FILM REVIEW OF ''RIDER ON A DEAD HORSE" (1962)

Herbert L. Strock directed enough episodes of television shows like “Cheyenne,” “Sugarfoot,” “Bonanza,” “Maverick,” “Colt. 45,” and “Bronco” to know his way around westerns.  The low-budget oater “Rider on a Dead Horse,” (*** OUT OF ****) starring John Vivyan, Bruce Gordon, Kevin Hagen, and Lisa Lu, is an ironic, entertaining, black & white sagebrusher about avaricious prospectors, savage Apaches, a cunning bounty hunter, and a desperate Asian woman who wants to go to San Francisco.  Some critics have compared it with a Spaghetti western because the villain shoots first and doesn’t ask questions afterwards.  One of characters is a bounty hunter without compunctions.  The action occurs largely in stark, rugged, inhospitable terrain like Euro-westerns in Spain, and greed is a pervasive theme as it is in Italian westerns.  The title tune is rather lame.  Frank V. Phillips’ cinematography is crisp, clear, and evocative.  Like Strock, Phillips confined himself primarily to television shows for the most part of his career.  He lensed his share of western television shows, too.  Lucy Lu plays an English speaking girl from Canton who claims that he knows how to handle men.  She has been living out west for three years.  A current of racism courses through this western.

The two gritty prospectors—Barney Senn (Bruce Gordon of “The Buccaneer”) and Adam Hayden (John Vivyan of “Imitation of Life”)--are pretty handy with their six-shooters. Barney is particularly good with his revolver.  After he pays off their African-American partner, Sam Taylor (Charles Lampkin of “Twilight of Honor”), Barney brandishes his Colt’s revolver and shoots Sam in the back without a qualm as the unsuspecting African-American rides away with two bags of gold.  Barney doesn’t display a shred of remorse for murdering poor old Sam in cold blood.  This western draws its grim title from its title sequence that depicts Sam’s corpse clinging to its horse as the steed gallops throughout the credits before gravity detaches Sam’s body from the animal.  Afterward, a cautious Hayden inquires if he is next.  Barney seats his six-gun in his holster and reminds Hayden that he would be lost without Hayden.  “Why I couldn’t go ten miles in this broken country without getting lost.”  They carry out forty pounds of gold a piece.  Hayden and Barney break camp.  Hayden explains that Apaches have been watching them since they came out to prospect for gold.  He points out smoke signals rising from mountain tops between them.  Hayden recommends that they strip everything that they can live without to stay ahead of the savages.  They unload their rifles and smash them.  I didn’t think that was very smart.  Not only do these hombres shatter their long guns, but they also turn their horses loose and set off on foot to the town of Lost River.  

Later, greed gets the best of them during their journey to evade the Apaches.  They tangle with each other in a tough fistfight when they spot Sam’s horse.  The fistfight is imaginatively staged with perspectives from each man’s point of view during the slugfest.  After their fight, Barney wings Hayden, leaves him for dead, and rides off to town.  A thirsty, woebegone Hayden stumbles through the desert and encounters a friendly Asian girl, Ming (Lucy Lu of “One-Eyed Jacks”), at a railway work camp.  She is an entertainer.  She nurses him back to health because Hayden assures her that he has money.  Ming wants half of Hayden’s money.  She tells him that her name means ‘Perfect Flower.’  Meantime, murderous Barney cuts a deal with Jake Fry (Kevin Hagen of “Gunsmoke in Tucson”), a bounty hunter of sorts, to help him capture Hayden and see him strung up.  Barney double-crosses Hayden, frames him for Sam’s death, and tells Jake that Hayden has a thousand dollars on his head.  Jake decides to set out in pursuit of Hayden.  Hayden tells Ming, “A man with a gun is all the law he needs.”  Reluctantly, Hayden agrees to buy Ming a ticket for San Francisco.  What sets Ming apart from most women in westerns is her ability to stand up for herself and take what she wants.   Before Ming and Hayden set off for Lost River, Hayden demands that she return his firearm.  What Hayden doesn’t know is that Ming has removed the bullets from his gun.

As they are trudging through desert, Hayden sneaks up on Jake and gets the drop on him.  Unfortunately, Hayden discovers that he is packing a pistol without bullets, and Jake—“just a business man”—takes Hayden into custody.  Ming knows that money is the only thing that “impresses” Jake.  Hayden explains that they extracted $200-thousand out of their gold mine and Barney back-shot Sam.  Jake cuts another deal with Hayden and decides to ride out after Barney and the gold with dynamite as their secret weapon to use against the Apaches.  At the same time, he lights a fuse to a stick of dynamite that will blast Hayden to death.  Resourcefully, Hayden manages to defuse the TNT and reconfigure it to blast open his cell block door.  When Ming tries to stab Jake, the bounty hunter forces her to leave, and she finds Hayden who has escaped from Frye’s calaboose.  Hayden gets the drop again on Frye and leaves him with one bullet but enough dynamite to blow half of the Apaches off the mountain.

“Rider on a Dead Horse” reminded me of existentialist westerns like Budd Boetticher’s Randolph Scott oaters and Monte Hellman’s two Jack Nicholson horse operas.  The finale is reminiscent of “Treasure of the Sierra Madre.”  “Silver River” scenarist Stephen Longstreet derived his savvy screenplay from James Edmiston’s story who wrote the westerns “Day of Fury” and “Four Fast Guns.”  The dialogue is serviceable and sometimes clever. Uneasy alliances between men and women who don’t trust each other shift back and forth throughout this gritty western that turns out to far better than you’d think.

FILM REVIEW OF ''POINT BREAK" (2015)

Sometimes, the best thing a remake can do is remind you how inspired the original was.  Kathryn Bigelow’s rambunctious FBI procedural crime thriller “Point Break” (1991) followed a rookie G-man as he investigated a dauntless quartet of bank robbers on a crime spree that sported latex masks of past presidents.  Zesty dialogue, dynamic performances, striking surfing footage, and slam-bang shoot-outs propelled this invigorating film through its formula.  “Invincible” director Ericson Core, who started out as a cinematographer on actioneers like “The Fast and the Furious,” “Daredevil,” and “Payback,” has helmed a remake every bit as adrenaline-laced as Bigelow’s vintage venture.  Indeed, Core and veteran second unit director Mic Rodgers have staged stupendous stunts galore that are ten-times more electrifying than those Bigelow came up for in her tense Los Angeles based beach saga.  Comparatively, Core and “Law Abiding Citizen” scenarist Kurt Wimmer have shown the good sense to expand their remake beyond the confines of Los Angeles and set it in a larger-than-life, international arena.  Furthermore, the feisty villains in the remake hail from different countries just as their audacious felonies occur in picturesque parts of Italy, Germany, Hawaii, Switzerland, Venezuela, and French Polynesia.  If you cannot getaway to these exotic locales, “Point Break” (**1/2 OUT OF ****) is the closest thing you’ll get beyond an atmospheric National Geographic documentary.  The second best thing that this remake does is deliver realistic, death-defying, style stunts that will have you cringing in fear or clutching the armrests of your seat with white-knuckled fists.  

Extreme sports junkie Johnny Utah (Luke Bracey of “The November Man”) and his best friend, Jeff (Max Thieriot of “Jumper”), have embarked on a freestyle motocross in the rugged Arizona desert.  They straddle their dirt bikes with reckless but nimble abandon along the spine of a treacherous mosaic of knolls while a helicopter shoots video of their suicidal shenanigans.  The montage of these daredevils careening toward the end of the spine and then leaping their bikes like Evel Knievel across a gap to skid to a stop atop a towering monolith of rock the size of a small helipad is harrowing.  Unfortunately, Jeff skids too far, cannot recover, and plunges to his death from the mountain-top.  Jeff’s demise thoroughly devastates Johnny.  Johnny quits, goes back to school, and then graduates from law school.  Seven years later, our hero enters the FBI and finishes the obstacle course at Quantico as if it were a picnic.  Nevertheless, Johnny’s boss, Instructor Hall (Delroy Lindo of “Malcolm X”), isn’t sure Utah will fit in as an FBI agent after he completes probationary period. 

Meanwhile, an eccentric gang of thieves that has been ripping off millions from companies around the globe with ties to American conglomerates has the Bureau stymied.  This intrepid quartet storms the tenth floor of an African diamond company with their bikes and clean sweeps a fortune in jewels.  Afterward, they launch their bikes from the tenth floor and deploy parachutes as they descend.  These fearless Robin Hood robbers surprise the unsuspecting poverty-stricken natives of Mumbai and shower them with a million dollars worth of diamonds.  Later, these thieves raid a cargo plane in flight and release two giant pallets of paper currency in the skies above Mexico.  A blizzard of paper descends onto more unsuspecting but ecstatic natives.  The FBI is hopelessly baffled by both robberies.  Johnny Utah barges into Hall’s office and argues that the felons are extreme athletes.  According to our hero, these criminals are trying to complete a gauntlet of ‘Ordeals’ set up by an environmentalist-guru, Ozaki Ono, who died before he could finish them himself.  As it turns out, the ring leader of the gang, Bodhi (Édgar Ramírez of “The Bourne Ultimatum”), was the man who was with Ono when Ono died.  Roach (Clemens Schick of “Casino Royale”), Chowder (Tobias Santelmann of “Hercules”), and Grommet (Matias Varela of “Easy Money”) are in cahoots with Bodhi.  Hall sends Utah to scrutinize these guys with veteran FBI agent Pappas (Ray Winstone of “The Gunman”) supervising him.  

Johnny manages to infiltrate the gang after he nearly drowns during a surfing accident.  The same thing happened to the Keanu Reeves character in the original.  Instead of the gang’s moll saving his life, Bodhi rescues him.  Our rookie FBI agent is clearly impressed by Bodhi and classifies him as a Zen warrior in search of Nirvana.  Predictably, Utah’s sympathetic attitude puts him at odds with his cynical superiors.  Our protagonist accompanies Bodhi’ bunch on an ‘Ordeal’ where they don flying suits and glide through a craggy mountain pass as if they were acrobatic squirrels on aerial maneuvers.  The camaraderie between heroic Luke Bracey and villainous Édgar Ramírez isn’t as compelling as it was between Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze in Bigelow’s earlier film.  Bodhi surprises Utah because he isn’t interested in keeping the loot as much as giving it to the less fortunate.  Utah struggles to convince the Bureau that Bodhi and his cronies consider themselves crusaders rather than criminals.  Furthermore, they indulge in their insane antics to see when they will reach ‘point break’ where their fear will make them cowards.

Altogether, the new “Point Break” is only half as good as its superior predecessor.  The chief problem is that Core bogs the story down in the eight ‘Ordeals’ that Bodhi and his crew must perform.  Literally, the stunts overshadow the story!  Unfortunately, the movie degenerates into a surfeit of sensational looking Guinness Book of World Records stunts.  Core sacrifices any sense of narrative cohesion because he repeatedly puts the plot on pause to indulge in the aerobatics.  Eventually, the new “Point Break” reaches its own point break, and you find yourself wishing that the filmmakers would stop delaying the inevitable finale.  The last bank heist delivers a genuine surprise as our hero imperils himself to capture the villain, but by then “Point Break” has worn out its welcome.  Although it doesn’t surpass the original “Point Break,” this energetic remake will keep you poised on the edge of your seat.

FILM REVIEW OF "A TRAIN FOR DURANGO" (Italian-Spanish 1968)

Despite its many shoot-outs and high body count, "Bullets Don't Argue" director Mario Caiano's "Train from Durango" (**1/2 OUT OF ****)  is an early Spaghetti western comedy with lots of men dying. The Mario Caiano, José Gutiérrez ("The Hellbenders") Maesso, and Duccio ("The Ballad of Death Valley") Tessari screenplay resembles some of Sergio Leone's "For A Few Dollars More." In the Leone western, the outlaws hijacked a safe from a bank, but they cannot open it up without destroying the money, so Lee Van Cleef's Colonel Mortimer applied his skills as a craftsman to open the safe for a percentage of the loot. The heroic duo in "A Train for Durango" are out to accomplish a similar feat for a gang of revolutionaries. Caiano's film represents an example of those Italian westerns like Sergio Corbucci's "The Mercenary" that occurred during the Pancho Villa-led revolution in Mexico against the dictator President Diaz, so the appearance of an early model car driven by one of the protagonists is perfectly legitimate. The suspense evolves over whether or not this duo can survive their encounters with the gang. "A Train for Durango" contains several surprises at the outset, during the action, and at the end. Although the villainous outlaws are cretinous, they are also quite murderous and kill without a qualm. This supplements the suspense about whether or not our heroes will survive.

Two hard-luck drifters—an American and a Mexican—sell their horses and their six-shooters to catch a train to Durango. Not only do they not know the train carrying a huge safe filled with government loot, but also that a gang of bandits is aboard the train. The American, Gringo (Anthony Steffen of "The Stranger's Gundown"), strikes up a friendship with a beautiful woman, Helen (sexy Dominique Boschero of "Ulysses against the Son of Hercules"), doesn't seem to mind that Gringo hasn't taken a bath in ages. She informs him that since she's come to Mexico that she has grown accustomed to the stench of unwashed bodies. She offers him a cigar, and he winds up taking the case of cigars.

Meanwhile, Gringo's Mexican friend, Lucas (Enrico Maria Salerno of "The Warrior Express"), wanders throughout the train. Sneaking up on passengers, he gobbles mouthfuls of their food when they aren't paying attention or outright steals their chow. The bandits go searching for him when he arouses their suspicion. Meantime, when the train stops at a depot, Lobo (Roberto Camardiel of "The Big Gundown") and his army of bandits make their move. First, they kill all the passengers. They shoot Gringo, but the bullet embeds itself in the cigar case concealed under his shirt. Second, one of Lobo's henchmen, Heraclio (José Bódalo of "Ringo's Big Night") abducts Helen. Third, his gang of bandits transfers the government safe from the train to a wagon and hauls it away. Meanwhile, Lucas has eluded the bandit's and survived the massacre. Gringo and he find the keys to open the safe on the bodies of the murdered Americans. They decide to follow Lobo and his army of gunmen. They know that Lobo's bandits don't have the means to open the safe, and they propose a deal with one of Lobo's men to open the safe in return for splitting the booty.

The dreams that our heroes have prove ephemeral. A Lobo follower takes them captive and tries to obtain the key from them. First, he plants them up to their necks in the ground and places a pot over their heads which he bangs on to drive them crazy. Second, when the first option falls through, he has his men ride over them. The American produced but Spanish lensed "Guns of the Magnificent Seven" used this form of torture. Another American, Brown (a mustached Mark Damon of "The Fall of the House of Usher"), shows up earlier driving a car. Later, he appears at an opportune moment to wipe out the group of horsemen about to ride down on our hapless protagonist while they are buried up to their chins in the ground. Brown amounts to a kind of guardian angel for them. He intervenes later on during a night-time gun battle, careening into the scene and lobbing explosives at the villains Mexicans trying to kill our heroes.

Helen suggests that they use a small cannon to blow the safe open. When the cannon ball strikes the safe, it blasts it through the adobe hut that the safe was setting in front of and doesn't make a dent in the safe. Gringo and Lucas show up immediately after and try to infiltrate the gang. Lobo's second-in-command remembers that he shot Gringo and
our heroes have a close shave escaping from the bandits. Brown keeps showing up and helping Helen as well as our heroic duo get out of one scrape after another with their skin. Eventually, at the ending, Caiano and his scribes shed light on Brown's reason for repeatedly popping up at the worst possible moment to rescue out heroes.

Anthony Steffen and Enrico Maria Salerno make a charismatic heroic duo. They argue incessantly with each other and their arguments are amusing. Incidentally, future "Trinity" director Enzo Barboni served as the director of photography. Talented composer Carlo Rustichelli never leaves us in doubt when a scene is supposed to be amusing or murderous. "A Train for Durango" isn't the greatest Spaghetti western ever made, but it manages to be cynical, comedic, and entertaining.

FILM REVIEW OF ''CREED" (2015)

Movie sequels thrive on similarity.  Sequels either carbon copy the original or follow-up it up with something similar but different.  “Fruitvale Station” writer-director Ryan Coogler’s “Creed” (***1/2 OUT OF ****), starring Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone, could have taken advantage of an obvious franchise title like “Rocky 7.” Mind you, Stallone returns as Rocky Balboa, but he doesn’t put on the gloves.  Nevertheless, like his struggling protagonist, Coogler sought to deliver something similar but different with the Oscar-winning franchise.  Indeed, “Creed” does carbon copy a lot of the original “Rocky” (1976), but the action occurs from the perspective of an African-American.  Sophomore helmer Coogler and co-scribe Aaron Covington focus on the late Apollo Creed’s illegitimate son, so the film qualifies more as a spin-off.  An aspiring pugilist in his own right who since his youth has refused to knuckle under to adversity, Adonis Johnson insists on carving out a name and a reputation for himself without exploiting his father’s legacy.  Like Rocky, Adonis has boxing in his blood. Unfortunately, despite his undefeated light-heavyweight record of fifteen knock-outs in Mexican boxing matches, our hero cannot recruit a trainer.  Predictably, Adonis must surmount similar obstacles to those Rocky faced to arrange a bout with a champ. Along the way, Adonis redeems himself, respects the father that he never knew, and appreciates the mentor who prepares him for the arena—Rocky Balboa.

“Creed” opens in 1998, in a Los Angeles County jail, as a wayward youth, Adonis (Alex Henderson of “Supremacy”) is getting beaten up by an older adolescent because his opponent uttered ill words about his late mother.  Before the jailers can break-up the brawl, Adonis devastates his enemy.  Later, as he is cooling off in a holding cell, Adonis is surprised when Apollo Creed’s wife Mary Ann Creed (Phylicia Rashad of “Good Deeds”) persuades him to come home with her. Subsequently, “Creed” flashes forward to 2015. An older, adult Adonis (Michael B. Jordan of “Chronicle”) knocks out a competitor at a weekend boxing tournament in Tijuana, Mexico.  The following day at work, despite having gotten a promotion, Adonis resigns because the job doesn’t suit him.  He fails to attract a trainer at the Los Angeles-based Delphi Gym where his father got his start. The owner displays nothing but contempt for him.  An irate Adonis promises his Mustang to anyone who can deck him, and Danny 'Stuntman' Wheeler (newcomer Andre Ward) promptly puts him to sleep.  Adonis bids goodbye to Mary Ann, and relocates to Philadelphia, where he approaches Rocky about training him.  Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) still runs the same restaurant that he managed in “Rocky Balboa,” but his wife Adrian and his quarrelsome pal Paulie have both passed away.  Initially, Rocky refuses Adonis’s offer.  Nevertheless, the tenacious Adonis keeps bugging him and eventually persuades the Italian Stallion to teach him. The training montages are both amusing and challenging.  Rocky clocks Adonis chasing chickens in a coop to enhance his timing.  While he sits in the gym reading the newspaper with his spectacles, Rocky has Adonis skipping rope and shadow boxing.  At one point, Rocky changes the gym where they train and Adonis has to follow him on foot while he drives his van across town.  The training sequences will make you perspire, but “Creed” never captures the gritty atmosphere of “Rocky.”  If you remember the original “Rocky,” our woebegone hero earned spare change as muscle for a small-time Mafioso.  Moreover, Rocky groveled under the harsh verbal abuse of a trainer.  Comparatively, the college-educated Adonis has squirreled away sufficient funds to survive until his big break. 

After Adonis has settled into his Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, apartment, he finds it difficult to sleep because a downstairs dweller plays her music loud enough to make the floor thump.  Adonis meets Bianca (Tessa Thompson of “Selma”), and they are attracted to each other.  Whereas Rocky and Adrian in “Rocky” were eking out an existence, Adonis and Bianca are half-way up the ladder.  Just as Rocky is transforming Adonis into a top flight contender, the former champ encounters serious medical tribulations that threaten to disrupt their best-laid plans. At the same time, Bianca learns that Adonis has been concealing his heritage from her as Apollo’s illegitimate son. The friendship between Rocky and Adonis and their tenacity to survive everything that life hurls at them elevates “Creed” as an inspirational experience.  Of course, the savvy filmmakers draw on our sentiments while Rocky struggles to conquer his medical woes. Naturally, things take an upbeat turn when a pugnacious English pugilist, 'Pretty' Ricky Conlan (three time ABA Heavyweight Champion Tony Bellew), challenges Adonis to a fight on HBO. Tony Bellow’s ‘Pretty Ricky’ is reminiscent of Mr. T’s Clubber Lang from “Rocky 3,” and the blood and guts fisticuffs will have you shadow-boxing before the bell sounds.

Although he plays second fiddle to Michael B. Jordan’s prizefighter, Sylvester Stallone steals the picture with a heartfelt performance.  Stallone served as one of the producers of “Creed,” but “Creed” doesn’t channel the same vibe of Stallone’s “Rocky” movies.  The music differs considerably, and the bittersweet experience of another underdog who triumphs isn’t entirely alike. Interestingly enough, this distinguishes “Creed” from the six previous “Rocky” epics.  Coogler stays away from the cute dialogue that Stallone used in his movies.  Meantime, the chemistry between the gung-ho Jordan and reluctant Stallone is palatable.  They appear as a believable team, and Stallone doesn’t have to ham it up to contend with his young co-star.  A sizzling romance between Jordan and Tessa Thompson’s hearing impaired nightclub warbler gives our hero added dimension. Of course, when everything boils down to the final, big bout, “Creed” cashes in on the unbeatable “Rocky” formula.  “Creed” may not clinch any Oscars, though talk has been echoing that Stallone will land a Best Supporting Oscar, but it is contagiously entertaining, not only as a date movie but also as a movie about human beings without CGI special effects. A refreshing change from the usual “Rocky” antics, “Creed” pumps fresh blood into old franchise.

FILM REVIEW OF ''THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 2" (2015)

“Constantine” director Francis Lawrence’s “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2” (** OUT OF ****) qualifies as an adequate but belated installment in Suzanne Collins’ bestselling, post-apocalyptic, young adult adventure series set in a dystopian society where a dame armed with a bow and arrow topples a totalitarian regime.  Lionsgate Studios could have concluded their chartbuster franchise dexterously with the third movie, combining both parts of “Mockingjay” into a single escapade.  Mind you, scenarists Peter Craig and Danny Strong would have had to perform some judicious editing, whittling down the placeholder first half, and then tightening up the second half.  Basically, “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2” is neither as audacious as “The Hunger Games” nor its spectacular sequel “Catching Fire.”  Aside from Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, and Josh Hutcherson, everybody else participates in largely scaled back roles.  Sam Claflin and Julianne Moore remain on screen slightly longer and make a greater lasting impression.  Donald Sutherland, smirking through his fluffy white beard, returns as Katniss’ nefarious nemesis President Snow.  The late Phillip Seymour Hoffman gets a few scenes.  Woody Harrelson lurks at our heroine’s elbow as does Elizabeth Banks, Jeffrey Wright, Jena Malone, and Willow Shields.  Stanley Tucci shows up only once in a television broadcast segment for Snow.  Suffice to say, four of the franchise characters fail to survive.  At fadeout, one major character simply turns on heel, withdraws from a room, never to be heard from again, in a bland exit.   

Lawrence doesn’t have much to work with, and this straightforward saga isn’t as creative as the first two blockbusters.  “Mockingjay 2” contains a few exciting scenes, but the demise of its primary villain--whose demise we have savored for so long--takes place out-of-sight.  Meantime, Katniss Everdeen stands front and center, and inevitably Mockingjay 2” rehabilitates Peeta Mellark as her battling beau.  Sadly, Peeta’s return generates little pizzazz.  The action follows our heroine and her companions as they plunge into the Capitol on a behind-the-lines mission. They must wend their way through an explosive obstacle course of booby-traps until Katniss can execute Snow.  Unhappily, as much as she yearns to slaughter Snow, Lawrence and his scribes deprive Katniss of that golden opportunity.  Committed Katniss fans familiar with Collins’ novels will appreciate this adaptation more than those who haven’t perused the novel.  Essentially, two scenes overshadow the film.  The first involves a rabid horde of cadaverous mutants in the sewer that attack them and then Katniss’ ultimate showdown with Resistance Army President Alma Coin.

“The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 2” opens where the third feature abruptly ended.  Meaning, if this is your first encounter with the franchise, you’re going to be puzzled by most of what ensues.  Katniss has recovered from Peeta’s futile effort to strangle her, while he remains in restraints.  Initially, she has trouble uttering her own name.  Eventually, she embarks on a mission into the District 2 war zone alongside long-time friend Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth of “The Expendables 2”) where an enemy shoots Katniss in the back.  Predictably, Snow celebrates her death before he learns that she survived. Disgruntled about getting sidelined after her near-death experience, our pugnacious protagonist sneaks back into combat with a little help from smarmy Johanna Mason (Jena Malone of “Cold Mountain”), but she finds herself relegated to a propaganda mission as rebel forces enter the capital.  Once again, Coin relies on Katniss for her propaganda value as the Mockingjay, while Katniss itches for the chance to kill Snow.  Our heroes wield a gadget that enables them to detect the presence of booby traps. Snow has turned the Capitol into an obstacle course of deadly booby traps.  Our courageous heroine and her unit face numerous close scrapes, and their brash adversaries make the same mistake again and again of thinking that they have eliminated Katniss while she emerges unscathed. Ultimately, Katniss’ two confrontations with Snow in the final quarter ignite few sparks.  You don’t have to have read the book to figure out where the action is heading in this final quarter.

Director Francis Lawrence stages most of the story in claustrophobic tunnels and labyrinthine cityscapes. He lensed “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2” not only in Atlanta, Georgia, but also abroad in Paris and Berlin.  The liveliest scene unfolds in the sewer when the Mutts assault our heroes, and Katniss barely escapes from their jaws.  Of course, not everybody survives this white-knuckled episode.  Simultaneously, Katniss and company trigger booby traps among skyscraper buildings that unleash tons of tar.  Unfortunately, these tense action scenes cannot compare with the more imaginative ones in “The Hunger Games” and “Catching Fire” with their scenic settings.  Part of the problem is the shortage of suspense.  Although Katniss gets wounded early into the action, you know she cannot die.  Any time that the audience knows more than the villains, a movie will suffer.  Predictably, certain characters near her must bite the dust to maintain some modicum of tension.  The persistent romantic triangle arises again.  Peeta struggles to convince Katniss that he is no longer trustworthy.  Meantime, Gale Hawthorne accompanies her, but it is clear he is not going to end up at her side when all is said and done. During an early scene, he complains that kissing Katniss is like kissing a drunk.  Lawrence develops some suspense during the scene near the end when Katniss and Gale sneak into the Capitol masquerading as refugees bound for sanctuary at Snow’s headquarters. There are some anxious moments when Snow’s sentries look poised to pounce on our heroes.

Although “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2” boasts impressive production values and a charismatic cast, Lionsgate Studio has allowed this once exhilarating franchise to linger beyond its expiration date.  As sumptuously produced and splendidly cast as this installment is, the action seldom seems as fresh and spontaneous as it once was.  Hollywood has always sought to milk their cash cows, but prolonging the inevitable when it has been dragged out far too long in the first place constitutes tedium.  

FILM REVIEW OF ''SECRET IN THEIR EYES'' (2015)

“Pretty Woman” superstar Julia Roberts shatters her glamorous image in the grim but surprising police procedural thriller “Secret in Their Eyes” (*** OUT OF ****), co-starring Academy Award winning actress Nicole Kidman, Oscar nominated actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Emmy-nominated actor Alfred Molina.  This occasionally gripping but often conventional film is a remake of the superb 2009 Argentinean opus “The Secret in Their Eyes.”  Scripted originally with a man in mind, Roberts’ steps into the rewritten supporting role as a grieving single-mom who happens to be a veteran detective determined not only to take the law into her own hands but also exact vengeance on the suspected murderer of her daughter.  Furthermore, the man in the Argentinean movie was not a pistol-packing policeman, but a statistics-minded bank clerk!  Reportedly, “Shattered Glass” writer & director Billy Ray rewrote the role specifically for Julia Roberts.  Incidentally, Ray is best known for scripting movies such as “Flightplan,” “Captain Phillips,” and “The Hunger Games.”  Of course, it remains to be seen whether Julia Roberts’ loyal fans will accept the “Erin Brockovich” actress as a plain-Jane, tomboy with a sadistic streak.  In contrast, murder mystery aficionados who thrive on grisly melodramas may have a tough time imagining Roberts as such a demented soul.  Mind you, entertaining as this formulaic American crime saga is, it isn’t as imaginative as its distinguished predecessor that took home the Best Foreign Film Oscar in 2010.  Appropriately enough, the director who helmed the inspired original film, Juan José Campanella, served as the executive director for “Secret in Their Eyes.”  Presumably, Campanella must have conferred his blessing on the Hollywood adaptation by supervising it as an executive director.  

FBI agent Ray Kasten (Chiwetel Ejiofor of “American Gangster”) has been reassigned to Los Angeles.  He has been dispatched to assist a special anti-terrorist task force in the aftermath of New York City’s 9/11 catastrophe.  Ray has grown chummy with two investigators, Jess Cobb (Julia Roberts) and Bumpy Willis (Dean Norris of “Lethal Weapon 2”), but District Attorney Martin Morales (Alfred Molina of “Spider-Man 2”) and gimlet-eyed Detective Reg Siefert (Michael Kelly of “Man of Steel”) infuriate him.  Morales has just recruited a new deputy D.A., Claire Sloan (Nicole Kidman of “Australia”), who is an statuesque blonde.  Everybody, particularly Jess, soon realizes Ray is infatuated with Claire.  Claire remains as cool as a glacier as she moves around Ray.  Nevertheless, she is doesn’t entirely ignore him.  Meantime, Ray has been conducting surveillance on a mosque when a report reaches him about a Jane Doe corpse in a nearby dumpster.  Everybody assembles at the mosque where the police have set-up a crime scene.  Ray is the first detective to gaze into the dumpster.  Horror overwhelms him when he recognizes the corpse; the dead girl, Carolyn Cobb (Zoe Graham of “Boyhood”), is none other than Jess’s daughter.  Distraught beyond description, Jess climbs into the dumpster and cradles her dead daughter in her arms.  

Eventually, Ray ferrets out an enigmatic suspect, Marzin (Joe Cole of “Offender”), on the basis of a company picnic photo.  The villain is shown staring at Carolyn in the picture.  Later, Ray discovers that Marzin had been hanging around the mosque.  Inevitably, Ray clashes with an abrasive Morales about his conduct.  Ray is an defiant FBI agent who ignores boundaries when they interfere with his objectives.  Launching his own investigation, Ray refuses to share either evidence or leads with the detectives assigned to the case.  Ray provokes Morales’ wrath because the loose cannon FBI agent has been neglecting his prime directive. He is supposed to monitor potential terrorist threats to Los Angeles.  Morales threatens to notify the FBI about Ray’s insubordination and have him recalled.  Nothing Morales does, however, derails Ray’s obstinate search for Carolyn’s murderer.  At one point, Claire finds herself drawn into his investigation.  Together, they expose Marzin as the killer, but events beyond their control prevent them from prosecuting this dastard.

“Secret in Their Eyes” inherited its flashback-riddled narrative structure from the original.  The remake unfolds 13 years after Carolyn’s unsolved murder as Ray shows up Los Angeles to convince Claire—now the District Attorney— that she must reopen the case because he has new evidence about the identity of the suspect.  Comparatively, in the original, the hero revisited his old stomping ground 25 years afterward because he is using Carolyn’s homicide as the subject for a novel.  The two films switch back and forth between past and present with nimble abandon.  This hopscotch technique could confuse audiences accustomed to straightforward chronological yarns. In this respect, the American version takes advantage of these incessant shifts in time to accentuate the suspense and the surprises.  Whereas the Argentinean cop was not personally acquainted with the murder victim, the FBI agent worked closely with the daughter’s mother as a colleague. 

The American remake suffers primarily from the changes that Billy Ray has made with certain characters.  First, the incendiary FBI agent explodes like a powder keg and emerges as his own worst enemy.  The investigator in the original rarely lost his temper.  Second, the hero’s partner in the Spanish film mustered greater charisma than the hero’s crippled counterpart in the remake.  Third, the hero’s antagonist boss is neither as eloquent nor as profane as the hero’s superior in the original.  Fourth, the motive for the hero to return in the remake is more contrived than the hero’s reappearance in the first film. Fifth, a “Gone in 60 Seconds” stolen car chop-shop scene qualifies as hopelessly gratuitous with its standard-issue shootout.  Despite the flawed characters and the uneven scenes, the remake successfully duplicates more scenes from the original than it wrecks.  The best example occurs when Kidman and Ejiofor collaborate to dupe the villain into confessing his crime.  Unfortunately, Kidman and Ejiofor generate little chemistry as a couple supposedly attracted to each other. Altogether, “Secret in Their Eyes” doesn’t surpass its infinitely superior predecessor “The Secret in Their Eyes.” Nevertheless, Julia Roberts manages to broaden her acting repertoire.