action

FURY: Great Action and Tropes Galore

David Ayer’s Fury is the story of an American tank unit led by “Wardaddy” (Brad Pitt) near the end of the European Theatre in World War II. Ayer is still best known for writing 2001’s Training Day, but after he made the surprisingly acclaimed End of Watch, he has been given the chance to direct a full-blown war film. Ayer’s hyper-masculine style is one that could be to the detriment of a war film that is trying to stay grounded in reality, but he is able to dial back his tendencies enough to keep it from being a glorification of violence.

JOHN WICK: A Killer Comeback For Keanu Reeves

A trio of rambunctious adolescents storm into a man’s house, steal his car, and then, just for the hell of it, beat his dog to death. Unbeknownst to them, the man they robbed is none other than John Wick, a former assassin who was so good at his job that he earned a nickname of “The Boogeyman.” Let’s just say that they pissed off the wrong guy.

DRACULA UNTOLD Doesn’t Make Good On Its Promise

Dracula Untold tries to be a lot of different things – a PG-13 horror movie, a historical epic, a Gothic romance, a superhero origin story – and it does it all while at the same time trying to kick start an Avengers-style shared movie universe. Whether you call that ambitious or just the obvious product of too many cooks in the kitchen, it doesn’t succeed on every front. But remarkably enough, as a pure popcorn movie, it doesn’t completely fall apart, either.

FOAM DRIVE RENEGADES: Puppets Abound

One of the best qualities you find in the cinephile world is a film that doesn’t take itself so seriously. Truly, what better way to do that than with puppets? Drugged up puppets that rob convenience stores.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: Leave Your Childhood At The Door

I am a member of a generation that covets nostalgia more than any that has come before it. The Internet allows us to relive our childhood memories whenever we wish. It can be comforting to look back at the cartoons you watched as a kid or be reminded of that candy you loved that has since been discontinued.

DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES: An Exceptional Blockbuster

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes is the sequel to Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (2011), which heralded the latest reboot of the Planet Of The Apes franchise. Dawn presents a story much more intelligent than you’d expect of a blockbuster, its creators having put an overwhelming amount of effort into creating a world that is believable, into creating a wholly new culture for characters that are unique and relatable, furry or not. Rise was good, but Dawn is even better.

How To Train Your Dragon 2
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 Is Even Better Than The First

Wow. I didn’t go into How To Train Your Dragon 2 expecting my world to be rocked, but… it sort of did.

Elysium
ELYSIUM Is Much More Than a Brainless Action Movie

In Elysium, the world has gone to shit. It is heavily polluted and poverty has risen to extremely high levels – the ghettos stretch as far as you can see. This is where the poor working class lives.

OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN Is Racist, Stupid and One-Dimensional

The director of Training Day (2001) (a respectable movie to say the least) has made the most hilariously ridiculous, cringe-inducingly bad movie I’ve seen in some time. Boasting a cast of renowned actors like Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Angela Basset, even this ensemble could not save it. Olympus Has Fallen opens on Christmas eve, showing a happy president, a happy first lady, a really happy kid, happy bodyguards – until something awful happens (of course).

BRONSON Offers An Interesting Take On A Criminal

Bronson chronicles the life of infamous British prisoner Michael Peterson, a.k.a.

IRON MAN 3 Toys With Our Perception of Terrorism

Robert Downey Jr. returns once more as the extravagant Tony Stark and Iron Man. In this third installment of this popular super hero franchise, Tony Stark faces a pretty tough terrorist with (really cool) super hero powers of his own.