FILM REVIEW OF ''SUPERFLY'' (2018)

Remakes!  Remakes!  Remakes!  When will they never stop?  Gordon Parks, Jr.’s “Super Fly” (1972) is Hollywood’s latest casualty.  Generally, remakes lack the magic of their predecessors.  Exceptions exist to the rule.  Canadian-born Director X’s updated “Superfly” (**** OUT OF ****) remake adheres to the core of the landmark original. For the record, Director X’s real name is Julien Christian Lutz.  Apart from 2015’s “Across the Line,” Lutz has helmed music videos primarily for the last twenty years, with vocalists such as Usher, R. Kelly, Rihanna, and Nicki Minaj.  Lutz imparts both polish and pacing to this profane, bullet-riddled, R-rated, 116-minute crime thriller.  Like the original character, an affluent coke dealer decides to quit the business for safety’s sake.  Indeed, forty-six years later, some things have changed.  “Superfly” takes place in contemporary Atlanta, Georgia, with jaunts around the Southeast, Texas, and Mexico. Comparatively, “Super Fly” (1972) confined itself strictly to New York City.  Not only does “Watchmen” scenarist Alex Tse preserve a lot of the original “Super Fly,” but he also provides greater narrative depth and more characters. “Sons 2 the Grave” actor Trevor Jackson is suitably cast with his handsome GQ looks as the new Youngblood Priest.  Like his forerunner, Priest maintains a low profile so neither local nor national law enforcement knows about him!  He has never been arrested, and his juvenile record is sealed. He strives to blend in rather than stick out. The same was true of Ron O’Neal, who portrayed an older Youngblood Priest in the surprise 1972 smash hit.  Fashion has changed considerably since the original.  Priest cruises around in an upscale Lexus 500 rather than a gaudy pimped-out El Dorado Cadillac.  Our hero’s chief competition is a vainglorious cocaine peddling gang of African-American villains decked out in immaculate white outfits.  These guys look like they belong in the D.C. Comics super-villain universe. The worst thing I can say about “SuperFly” is it made me think of a supercharged “Miami Vice” episode. 

Youngblood Priest has maintained a critical balancing act of living at the top without having to fear either the police or rival coke dealers.  Everything changes radically in one split-second at a strip club when Priest clashes with an impulsive member of the Snow Patrol, Juju (Kaalan Walker of “Kings”), and the latter tries to murder him.  Instead, the reckless Juju wounds an innocent female bystander.  Priest thrusts a wad of bills into the wounded girl’s hand and advises her friends to rush her immediately to the nearest trauma center.  Meantime, Juju’s boss, Q (Big Bank Black of “Birds of a Feather”), far from happy with his trigger-happy henchman, has gone and shelled out $50 grand to silence the wounded girl and her friends.  Indeed, the clash, the shooting, and Juju’s rabid vengeance, register powerfully on our protagonist.  This incident prompts Priest to decide to retire.  In the original “Super Fly,” Priest simply felt the time was ripe to bow out, but the filmmakers never gave him as substantial a motivation as Director X and Alex Tse do with “Superfly.”  Priest commences to plan for his future, even if his long-time partner, Eddie (Jason Mitchell of “Contraband”), refuses to let a good thing go.  Like Eddie in the original “Super Fly,” this Eddie argues that ‘the Man’ won’t let them do anything else.  This seems ironic since “Superfly” was produced after the eight-year presidency of Barrack Obama.  Immediately, Priest looks up his old friend and mentor, Scatter (Michael Kenneth Williams of “Brooklyn's Finest”), who has been supplying him with cocaine.  Priest figures that if he can get more, he can sell more, and then have enough to retire.  Surprisingly, Scatter refuses to accommodate Priest.  Scatter here is a combination of Priest’s mentor from the original as well as his martial arts instructor.

In the original “Super Fly,” Scatter came through for Priest, but it cost Scatter his life. Corrupt NYPD officials ordered Scatter liquidated as a victim of a heroin overdose, and they chose to let Priest and Eddie assume his responsibilities.  In “Superfly,” Priest shrewdly shadows Scatter to find out where his mentor obtains his supply of cocaine.  Meantime, Scatter doesn’t suspect that Priest and Eddie are tailing him.  Neither does Scatter’s connection, Mexican cartel kingpin Adalberto Gonzalez (Esai Morales of “Paid in Full”), notice Priest.  Audaciously, Priest and Eddie follow Gonzalez across the border into Mexico, and Priest meets with the notorious trafficker.  At one point, after his goons do notice Priest, the cartel crime boss has them bring Priest aboard his private jet, and Gonzalez threatens to throw him out of it during the flight.  The level-headed Priest persuades Gonzalez to provide him with enough product for his escape strategy.  This represents the second time Priest has put himself in jeopardy, but he emerges none the worse for wear.  Not until later does Priest brandish a gun to defend himself and his women.  This younger Youngblood Priest displays considerable discretion to avoid wanton bloodshed compared with the volatile Juju.  Things deteriorate dramatically when another black gangsta launches an attack on a barber shop that Q operates as a front.  Virtually everybody but Juju dies during this devastating drive-by shooting.  Eventually, Q discovers that one of Priest’s associates orchestrated the shootout.  Furthermore, a furious Scatter learns Priest has gone behind his back to contact Gonzalez. Worst, a clueless strip club owner, Fat Freddy (Jacob Ming-Trent of “A Midsummer Night's Dream”), is exposed as the man who dispatched the gunmen to kill Juju.  

“Superfly” bristles with more of everything than its unforgettable predecessor.  The Snow Patrol with their Scarface mansion make intimidating adversaries.  Not only has Director X and scenarist Alex Tse carefully retained as much plot as possible from the original, but they have also added more.  One of the strongest additions is the corrupt Atlanta policewoman, Detective Mason (Jennifer Morrison of “Star Trek: Into Darkness”), who exposes Priest.  Ultimately, Director X tips his hat to Curtis Mayfield by including his classic tune in this stellar remake of “Super Fly.” 

FILM REVIEW OF ''RIDDICK" (2013)

You’ve got to like Vin Diesel to enjoy his movies.  Diesel plays the same character or a variation on it in all his movies. He has a narrow range of roles. Generally, he makes crime thrillers. He skewered his image with “The Pacifier” back in 2005.  Diesel dominates his films, but his co-stars occasionally make an impression.  Indeed, the gravel-voiced Diesel stands out in any crowd.  A brawny hulk of a fellow, Diesel maintains a Frank Frazetta physique, sports a Telly Savalas haircut, and pierces you with his gimlet eyes.  Diesel lacks neither nerve nor authority.  Apparently, he splits his time between the “Fast & Famous” franchise and the “Riddick” franchise.  Word is that Diesel has negotiated to appear in a second “xXx” sequel entitled “xXx: The Return of Xander Cage.”  The “Riddick” franchise has not been as financially rewarding for Universal Pictures as the “Fast & Furious” series, but the actor has a soft spot for Riddick. 

In the first Riddick epic “Pitch Black,” our anti-heroic, convict with man-made night vision fought carnivorous, pelican-like dinosaur birds with huge raptor teeth.  Obsessed by its insatiable lust for blood, these flying piranha teeth fowl descended onto Riddick and company like waves of Stuka-bats.  “Pitch Black” concerned survival under the worst conditions against a deadly supernatural predator.  The stranger in a strange land applied almost equally to this creepy sci-fi fantasy because the crash victims were tourists on a planet teeming with “Jurassic Park” predators.  Basically, “Pitch Black” (2000) resembled an old-fashioned Tarzan movie whose setting had been altered to outer space.  Instead of a private plane crashing in a jungle filled with deadly tribes and predators, a commercial cargo vessel plunges to a planet ruled by deadly carnivores.  In a Tarzan movie, the heroes would battle their way to safety after encounters with lions, baboons, elephants, and crocodiles.  Director David Twohy’s original generated considerable suspense with shocks and surprises to compensate for its standard-issue plot.  You knew Vin would triumph.  This same problem plagued the ambitious “Chronicles of Riddick” (2004) that put our protagonist into a completely different plot.  He tangled with human rather than bestial adversaries.  “Chronicles” appeared five years after “Pitch Black.”  Comparatively, “Chronicle” shunned the exotic wildlife and survival-of-the-fittest themes.  Instead, it introduced a race of amoral space marauders named the ‘Necromongers.’  The second Riddick movie looked like “Flash Gordon” meets “Dune” space opera.  As the second sequel in the “Pitch Black” franchise, director David Twohy’s “Riddick” (***1/2 OUT OF ****) shuns the spectacle of “Chronicles” and reverts to survival of the fittest, with exotic, celestial predators.  The “Riddick” predators surpass the “Pitch Black” beasties, and Riddick performs several impressive feats.  Furthermore, “Riddick” ties its two previous movies together in its plot.  Karl Urban appears in a cameo early in the action as Vaako.

If you haven’t seen “The Chronicles of Riddick,” you may find yourself at a considerable disadvantage.  “Riddick” opens on a hostile planet where our protagonist has been left to perish.  Richard P. Riddick (Vin Diesel of “xXx”) is in pretty bad shape.  The opening scene with a repulsive space vulture that Riddick traps in his fist epitomizes his dire predicament.  The double-crossing Necromongers have abandoned Riddick on the wrong planet and triggered an avalanche where he breaks his leg.  Jamming his foot in a crack in the rocks, he straightens out of his injured appendage.  “Riddick” shows how Riddick is as resourceful as Sylvester Stallone’s “Rambo” protagonist.  The funniest incident occurs when Riddick fakes off a snarling alien jackal.  Designated “Dingo Doggies” by other characters, these beasts are huge, Great Dane hounds with black stripes crossing their dark orange fur.  Eventually, Riddick finds a puppy and trains it.  Our rugged hero discovers that he is on a part of the planet that he cannot leave without sloshing through a small mud pond.  Remember the fairy tale about the troll who lived under a bridge?  Lurking in this harmless puddle is a poisonous “Mud Demon” creature.   These predators perambulate on two legs, possess a long, scorpion-like tail with snapping pincers, and prefer to wallow in mud.  Riddick studies a Mud Demon” and observes how it submerges part of its body.  This fiend distracts you with its cobra-like, scorpion tail while the rest of its body—concealed by the mud—moves in for the kill with a head shaped like the “Alien” monster to seize its prey.  Once Riddick has contrived his strategy, he slays the creature and finds his way to an outpost established by space mercenaries for emergencies.  Space mercenaries are typically bounty hunters.  Riddick activates a signal beacon like the little girl warrior did in “Hanna.”  Promptly, two teams of bounty hunters respond.  The reward on Riddick’s head is doubled if the bounty hunters kill him.  Santana (Jordi Mollà of “Blow”) and his well-armed but unsavory crew arrive first, while Johns (Matt Nable of “Killer Elite”) and his team follow.  Johns promises Santana that he will let him operate with a free hand.   Indeed, Johns is related to the Johns that had captured Riddick in “Pitch Black.”

"Pitch Black" rarely gave us crystal clear views of its predators.  “Riddick” provides us with a front-row seat to appreciate the Mud Demons in all their menace.  “The Chronicles of Riddick” contained only one scene with caged animals.  Our hero is back in his element in “Riddick,” and he has his hands filled throughout the film’s veritable two hour running time.  Mind you, “Riddick” never wears out its welcome.  Specifically, Riddick unfolds in three acts.  Initially, Riddick adapts and recuperates on the planet after the evil Necromongers have abandoned him.  He studies his number one enemy, and this predator returns in greater numbers later when a massive storm provides it with conditions ideal to its migration.  Riddick amounts to a space Rambo.  He moves on phantom feet, and you rarely know where he is since he is so clandestine.  Riddick and Santana are at each other’s throats throughout “Riddick,” and Santana qualifies as a thoroughly obnoxious villain.  He murders a defenseless woman after he releases her and later cites his growing attachment to her as his justification.  Santana vows to collect Riddick’s head in a box.  The pay-off to this intense rivalry resembles something from a 1980s’ Arnold Schwarzenegger actioneer.  For sheer diversity, Johns’ team features a battle-hardened lesbian, Dahl (Katee Sackhoff who played ‘Starbuck’ in “Battlestar Galactica”), with an affinity for firearms.  David Twohy, who has helmed all three Riddick epics, slips in surprises galore. Altogether, “Riddick” tops “Pitch Black,” but it is neither as spectacular nor as multi-layered as “Chronicles.”  If “Riddick” marks your first exposure to the “Pitch Black” franchise, you are probably going to be lost when references to the previous installments occur.  Meanwhile, Riddick fans will appreciate Twohy’s efforts to impose continuity onto the trilogy. Here’s hoping we won’t have to wait another decade for another “Riddick” sequel.

A FILM REVIEW OF "A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD" (2013)

Before I saw “A Good Day to Die Hard,” I remembered “Die Hard 2: Die Harder” as my least favorite film in the Bruce Willis franchise. Now, “Max Payne” director John Moore’s “A Good Day to Die Hard” (** OUT OF ****) has acquired that dubious distinction.  This fast-paced, but formulaic, 98-minute actioneer should have gone the straight to video route.  Nobody would have missed it.  I’ve seen better Bruce Willis epics go the straight to video route.  Although it boasts some sensational, larger-than-life stunts, the fourth “Die Hard” sequel qualifies as a Spartan saga with little to distinguish from its straight t0 video competition.  The film generates little charisma and lacks a strong villain like previous “Die Hards.”  Indeed, it appears that Twentieth Century Fox has inserted the Bruce Willis/John McClane hero into a raw-edged, generic thriller about a tense father and son relationship.  Unlike the first two “Die Hard” movies, the action doesn’t occur at Christmas, and McClane isn’t confined to one setting as he was in the first two “Die Hards.”  “A Good Day to Die Hard” is more like “Die Hard with a Vengeance” and “Live Free or Die Hard” since the hero remains at large.

“A Good Day to Die Hard” takes place almost entirely in Moscow.  The Russian villains are former political allies who are prepared to kill each other.  Chaganin (Sergey Kolesnikov of “Cold Souls”) is a clean-shaven, natty, high-ranking politician with influence galore.  The other is a wealthy bearded dissident, Komarov (Sebastian Koch of “Unknown”), who bides his time in jail playing chess.  Ultimately, one of these villains wants what the villains in “The Expendables 2” wanted: weapons grade uranium.  As Detective Lieutenant John McClane, Bruce Willis returns in fine form to thwart the evil villains.  Sadly, scenarist Skip Woods doesn’t give Willis any clever wisecracks.  Consequently, for lack of anything better to utter, Bruce says, “I’m on vacation,” at intervals.  Ironically, he isn't on vacation.  He does utter his personal motto once when he pulls his biggest stunt to save his son’s life.  He performs feats of derring-do to assist his estranged son.  Basically, Bruce is the whole show.  The only other actor you may recognize is Cole Hauser.  Cast as the expendable CIA partner, Hauser gets caught in the cross-fire.  The remainder of the cast is largely unknown.  Jai Courtney resembles Sam Worthington of “Avatar” fame, but he radiates little of Worthington’s charm.

Our indestructible hero, Detective John McClane, is shooting targets on the NYPD firing range when he learns that his son Junior (Jai Courtney of “Jack Reacher”) has been imprisoned in Russia.  What the elder McClane doesn’t learn until later is John McClane, Jr., works as a spook for the Central Intelligence Agency.  Naturally, McClane flies off for Moscow after an obligatory moment with his daughter, Lucy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead of “Live Free or Die Hard”), with whom he remains on good terms.  The last time we saw Lucy, she was struggling with the villains in “Live Free or Die Hard.” Aside from Winstead reprising her role, there is little here to associate with the franchise.  When our heroes get a quiet moment to reminisce, they mumble forgettable dialogue. They are better off blasting away at the opposition or dodging both bullets and explosions.  McClane still has a thing or two that he can teach his son, but their relationship doesn’t advance very far.  They lack camaraderie, and Junior is one of those sons who could die and not be missed.

Everybody is after the elusive Komarov who claims to have an incriminating file on the wicked Chaganin.  You see, Chaganin is campaigning for the position of Defense Minister.  Komarov had a deal with the CIA, specifically Agent John McClane, Jr., before everything went chaotic.  Chaganin will do anything to dispose of Komarov, and he dispatches a gang of gunsels led by Alik (Rasha Bukvic of “Taken”) who hates Americans.  The younger McClane shoots his way into prison and then during a raid on the courthouse, Komarov and he get together.  John confronts them, and Junior puts a pistol in his face.  No, he isn’t happy to see his father.  Meantime, Alik and company are breathing down Junior’s neck.  A demolition-derby automotive chase ensues with some spectacularly orchestrated car crashes.  Junior and Komarov are desperately struggling to elude Alik, while John tags along close behind trying to run interference when he has the chance.  As it turns out, Komarov hasn’t been entirely honest with Junior about the mysterious file he has on Chaganin.  Eventually, we learn that Komarov has a daughter with her own pistol and an attitude.  The Komarovs betray our heroes and grab a helicopter.  They are bound for the sinister ruins of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant when Komarov has stashed the file.

Sadly, the villains in “A Good Day to Die Hard” aren’t memorable.  Nobody here is both as deadly and debonair as Alan Rickman was in the original “Die Hard” or Jeremy Irons in “Die Hard with a Vengeance.”  After father and son reconcile themselves somewhat, the best they can do is dodge more bullets and hope for the best.  At one point, after surviving several close scrapes, McClane scrambles aboard the villains helicopter and commandeers a vehicle stashed inside the chopper.  The villains are about to riddle yet another office building with machine gun fire where Junior is hiding.  Our stalwart hero cranks up the vehicle inside and drives it out of the cargo bay.  This action tilts the helicopter backwards at a precipitous angle so its machine guns miss their intended target.  This destruction of the helicopter qualifies as the best of the fireball explosions in “A Good Day to Die Hard.”

“Swordfish” scenarist Skip Woods doesn’t give us a lot to get attached to in this installment.  The surprises aren’t very surprising, and the filmmakers struggle to do anything that hasn’t been done before, like blowing up the above-mentioned helicopter.  No matter when you see it, “A Good Day to Die Hard” has nothing good about it.