Skiptrace: Not as much fun as it should be

Skiptrace is an action comedy, but you wouldn’t know when a rather serious opening scene shows Bennie Chan (Jackie Chan, playing an aging detective) failing to stop his partner from exploding underwater. Director Renny Harlin seems to have thought it would be touching, but it almost ends up seeming tragicomic. Soon though, the promised Chan…

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Mechanic: Resurrection: Assassin city

uch tasks on screen, much like in games like Grand Theft Auto, generate an adrenaline rush, providing the enjoyment arising from experiencing a heightened sense of stress in a safe, controlled environment.

A promise to Na. Muthukumar

For most of us, enjoyment of a song is generally limited to humming along, as though the lines were simply words strung together haphazardly to fit into the tune.

Pete’s Dragon: For Pete’s sake

The animated dragon in Pete’s Dragon never quite melds with the environment, especially with the humans, and in another film, it’d be tempting to think of this as a flaw. But here, this incongruity is almost sort of the point. Elliott, the dragon, is among the most docile ever seen in cinema, and not just…

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War Dog: Guns and posers

War Dogs reminded me of quite a few films that were far more successful at doing what it tries to do. It begins by showing a gun pointed at one of the protagonists, David Packouz (Miles Teller), who coolly takes on narrating responsibilities and makes a comment to us about the gun’s making. “It’s a…

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