut close-shot bullshit, that's specifically designed hat you can't see how bad their choreography is. This is a movie that excels on its action, and it tries its best not to bullshit you in between. Now, that being said, it doesn't nearly have the same effect on the second watch, and there are a few moments that are kinda fucking ridiculous, but regardless, there's enough to appreciate about what this movie did right to like it.
Review by DeletedBlockedParent2015-12-15T02:00:12Z
This movie is balls to the wall action, and it's action done right. Sure, it's not like there's a compelling story and interesting characters holding it up, but part of what makes it successful, is that it doesn't pretend to be anything different. Yeah, sure, they very well could have included the 15 to 20 minutes of typical Hollywood formulated bullshit, but instead, they kept it extremely minimal, and I think that that was a great choice. Not only does it help get straight to the action that you paid for, but it makes the fight scenes more tense as well. For most of the movie, there's no real clues as to whether or not the character that you're watching in this particular fight scene is completely expendable. Unlike the Expendables, where the characters are anything but expendable. This is a film where you're actually able to feel scared and get a rush of adrenaline from the fight scenes, because the character you're watching has a good chance of dying. Who would have thought it would have taken this long to figure out that action scenes work better when the characters participating in them aren't invincible? Not only that, but the choreography itself in the fight scenes is very well done. There's none of that typical Hollywood quick-cut close-shot bullshit, that's specifically designed hat you can't see how bad their choreography is. This is a movie that excels on its action, and it tries its best not to bullshit you in between. Now, that being said, it doesn't nearly have the same effect on the second watch, and there are a few moments that are kinda fucking ridiculous, but regardless, there's enough to appreciate about what this movie did right to like it.