The Green Hornet (2011) Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz, David Harbour

“You said I'm boring. My gun has two barrels. That's not boring.” 

From the Better Than I Thought It Would Be Files comes the Seth Rogen/Michel Gondry adaptation of pulp hero The Green Hornet. Rogen (who co-wrote the script with Evan Goldberg) stars as Britt Reid, a spoiled newspaper heir whose father (Tom Wilkinson) dies of an allergic reaction to a bee sting. While defacing his father’s gravesite, Reid and Kato (Jay Chou) – his father’s mechanic and assistant – break up a mugging and get mistaken as criminals by the cops. Reid convinces Kato that the two should use the newspaper to beef up the criminal profile of “The Green Hornet” while actually fighting crime and bringing Russian mobster Benjamin Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz) to justice. Along for the ride are a pre-STRANGER THINGS David Harbour, Edward James Olmos and Cameron Diaz as the older but wiser assistant who helps Reid and Kato in their exploits. Like other failed pulp adaptations – Alec Baldwin’s THE SHADOW (1994) and Billy Zane’s THE PHANTOM (1996) – it’s both fun and exhausting, ping-ponging between action, comedy and bromance without ever finding its footing. Chou is great as the resourceful sidekick while Rogen is tolerable if woefully miscast as the hero. Unfortunately, a bloated budget and needless 3-D effects (remember that era?) sabotaged plans for a sequel though talks of an unrelated reboot surface on occasion. Via HBO Max. GRADE: C+. – Dan Taylor

Castle Falls (2021) starring Scott Adkins, Dolph Lundgren

“Follow the guard, find the money.” 

Scott Adkins headlines as Mike, a down on his luck MMA fighter who lacks the killer instinct needed for success. Living in his car and working a temporary demolition job at soon-to-be-imploded Castle Heights Hospital, Mike stumbles upon a stash of cash hidden by a gang member before he ended up in prison. Determined to grab the cash and change his life, Mike heads back into Castle Heights with just 90 minutes left before demolition – unaware that a desperate prison guard (Dolph Lundgren, who also directed) and a small army of money-hungry cons are also searching for the loot. Though it takes a little time to get started Adkins and Lundgren make the most of it, giving more depth to their characters than most straight-to-video action thrillers muster. GRADE: B. – Dan Taylor

Available for rental from Redbox and Amazon.

Fast 9 (2021) starring Vin Diesel, John Cena, Michele Rodriguez

Yet another bloated installment of a once-fun series that started as a POINT BREAK rip-off and peaked with 2011’s FAST FIVE. With no Rock (who clearly hates Vin Diesel more than he loves money) and no Paul Walker (RIP) the franchise brings in a surprisingly dull John Cena as Jakob, Dom’s estranged younger brother tuned mercenary. Lots of fan favorites and old faces pop up, two characters go to space (unfortunately, they return), there are ridiculous flashbacks to Young Dom and Young Jakob, etc. Unfortunately, it’s a largely unwatchable mess that somehow made me feel like the free rental from our local library was a rip-off. GRADE: D. – Dan Taylor

JOHN WICK (2014) – "Everything Has Its Price"

"Everything has its price."

Finally caught up with this stylish (if predictable) actioner last night and was pleasantly surprised. It's the best use of Keanu in ages and by peppering the flick with familiar faces like Willem Dafoe, John Leguizamo and Ian McShane it feels as comfy as a favorite blanket.

Kudos to stunt coordinators turned directors Chad Stahleski and David Leitch for keeping both the action and the pacing energetic. WICK never drags and in less capable hands the simple but sappy storyline of a grieving former hitman going back to his old ways over a stolen car and dead dog could have gone off the rails.

Not sure I need a sequel – which was officially announced in May – but I'm willing to give it a shot. – Dan Taylor

JOHN WICK is available from Amazon.

Check out the trailer below...

ACTION CAPSULES: Bare Knuckles and Diamond Cutters

Thanks to things like ActionFest and friends who send me box upon box of men's adventure novels, the Summer of Action has basically turned into the 366 Days of Action. Between reading and watching – plus the added factors of real life and, oh yeah, the Stanley Cup playoffs – I realized it's almost impossible to write full-blown reviews of everything I consume.

Introducing 'Action Capsules', a new ER blog segment featuring quickie write-ups of action movies, books, comics and whatever else lands in my hands. First up are capsules of two action flicks worth catching that are currently streaming on Netflix.

Checked out BARE KNUCKLES, an oddball 1977 "bounty hunter stalks serial killer" flick with 70s tv vet Robert Viharo as "Zach Kane" and Michael Heit as a kung-fuing socialite who is actually a disturbed slasher with a mommy complex. A departure from the over-the-top sleazery of his ILSA flicks, it was written/directed by Don Edmonds and is packed with fights and bared boobs and lots of smoking and staring by Viharo. It's like a weird, dark tv pilot filled with gay jokes, kung-fu and blackmailing gangs. Worth checking out.

Had to keep feeding the action jones so I went with 2005's THE CUTTER starring Chuck Norris as an ex-cop-turned-PI, Bernie "Sigfried" Koppel as an Auschwitz survivor/master jeweler and Joanna Pacula as Koppel's niece/biz partner. When an excavation in the Sinai desert yields legendary stones of Biblical origin, they end up (naturally) in Spokane, Washington where Dirk (Daniel Bernhardt) kidnaps Koppel and forces him to cut the stones. When Shep Shepherd (Norris) saves Elizabeth (Pacula) from a diamond heist he ends up helping find her uncle. Director William Tannen (FLASHPOINT, THE HERO AND THE TERROR) keeps the flick moving and the action snappy. Unlike Steven Seagal's recent flicks, Norris knows his limitations and doesn't make his character some sort of indestructible superman who can't be hurt by the younger, flashier Dirk. Fun!