There are only two things you need to tell someone that a movie is going to be pretty good. Liam and Neeson.

Even if you know that everything else is going to be meh, you can trust that he will at least bring a lot to the screen. Bring on The Marksman.

The movie starts with two tales.

One is of a retired army vet named Jim who lost his wife and now manages the ranch he owns on the border with Mexico. The ranch is going to be taken from him by the bank due to financial difficulties and the salt of the earth American doesn’t want to lose the home where his wife’s ashes were scattered.

The other tale is of a mother and son who have to flee Mexico to get away from a cartel who are hunting them for revenge.

These two tales collide when the family crosses the border onto Jim’s land, but are spotted by the cartel thugs. Jim and the cartel have a confrontation on opposite sides of the fence and a little action ensues. Before you know it Jim is trying to get the boy named Miguel to the safety of family in Chicago.

It couldn’t be that easy though, because of course the cartel is angry and hunting them down.

What we have here is by all means a reasonably generic story. It’s not bad by any means, but nothing stands out as overly unique. Fortunately some decent acting, and outstanding acting from Liam Neeson makes the movie a good watch.

We get some good character work with Miguel and Jim, and the main cartel member has some moments where it feels like we could have built a strong bad guys back story. A bit of exposition tries to build him as layered but there isn’t enough time to develop it.

The movie definitely has a low budget action flick feel to it, but not in a bad way. Practical effects are used well, though a little bit of meh CGI for steam coming out of an engine, and this makes the movie feel less low budget. Instead it relies on actors putting in a strong performance and that is enough to carry the flick.

Ultimately The Marksmen doesn’t offer anything overly new. What it provides is a decent action movie with a decent story, and an outstanding performance from Liam Neeson.

Do you know what? That is enough for me to comfortably justify checking it out. It’s not the next great classic, but it is what it is, and that is worth watching.

The post The Marksman (Bluray – 2021) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

NOW CLOSED – From filmmaker Mark Williams (A Family Man), Honest Thief tells the story of a career bank robber intent on turning himself in for the sake of love, who gets caught up in a violent conflict with two crooked FBI agents intent on stealing his money.

Starring Liam Neeson (Taken, Schindler’s list, Star Wars, The Grey), Kate Walsh (Grey’s Anatomy), Jeffrey Donovan (Burn Notice), Jai Courtney (Suicide Squad, Divergent) and Anthony Ramos (Hamilton, A Star is Born, Godzilla).

Thanks to our mates at Rialto we have FIVE Double Passes up for grabs.

To Enter our Honest Thief Double Pass Giveaway you must answer this question correctly:

Liam Neeson is a diverse actor, most known for action film roles. But he did play a Star Wars character, who was it?

A: C3-PO

B: Darth Vader

C: Qui-Gon Jinn

You can give us your Answer by placing a Comment below, hitting us up on Facebook, Tweet to us, or Email Us.

Honest Thief is released in cinemas on the 22nd of October 2020.

Important stuff: Winner(s) will be randomly selected from those that Comment below / Facebook Comment / Email in accordance to the above Question. Winner(s) will receive a Double Pass ticket redeemable for the film Honest Thief. Honest Thief is rated M15+ in New Zealand. Winner(s) must adhere to the conditions on the Double Pass ticket. Tickets are not transferable. Competition ends on the 20th of October 2020. Competition entrants must be from New Zealand. 

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Cold Pursuit looks to take the tried and true formula of Liam Neeson losing something and getting mad at whatever took that something from him… violently. The movie also aims to add in the flavour of dark humour here and there which would set it apart from the popular Taken series. The trailers let you know that the perfect revenge is all in the execution (heh) and I would also say the same thing for Cold Pursuit as a film. 

If you’ve seen any other Liam Neeson film, then you won’t be surprised by his character and the level of his performance which, as usual, gets the job done smoothly. While it’s certainly not overly original or unique, it fits the story well as the protagonist. The (only) other standout performance has to go to Tom Bateman who puts on a real fun take on a drug lord villain with plenty of laughter and smiles while still being rather terrifying, unhinged and unpredictable. Sadly the rest of the cast performed well enough but not anything to write home about at all. 

The pacing of Cold Pursuit felt really jumpy.

Once the revenge story begins it starts quite quick, draws you right in to the edge of your seat and then it slows right down. Now of course it can’t be all action and there does need to be some character development but certain segments just felt like they stretched a little too long, especially after the quick first third of the film. 

Something that does set the movie apart was the variety of characters that are introduced all throughout Cold Pursuit. Sadly though what lets it down is the execution because it’s fun having all the different stories to mix in but they lack a lot of depth and some just don’t go anywhere and feel like they add nothing much at all. I did really enjoy the little transitions for each death with their name and religious symbol and there were moments it was implemented in entertaining ways.

Cold Pursuit just tried to do two things that had the potential to work really well together with action and dark humour combined but most of the time it instead felt like the movie swapped genres instead. It’s a fun movie though and would go well on a free afternoon with nothing else planned (bonus points if it’s snowing).

The post Cold Pursuit (StudioCanal – 2019) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

To commemorate the 25th Anniversary release of Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece Schindler’s List – one of the most significant endeavours in the history of cinema – Universal Pictures will re-release the film with picture and sound digitally remastered for a limited theatrical engagement from January 24th, 2019 in select cinemas.

“It is difficult to believe that it’s been 25 years since Schindler’s List first arrived in theatres,” said Spielberg.  “The true stories of the magnitude and tragedy of the Holocaust are ones that must never be forgotten, and the film’s lessons about the critical importance of countering hatred continue to reverberate today.  I am honoured that audiences will be able to experience the journey once again on the big screen.”

“We are proud to bring the remastered Schindler’s List, one of the most important movies of the 20th Century, to a new generation of filmgoers,” said Ron Meyer, Vice Chairman of NBCUniversal.  “The lesson that one person—during one of the darkest chapters in humankind’s history—can make a difference is as relevant now as ever before.”

Schindler’s List will be showing in select cinemas in Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington, Nelson and Dunedin in New Zealand from January the 24th, 2019.

Winner of seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, this incredible true story follows the enigmatic Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), who saved the lives of more than 1,100 Jews during the Holocaust.

Oskar Schindler

It is the triumph of one man who made a difference and the drama of those who survived one of the darkest chapters in human history because of what he did.  Meticulously restored from the original film negative in pristine high definition and supervised by Spielberg, Schindler’s List is a powerful story whose lessons of courage and faith continue to inspire generations.

The film also earned Oscars for composer John Williams, screenwriter Steven Zaillian and director of photography Janusz Kaminiski, as well as art directors Allan Starski and Ewa Braun, editor Michael Kahn and producers Spielberg, Gerald R. Molen and Branko Lustig.

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Regular commuter on public transport?

Then StudioCanal’s latest action flick starring Liam Neeson as Michael McCauley, a former cop now  Insurance salesman is for you.

Taking the local train to work and home each day Michael has gotten to know the regular passengers on his route. However, on the day he is made redundant from his employment, a stranger sits opposite him. A mysterious woman (Vera Farmiga) begins aimlessly chatting, but very soon things begin to go very dark.

The woman tells him that there is a passenger with a bag on the train. He wont know who this person is or what they look like but he must taken them down.

Also, hidden on the train somewhere is $20, 000. His if he can find it and more money if he completes the mission.

Knowing that him and his family will be strapped for cash, Michael looks for bag of money and finds it.

What lays out from here is almost like a ‘who dunnit’ scenario, as he purveys the passengers on the train to locate the target.

With time ticking before the train makes it to a stop, Michael finds that there is another level to his mission and that he is being watched and his family’s safety could be in jeopardy.

The Commuter is an action packed adrenaline thrill as Liam Neeson does what he is best at in high action, high tension roles and also stars New Zealand’s own legend; Sam Neill.

And whie the film’s plot can be likened to a few movies, The Commuter still manages holds its own, enough, to make it a worthy watch.

The post The Commuter (StudioCanal – 2017) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.