Friday, February 6, 2015

The Quick and Dirties: 3 Days to Kill, Non-Stop, Brick Mansions


I like 'em quick. I like 'em dirty. And this time, they're full of action. Here is another edition of The Quick and Dirties...


3 Days to Kill
(2014)
Ethan Renner (Kevin Costner) is a top-notch hit man who is ready to retire and reconnect with the family he alienated due to his work. He also happens to be so ill that he will die in three days. Luckily, Vivi Delay (Amber Heard) has an experimental drug that just might save his life. To get it, of course, he will have to do one more job for her. What ensues is Renner kicking all sorts of tail until he gets close to the target. At this point he always seems to get sick and pass out. Seriously. Between these times, he tries to bond with his teenage daughter and reignite the flames with his wife. The action scenes are mostly solid as Costner still handles himself well. the problem is the times and manner in which his sickness knocks him out are too silly. The familial relationship stuff is nothing we haven't seen a thousand times. It all adds up to a big ball of "meh."


Non-Stop
(2014)
Liam Neeson plays Liam Neeson playing a U.S. Air Marshal who happens to hate flying and is a functioning alcoholic. Soon after takeoff, he receives an ominous and mysterious text message informing him that someone aboard the plane will be killed if the sender, presumably, doesn't have $150 million wired to a specific bank account in the next twenty minutes. Our hero putting his particular set of skills to work ensues. This time, he's not always so effective. His inefficiency is the one aspect that keeps the film somewhat entertaining. It's used to build suspense which it sorta does. It's not that effective because hey, it's Neeson. It's like watching his character from the Taken movies on a bad day. Unfortunately, everyone around him fits neatly into whatever type is needed to drive the paint-by-numbers plot. None of them intrigues us in the least. Therefore, we're never sufficiently pulled into the story. Commendably, the story-telling is patient, not rushing from one action scene to the next. However, the same thing happens in each interval and it's happening to people who fail to make us care. Worse than any of that, our bad guy feels cowardly rather than menacing. These things combine to make that patient story-telling turn into a movie that drags. In the end it's passable, thanks to an interesting turn by Neeson, but easily forgettable.


Brick Mansions
(2014)
In one of his last roles, Paul Walker stars as a renegade cop who gets paired with ex-con Lino (David Belle), a French parkour/fighting expert, to take down Tremaine Alexander (RZA), a ruthless crime lord. Our bad guy runs a housing project known as...all together now...Brick Mansions. I probably shouldn't say this, but the action comes fast and furious. Yeah, I know, but I couldn't resist. And the story gets progressively worse as it goes on. In an interesting twist, if you pick up on it, the movie's political leanings appear to be the opposite of most of similar ilk. Over the last four decades, big dumb action flicks are overwhelmingly from a conservative viewpoint. More than you can count could double as right-wing propaganda. This one is decidedly liberal and fairly clear about it. I'm certainly a liberal-minded individual, but it was funny to see how blatant this is. Ideals aside, this still isn't a good movie. On the other hand, it's so high-octane and slathered in ridiculosity that I couldn't take my eyes off it. Yup, it's so bad it's awesome!

12 comments:

  1. I love this quick and dirty series! I really liked Non-Stop but hey, Liam Neeson playing Liam Neeson is my ultimate guilty pleasure, so no surprises there! Your summary of Brick Mansions is hilarious, and I almost want to watch it now!
    - Allie

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    1. Thanks. No worries, Non-Stop is not a bad flick. Could've been better. If you get in the mood for a silly action flick, check out Brick Mansions.

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  2. LOL, love it...

    Meh...forgettable...so bad it's awesome!

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  3. Non-Stop is interesting. I was really onboard, at least until the final act where things just got so preposterous. Didn't buy into it at all. I loved Costner in 3 Days to Kill a lot more than I liked the actual movie. Haven't seen Brick Mansions. It just looked too goofy. But I like silly action so I may give it a whirl.

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    1. I agree that Non-Stop is interesting. It just couldn't cash in. Your view on Costner in 3Days makes perfect sense. And yes, Brick Mansions is extremely goofy.

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  4. I've only seen 3 Days To Kill which I saw only because of Costner. Meh storyline and I hated Amber Heard's cheesy femme fatale caricature, but Costner is still solid here. I might rent Non-Stop for Neeson but Brick Mansion, no thanks.

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    1. Costner was solid and Heard was something less. Non-Stop isn't bad. Just not special. Brick Mansions is special, but not in a good way.

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  5. I always look at the trailers for these kinds of movies and say, usually, to my wife, "That looks badass!" And then I never actually see them. There's something to be said about forgettable popcorn entertainment. "So bad it's awesome" can be a great thing. I always think Roadhouse when that statement is made. With so many movies and so little time, it's hard to get to these for me, as they're never my first choice, but I think I'm gonna try to see one or all of these. And every time I see the trailer for the new Fast and Furious, I get excited. I think that's the silly action movie I'm gonna gear up for this year. Heck. I might even go back and watch 4, 5, and 6, which I haven't seen.

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    1. Brick Mansions certainly qualifies as forgettable popcorn entertainment. I'm also pumped for FF7. For my $$$ 5 & 6 are so ridiculously over the top they are the two best in the franchise with the possible exception of the first one.

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  6. Non-stop was all right. I liked Neeson in it, but it was a forgettable movie. Costner was also all right in 3 Days to Kill, but Amber Heard's character pretty much ruined it from being enjoyable.

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    1. Neeson did what Neeson does. Heard was way too camp for what the rest of the movie was trying to do.

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