Tag/Sicario 2: Soldado (double review)
***Warning, contains spoilers***
So, today I saw two movies, Tag and Sicario 2. As I saw them so close together I thought I would condense them both into one review. Especially as the first film, Tag, is not a movie where you can write a lot about it.
Tag is a movie based on a true story about a group of friends who, each May play a game of 'Tag' or had or it or whatever you called it as a kid.
Seriously, each May for one whole month they go to where each other is living or working and 'Tag' them. Bear in mind these are fully grown adults not kids, but then I guess if you've been doing something since you were kids it becomes a tradition doesn't it?
So, even though they've moved to different parts of the country since they grew up they go to where their friends are now and tag them. Seriously. There's one seen where the guy who is 'It' gets a job as a janitor purely to infiltrate the company where his friend works so he can tag him!
It stars a very funny actor in Ed Helms, who also starred in the hangover and also Jeremy Renner, who normally stars in action movies plus others. It's not bad, I mean there's not a major storyline but if you just want to sit there and not have to think too hard for 100 minutes it does the job.
There are quite a few very funny gags and it's all slapstick comedy a bit like Jackass and it does have a serious message towards the end. It's great how a game can bring friends together, it really is.
Fun to watch, nothing taxing, not much to say, does it exactly what it says on the tin, go if you want to laugh for 100 minutes. Not bad, four stars awarded.
Right, onto Sicario 2: Soldado. I was a massive fan of the first Sicario movie, it had action, it had double crosses, it had twists, it was just brilliant breathless film making.
However, I was apprehensive about the sequel, especially because it was missing one of the three main actors from the original movie, namely Emily Blunt. I thought it just wouldn't be the same with one character missing. Sadly I was right.
Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro still put in excellent performances, as they start off working together but then end up against each other as Del Toro doesn't do what is asked of him, namely kill a child. But who would do that to an innocent child? Mexican drug lords it turns out.
The music in this movie is epic. When dark and dangerous events are taking place the music builds up to a crescendo, bringing the viewer along with it. I have to say though that some parts of the movie are in too much shadow which I know is part of the movie but it also at times makes it too hard to see what is going on.
The problem is in the first movie so many different things happened. Blunt was hired as a new recruit, she tried to obey the law as she was taught but then quickly realised that isn't how these guys operate. It was exciting and she really went through the mill.
This movie, however didn't have a focus on anyone. First it was Brolins character, then Del Toro, then the girl and so on. It was a bit all over the place and by that I mean it kept jumping from character to character too quickly.
It is, however a really good action movie and you learn a lot about how ruthless the Mexican drug cartels really are and how severe the punishments are if you cross the line. However there is a really big issue even more than what I've already mentioned that drags it down.
That is the scene where Del Toro gets shot, in the head. I was saying to myself 'oh my goodness they killed off one of the main characters' but, no. The next morning he gets up, bits of skin, blood maybe even brain falling out and carries on. That is just not believable. Later on, he shows the audience that he got shot in the cheek, but if that's the case why were bits of brain or blood or skin falling out? Just not realistic at all.
My opinion is that the scriptwriters wrote themselves into a corner with that scene and had to come up with something stupid to get out of it.
Note: A friend of mine has just said that the brains/skin/blood etc was actually just sand (obviously coloured red due to the bleeding) and maybe it was then but if I didn't realise it was sand lots of others won't so there is still a big issue there on top of the fact that to get out of your bonds and drive a car after being shot like that feels incredibly unrealistic. So there are huge issues with the whole of that part of the film due to the reasons I've discussed.
The ending, however proves there will be a third part and this time i really hope Emily Blunts character is back in it.
A good movie, with lots of action but let down by the points I've raised above. Still worth a watch though for fans of the genre. Four stars awarded.
*This review is all my own work, please don't reproduce without my permission but please visit my advertisers pages as they help keep the blog going thankyou :-)
So, today I saw two movies, Tag and Sicario 2. As I saw them so close together I thought I would condense them both into one review. Especially as the first film, Tag, is not a movie where you can write a lot about it.
Tag is a movie based on a true story about a group of friends who, each May play a game of 'Tag' or had or it or whatever you called it as a kid.
Seriously, each May for one whole month they go to where each other is living or working and 'Tag' them. Bear in mind these are fully grown adults not kids, but then I guess if you've been doing something since you were kids it becomes a tradition doesn't it?
So, even though they've moved to different parts of the country since they grew up they go to where their friends are now and tag them. Seriously. There's one seen where the guy who is 'It' gets a job as a janitor purely to infiltrate the company where his friend works so he can tag him!
It stars a very funny actor in Ed Helms, who also starred in the hangover and also Jeremy Renner, who normally stars in action movies plus others. It's not bad, I mean there's not a major storyline but if you just want to sit there and not have to think too hard for 100 minutes it does the job.
There are quite a few very funny gags and it's all slapstick comedy a bit like Jackass and it does have a serious message towards the end. It's great how a game can bring friends together, it really is.
Fun to watch, nothing taxing, not much to say, does it exactly what it says on the tin, go if you want to laugh for 100 minutes. Not bad, four stars awarded.
Right, onto Sicario 2: Soldado. I was a massive fan of the first Sicario movie, it had action, it had double crosses, it had twists, it was just brilliant breathless film making.
However, I was apprehensive about the sequel, especially because it was missing one of the three main actors from the original movie, namely Emily Blunt. I thought it just wouldn't be the same with one character missing. Sadly I was right.
Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro still put in excellent performances, as they start off working together but then end up against each other as Del Toro doesn't do what is asked of him, namely kill a child. But who would do that to an innocent child? Mexican drug lords it turns out.
The music in this movie is epic. When dark and dangerous events are taking place the music builds up to a crescendo, bringing the viewer along with it. I have to say though that some parts of the movie are in too much shadow which I know is part of the movie but it also at times makes it too hard to see what is going on.
The problem is in the first movie so many different things happened. Blunt was hired as a new recruit, she tried to obey the law as she was taught but then quickly realised that isn't how these guys operate. It was exciting and she really went through the mill.
This movie, however didn't have a focus on anyone. First it was Brolins character, then Del Toro, then the girl and so on. It was a bit all over the place and by that I mean it kept jumping from character to character too quickly.
It is, however a really good action movie and you learn a lot about how ruthless the Mexican drug cartels really are and how severe the punishments are if you cross the line. However there is a really big issue even more than what I've already mentioned that drags it down.
That is the scene where Del Toro gets shot, in the head. I was saying to myself 'oh my goodness they killed off one of the main characters' but, no. The next morning he gets up, bits of skin, blood maybe even brain falling out and carries on. That is just not believable. Later on, he shows the audience that he got shot in the cheek, but if that's the case why were bits of brain or blood or skin falling out? Just not realistic at all.
My opinion is that the scriptwriters wrote themselves into a corner with that scene and had to come up with something stupid to get out of it.
Note: A friend of mine has just said that the brains/skin/blood etc was actually just sand (obviously coloured red due to the bleeding) and maybe it was then but if I didn't realise it was sand lots of others won't so there is still a big issue there on top of the fact that to get out of your bonds and drive a car after being shot like that feels incredibly unrealistic. So there are huge issues with the whole of that part of the film due to the reasons I've discussed.
The ending, however proves there will be a third part and this time i really hope Emily Blunts character is back in it.
A good movie, with lots of action but let down by the points I've raised above. Still worth a watch though for fans of the genre. Four stars awarded.
*This review is all my own work, please don't reproduce without my permission but please visit my advertisers pages as they help keep the blog going thankyou :-)
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