Month: November 2020

Mahershala Ali-Led Swan Song Adds Awkwafina to Cast

Mahershala Ali-Led Swan Song Adds Awkwafina to Cast

Mahershala Ali-led Swan Song adds Awkwafina to cast

The upcoming sci-fi drama Swan Song at Apple starring Mahershala Ali (Green Book) and Naomie Harris (No Time to Die) has expanded its cast with another prestige award winner in Golden Globe winner Awkwafina (The Farewell), according to The Hollywood Reporter.

RELATED: Mahershala Ali to Produce, Star in Swan Song Drama for Apple TV+

Swan Song is set in the near future and explores how far someone will go, and how much they’ll sacrifice, to make a happier life for the people they love. The Crazy Rich Asians star is set to portray Kate, a close friend and confidant to Ali’s Cameron in the film.

Oscar-winner Benjamin Cleary (Stutterer) will write and direct the project. Production on the feature is expected to begin in the spring. The movie will receive a theatrical release in addition to streaming on Apple TV+.

“Benjamin’s script for ‘Swan Song’ immediately connected with us,” Matt Dentler, Apple’s head of feature development and acquisitions, previously said in a statement. “We cannot wait to bring Benjamin’s vision together with Mahershala’s undeniable talent to deliver this powerfully layered story to audiences around the world.”

Cleary previously said in a statement, “I’ve been developing ‘Swan Song’ for a while and when I sat down with Apple it was immediately clear they completely understood my vision. Once Mahershala agreed to join us I knew we had something really special. To be making this movie with Mahershala and Anonymous at Apple is an absolute dream.”

“Benjamin Cleary is a rare talent who deftly weaves human emotion into his filmmaking in a way that harkens to many of the great films that began at Anonymous Content such as ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ and ‘Being John Malkovich,’” Anonymous Content’s Adam Shulman and Jacob Perlin previously said in a statement. “We are tremendously grateful to be working with Mahershala Ali and Ben on this thought-provoking project, that we’re sure will be a conversation starter.”

Adam Shulman (Defending Jacob) and Jacob Perlin (The Amazing Johnathan Documentary) are set to produce Swan Song for Anonymous Content along with Ali.

RELATED: Comic-Con: Mahershala Ali is the MCU’s Blade!

Ali’s upcoming projects include the sci-fi thriller Sovereign, the animated TV series adaptation Invincible, and, of course, starring as the new Blade in Marvel’s upcoming reboot. ⁣

(Photo Credit: David Crotty/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

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Severin Films Unveils Tales of the Uncanny Documentary Trailer

Severin Films Unveils Tales of the Uncanny Documentary Trailer

Severin Films Unveils Tales of the Uncanny Documentary Trailer

Following its world debut at Abertoire — The International Horror Festival of Wales earlier this month, Severin Films has unveiled the first trailer for the upcoming documentary Tales of the Uncanny — The Ultimate Survey of Anthology Horror, which will be included as a bonus feature in the upcoming Special Edition Blu-ray of The Theatre Bizarre. The trailer can be viewed in the player below!

RELATED: Wolfman’s Got Nards Trailer for the Monster Squad Documentary

After originally starting out as a bonus feature for Severin Films’ upcoming Special Edition Blu-ray of The Theatre Bizarre, the documentary Tales of the Uncanny — The Ultimate Survey of Anthology Horror expanded into a feature-length project filmed over Zoom and is now coming to Abertoir — The International Horror Festival of Wales for its world premiere!

Co-hosts/producers David Gregory, director of the award-winning Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau, and Kier-La Janisse, author of House of Psychotic Women: An Autobiographical Topography of Female Neurosis in Horror and Exploitation Films, queried a global roster of more than 60 horror writers, directors and scholars that include Eli Roth, Joe Dante, Mark Hartley, Mick Garris, Ernest Dickerson, Joko Anwar, Ramsey Campbell, David DeCoteau, Kim Newman, Jovanka Vuckovic, Luigi Cozzi, Tom Savini, Jenn Wexler, Larry Fessenden, Richard Stanley, Michael Gingold, Brian Trenchard-Smith, Brian Yuzna, Gary Sherman, Rebekah McKendry and Peter Strickland in a candid discussion of such film/TV classics as Dead of Night, Black Sabbath, Kwaidan, Spirits of the Dead, Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors, The House That Dripped Blood, Asylum, Tales From the Crypt, The Twilight Zone, Creepshow, Tales From the Darkside, Trilogy of Terrror, Two Evil Eyes, V/H/S, XX and more.

“We had a lot of fun with our COVID Project, and it gave friends and colleagues a chance to ponder and articulate the enduring appeal of the format,” co-producer Kier-La Janisse said in a statement. “The anthology horror film is an extension of much older traditions of storytelling that are especially valued in the horror community, and though the films are by nature a mixed bag, there’s a reason we keep returning to them again and again.”

“I’ve loved horror anthologies since seeing The Monster Club when I was 9,” director/co-producer David Gregory said in a statement. “And most horror filmmakers and fans love them too, often getting into heated discussions about their favorites. Kier-La and I decided to ask our horror industry colleagues and friends to determine the experts’ Top 5 films and segments that would make the ultimate horror omnibus movie. The results surprised us all.”

RELATED: CS Unboxed: Severin’s Al Adamson Masterpiece Collection Blu-ray Set

Tales of the Uncanny — The Ultimate Survey of Anthology Horror will be widely available this November, in tandem with The Theatre Bizarre Special Edition, as a Sever Films’ Limited-Edition Blu-ray featuring special anthology horror archival rarities.

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Billy Porter Sets Directorial Debut With Coming-of-Age Pic What If?

Billy Porter Sets Directorial Debut With Coming-of-Age Pic What If?

Billy Porter sets directorial debut with coming-of-age pic What If?

Emmy-winning actor Billy Porter (Pose) has officially signed on for his feature directorial debut with Orion Pictures’ first feature project since relaunching as a studio for underrepresented filmmakers, the coming-of-age drama What If?, which is being described as a mixed between Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart and Greg Berlanti’s Love, Simon.

RELATED: High School: Coming-of-Age Comedy Series in Development from Tegan & Sara Quin

“I’m thrilled to be part of this new space in Hollywood for telling all types of stories from all types of people.” Porter said in a statement to Deadline“I am grateful to be in a position to usher some of these stories into the mainstream and I am humbled that heavy hitters like Christine Vachon and Alana Mayo have entrusted and empowered me in this insane time we all find ourselves in.”

What If? centers around high school senior KHAL who posts on r/relationships about his crush on Kelsa, a trans girl at his school. The internet encourages him to go for it and the two navigate a high school senior year relationship that neither could have expected. The film is written by Alvaro García Lecuona.

The project will be produced by Killer Films’ Christine Vachon and David Hinojosa along with Andrew Lauren Productions’ Andrew Lauren and D.J Gugenheim.

“We couldn’t be more excited to work with Billy Porter on his feature directing debut and are privileged that he, Alvaro, and the producing team behind this special film have entrusted us with their vision for this beautiful, contemporary love story. What If? is perfectly emblematic of the ambitions we have for the new Orion Pictures: to tell stories about the totality of the human experience,” President of Orion Pictures Alana Mayo said in a statement

RELATED: Sony’s Cinderella Film & For All Mankind Season 2 Resume Filming

Last August, Orion Pictures had announced their intention to relaunch the production company into a brand new direction that will represent and amplify the voices of underrepresented filmmakers as part of the initiative to increase inclusivity within the film industry.

Billy Porter first gained recognition for his work on Broadway musicals such as Kinky Boots which had earned him a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical and a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. He then went on to star in Ryan Murphy’s acclaimed drama series Pose which gave him his first Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series as well as his first Golden Globe nomination.

(Photo Credit: Santiago Felipe/Getty Images)

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Brad Pitt-Led Bullet Train Lands Oscar Nominee Michael Shannon

Brad Pitt-Led Bullet Train Lands Oscar Nominee Michael Shannon

Brad Pitt-led Bullet Train lands Oscar nominee Michael Shannon

The Brad Pitt-starring action thriller Bullet Train isn’t slowing down on building its ensemble casting anytime soon as Oscar and Golden Globe nominee Michael Shannon (Knives Out, The Shape of Water) has signed on for the star-studded roster, according to Deadline.

RELATED: David Leitch’s Bullet Train Adds Masi Oka to Roster

Bullet Train will mark the eighth collaboration between Leitch (Hobbs & Shaw) and Pitt, who first worked together in 1999 on Fight Club on which Leitch worked as an uncredited stunt double for Pitt, followed by 2001’s The MexicanOcean’s Eleven and Spy Game, the latter two in which he doubled again for Pitt and helped coordinate the martial arts stunts on the Tony Scott-helmed film. Leitch would once again double for Pitt in 2004’s Troy and 2005’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith and would later reunite with the star in 2018’s Deadpool 2, in which Pitt cameoed as Vanisher and Leitch directed.

On top of directing, Leitch will supervise the script written by Zak Olkewicz (Fear Street). Plot details for the film are currently being kept under wraps, but it is based on the Japanese novel Maria Beetle by Isaka Kotaro. The cast for the film, led by Pitt, already includes Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass), Andrew Koji (Warrior), Joey King (The Lie), Brian Tyree Henry (Atlanta), Zazie Beetz (Deadpool 2) and Masi Oka (Spies in Disguise).

Leitch and Kelly McCormick will produce the project via their company 87North along with Antoine Fuqua (The Magnificent Seven, Training Day, The Equalizer) and Kat Samick (The Equalizer, Southpaw, Infinite). Brittany Morrissey is the executive overseeing the film for Sony Pictures.

RELATED: Joey King in Talks for Brad Pitt-Starring Bullet Train

Leitch and McCormick recently signed a first-look deal at Universal and produced the action film Nobody, starring Better Call Saul’s Bob Odenkirk, which is expected to release in February 2021. The duo is also developing a biopic of Jutta Kleinschmidt, the first and only woman to win the brutal off-road endurance race known as The Dakar Rally, as well as the rights to her book My Victory at Dakar.

(Photo Credit: Bruce Glikas/WireImage)

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Minions Holiday Special First-Look Photos Tease November Premiere 

Minions Holiday Special First-Look Photos Teases November Premiere 

Minions Holiday Special first-look photos tease November premiere

Illumination has released the first-look photos for the upcoming Minions Holiday Special, featuring the return of the beloved yellow henchmen as they celebrate the most festive season of the year. The half-hour special is part of the recently announced NBC holiday programming and is scheduled to air on Friday, November 27 on NBC, followed by its streaming debut the next day on Peacock. Check out the full photos in the gallery below! (via /Film)

RELATED: Animated Adventure Fireheart Lines Up Ensemble Cast Including Cooke & More

Get ready to celebrate the season with the Minions. NBC and Illumination are proud to present the first-ever Minions Holiday Special! This half-hour primetime event, starring the iconic Minions, features four mini-movie escapades and includes special guest appearances from some of Illumination’s most beloved characters from their The Secret Life of Pets and Sing franchises.

On top of special appearances from other animated films, some of the characters from Despicable Me are also expected to guest star in the special including Agnes, youngest daughter of Gru. It is produced by Illumination and Universal Pictures.

The fan-favorite characters are also set to return to the big screen next year with their upcoming Despicable Me prequel film titled Minions: The Rise of Gru which will hit the theaters on July 2, 2021. The film will feature the voices of Pierre Coffin, Steve Carell, Taraji P. Henson, Michelle Yeoh, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Julie Andrews and more.

RELATED: LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special Trailer Takes Rey to the Past

The Minions Holiday Special is set to arrive on NBC on Friday, November 27, followed by a streaming premiere on NBCUniversal’s Peacock the next day

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HBO Max Reveals Thanksgiving-Inspired Movie & TV Library!

HBO Max Reveals Thanksgiving-Inspired Movie & TV Library!

HBO Max reveals Thanksgiving-inspired movie & TV library!

If you can’t celebrate Thanksgiving with family this holiday season, spend your time with HBO Max. From Thanksgiving-themed TV episodes to cherished blockbuster hits, there’s plenty of A-list content for you to gobble up this Turkey Day. Check out the full list below!

RELATED: HBO Max Coming to Amazon Fire Devices Tomorrow!

HBO Max is stacked with laugh-out-loud comedies including She’s the ManSuperintelligence and School of Rock, animated movies like AnastasiaStorks and Scoob!, as well as action flicks like Die Hard and Batman Returns. Plus, you can sing along to The Wizard of Oz and Moulin Rouge!, or start getting into the Christmas spirit with Last ChristmasThe Family StoneA Christmas Carol and other beloved holiday films streaming on HBO Max.

If you would rather stick to TV classics, HBO Max has all your favorite Friends-giving episodes so this Thanksgiving can be “The One With” a Friends Rewatch. Iconic Thanksgiving-themed episodes from series like The Big Bang TheoryThe Fresh Prince of Bel AirThe Sopranos and more will also be available to enjoy while full on the couch post-feast.

To top it off, Selena + Chef’s new Thanksgiving cooking special arrives just in time for crafting your own Thanksgiving meal. If Thanksgiving dinner doesn’t fill you up, shows for every kind of foodie like Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown and Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma are available to stream.

Spend less time scrolling and more time enjoying our curated selection of Thanksgiving programming available this November on HBO Max.

Movies

  • A Christmas Carol, 1938
  • A Cinderella Story, 2004
  • A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, 2011 (HBO)
  • All is Bright, 2013
  • Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, 2011 (HBO)
  • Anastasia, 1997 (HBO)*
  • Barnyard, 2006 (HBO)
  • Batman Returns, 1992
  • Black Christmas, 2019 (HBO)
  • Bridge to Terabithia, 2007 (HBO)
  • Cats, 2019 (HBO)
  • Clockstoppers, 2002 (HBO)
  • Die Hard, 1998 (HBO)
  • Die Hard 2, 1990 (HBO)
  • Dolittle, 2020 (HBO)
  • Ella Enchanted, 2004
  • Emma., 2020 (HBO)
  • Flushed Away, 2006 (HBO)
  • Get Santa, 2014
  • Grumpy Old Men, 1993
  • Happy Feet Two, 2011 (HBO)
  • Holiday Affair, 1949
  • Hollidaysburg, 2014
  • Howl’s Moving Castle, 2004
  • Ice Age: Continental Drift, 2012 (HBO)
  • Jaws the Revenge, 1987 (HBO)
  • Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (HBO)
  • Kiki’s Delivery Service, 1998
  • Last Christmas, 2019 (HBO)
  • Little, 2019 (HBO)
  • Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, 2012 (HBO)
  • Moulin Rouge!, 2001 (HBO)
  • My Neighbor Totoro, 1990
  • New Year’s Eve, 2011 (HBO)
  • Nothing LIke the Holidays, 2008
  • Over the Hedge, 2006 (HBO)
  • Pokemon Detective Pikachu, 2019 (HBO)
  • Ponyo, 2008
  • Princess Mononoke, 1997
  • Prometheus, 2012 (HBO)
  • School of Rock, 2003 (HBO)
  • Scoob!, 2020
  • Shazam!, 2019 (HBO)
  • She’s the Man, 2006 (HBO)
  • Shrek Forever After, 2010
  • Spies in Disguise, 2019 (HBO)
  • Spirited Away, 2002
  • Storks, 2016 (HBO)
  • Superintelligence, 2020 (Available 11/26)
  • The Call of the Wild, 2020 (HBO) (Available 11/28)
  • The Children, 2009
  • The Family Man, 2000 (HBO) (Available 12/1)
  • The Family Stone, 2005 (HBO)
  • Friday After Next, 2002
  • The Gold Rush, 1942 (Charlie Chaplin)
  • The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, 2019 (HBO)
  • The Witches, 2020
  • The Wizard of Oz, 1939
  • Trapped in Paradise, 1994 (HBO) (Available 12/1)
  • Very Ralph, 2019 (HBO)
  • We Bought a Zoo, 2011 (HBO)

RELATED: Superintelligence Trailer Plus Melissa McCarthy, Ben Falcone & HBO Max Launch “Kindness” Campaign

Thanksgiving Episodes
Selena + Chef

  • Thanksgiving Holiday Episode – Available 11/19

The Big Bang Theory

  • Ep. 709 – The Thanksgiving Decoupling

South Park

  • A History Channel Thanksgiving
  • Black Friday

At Home with Amy Sedaris
The Regular Show

  • Ep. 513 The Thanksgiving Special

VEEP

  • Ep. 505 Thanksgiving

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

  • Ep. 112 – Talking Turkey

The Sopranos

  • Ep. 308 – He Is Risen

Succession

  • Ep. 105 – Went to Market

Insecure

  • Ep. 403 – Lowkey Thankful

Friends

  • Ep. 109 – The One Where Underdog Gets Away
  • Ep. 208 – The One with the List
  • Ep. 309 – The One with the Football
  • Ep. 408 – The One with Chandler in a Box
  • Ep. 508 – The One with the Thanksgiving
  • Ep. 609 – The One Where Ross Got High
  • Ep. 708 – The One Where Chandler Doesn’t Like Dogs
  • Ep. 809 – The One with the Rumor
  • Ep. 908 – The One with Rachel’s Other Sister
  • Ep. 1008 The One with the Late Thanksgiving

Food Shows

  • Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown
  • Selena + Chef (New Thanksgiving episode 11/19)
  • The History of Food
  • Food CIA
  • Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma
  • Food Lore
  • Foodie Love
  • Cooking the Perfect Burger
  • Cooking the Ultimate Steak
  • Chowder
  • Apple and Onion
  • The History of Food

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Grammy Nominee Bad Bunny Making Feature Acting Debut in American Sole

Grammy Nominee Bad Bunny Making Feature Acting Debut in American Sole

Grammy nominee Bad Bunny making feature acting debut in American Sole

After landing fellow Grammy nominee Offset to star in the upcoming STXfilms dramedy American Sole, the cast for the film has expanded to include Bad Bunny in his feature acting debut.

RELATED: Migos’ Offset Joins Pete Davidson in STX’s New Dramedy American Sole

“We’re tremendously excited by the way the cast is coming together and thrilled to have Bad Bunny joining this film,” Adam Fogelson, STXfilms Motion Picture Group Chairman, said in a statement. “As an actor, he’ll provide not only incredible entertainment value but real authenticity to his role.”

Written and directed by Ian Edelman (The After Party), American Sole follows two twenty-somethings with mountains of college debt who use the fast cash of after-market sneaker reselling to achieve their American dream. But when their startup runs out of cash and a shady investor is their only way out, the dream quickly becomes a nightmare.

The film will be led by Pete Davidson (The King of Staten Island) and O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Long Shot), along with Camila Mendes (Riverdale). Kevin Hart will produce the film via his HartBeat production banner alongside Chris Paul via his Oh Dipp!!! Production label and Jake Stein via his Scondo Productions, while John McPheters of Stadium Goods is attached to executive produce with HartBeat’s Bryan Smiley.

RELATED: Ed Helms & Harrison Ford Team for Sea-Faring Comedy at STX

Stadium Goods, the world’s premier sneaker and streetwear marketplace, serves as a consulting producer on the project. The resale market is one of the fastest-growing segments of the fashion industry, having reached $2 billion as some fans shell out as much as $50,000 for pairs of rare models previously made in extremely limited runs. Stadium Goods partnered with Christie’s in August 2019 to auction the Air Jordan 1 High “‘Backboard’ Origin Story” for $615,000, the record for the most expensive shoe ever sold.

(Photo Credit: Isaac Brekken/Getty Images)

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Hunter Hunter Trailer: Hunt or Be Hunted in IFC Horror-Thriller

Hunter Hunter Trailer: Hunt or Be Hunted in IFC Horror-Thriller

Hunter Hunter Trailer: Hunt or Be Hunted in IFC Horror-Thriller

As the film gears up for its mid-December release, IFC Films has unveiled the first trailer for its upcoming horror-thriller Hunter Hunter led by Devon Sawa (Final Destination) and Camille Sullivan (The Man in the High Castle), which can be viewed in the player below!

RELATED: Don’t Tell a Soul Trailer: Rainn Wilson Stars in Saban Films’ Thriller Drama

Hunter Hunter follows a family living in the remote wilderness earning a living as fur trappers. Joseph Mersault, his wife Anne and their daughter Renée struggle to make ends meet and think their traps are being hunted by the return of a rogue wolf. Determined to catch the predator in the act, Joseph leaves his family behind to track the wolf. Anne and Renée grow increasingly anxious during Joseph’s prolonged absence and struggle to survive without him.  When they hear a strange noise outside their cabin, Anne hopes it is Joseph but instead finds a man named Lou, who has been severely injured and left for dead. The longer Lou stays and Joseph is away, the more paranoid Anne becomes, and the idea of a mysterious predator in the woods slowly becomes a threat much closer to home.

In addition to Sawa and Sullivan, the cast for the film includes Summer H. Howell (Cult of Chucky, Clouds), Nick Stahl (Sin City, The Man Without a Face), Gabriel Daniels (The Ice Road, Goon, Fractured) and Lauren Cochrane (The Pinkertons, Tales From the Loop).

The film is being written and directed by Shawn Linden (Nobody, The Good Lie, The Fixer) with Neil Elman producing the film alongside Linden while Fernando Szew, Tony Vassiliadis, Hannah Pilleer, Jennifer Westin, Peter Bevan, Mariana Sanjurio and Tomás Yankelvich are all attached as executive producers.

RELATED: Castle Freak Trailer Reveals Reimagining of Stuart Gordon’s Horror Classic

Hunter Hunter is set to hit select theaters, digital platforms and video-on-demand on December 18.

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Don’t Tell a Soul Trailer: Rainn Wilson Stars in Saban Films’ Thriller Drama

Don't Tell a Soul Trailer: Rainn Wilson Star in Saban Films' Thriller Drama

Don’t Tell a Soul Trailer: Rainn Wilson stars in Saban Films’ thriller drama

Saban Films has released official trailer for Alex McAulay’s thriller drama titled Don’t Tell a Soul, featuring Emmy-nominated actor Rainn Wilson as he gets stuck inside an unescapable pit where his only survival depends on the conscience of a teenage boy who must try to defy his older brother to save someone’s life. The film is scheduled to arrive in theaters and on VOD on January 15, 2021. Check out the video in the player below!

RELATED: Castle Freak Trailer Reveals Reimagining of Stuart Gordon’s Horror Classic

In Don’t Tell a Soul, two teenage brothers named Matt and Joey decided to steal some money to pay off their sick mother’s medical bills. When security guard Mr. Hamby, catches them and gives chase, he winds up trapped at the bottom of a well. Joey and Hamby form an uneasy rapport as the younger brother debates letting their accidental captive go free — not knowing Hamby has secrets of his own that threaten everyone involved. Watch the trailer above.

The film is being led by Rainn Wilson (The Office), Jack Dylan Grazer (It, Shazam!), Fionn Whitehead (Dunkirk), and Mena Suvari (Six Feet Under).

RELATED: Zachary Levi Says Shazam 2 Might Begin Filming in Early 2021

Don’t Tell a Soul marks the directorial debut of Alex McAulay, who have also written the screenplay. The film is produced by Chris Mangano and Merry-Kay Poe. The film had its world premiere at the 2020 Deauville Film Festival last September and is set to hit select theaters, digital platforms and video-on-demand and January 15.

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Vanguard Review: Jackie Chan’s Latest is Hardly at the Forefront of Modern Action

Rating: 

3/10

Cast:

Jackie Chan as Tang Huanting

Yang Yang as Lei Zhenyu

Ai Lun as Zhang Kaixuan

Mu Qimiya as Miya

Xu Ruohan as Fareeda

Jackson Lou as Qin Guoli

Eyad Hourani as Omar

Written and Directed by Stanley Tong

Vanguard Review:

For this longtime fan of Asian cinema, it’s hard to believe that nearly 25 years have passed since Rumble in the Bronx became Jackie Chan’s entrée into the mainstream U.S. market, kicking off Hollywood’s embrace/co-option of Hong Kong’s action traditions and choreography, as well as some of its stars and filmmakers. Unfortunately, Vanguard, the latest collaboration between Chan and Rumble director Stanley Tong, exemplifies the negative type of reverse osmosis that occurred as borders between film industries fell: It’s a Chinese production informed by international tropes of the most generic kind. Essentially, it’s an imitation James Bond adventure that trots around the globe, stringing together diminishing-returns action setpieces with boilerplate dialogue and an absolute minimum of plot and characterization.

The world tour begins in London, where swarthy baddies attempt to kidnap businessman Qin Guoli (Jackson Lou) during a Spring Festival parade. Good thing that Vanguard, a covert security organization armed and outfitted with the latest in hi-tech weaponry and surveillance, is on the case. Agents and best buds Lei Zhenyu (Yang Yang) and Zhang Kaixuan (Ai Lun) try to stop the abduction, leading to the film’s first major martial-arts brawl in a restaurant kitchen—a serviceable but thoroughly familiar setting for such a set-to, and a sign of pedestrian things to come. During this fight, Ai does some of Chan’s old shtick, like shaking his hand in momentary pain after walloping a bad guy, since Chan himself spends this operation sitting behind a desk as bespectacled Vanguard boss Tang Huanting.

Tang gets to come out and play when the scene switches to Africa, where Qin’s daughter Fareeda (Xu Ruohan) frolics with her digitally created lion pal Charlie in a scene apparently inspired by a classic moment from Mighty Peking Man, and is fighting the local poachers—mostly on social media, it seems. This nasty group joins up with the lead baddies in their attempts to grab Fareeda, who has a 007-ish vehicle and gadgets of her own and bonds romantically with Lei while looking at pretty birdies during a break in the mayhem. It all culminates in an entertainingly ridiculous, CGI-enhanced pursuit down raging rapids—the last time Vanguard is any honest fun.

From there, we jump to the thoroughly hackneyed storm-the-impregnable-fortress portion of the movie on the villains’ home turf in a tactfully fictionalized Middle Eastern country, complete with caravans of vehicles driving through bazaars, endless machine-gun fire and world-music wailing on the soundtrack, topped by half-hearted Fast & Furious-esque car stunts. Here and elsewhere, Vanguard is overly dependent on digital effects that render the action cartoony and weightless, the only intentional humor appearing when Chan injects occasional slapstick into his too-infrequent brawls and in a couple of visual jokes, such as a small fleet of Vanguard espionage drones that actually look like bees. Throughout, the martial arts deliver brief jolts of excitement, but are neither inventive nor extensive enough to dispel the increasingly plodding conventionality in the story (scripted by Tong himself). The lack of genuine rooting interest is particularly acute given that the dramatic “highlights” (a disarm-the-bomb scene, etc.) feel dropped in by rote, and the antagonists’ performances are uniformly lousy.

By the time Vanguard arrives at its final act in Dubai, it has come to seem far longer than its 107 minutes. The last 10 of those consist of the credits, most of which are accompanied by the usual outtakes of Chan and others getting injured doing their stunts—and one particularly serious moment in which the star almost drowned during that river sequence. It’s nice to see him as committed as ever to giving his all to a project—even if, at age 66, his all isn’t what it once was—though the length of those credits indicate the misplaced priorities here. One of Vanguard’s final shots looks like it cost more than all of Drunken Master or Project A, proving once again that money is no substitute for imagination in both plotting and action. Even (especially?) at this late stage of his career, Chan and his fans deserve better.

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