Spot on, man. I’m actually wondering if I was a bit too harsh on it—I mean, at the end of the day, it’s still a total badass action flick. I'll probably give it another spin before the year's out and see if it sticks
The movie kicks off with Scott Adkins being woken up by his little girl, who’s terrified by something in the kitchen. He goes to check it out and gets jumped by some masked attackers, then one of them pulls off the mask to reveal a bald, weathered Jean-Claude Van Damme. Van Damme kills his family right in front of him, and Adkins wakes up from a coma nine months later. He can't remember anything except the attack, so he decides to dig into why his family was targeted and get some payback...
I remember the last one, Regeneration, was a pretty decent action flick with tons of potential, though I can't quite wrap my head around how Lundgren and Van Damme are still kicking... maybe they've got clones or something, who knows... anyway, point is, you can totally watch this without seeing the previous entries.
Basically, Adkins is the big star here. Lundgren shows up plenty, but not over the top, while Van Damme just has a long cameo, which is a bummer since I expected him to lead. But hey, Adkins carries his weight—he's probably the reason the movie works for a younger crowd since Jean-Claude looks pretty old and checked out here. Lundgren could've been used more too, so Andrei Arlovski basically acts as the main villain throughout the whole thing.
The story is actually pretty engaging with a few twists; it feels like they really tried to cook up an interesting plot. It gets a bit messy and confusing in spots, though. I don't want to overthink it or nitpick because I'd find a million dumb things, but they definitely put in the effort, which is fine for this kind of flick... even if half of it makes zero sense to me, whatever.
I watch those newer B-movie action flicks starring Van Damme pretty often, and you can always tell when they're shot on a shoestring budget. This one, though? The production value felt surprisingly high, at least to me. The director experiments a bit too much in certain scenes—some parts are almost enough to give you an epileptic seizure, so that was a bit much—but otherwise, the directing and camera work are totally solid... but hey, it's a B-movie, so I wasn't expecting a masterpiece.
Now for the main event—the action. It's good. Actually, it's freaking awesome. There are several killer scenes, especially that whole final act ranging from the epic bunker battle to the cool fight with Lundgren and the ultimate showdown with Van Damme. Tons of blood, great choreography, and it gets seriously brutal at times. I dug it.
I actually really dug it People keep saying it's just pathetic Oscar bait, but honestly, that doesn't make it a bad movie to me It’s an interesting watch—lots of heart, the kid is solid, and those intense monologues hit hard. Plus, it leaves you with a real message, which is cool
Sure, the dad could've been in any accident, it didn't have to be 9/11, but hey, it works
not really feeling the vibe here today, but I caught this movie a few years back and it was honestly killer. left me with a ton of questions at first, but once I puzzled through all the weird bits, everything clicked. definitely one of those top-tier time travel flicks where the logic actually holds up without being a total mess.
I'm watching too, but this animation style is just hitting my eyes wrong, it's seriously grating on my nerves... I don't usually mind stuff like this, maybe I'm just wiped out
feralorca82 said:you've got to be kidding me. this is pure, trashy fun. the second Ghost Rider was just straight-up garbage. not "trashy," just garbage. 😁
I actually felt the opposite The only highlight is William Fichtner, honestly.
If this thing had felt more like a second Ghost Rider, it would’ve been a blast. But there's a super thin line between a total disaster and a movie that's so bad it's actually fun. This one falls into the first camp because Nicolas Cage isn't going full batshit crazy, and it feels like it's trying way too hard to be cool—that kind of vibe shouldn't be forced, it just has to happen. Plus, the whole thing drags, and they even ripped off a scene from shoot Em up
Honestly, just one of the absolute worst movies of the year...
The issue is they keep remaking absolute classics. They should just find some total garbage movies with decent ideas and actually make them right for once.
I really wanted the killer to have some deeper tie to Poe. I was secretly hoping for that, but having it just be some obsessive superfan? Kinda felt underwhelming to me.
I didn't quite catch how the young detective figured out John was the guy. Something about spilled ink or whatever, but it totally flew over my head. Like, how?
Also, I feel like Cusack goes way too hard in those two scenes where he's just screaming and being super aggressive. It felt a bit forced and didn't really land for me.
And yeah, honestly, the vibe is more Sleepy Hollow than Sherlock Holmes...
Yeah, it’s got some major vibes from Richie’s Sherlock Holmes. Pretty sure the movie took a page out of his book, except The Black Crow takes itself way too seriously. To me, Sherlock felt a bit more playful and fun, you know?
Looks like it didn't really land with critics or the audience, which is a bummer. It’s actually a pretty solid watch—the atmosphere and style are definitely top-tier. man, I’m right there with you. For me, the movie is just okay, maybe slightly above average, mostly because the ending was such a letdown. I thought they were building toward something clever, but it felt like they just pulled a random killer out of thin air at the last second. Total waste.
silentcanyon58 said:It’s honestly their loss because this movie is just fantastic. Sure, we aren't exactly breaking new ground here, but goodness, there is something so charming about seeing a slightly more weathered, yet somehow even more hilarious Mel Gibson who looks like he is absolutely starving for screen time... bullets are flying everywhere, there’s a cigarette practically in every single frame, you've got heroin being kicked around, intense violence, torture, and plenty of gritty action; it is truly the perfect kind of flick to just switch your brain off and enjoy, especially paired with a solid script that keeps all that chaos tightly wound. I have to say, they really earned that R rating... though, to be fair, considering this is a low-budget production compared to those massive Hollywood blockbusters, they could have easily afforded to take that route. Just wonderful... what a wonderful little movie!
Exactly that plus one to this, right?
I'd give it a 7/10; would've been higher if the second half (that last thirty minutes) was on the same level as the first part.