Ballerina: A John Wick Story: After the Bond film No Time to Die was released and Ana De Armas was a secret agent working with 007 there was plenty of speculation that the effective De Armas could be a Bond. Instead, she has decided to become a tangential story in the John Wick world. I feel as though it has mixed results. John Wick at it’s most basic is a gun-for-hire who wants out but once his dog is killed he takes it very personally and uses his ample skills. In this film, De Armas as a little girl sees her father get murdered by a group of men with a distinctive mark.
Ian McShane shows up knowing the girl’s background and invites her to join a family so that she may look to the future. In her case, she wants revenge. The “family” is a training ground for assassins run by Anjelica Houston. She is a ruthless taskmaster. De Armas learns her painful lessons. Little does she know that she is following in the path of her slain father. Seems that the father was looking to escape a cult-like family. De Armas becomes a rogue element to seek out the cult-family that is headed by Gabriel Byrne. Seems that there is no lack of older Hollywood still looking for roles. Things proceed as you might expect with a couple surprises. Like John Wick it is astounding and unbelievable that De Armas acting alone can suffer the hits that she does and still function. In prolonged fights it is even more unbelievable. Yet despite all the hits, she doesn’t seem to bruise and also keeps her very pretty face intact. I am not sure that I need to see more from the John Wick, contract killer universe, even with a new rival family cult. I like De Armas. I think that she has plenty of versatility. I see a lot of Atomic Blonde in this movie, although Charlize Theron got more battered and bruised in that. The concept remains. For me this likely won’t stick in my memory for that long.
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers: I have been reading a number of times recently that some people feel that Lord of the Rings is the greatest series of movies ever. It has been a very long time that I have seen these movies and read the books. I did see the movies when they were released in the theatres.
Upon a re-watch I have to admit that my initial assessment of the movie remains the same. It is very pretty to look with some spectacular scenery of New Zealand (acting as Middle Earth) but I find that it is so very painfully slow to get anywhere.
Like the books which were long and drawn out affairs, it moves at a snail’s pace. The actors are absolutely committed to the roles and the production value is very high and convincing. But as far as the story goes, the story has a number of different avenues to build on from the first installment with the fellowship. Now separated, there is the hobbits Frodo and Sam, trailed by the sinister Gollum. Then there is Aragon with the elf and the dwarf. Finally the two other hobbits Pippin and Merry. Each has their own challenges. I don’t believe in the battle at The Keep where in the final act Gandalf shows up to assist with an unwinnable battle with the massive Orc army that does in fact breach the gates and enter the deep recesses of the Keep. The fact that the has risen doesn’t take away from their numerical advantage. Can Aragon with the horse King ride their horses through a formidable number of orcs to meet up with Gandalf? Seems incredibly unlikely as without doubt the orcs being trampled would take out the horses legs. But never mind. I re-state my initial assessment of this movie and the series, which later added the over-indulgent Hobbit series of movies that should have been made into a single two hour movie. It is not the best series ever for me. It wouldn’t even be in my top 10. So there it is. Actually putting forth such a list could be quite daunting in an of successful movies always getting a sequel.
Mondays With Robbie 