We've got a nice variety of movies hitting cinemas nationwide this week, providing us with the biggest wide release of the young year that is 2018. Liam Neeson is back in another game of cat and mouse, this time on a train; a popular talking bear is back for an anticipated sequel; and Taraji P. Henson is kicking a whole lotta ass as a highly-trained assassin. Let's take a look at The Commuter, Paddington 2 and Proud Mary. It's gonna be a Rotten Week!
Just remember, I'm not reviewing these movies, but rather predicting where they'll end up on the Tomatometer. Let's take a look at This Rotten Week has to offer.
One has to appreciate how Liam Neeson has fully embraced the idea of being an older action star. In recent years he's been kicking a whole lot of ass on the big screen, and it looks like that pattern will continue with the new thriller The Commuter. It's something of a farce how many of these flicks Neeson has done now, and it's worth noting that it's resulted in mixed success:
Taken (58%)
Taken 2 (21%)
Taken 3 (12%)
Run All Night (60%)
Non-Stop (59%)
The Commuter may not ultimately feature as much hand-to-hand combat as the others, but it's a race-against-clock-action movie nonetheless.
Director Jaume Collet-Serra directed the last two movies on Neeson's list above and they turned out the best of the bunch of the Tomatometer. I'm betting The Commuter will finish in the same range, with early reviews being generally positive. That's good, because I could watch Liam Neeson do his thing well into his eighties.
It's rare to get full belly laughs from Little Rotten Week on any movie, but Paddington (98%) had both of us rolling at times. The movie was an excellent, charming fish-out-of-water story replete with enough laughs for kids and adults alike. So you can understand the excitement for Paddington 2. The little talking bear from Darkest Peru is back, this time trying to solve a mystery in London while also working to get his aunt a very special birthday present.
Director Paul King's resume is completely Paddington-centric, (his only two movies) and it's looking about as good a start to a feature directing career as one can get. Paddington 2 is sitting at 100% through 66 reviews with critics labeling it "sweet", "charming" and "wonderful" among other superlatives. Some curmudgeon will come along with a negative review because that's just the world we live in, but this movie will stay close to perfect with critics.
The very best part of any hitman/woman movie is the reveal of the super high-end closet they have, filled with gleamingly polished firearms. It's the ultimate power move when showing off their digs: while others are touting a closet full of Armani or whatever, they've got a magazine-quality space presentation of their weaponry.
That seems the least of what to expect from Mary (Taraji P. Henson) in the new action movie bearing her name. In all, I have to say Proud Mary looks like a lot of fun. I doubt it crushes with critics because it looks like a run-of-the-mill action flick, but those have their place in the movie world. Director Babak Najafi also helmed London Has Fallen (25%), a silly but entertaining-in-its-own-way shoot'em up with a lot of bangs and bodies piling up. I suspect this is the same kind of thing. It won't finish high on the Tomatometer, but that doesn't we can't enjoy it.
There was only one movie on the docket last week with Insidious: The Last Key, and unfortunately my guess fell just out of range (Predicted: 39% Actual: 27%). I suppose I had the tone of the reviews correct in that it trended generally negative. The previous iterations of the franchise pointed to this development, but I didn't think the numbers would fall this far. It's hard to trot movies out under the same name, with the same general themes and hope to keep an appetite among critics and fans. This is likely the last of the Insidious movies and they went out with a whimper, critically-speaking.
Next time around we've got 12 Strong, Den of Thieves and Forever My Girl. It's gonna be a Rotten Week!
