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Homefront (27 Nov 2013) Director: Gary Fleder Screenplay by Sylvester Stallone (based on novel by Chuck Logan)
"KA-POW!"
The
story of Homefront is painted
in broad strokes, and the
Action stands out in bold color. It delivers the fight
scenes you are hoping for, and
by that I mean
Jason Statham
beats the shit out of everybody.
Even his daughter fights. In an
increasing trend in movies, girls are
fighting.
"Think it's good
idea
teaching your little girl to
fight?"
What
Jason Statham's character and
his daughter have to defend
themselves against is a
family of set-in-their-ways,
backwater, drug-addled white
trash, with a biker gang bent on
revenge thrown
in. Sure, there are cliches but, like I
said, broad strokes; it gets you
there faster.
Into the idyllic
"cottonwood-fallin'-like-snow-in-July" New Orleans back country,
widowed "Phil Broker" (an ex-undercover-DEA Agent using
his real name) settles in to a
rural lifestyle with his
10-year-old daughter, "Maddy".
When she gets the better of a
school bully, things start to
'go South', and it becomes a
twisted revenge story (but I put
it under the
Fight
subgenre). These
townspeople don't need much to
feel out-of-their-minds
slighted. It brought
First Blood to mind, and
like First Blood, the bad guys
here are way out of their depth.
We have Moron #1 and Moron #2,
as well as #3, 4, and 5, etc.
That's what we came for. To see
Jason Statham shut everybody
down.
From the
first big 3-against-1, close-quarters beatdown at a gas pump, it's
BOOM SHAKA-LAKA! They are
not prepared for the iron fists
and lightning reflexes of
Statham's training. This fight
scene looks truly painful!
There's just something so
satisfying about seeing somebody
asking for it, get
it!
In true
Action Movie fashion, there is
Trash Talking and a fight for
Dominance, as well as a couple
Gnarly Kills. It was really
enjoyable to watch things
escalate. There was enough
background to make you root for
Statham's character, but if
there was something the first
villain, "Danny T", had done to
make it personal for Broker
(other than just being a bad
guy) it would have made the
ending more satisfying.
There is
Drama, but there are also
explosions, fighting, car
chases, big guns, shoot outs,
and lots more. The
supporting cast is good even
though they are largely
two-dimensional. We hardly get
to know anyone. I think all the
parts except Winona Ryder's and
Jason Statham's could have been
played by anyone. Winona's
performance and her fear comes
across as very real and her
character is particularly
creepy. James Franco was shown
in extreme close up a lot. That
became kind of funny. I
really think this movie is just
on the edge of campy.
Bottom
line, it's highly entertaining
for the fight scenes. If you're
going for something else . . .
why?! Action Movie Freaks
will feel totally satisfied.
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