Writers: Sean O'Keefe, Brian Helgeland
Spenser (Mark Wahlberg) was a Boston policeman who was thrown into prison for assaulting a high-ranking officer named Boylan (Michael Gaston). Upon his release five years later, he bunked in the home of his old friend Henry (Alan Arkin), with a heavyweight MMA fighter named Hawk (Winston Duke) as his roommate. Coincidentally, right on the night of Spenser's release, Boylan was murdered and another young officer was accused of killing him.
I thought this was a remake of old TV series "Spenser for Hire" (which starred Robert Urich) which was also about a Boston cop. Turned out this Spenser was the same character created by Robert Parker, but this adventure was based on a book by the writer who continued the series after Parker, Ace Adkins. This is director Peter Berg's fifth film with Mark Wahlberg in a row. Wahlberg is so at ease in this type of serio-comic action character, it felt like he had done him several times before. It was the supporting characters Hawk, Henry and Spenser's old girlfriend Cissy (Ileza Schlesinger) which give this a more distinctive flavor. The way the characters were built up, this felt like the pilot of a possible continuing franchise. 6/10.
Director: Michael Bay
Writers: Paul Wernick, Rhett Reese
An American billionaire faked his own death, called himself One, gathered an extraordinary team of skilled "ghosts" who were willing to completely lose their identities to work with him in extraordinarily dangerous missions. Two (Melanie Laurent) was a spy. Three (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) was a hitman. Four (Ben Hardy) was a parkour thief. Five (Adria Arjona) was a doctor. Six (Ben Franco) was a driver. Together, they worked on an elaborate plot to overthrow Rovac (Lior Raz), the brutal dictator of Turgistan, and replace him with Murat (Peyman Maadi), Rovac's erudite brother.
Writers: Paul Wernick, Rhett Reese
An American billionaire faked his own death, called himself One, gathered an extraordinary team of skilled "ghosts" who were willing to completely lose their identities to work with him in extraordinarily dangerous missions. Two (Melanie Laurent) was a spy. Three (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) was a hitman. Four (Ben Hardy) was a parkour thief. Five (Adria Arjona) was a doctor. Six (Ben Franco) was a driver. Together, they worked on an elaborate plot to overthrow Rovac (Lior Raz), the brutal dictator of Turgistan, and replace him with Murat (Peyman Maadi), Rovac's erudite brother.
Being by Michael Bay, this film was one explosive action scene after another from beginning to end, accompanied by a frenetic loud pop music soundtrack. There are frenetic scenes of physics-defying car chases, gory injuries and senseless deaths. The impossible scenes of precise parkour (especially that when Four was jumping from one steel column to another) were breathtaking to watch. One was a dapper Deadpool-like character who had comedy and violence as only Ryan Reynolds could deliver. His testy interactions with the "Mission Impossible"-like team beside him also added to the popcorn entertainment value. 6/10.
Director: Brad Anderson
Writer: Alan B. McElroy
Ray Monroe (Sam Worthington) was on road trip with his wife Joanne (Lucy Rabe) and daughter Peri (Lucy Capri). During a rest stop along the way, a freak accident caused Ray and Peri to fall into an open construction site sustaining injuries. Ray went to the nearest hospital where Peri was assessed to need a cranial CT scan to rule out a hematoma. However, when Ray woke up from a deep nap in the waiting area, Joanne and Peri were nowhere to be found. To make things even more confusing for Ray, the hospital had no records that they were even there at all.
Writer: Alan B. McElroy
Ray Monroe (Sam Worthington) was on road trip with his wife Joanne (Lucy Rabe) and daughter Peri (Lucy Capri). During a rest stop along the way, a freak accident caused Ray and Peri to fall into an open construction site sustaining injuries. Ray went to the nearest hospital where Peri was assessed to need a cranial CT scan to rule out a hematoma. However, when Ray woke up from a deep nap in the waiting area, Joanne and Peri were nowhere to be found. To make things even more confusing for Ray, the hospital had no records that they were even there at all.
This entire film made me queasy and uncomfortable the whole time. There were many scenes where I could not bear to look at the screen because of the extreme tension it was delivering. Even in that first scene alone with the family driving in the car and during their rest stop, I was a nervous wreck. The atmosphere of uncertainty was wound so tightly, you never really knew how it was going to end until that climactic reveal. The gore shown in those final scenes were not even necessary to . The slick slimy script, suspenseful editing and gritty lead performance by Sam Worthington elevated this one over other similarly-themed thrillers. 8/10.
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