Fast X, Review: Vin some, lose some Weapons and vehicles are the twin jet propellers on which Fast X rides. Weapons come in all potencies and sizes, including IT software/hardware and a (nuclear?) bomb that could blow up a whole city. Vehicles too, come in all shapes, sizes and models, including a container and a mini-aeroplane. All these are transported across continents, with the ease of greased lightning. There are two more twin jet-propellers that help the film cruise along, and these are...

Transporter Refueled, Review: Fuel efficient and fired up Originally titled The Transporter Legacy, the film’s French title remains Le Transporteur: Héritage, while in American English, it is Transporter Refueled. It is the fourth film in the Transporter franchise, with Ed Skrein replacing three-timer Jason Statham in the title role of Frank Martin, a move that a lot of Statham fans have found hard to digest. The first Transporter movie (2002) was a moderate success. It spawned t...

Spy, Review: Mel iss a delight Spy thrillers have spawned spoofs by the dozen, ever since James Bond’s maiden foray, Dr. No. (We can discount the earlier Casino Royale). Almost all of them were done in the farce/slapstick style. Here comes one that is part satire, part tribute, but laced with original entertaining punches. In spite of a protagonist who is a literal heavy-weight, and some off-colour jokes, writer-director Paul Feig succeeds in making the audience root for her, like a reg...

  Wild Card, Review: Raw Deal Based on the novel Heat, by William Goldman (now 84, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President’s Men, Marathon Man, Dreamcatcher), who also wrote the screenplay, Wild Card is a lukewarm  a remake of the 1986 movie, starring Burt Reynolds. Las Vegas bodyguard Nick Wild (Jason Statham), who insists on being called a “chaperone”, has a gambling problem, drinks a lot and wants badly to get away for a long holiday. He figures he...

The Expendables 3: Generation Ex+Gen Next “The challenge was to write literally 16 main characters in a two-hour movie, and how often do you get to write for Zorro, the Terminator, Rocky, Indiana Jones and Mad Max?”—Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt, co-writers, The Expendables 3. The Expendables are a group of righteous, patriotic mercenaries, used by the CIA in operations where the US government does not want to be officially involved. They are led by Barney Ross...