Willie's View Movie Reviews

   Bruce Willis stars in this remake of the 1974 Charles Bronson classic. It is remade by director Eli (Hostel) and writer/director Joe Carnahan(The Grey.A-Team) and tells the story of a husband, father and E.R. Surgeon Paul Kersey, who turns into a vigilante after his wife is murdered and his daughter is left in a coma. With no help from the police and just barely enough support from his selfish debt owing brother (Vincent D'Onofrio), Paul find s more answers on his own and with a gun in his hand, which he is reluctant to use at first but soon learns carrying around a gun can produce the answers that he has desperately spent months looking for.    I remember the original Death Wish being a shocking and gruesome film. This updated version is neither of those two. It's not shocking when his wife (Elisabeth Shue) is murdered due to the simple fact that our society has become desensitized to the murder and mayhem that is portrayed here. E...

I don't see many period pieces or costume dramas for the simple fact that I find them to sometimes boring. I hea rd talk of THE BEGUILED, directed by Sofia Coppola, during the month of June. It played only in the art house theaters, so the opportunity for wanting to see this in a multiplex movie theater was very slim to downright impossible. Thank the Lord f or streaming services (a.k.a home video). Before getting into my reaction and thoughts of THE BEGUILED, I need to state that I am not a fan of the director at all. I was bored to tears at her beloved (to whom I do not know) film LOST IN TRANSLATION. That was a big strike against this film going into it. What attracted me to this film? Reading the description, I got the sense that this could be a thriller of some sort. I do love me a good thriller. THE BEGUILED tells the story of a girl who finds a wounded Yankee soldier(this is the Civil War era) in Virginia and takes him back to an all-girls boarding school where she is a s...

   A WRINKLE IN TIME is the film adaptation of Madelaine L'Engle's (supposedly) beloved children's book. It is directed by Ava DuVernay and stars Storm Reid, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mind Kaling and Chris Pine, among others.   The story revolves around the disappearance of scientist Alex Murry(Chris Pine) and his daughter's (Meg, played by Storm Reid) search for him that takes her across the Universe. With the aid of three mystical and immortal beings named Mrs.Which (Oprah Winfrey), Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon) and Mrs.Who (Mindy Kaling), Meg's adopted brother-Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe) and her school friend, Calvin (Levi Miller), they go on a fantastical journey across the Universe in search of the missing scientist and father, Mr.Murry.    I have read the book by Madeline L'Engle and was not a fan of it-AT ALL. I thought it was a mystic jumbled up sci-fi fantasy whose narrative was barely readable unless you had so...

      DARKEST HOUR is a film that transports the viewer to another time and place in extraordinary fashion, combining some very talented artists of filmmaking to create something unique and enthralling for today's moviegoer.    Gary Oldman gives the performance of his career as Winston  Churchill, a man who led his country out of one of it's darkest times with his wisdom and courage, never backing down from a difficult challenge. Oldman disappears into the role of Churchill, convincing the viewer that he or she is watching a historic figure come to life. Oldman's performance, Joe Wright's direction, the production design by Sarah Greenwood and the makeup by Kazuhino Tsuji, David Malinowski, and  Lucy Sibbick's combined talents transport the viewer to 1940's England to view history in the making. Its these and other talents not mentioned here all combined together that creates a captivating history lesson and tells the story of a unique man who w...

   Spending the last few months of consistently writing movie reviews, I have realized that there are some people who like a detailed synopsis of the film I'm writing about. I simply do not do this. I give the reader a very brief synopsis of the film while avoiding possible spoilers. Some might see it as lazy writing. My job as a film critic is to give the reader a brief idea of what the movie is about. Most critics give you a very detailed account of the film, which in my opinion runs the risk of ruining the viewing experience for the reader. I do not do this and simply refuse to do so. My reviews exist to tell my thoughts on the film, not a detailed account of the story. Once again, for a detailed account, see the movie. My job is to give you a small taste of what the film is about. And hopefully, I won't spoil anything about the movie in question while doing so.   Thank you for your time. Enjoy yourself at the movies.

   Movies like DADDY'S HOME 2 are made for two things- to entertain and to make people laugh. That is exactly what this sequel to the hit DADDY'S HOME succeeds in doing. Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg return as Brad and Dusty, co-dad's to Sara's(Linda Cardellini) two children, as well as much of the original cast. To recap the first one, Brad (Ferrell) is the step-dad to Sara's(Cardellini) two children who finds himself competing with the real Dad, Dusty(Walhberg) for the title of Dad.   With DADDY's HOME 2, we get the Grandfathers added to the mix. Mel Gibson as Dusty's Dad, Kurt and John Lithgow as Brad's Dad, Don. Gibson is stunt casting while Lithgow's performance is indicative of his award-winning career. Lithgow plays a comedic role in dramatic fashion. It could be the other way around as well. One of the things had a problem with in this movie is Gibson's performance, which I found to be a lackluster performance. It as if Gibson is just ...

*WARNING: This review may contain possible spoilers, mild as they may be. Read at your own risk.*    GAME NIGHT tells the story of six friends who get together regularly to play various games. One night, in particular, turns unpredictable and deadly when one of the group's brother (Kyle Chandler) arrives and joins in for his version of Game Night.    GAME NIGHT is, at best, mildly amusing and at worst, poorly crafted story-telling. The marriage of comedy and suspense thriller doesn't mix well here. Neither of the attempted genres works on it's own for that matter. The comedy just isn't laugh out loud funny as I was expecting. Maybe a chuckle here or there, but certainly not the gut buster that I was told to expect. The suspense here is second rate, at best, and never well executed. The bad guys are inept and about as menacing as a Scooby Doo villain.   Let's talk about the screenplay for a minute. The action and the plot literally come to a halt f...