THE KING’S MAN (2021) **

After thoroughly enjoying Kingsman:  The Golden Circle more than I expected, I decided to check out this prequel.  I’m not sure who asked for a Kingsman origin story set one hundred (!?) years before the first movie, but we got one anyway.  It’s certainly an odd duck.  It’s almost as if director Matthew Vaughn wanted to make a WWI movie and couldn’t get funding, so he just grafted the Kingsman brand onto it in order to get it made.  Whatever the case was, it just never really clicks.

Ralph Fiennes stars as a nobleman who masquerades as a pacifist, but is actually a covert secret agent keeping tabs on world governments.  As Europe enters The Great War, a similar agency working to cause global chaos further instigates and manipulates the countries.  Fiennes eventually says enough is enough and using intel developed by an intricate syndicate of domestic workers placed in the highest echelon of government, sets out to stop the war once and for all.  

The fun of the first two Kingsman movies was the fact that it was an amped-up, bawdy updating of the James Bond franchise.  Setting the prequel during WWI was a weird move.  The film doesn’t really tie into the others until the last scene and features little of what made those flicks so much fun.  Most of the time, it’s a dour and joyless slog punctuated by an occasional over the top fight scene.  These sequences, while they alleviate the boredom, aren’t nearly as wild or entertaining as the stuff we saw in the previous installments.  

I like Fiennes and all, but he’s just an ill fit as an action hero.  (Anyone who saw The Avengers can tell you that.)  The supporting players (Djimon Hounsou, Gemma Arterton, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, etc.) are well cast, and yet their roles are so flimsily written that they are unable to do very much with what they were given.  Only Rhys Ifans brings a spark to the proceedings as the mad monk, Rasputin.  His Russian ballerina moves during his big swordfight with Fiennes is the definite highlight, and hints at what could’ve been had the film possessed that same kind of energy throughout.  Sadly, once he vanishes from the proceedings, his presence is sorely missed, and the flick never quite recovers.  

I will say the film has one of the loopiest post-credits set-ups for a sequel I’ve ever seen.  It’s almost like a parody of your typical comic book post-credits sequence, but played with such deadly seriousness that it winds up getting the biggest laugh in the movie.  If only that same kind of bizarre energy was elsewhere in the flick, The King’s Man might’ve been a royal good time.

KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE (2017) *** ½

After an attack on the secret society of British secret agents, Kingsman leaves only Eggsy (Taron Egerton) and Merlin (Mark Strong) alive, they set out to find the mastermind behind the assassination plot.  They travel to America where they team up with “The Statesmen” their cowboy counterparts in counterespionage led by “Champ” (Jeff Bridges).  Together, they discover the cheery leader of a secret drug cartel (Julieanne Moore) was behind the hit, and that she now has plans to taint the world’s drug supply.  

Matthew Vaughn’s Kingsman:  The Golden Circle hits the ground running with a great opening fight sequence set entirely in a car and it never looks back.  It’s breathless and inventive, and easily surpasses the uneven (but enjoyable) original.  It may often be outlandish and cartoonish, sure, but it’s also a lot of fun.  

It helps that the new members of the cast are all welcomed additions.  It’s particularly fun seeing the likes of Jeff Bridges, Channing Tatum, and Halle Berry as The Statesmen, even if they never are given a whole lot to do.  It’s Moore though who steals the movie as the happy homemaker drug czar.  Her lair is especially clever.  A fan of ‘50s, nostalgia, she’s turned a small acre of jungle into a demented version of Disney’s Main Street, complete with a malt shop guarded by two robot dogs.  The funniest touch is that she’s so powerful that she’s kidnapped Elton John and has him on hand to play his hits like a living captive human jukebox.  John is often very funny and gets some of the biggest laughs in the entire film.  

Taron Egerton is once again a solid leading man.  He and Strong have a couple of fine scenes together.  I also enjoyed seeing Colin Firth making a welcome return from the first movie.  It takes him a while to get his bearings (which is understandable since he died in the original), but once he starts kicking ass again, he looks like he’s having a blast.  

Like most of these comic book flicks, it runs on a bit too long (140 minutes), and probably has one or two too many gratuitous action sequences.  Luckily, it’s breathlessly paced and enormously entertaining.  In short, when it comes to comic book spy sequels, The Golden Circle gets the gold.

OLD (2021) ** ½

It’s no secret that I am not a fan of M. Night Shyamalan’s films.  Most of them feel like half-baked Twilight Zone episodes stretched out far past their breaking points with predictable twist endings that often land with a thud.  Old is the closest I’ve come to actually liking one of his films.  I say that with some major reservations because even though I was relatively entertained, it was mostly for all the wrong reasons as there are several unintentional laughs to be had throughout the first hour or so of the picture.  Too bad Shyamalan completely woofs it when it comes into the homestretch.  Till then though, Old is some reasonably entertaining hokum.  

A bickering couple take their kids to a beach resort to get away from it all before breaking the news to them they are getting a divorce.  They are told about a beautiful hidden beach near the hotel, and they head out there for a nice relaxing day of fun and sun with a couple of other guests.  They soon find out that not only are they unable to leave the beach, but it makes them age at an accelerated rate.  

There is some truly inspired goofy shit here that makes Old mostly tolerable.  I particularly liked the stuff with the kids hitting puberty and reenacting the entirety of The Blue Lagoon in a matter of minutes.  There’s also a rather nifty emergency surgery sequence that probably ranks as Shyamalan’s single best suspense scene of his career.  These sequences alone put Old head and shoulders above his other work.  

Unfortunately, like always, he completely shits the bed when it comes to the ending.  The big “Shyamalan Twist” really isn’t that bad this time around.  However, he just doesn’t know when to quit.  If the film ended right after the big reveal, it definitely would’ve been a *** flick.  The trouble is, he goes and gives us four or five non-endings right in a row to gratuitously wrap up various plot threads that didn’t need to be wrapped up, which adds about fifteen unnecessary minutes onto the already bloated running time.  Had he cut out all this nonsense, Old would’ve been a perfect day at the beach.  

TOP GUN: MAVERICK (2022) ****

Top Gun:  Maverick is as good as a thirty-six-years later sequel to an ‘80s classic could be.  There were so many ways this could’ve gone south, but what’s amazing about the movie is how it honors the past while still pushing the story and characters forward.  There have been a lot of so-called “legacy” sequels here lately that have been in such a hurry to pass the baton onto the new generation that they forget what made the baton special in the first place.  What’s great about Top Gun:  Maverick is that while Maverick (Tom Cruise) is now a flight instructor teaching the new crop of hot shot Navy pilots, he is very much still the heart of the film.  Yes, the young cast all have their moments to shine, but Cruise commands the screen so fiercely that you just know he is gonna hold onto that proverbial baton as long as he can.  

Yes, there are callbacks and/or updates to nearly all the beloved moments in the original.  Only a few of them feel gratuitously shoehorned in there (like the beach football game that is reminiscent of the iconic beach volleyball game in the first movie), but then again, if they weren’t there, it wouldn’t feel like Top Gun.  Everything you’d want to see in a Top Gun sequel is here.  Tom Cruise acting cocky and insubordinate, awesome aerial photography and dogfights, and pitch perfect masculine soap opera theatrics/male bonding scenes.  In fact, there is at least one scene that is genuinely moving.  It occurs when Val Kilmer shows up for his cameo.  If you’re a fan of Kilmer and are familiar with his recent battle with cancer, this scene will have an even bigger emotional impact.  His interactions with Cruise are just wonderful as the script plays upon their rivalry and respect for one another.  

It’s also aces in the action department.  The opening test pilot scene is a lot of fun, and the finale, which owes as much to Star Wars as it does Top Gun, is a pure adrenaline rush.  Top Gun:  Maverick not only flies high right from the get-go, but it manages to soar higher than it has any right to.  Not only that, but it also manages to stick the landing too.  

I think I better stop the review here before I work in any more flying puns, but before I do, just know that Top Gun:  Maverick is just as good, if not better than the original, which is about the highest praise I can bestow upon a movie.

AMERICAN BOY: A PROFILE OF – STEVEN PRINCE (1978) **

Director Martin Scorsese was friends with actor Steven Prince and cast him in the small but memorable role of the gun salesman in Taxi Driver.  A year later, he caught back up with Prince for this short documentary about his life.  At a mutual friend’s house, they sit on a couch as Prince spins yarns about his family, work, and (mostly) drug use while Scorsese’s camera rolls.

This must’ve been fun for Scorsese as the movie is essentially a filmed get together with friends shooting the shit and telling stories.  The audience, however, may be underwhelmed as Prince’s anecdotes are hit-and-miss to say the least.  They run the gamut of funny, to sad, to just plain bizarre.  He’s a gifted storyteller to be sure, but it’s ultimately more satisfying for Scorsese and his buddies than for the audience.  

The fact that many of his stories eventually circle back around to his drug use is what kind makes it a chore to sit through.  If you were at a party with Prince, one or two of these tales would probably be about all you could take before you had to excuse yourself to get a drink.  Since this is a movie, you’re pretty much forced to sit there and listen to him yammer on and on.  Even though the picture clocks in at a scant fifty-five minutes, it often feels much longer thanks to its repetitive nature.

I’m a die-hard Scorsese fan, but for me, American Boy:  A Profile of – Steven Prince is one of his slightest and least interesting works.  However, it’s still of note, if only because one of Prince’s stories about administering an adrenaline shot to an overdosed junkie was later dramatized by Quentin Tarantino in Pulp Fiction.  Other than that, it’s not very memorable.  

Scorsese caught up with Prince thirty years later for the sequel, American Prince.

AKA:  American Boy.

QUEEN OF THE DESERT (2017) ** ½

Werner Herzog’s Queen of the Desert tells the true-life story of Gertrude Bell (Nicole Kidman), writer, explorer, and adventurer.  After the tragic death of her fiancé (James Franco), Gertrude travels to the Middle East to find herself.  Upon returning home, the naturally restless and curious Bell time and again returns to the desert for more misadventures.  

Queen of the Desert will never be mistaken for one of Herzog’s best.  Although it follows the same themes as a lot of his work (namely a prim and proper person traipsing through a harsh landscape), it’s just too laid back and prosaic to really knock your socks off.  Most of Herzog’s lead characters are obsessed, mad, or obsessed to the point of madness.  Bell is basically just a headstrong woman following her own star.  Because of that, the film doesn’t cast the same spell as Herzog’s most memorable work.  

That said, even when he’s having an off day, Herzog is still pretty good.  The film remains watchable, even if it stops short of being completely captivating.  Part of that has to do with the pacing, which is episodic to a fault.  Bell will have some kind of personal setback, go out into the desert, find herself, return home, and then head on back out into the desert again.  Luckily, these passages are entertaining more often than not.

It helps that the performances are solid.  Kidman makes an ideal leading lady for this sort of thing.  The character is equal parts high society debutante and well-traveled explorer, and Kidman does a fine job essaying both aspects of the character.  Robert Pattinson is particularly amusing as Lawrence of Arabia, who lends Bell a hand on one of her adventures.  Damien Lewis is also quite good as the reserved married man who carries a torch for Bell.  Only Franco feels out of place playing the downtrodden, doomed fiancé.   

IMPULSE (1984) *** ½

After her mother’s attempted suicide, dancer Meg Tilly returns to her small hometown with her doctor boyfriend (Tim Matheson) in tow.  It doesn’t take long for them to discover that something is seriously wrong with the townsfolk.  It seems they are suffering from a severe impulse control problem, which leads to public fornication, extreme cases of road rage, and eventually, murder.  

Impulse is a simple, tense, and taut variation on George Romero’s The Crazies, and to a lesser extent, David Cronenberg’s They Came from Within.  There is also a little touch of various Stephen King books in there as well as the idea of a small town slowly becoming unglued was a common theme in his work.  Even though the film utilizes elements from those masters of horror, it still finds a way to be unique and most importantly, effective.  In fact, it might work even better now than it did at the time of its original release thanks to COVID.  (There’s also a scene where a cop mows down a kid in cold blood, and the citizens are more outraged at the destruction of their property than his death that certainly registers harder now than when it was made.)

Director Graham (The Final Conflict) Baker delivers a number of unnerving scenes that are usually punctuated with unexpected violence, mutilation, or just plain weirdness.  While Baker uses restraint for a lot of these sequences, the way he stages the set-ups and the payoffs work rather well.  

Baker’s direction, coupled with the fine performances make Impulse well-worth checking out.  The two leads are ideally cast.  Tilly is excellent as the waifish city girl returning home to her roots and Matheson is equally great as her boyfriend who may or may not have a touch of the sickness himself.  The always great Bill Paxton also pops up in the smallish role of Tilly’s brother, and it’s especially fun to see a folksy nice guy like Hume Cronyn succumbing to the madness.