Steven Seagal (“Under Siege”, “Hard To Kill”) has starred in many, many action movies but a lot of them have been very disappointing and that’s why “Exit Wounds” is a nice surprise. This is by no means a great film but the action sequences are well done.

Seagal plays a tough police officer by the name of Orin Boyd. After blowing up a helicopter within the first few minutes of the movie, he gets assigned to a rough precinct. It isn’t long before he uncovers a web of corruption but he’ll need the help of Latrell Walker (DMX “Cradle 2 The Grave”).

Seagal works reasonably well here as yet another rule-breaking cop. Seagal is actually fairly amusing in this movie (the scene with the small desk is pretty good). In my review of “Cradle 2 The Grave”, I referred to DMX as ‘about as likeable as the flu’ and nothing in “Exit Wounds” has made me change my mind. Fortunately, the focus is on Seagal and not on DMX. Tom Arnold (“True Lies”) and Anthony Anderson (“Transformers”) play the comedic relief characters and both are really irritating, especially Anderson. The final scene of the film is just these two guys sat around talking about nothing… it’s abysmal.

Despite the fact “Exit Wounds” has its problems, the action sequences are impressive. One unique scene involves a belt and a shotgun, there are also some good car chases and a sword fight. Some of the comedy works and I had a fun time watching this explosive action movie and it is feels refreshing to be able to write these things about a Seagal movie. If you are a fan of Seagal’s movies and haven’t seen this one, it’s definitely worth checking out and for those that have cared for most of Seagal’s films, you might be pleasantly surprised.

“eXistenZ” is another strange movie with a serious obsession with orifices so it must be the work of director David Cronenberg (“Videodrome”, “The Naked Lunch”). “eXistenZ” is about the blurring of videogames and reality but it takes so many unexplainable and totally illogical twists and turns along the way that your head might be hurting afterwards.

A videogame designer (Jennifer Jason Leigh “The Machinist”) is on the run from assassins when she must enter her latest virtual creation with a marketing trainee (Jude Law “Enemy At The Gates”) in order to see if the game has become damaged. As the film progresses, it gets crazier and crazier and it all gets too silly for my liking.

The characters in “eXistenZ” enter videogames using a special port created by making a new hole in someone at the bottom of their spine, it looks even more unpleasant than it sounds. Thankfully, we don’t yet live in a world where people mutilate themselves to play videogames. Jennifer Jason Leigh is fairly dull as Allegra Geller and Jude Law is equally unimpressive as Ted Pikul. The chemistry between the two is very weak. Ian Holm (“Alien”) and Willem Dafoe (“Spider-Man”) seem criminally underused here. Pretty much every character delivers painfully stupid dialog.

“eXistenZ” does feature something amazing; there is a gun made out of flesh and bone and it fires teeth. Aside from that, the film is too convoluted for any of the science-fiction to be captivating. The ending of the film is one of those endings that has so many twists that you feel cheated out of ending. The special effects seem mostly okay but it’s a real shame that there isn’t anything very special about the rest of the movie. I think much like Cronenberg’s “Videodrome”, “eXistenZ” favours graphic imagery over story and that of course comes at a heavy price.

“Executive Decision” is another movie with a similar premise to “Die Hard” and like most of these copycats it fails to capture what made the “Die Hard” franchise so popular; a witty hero and lots of great action scenes.

In “Executive Decision”, a group of terrorists hijack a 747 plane and say they will release the passengers when their leader is freed. A group of commandos and the analyst David Grant (Kurt Russell “Escape From New York”, “Tango and Cash”) board the moving plane but lose several members and lots of their equipment making their job even harder. Also, they find a bomb on board a discover the terrorists are going to use it to destroy Washington and the Eastern seaboard of the U.S.A. so now Grant and the rest of them need all their wits about them if they’re to save the day.

Kurt Russell is actually okay but the rest of the cast let the side down. Steven Seagal (“Under Siege”) has a surprisingly high billing considering his short amount of time onscreen as the head of the commandos. John Leguizamo (“Spawn”) sadly has lots of screen-time as one of the commandos. Joe Morton (“Terminator 2: Judgement Day”) is alright as yet another one of the commandos but he spends most of his time on the ground recovering from an injury. David Suchet is alright as the villain. Halle Berry (“Die Another Day”) is weak as the main stewardess.

Because “Executive Decision” takes place on a plane you can’t have much action so you can’t consider this much of an explosive and fun experience and the film isn’t smart enough to be considered a good thriller. “Executive Decision” is placed right in the middle of the goofy action movie genre and the smart thriller one, making it so it doesn’t work. Despite a few good points the film doesn’t hold itself together very well and isn’t anything you should bother with.

“Ex Machina” really wants to be a smart sci-fi but it is a boring film. It features many ideas and concepts that we have already seen in a several sci-fi films such as “2001: A Space Odyssey”, “A.I. Artificial Intelligence”, “Blade Runner” and “Bicentennial Man”. It has some crafty twists and turns yet I had no interest in the movie as a whole.

In “Ex Machina”, Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson “Frank”, “About Time”) is a young programmer invited to spend some time with his reclusive boss (Oscar Isaac “The Nativity Story”) at his mountain home. Caleb finds he is to take part in an extension of the ‘Turing test’ as he must evaluate an android (Alicia Vikander “The Danish Girl”).

The Caleb character is really dull and I found it hard to care about him. The robot, named Ava, looks absolute terrible. The special effects are not remotely impressive.  The robot only has skin covering her face and hands while the rest of it looks mechanical so it becomes a combination of preposterous and sad when Caleb begins to find himself attracted to Ava. The robot is manipulative but so is the boss so we question why Caleb does not just try to leave.

“Ex Machina” is not a visually stimulating film as we spend most of our time stuck in a few rooms where characters just sit and talk. That would be fine if the characters were interesting and/or likeable. There are a few clever parts thrown in here but so much of the movie just felt awkward. Also, the movie features lots of nudity, which comes across as a pitiful substitute for better characters and better writing. “Ex Machina” has received rave reviews and while it certainly is not among the worst sci-fi movies I have seen, it’s still bad.

“Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn” is a cleverly done homage and spoof of the horror movie genre that makes fun and honours films such as “Night of the Living Dead”, “Friday The 13th” and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. It’s truly ridiculous, it never stops, it’s gory and it’s pretty darn amusing.

Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell “Evil Dead”, “My Name Is Bruce”) and his new girlfriend find a secluded house to spend some time with each other. However, their fun is ruined after ancient evil is awakened and Ash’s love interest becomes a headless monster. Now with more evil on its way as well as a group of unfortunates Ash must use everything available to get through this nightmare.

Bruce Campbell is very funny as Ash Williams. The character is more like someone out of an action movie. It’s truly hilarious when we seem arm himself with a chainsaw and shotgun because he then says “Groovy”. The other characters are all done in the style of zombie/survival films so although they’re not really entertaining, they do what they’re supposed to. Some of the monsters look fantastic and are brought to life brilliantly via some superb special effects; they look really good near the end of the film.

“Evil Dead II” has a scene where Ash’s hand becomes possessed and starts beating him up (funny stuff), then he has to cut it off, he traps it in a bin with the book “A Farewell To Arms” on top (really funny). As you can most likely tell “Evil Dead II” isn’t a film for everyone but the people who’ll see it won’t be expecting something sophisticated or sensible when it has the title “Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn”. It’s violent, it’s stupid and it’s relentless so I think “Evil Dead II” will more than satisfy those who desperately seek a mockery of the cheesy horror B movies.

“Every Which Way But Loose” is supposedly a comedy that pairs tough guy Clint Eastwood (“Gran Torino”, “Where Eagles Dare”) with an orangutan that sadly only works during parts. Sometimes, I’m not sure if it is really a comedy.

In “Every Which Way But Loose”, a trucker named Philo Beddoe (Eastwood) is a great fighter that likes living with his ape Clyde. In order to find the girl of his dreams Philo and Clyde set off on a road trip with some angry police and bikers after them. With a few amusing moments in it you’ll laugh but it all leads to an unsatisfying conclusion that spoils the film entirely.

Clint Eastwood brings his tough guy formula but isn’t anything special. The real laughs come from the ape Clyde. He’s actually really funny as we see him drink beer, play dead like dogs and tons of other stuff, too bad it seems Eastwood gets the spotlight. The other characters aren’t particularly good in my books but there is one hilarious character named Ma (Ruth Gordon), who is responsible for probably the funniest scene in the entire film, now I’m not going to spoil it for you but if you do it see I think you’ll agree it’s pretty darn funny.

Although it’s not as violent or as foul mouthed as many of Eastwood’s films (notably the “Dirty Harry” pictures), it still has too much blood and a bad word too many to be considered a family film so that will alienate a big demographic. For me it has some good moments but it too many bad points for me to stick my thumb of approval up. There are plenty of good Eastwood films out there (I’m not sure if there are many good ape films though) so watch those instead.

“Event Horizon” is one of the most atmospheric thrillers I’ve ever seen, it’s also one of the most violent yet it flows with a certain elegance to it all and great performances help carry it to the next level. It’s a real surprise; this film received mixed reviews, was a failure at the box office and was directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, the guy who brought us the film adaptation of “Mortal Kombat”.

In “Event Horizon”, the year is 2047 and a small ship goes in search of a larger ship that went missing several years earlier while trying to explore travelling in a new complex but highly intriguing way involving bending space. When they reach the original ship named the ‘Event Horizon’, someone or something has come through the gateway on-board.

Sam Neill (“Jurassic Park”) steals the show as Doctor Weir by giving a totally creepy performance without going over the top. Laurence Fishburne (“The Matrix”), Joely Richardson (“The Patriot”), Jason Isaacs (“The Tuxedo”) and the rest are all good and remind me a lot of the crew in “Alien”. The visual effects are astounding and lots are hellish-torture themed and some of the creatures will instantly remind you of the visual effects seen in “Hellraiser”.

The special effects, the set design, the music, the characters, the plot and the atmosphere are all breath-taking. It’s like “Alien”, “The Abyss”, “Hellraiser”, “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “Constantine” all rolled into one but still managing to feel unique and not carrying any elements that didn’t work in some of the films listed. “Event Horizon” is a gem; it’s everything I love about sci-fi movies all in one place so if you’re in anyway someone that enjoys sci-fi or thrillers or horror movies then you have to see this because it’s scary, bizarre, fascinating, beautiful, sickening and will suck you right in.

Ever since the 80s the audience and studios have discussed the possibility of a film starring both Sylvester Stallone (“Rocky”, “First Blood”) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (“Predator”, “Total Recall”), with “The Expendables” we didn’t get to see the two of them onscreen that much so this is their first real film together and it’s good but it could have been better.

In “Escape Plan”, which was originally going to be called “The Tomb”, prison escapologist Ray Breslin (Stallone) gets put inside a privately-funded, maximum-security facility but he’s been set up and he’s going to be trapped here unless he can find a way out. Enter Emil Rottmayer (Schwarzenegger), the duo must work together if they’re to become free.

I was worried this was going to be like “The Expendables” were Stallone dominates the screen, with only a few scenes featuring Schwarzenegger but thankfully that isn’t the case here. Both are good, despite being a lot older than they were when they were making a lot of their best movies. The dialog they share is weak to begin with but gets stronger as the film continues. I was disappointed by the fact no other big action names appear in small roles, besides the always poor Vinnie Jones (“Snatch”) as a nasty guard. Sam Neill (“Jurassic Park”) oddly has a part in this film and he’s as good as always even though the role doesn’t require much.

“Escape Plan” reminded me a lot of a movie called “Fortress” also about a privately-funded, maximum-security prison and the two are about as good as each other. The movie’s action scenes only really pick up towards the end, the humour is there but it could be better and the chemistry between Stallone and Schwarzenegger is flawed; I think it’s still entertaining and at the end of the day you still get to see Stallone and Schwarzenegger exchange insults and of course fight. What’s sad is that the final words the two say imply this’ll be the last time we see the two share a scene.

After the second instalment, it seemed impossible to continue the “Planet of the Apes” franchise but where there is a profit to be made, a sequel will be made. While it is nowhere near as good as the original movie, this strange but clever third entry in the series are certainly much more enjoyable than the second movie.

Zira (Kim Hunter “A Streetcar Named Desire”) and Cornelius (Roddy McDowall) have managed to travel back in time to the 1970s where they stun the world with their ability to speak. They quickly become treated like celebrities but when the Earth’s fate is revealed along with the fact that Zira is pregnant, some government officials move to stop them and the two become fugitives.

Kim Hunter and Roddy McDowall return as Zira and Cornelius and both do a really good job. It’s interesting to see the tables turned and also see some significant development of the characters. Some of their interactions with one another and with the humans are very comedic and for the most part, they are relatively amusing. The disappointment comes with the human characters as the animal psychologists are not very interesting nor are the politicians. However, I did enjoy the small appearance by Ricardo Montalban (“Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan”) as a circus ring master.

The movie is a lot more comedic in tone in comparison to the earlier pictures and that makes it for a rather interesting contrast. Parts of the film are a little dull and this is not the thrilling sci-fi adventure of the original yet this is a quirky sequel that takes things in a very different direction and somehow makes it work. I think most people will be pleasantly surprised at how refreshing it is as it could have just rehashed the earlier films.

This is a movie I really don’t know whether to recommend or not. It has good moments but doesn’t execute a lot of it particularly well and lacks in certain areas but due to the response the film has received, I’m saying yes as I gather most people enjoy it and that’s something I like to take into consideration.

In “Escape From New York”, Manhattan is now a place where convicts are sent without any guards or rules. Air Force One crashes lands in this prison so the government send in bank robber Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell “The Thing”) to rescue the President (Donald Pleasance “Halloween”, “You Only Live Twice”). Snake only has 24hrs to get the President out because an important conference is going to be held that will attempt to resolve a war.

Kurt Russell is nothing special as Snake; he’s a tough guy with an iconic look and that’s all. Russell lacks the charisma of more popular tough guys. Donald Pleasance isn’t very good as the President. Lee Van Cleef (“For A Few Dollars More”), Isaac Hayes (“Kill Bill Vol.1”) and Ernest Borgnine (“The Dirty Dozen”) all make appearances but aren’t all that great. Acting is something “Escape From New York” fails to master.

I’ve heard people say “Escape From New York” is an action film but it doesn’t have enough action to be a proper action film in my books. The idea of criminals living without guards or rules is interesting and it’s great to see they’ve developed some sort of culture and some neighbourhoods are considered worse than others. I feel as a viewer you need to see what director John Carpenter (“The Fog”) has done with the concepts featured in the film. The other aspects aren’t bad but they’re nothing special so that’s why I was on the fence with this one.