I appear on “CTV News at 6” with anchor Andria Case to talk about the brutal and blood “Mortal Kombat II,” the family film “The Sheep Detectives” (and a taste of my interview with star Nicholas Braun) and the road trip drama “Omaha.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 37:21)
I sit with host Deb Hutton on NewsTalk 1010 to talk about a lawsuit against James Cameron, newly unearthed interviews of Arthur Miller discussing his wife Marilyn Monroe, blue dot fever and I review the action flick “Mortal Kombat II” and the family murder mystery “The Sheep Detectives.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join CTV Atlantic’s Todd Battis to talk about the bloody “Mortal Kombat II,” the family murder mystery “The Sheep Detectives” and the road trip “Omaha.”
Watrch the whole thing HERE!
I join “CTV News Toronto at Five” with anchor Zuraidah Alman to talk about new movies in theatres including the bloody “Mortal Kombat II,” the family murder mystery “The Sheep Detectives” and the road trip “Omaha.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 14:56)
I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Renee Rogers to talk about the new releases in theatres, including the bloody “Mortal Kombat II,” the family murder mystery “The Sheep Detectives” and the road trip “Omaha.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with guest host Andrew Pinsent to talk about the new movies coming to theatres including the bloody “Mortal Kombat II,” the family murder mystery “The Sheep Detectives” and the road trip “Omaha.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to make your bed. Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the bloody “Mortal Kombat II,” the family murder mystery “The Sheep Detectives” and the road trip “Omaha.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: The sequel to the 2021 reboot, “Mortal Kombat II” sees the champions of Earthrealm forced to into battle to thwart the rule of Shao Kahn, emperor of the Outworld realm.
CAST: Karl Urban, Adeline Rudolph, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Ludi Lin, Mehcad Brooks, Tati Gabrielle, Lewis Tan, Damon Herriman, Chin Han, Tadanobu Asano, Joe Taslim, Hiroyuki Sanada. Directed by Simon McQuoid.
REVIEW: A mix-and-match of the videogame “Street Fighter II,” fantasy, and martial arts films like “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “Bloodsport,” “Mortal Kombat II” is action-packed, blood-soaked fan service that grabs the spirit of the games for the big screen.
The ultimate clash of the realms begins with the Mortal Kombat champions of Earthrealm—Cole Young (Lewis Tan), Liu Kang (Ludi Lin), Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee), Jax (Mehcad Brooks), and Kano (Josh Lawson)—joined by Jean-Claude Van Damme wannabe Johnny Cage (Karl Urban) to fight in the Outworld Mortal Kombat tournament. “I got a Saturn Award for best fight scene in film,” Cage says, “so don’t mess with me.”
Determined to expand the realm of Outworld, Genghis Khan-style Emperor Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford) launches a campaign to conquer Earthrealm. “Earth belongs to me,” he says.
As alliances are formed and betrayals brew, the hammer-wielding villain triggers bloody, no-holds barred battles, forcing the Earthrealm warriors to defend their sovereignty. “I hope your ancestors are watching,” Kahn cackles.
There’s more. Way more.
There is an amulet that turns men into immortals, a zombie queen, a vengeance hungry royal daughter (Adeline Rudolph), giants with rows of external, razor-sharp teeth and loads of gushing plasma. Director Simon McQuoid, working from a script by Jeremy Slater, crams a lot of backstory, character work and snappy one-liners into the 116-minute runtime, but let’s be real, the narrative is just the stuff in between the fights.
It’s a simple story of good vs. evil, of a dark lord who craves power, immortality and territory and the heroes who fight back. It’s complicated by alliances and intrigue that nonfans may struggle with, but it’s not about the details. It’s about big IMAX action played out on a screen the size of a basketball court.
On that score “Mortal Kombat II” delivers what fans expect, big eye-popping mano-et-mano battle scenes colored with impossible wuxia style flying kicks and airborne leaps. It’s cool, stylized fight choreography that showcases the franchise’s debt to Hong Kong kung fu and martial arts films.
The cast is game, particularly Karl Urban, who brings some much-appreciated humor to the role of Johnny Cage, a self-described “dinosaur doing karate poses.” He refers to the tournaments as a “Squid Game murder party,” and feels it’s unfair that the others have special powers while, “I’m just incredibly handsome.” His presence breaks up the scenes of squirting plasma and helps establish the homage to New Line Cinema’s 1980s–90s action/horror movie era.
Based on the best of the OG games, “Mortal Kombat II” is a throwback, with brutal battles, to the games and the generation that produced them.
The proliferation of creature features starring hybrid animals like the Piranhaconda, Sharktopus and Dinocroc have overshadowed the more traditional nature gone wild horror movie. “Black Water: Abyss,” a new angry, apex predator movie now on VOD, brings back the old school when animals attack genre and throws in some spelunking for good measure.
The action begins when a group of friends, Eric (Luke Mitchell), Jen (Jessica McNamee), Viktor (Benjamin Hoetjes) and Yolanda (Amali Golden), cast aside any fear of claustrophobia to descend into a partially submerged cave system in remote Northern Australia. They’ve been led there by Cash (Anthony J. Sharpe), who discovered the caves while on a search party for a Japanese couple who went missing in the area. What they don’t know is that the couple didn’t just disappear… they were eaten. When a tropical storm hits, flooding the caves, they are trapped with a herd of very hungry, very aggressive crocodiles
Cue the frenzied chomping.
Director Andrew Traucki has made something of a specialty of this genre, making giant shark movies like “The Reef” and “The Jungle” about a n Indonesian “forest demon.” He’s good with jump scares, the primal stuff like fear of the dark and claustrophobia and the mix of CGI and actual crocodile footage, but he’s let down here by a script that reduces his characters to sushi for hungry crocodiles and nothing more. It’s hard to create character arcs when the most interesting thing anyone says is, “We’re never going to get out of here, are we?”
“Black Water: Abyss” is a sequel to 2007’s “Abyss,” and while it has the occasional jolt and a breathless last few minutes, its lack of interesting characters will not croc your world.
