Adamant(ium) with Japan

Here is a prequel that is unabashedly made for Japanese audiences. With a few skirmishes with Yakuza gangsters and atop bullet trains thrown in for effect in the balance this prequel feels more like a Japanese sitcom with the occasional technological gizmo, or odd ninja, thrown in. Using just about every stereotypical element that one can imagine in a movie that is wholly set in Japan, The Wolverine is unmitigatedly directionless and needs to trail off with the promise of the return of the X-Men for any impact at all

10.5/20

Lost and Found

A movie that is easy to explain! Here comes retired CIA Agent Brian Mills (Liam Neeson) with wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) and daughter Kim (Maggie Grace). In come the mafia – and after some accelerated sightseeing of the bazaars of Istanbul – take the wife and daughter hostage. Needless to say, the CIA will trump Albanian rouges no matter how well-trained the latter might be. It is only interesting that the same could possibly include grenades merrily thrown across rooftops in densely populated areas. I recall being mildly entertained while Taken 2 was on, but not much else.

 

10.5/20