THE GRAY MAN : Tuesday 19th July 2022

I saw 'THE GRAY MAN', Rated MA15+, at my local independent movie theatre this week, and this American action thriller film is Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo who have previously helmed four MCU films, being 'Captain America : The Winter Soldier' in 2014, 'Captain America : Civil War' in 2016, 'Avengers : Infinity War' in 2018 and 'Avengers : Endgame' in 2019, amongst other feature films and TV series. Based on the 2009 novel of the same name by Mark Greaney, the film went on limited release from last week before being released on Netflix from 22nd July. Costing US$200M to produce it is the most expensive film ever made by Netflix, and it hopes to start a series of films based on the eleven 'Gray Man' novels. It has garnered generally mixed or average Reviews so far. 

The film opens up in 2003 in a prison cell where Court Gentry (Ryan Gosling) is incarcerated until 2031 for the murder of his father. He is being interviewed, or rather recruited, by Donald Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton) who works for the CIA and recognises in Gentry the attributes necessary to turn him into a black ops mercenary, with the associated skills to take out all the bad guys on their hit list. Fitzroy tells Gentry that he can walk out of the prison in thirty minutes a free man, or he can serve out his sentence, and for what it's worth Fitzroy would have done the same thing as Gentry did that got him into the slammer in the first place. 

We then fast forward eighteen years to the present day. We are in Bangkok in a lavish hotel counting down the minutes to midnight on NYE. Gentry (now known as Sierra Six or simply Six) is ordered to take out a hit on a mark set to arrive shortly in time for the fireworks extravaganza. With the marks entourage in tow, and Six now poised to take the shot, he hesitates, so allowing the mark to walk outta there. But Six pursues his mark and what follows is a close quarter hand to hand fight on the ground floor amongst exploding tubes of fireworks. Six overcomes his mark, and as the mark lays bleeding out, he hands Six a medallion containing a USB drive, and says that he is Sierra Four, before he dies. Six gets the hell outta there, goes to an internet gaming joint and plugs in the USB, but it is heavily encrypted and without the necessary passcodes can't access what is contained therein. So, he is next seen posting it in a letterbox to an unknown recipient. 

Back in Langley, at CIA HQ, Dani Miranda (Ana de Armas) another CIA Agent is being questioned by Denny Carmichael (Rege-Jean Page) her superior as to the role she played in the Bangkok hit, what if anything the mark gave to Six, and for her to very seriously consider her future career if he doesn't get the answers he wants. Miranda has an obvious dislike for Carmichael and gives nothing away. 

Meanwhile, Six hot wires a Tuk Tuk and calls Fitzroy asking for him to arrange for his extraction. Fitzroy has subsequently retired but still has connections and influence. His tells Six to get to Chiang Mai where an extraction team will be waiting with a cargo plane fuelled and ready for take off with a team of friendlies on board. 

In the meantime, Carmichael has recruited Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans), a psychotic and torture loving former colleague of Six who lasted just five months in the service of the CIA before venturing out on his own and operating a seemingly very successful mercenaries for hire business. Hansen has kidnapped the young daughter of Fitzroy, Claire (Julia Butters) and is threatening to do all manner of nasty things to her should he not get the answers from Fitzroy, whom he also now holds captive. Hansen coerces Fitzroy in telling the extraction team to dispense with Six. And so whilst cruising at 25,000 feet and while Six catches up on some much needed shut eye, the extraction team spring into action with the intention of killing Six. But, needless to say this doesn't go according to plan, and more close quarter hand to hand combat leads to a stray bullet blowing a gaping hole in the fuselage, various bad dudes getting thrown out of the plane, and the aircraft steadily disintegrating as Six jumps out of it without a parachute before it explodes in midair. He of course glides toward a bad dude with a parachute, they fight in free fall and Six lands shaken but not stirred somewhere in Turkey. 

Next up Six goes to Vienna to obtain a fake ID and passport, but alas the local who is organising the said documents in secretly in cahoots with Hansen. He successfully manages to capture Six in a deep pit through a bullet proof trap door in the floor just about where Six was standing to have his passport photo taken. Six, using his best MacGyver skills, manages to create a flood of water so elevating him up the pit and rigs an explosive charge to detonate just at the right time when Hansen and his goons arrive at the scene. In the ensuing mayhem, Six comes face to face and fist to fist with Hansen, but on the way out of the building Miranda shoots a tranquilizer dart in the arse of Hansen, and then into Six before loading him up in the boot of her car. 

When Six comes round a short time later, Miranda and Six talk over their predicament and what their next move should be. It turns out that Six posted the USB drive to Margaret Cahill (Alfre Woodard), the former head of CIA Special Op's, who has now also subsequently retired and living in Prague. So, the pair head off to Prague, as Cahill seems to be one of the only people they can trust, and who would have the encryption codes to allow them to access what is contained on that USB drive. Meanwhile, Hansen is back in Croatia in a very lavish and very old villa tracking Six's every move. Hansen also takes the opportunity to interrogate and torture Fitzroy to find out his whereabouts in Prague, and who it is there whom he would most trust.

Arriving in Prague Six and Miranda meet with Cahill who tells the pair that she has terminal cancer and has been given three months to live. But that doesn't stop her from opening up the USB drive and revealing that Carmichael and Hansen have been involved in some nefarious crimes around the world as their own very secretive and covert army of mercenaries taking out the Who's Who of people of influence. Needless to say, as Hansen watches on from Croatia he orders his assembled team of assassins to converge on Cahill's apartment and wreak havoc with all manner of firepower. As Cahill remains in the apartment holding onto a hand grenade, she allows Six and Miranda to escape via an underground tunnel leading out into the street, whilst providing the pair with her armour plated bullet proof glassed Audi car. What follows is a blood bath in down town Prague, as Miranda evades various other vehicles behind the wheel of Cahill's car, while Six is going head to head and toe to toe with numerous goons inside a tram. It doesn't end well for the numerous local Police killed in the conflagration, the assassins who also meet their swift demise courtesy of Six, and the tram which ultimately hurtles sideways and off track into the sandstone columns of a building causing much destruction, on top of the trail of mayhem left behind in the wake of Cahill's apartment being destroyed. 

Next up we find our intrepid rogue agents heading to Croatia to take out Hansen once and for all, rescue Fitzroy and his daughter, and regain the USB drive which has subsequently fallen into the hands of Avik San (Dhanush), and Indian assassin working for Team Hansen. Six and Miranda go in heavily armed to the villa under cover of darkness and while Miranda takes out all the external gun placements Six concentrates his efforts on the internal goons and getting to Fitzroy and Claire. Needless to say its all in a days work for the pair who successfully overcome their foes, leaving Miranda to battle it out with Avik San, and Six to guide the Fitzroy's to safety, although Fitzroy takes a bullet to the stomach and orders Six to take his Claire with him, leaving him with a single hand grenade which he pulls the pin on when Hansen and three of his goons are upon him. Of course the blast takes out the three goons, but Hansen scrambles to his feet and continues to give chase, culminating with Hansen holding Claire at gunpoint inside a maze within the grounds, while Six trails behind in search. The three come face to face around a fountain in the centre of the maze, and Six tells Hansen to let Claire go, which he does, leaving the pair to fight to the death. In the end it is Suzanne Brewer (Jessica Henwick), Carmichael's off sider, who plugs Hansen in the chest with a bullet and kills him dead. She also plugs Six with a non-life threatening bullet wound, just to add to his stabbings, slashings and beating he took from Hansen. 

We then fast forward two weeks to a heavily guarded private hospital in which Six has been non-responsive, and Claire is being held. Brewer and Carmichael plan on paying a visit to Six, with the latter questioning Brewer as to why she let Six live. Because he's a valuable asset and one of the most capable operatives they have she responds. As they exit the lift, the pair are confronted with the bodies of several guards and Six's now empty bed. He is next seen in silhouette passing along the windows of the room where Claire is being held taking out a number of goons. He then enters the room, rescues Claire and the two are seen speeding out of the hospital grounds in a SUV. 

'The Gray Man', which for the most part I enjoyed, is a mash up of Jason Bourne, Ethan Hunt and John Wick with a little bit of James Bond thrown in there for good measure. It's an entertaining ride for sure with plenty of exotic locations, wide sweeping aerial drone shots, action set pieces, gunplay and close quarter combat, solid enough performances from the ensemble cast, and sarcastic quips aplenty to raise the occasional smile, but what it lacks is a fresh approach and sufficient intrigue to make this film stand above all the others in this increasingly overcrowded genre. Watch it from the comfort of your own sofa at home when it lands on Netflix this week, chow down on a big bowl of popcorn, leave your brain in the kitchen and strap in for a high octane super charged globe trotting journey that sees two Hollywood fav's go head to head. What's not to like?

'The Gray Man' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 14th July 2022.

Now in its 26th year, The Fantasia International Film Festival, which was launched in 1996 is held in the Canadian city of Montreal, from Thursday 14th July through until Wednesday 3rd August. Since its inception, this festival is now recognised as the largest and most influential event of its kind in North America, a leader on the genre film scene and one of the country’s most popular film festivals. With a varied programming and an emphasis on the imaginative cinema of Canadian and world film, Fantasia’s offerings range from unique and powerful personal visions to international commercial crowd-pleasers rarely seen in North America, while discovering and nurturing exciting new talents and offering a platform through which artists and audiences can connect. 

Since it began, the Fantasia International Film Festival has explored the diverse realms of genre cinema, creating bridges between the cutting edge and the mainstream, and providing a festive but professional environment where emerging artists are given exposure alongside their more established counterparts, both locally and internationally.

The Opening Night film is 'Polaris' from Canada and Directed and Written by Kirsten Carthew and tells the story, set in 2144, against the harsh backdrop of a post-apocalyptic subarctic wasteland, of a young girl, raised by a Polar Bear, narrowly escapes capture from a brutal band of warrior women and sets out across the vast winter landscape in search of the only guiding light the girl knows, the Polaris star.

The Closing Night film is 'Next Sohee' from South Korea and is Directed and Written by Jung Ju-ri and is about Sohee, a high school student who starts training for a subcontracted position at a Call Centre. She is unable to bear the stressful work culture, when a mysterious incident leads to her death. A Detective starts an investigation into her death.

The main competition for feature films is the Cheval Noir Competition, and this year there are fourteen films in contention. Briefly, these are :-

* 'The Artiface Girl' from the USA and Directed by Franklin Ritch. World Premier.
* 'Convenience Story' from Japan and Directed by Satoshi Miki. World Premier.

* 'Coupez! (Final Cut)' from France and Directed by Michel Hazanavicius. North American Premier.
* 'Detective vs Sleuths' from Hong Kong and Directed by Wai Ka-Fai. North American Premier.
* 'The Elderly' from Spain and Directed by Raul Cerezo and Fernando Gonzalez Gomez. World Premier.
* 'The Fish Tale' from Japan and Directed by Shuichi Okita. World Premier.
* 'The Harbinger' from the USA and Directed by Andy Mitton. World Premier.

* 'House of Darkness' from the USA and Directed by Neil LaBute. International Premier.

* 'Megalomaniac' from Belgium and Directed by Karim Ouelhaj. World Premier.
* 'My Broken Mariko' from Japan and Directed by Yuki Tanada. World Premier.
* 'Next Sohee' from South Korea and Directed by Jung Ju-ri. North American Premier.
* 'Polaris' from Canada and Directed by Kirsten Carthew. World Premier.

* 'Popran' from Japan and Directed by Shinichiro Ueda. North American Premier.
* 'Special Delivery' from South Korea and Directed by Park Dae-min. North American Premier.

For more detail on the above mentioned films in The Cheval Noir competition, plus the other competitions running - The New Flesh Competition for Best First Feature and The International Short Film Competition, plus a whole lot more besides, you can visit the official website at : https://fantasiafestival.com

This week there are five new release movies to tempt you out to your local Odeon on a fresh mid-Winter's evening, kicking off with an action thriller that sees the CIA's top asset, his identity known to no one, who uncovers agency secrets, triggers a global hunt by assassins set loose by his ex-colleague. This is followed up by an amateur golfer who achieves his late-in-life goal of participating in the British Open Golf Championship in 1976, much to the ire of the staid golfing community. Next up we have a brilliant young fund manager who leaves her unfulfilling job and long-term boyfriend to chase her lifelong dream of becoming an opera singer. Then we turn to a romantic drama offering that following a fatal accident, this young woman is given the chance to save the love of her life when she discovers that their mixtape can take her back in time. And closing out the week we have a doco that offers the viewer the 'definitive' exploration of the Canadian singer and songwriting legend as seen through the prism of his most famous song.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the five latest release new films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the coming week.

* 'THE GRAY MAN' (Rated MA15+) - is an American action thriller film Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo who have previously helmed four MCU films, being 'Captain America : The Winter Soldier' in 2014, 'Captain America : Civil War' in 2016, 'Avengers : Infinity War' in 2018 and 'Avengers : Endgame' in 2019, amongst other feature films and TV series. Based on the 2009 novel of the same name by Mark Greaney, the film goes on limited release from this week before being released on Netflix from 22nd July. Costing US$200M to produce it is the most expensive film ever made by Netflix, and it hopes to start a series of films based on the 'Gray Man' novels.

The Gray Man is CIA black ops agent Court Gentry (Ryan Gosling), aka, Sierra Six. Plucked from a federal penitentiary and recruited by his handler, Donald Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton), Gentry was once a highly-skilled, Agency-sanctioned mercenary. But now the tables have turned and Gentry is the target, hunted across the globe by Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans), a former cohort at the CIA, who will stop at nothing to take him out. Agent Dani Miranda (Ana de Armas) has his back, and it looks as though he’ll need it! Also starring Jessica Henwick, Rege-Jean Page, Dhanush, Alfre Woodard, Callan Mulvey, Scott Haze and Michael Gandolfini.

* 'THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN' (Rated M) - is a British biographical comedy drama film Directed by Craig Roberts in his third film making effort following 'Just Jim' in 2015 and 'Eternal Beauty' in 2019, although he also has forty-one screen acting credits to his name also in both major feature films and TV series. This film is based on the 2010 biography 'The Phantom of the Open: Maurice Flitcroft, The World's Worst Golfer' by Simon Farnaby and Scott Murray. The film tells the heartwarming true story of Maurice Flitcroft (Mark Rylance), a dreamer and unrelenting optimist. This humble crane operator from Barrow-in-Furness, in Cumbria, England who managed to gain entry to The British Open Golf Championship qualifying in 1976, despite never playing a round of golf before. He shot the worst round in Open history and drew the ire of the golfing elite, but became a folk hero in the process and, more importantly, showed his family the importance of pursuing your dreams. Also starring Sally Hawkins and Rhys Ifans the film saw its World Premier screening at the BFI London Film Festival back in mid-October last year, has so far grossed US$3.1M and has garnered generally favourable Reviews.

* 'FALLING FOR FIGARO' (Rated M) - this romantic comedy film id Directed and Co-Written by Ben Lewin who has twenty Directorial credits to his name including his debut feature film in 1988 'Georgia', and then the likes of 'The Sessions' in 2012 and 'The Catcher Was a Spy' in 2018. Here then, Millie Cantwell (Danielle Macdonald), an American fund manager, realises one day that her life-long dream is to become an opera singer. Quitting the job and moving away from her boyfriend, she travels to Scotland where she eventually becomes an opera singer following intensive vocal training from former opera diva Meghan Geoffrey-Bishop (Joanna Lumley) and fierce competition from other opera singers. The film was screened at the TIFF in mid-September 2020 but was not released in the US and the UK until October 2021 and only this week in Australia, having generated mixed or average Reviews and grossing just US$170K so far. 

* 'PRESS PLAY' (Rated PG) - this American romantic drama film is Co-Written for the screen and Directed by Greg Bjorkman in his feature film making debut. A young woman, Laura (Clara Rugaard) has a chance to save the love of her life, Harrison (Lewis Pullman) when she discovers that the mix-tape they made together can transport her back in time. Also starring Danny Glover, Matt Walsh, Christina Chang and Lyrica Okano, the film was released Stateside towards the end of June and has received mixed Reviews. 

* 'HALLELUJAH : LEONARD COHEN, A JOURNEY, A SONG' (Rated M) - this music documentary film is Co-Written, Produced, Directed, and Co-Edited by the long time documentary film making pairing of Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine. Here, they take us on a journey of Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist Leonard Cohen as seen through the prism of his internationally renowned hymn, 'Hallelujah'. This American documentary combines three creative strands, namely, the songwriter and his times, the song's dramatic journey from record label reject to chart-topping hit, and moving testimonies from major recording artists for whom Hallelujah has become a personal touchstone. Approved for production by Leonard Cohen just before his 80th birthday in 2015, the film shows us never-before-seen archival materials from the Cohen Trust including his own personal notebooks, journals and photographs, performance footage and extremely rare audio recordings and interviews. 'Hallelujah' has been performed by almost two hundred artists the world over in various languages. The song is the subject of the book 'The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley & the Unlikely Ascent of 'Hallelujah' by Alan Light and published in 2012. Cohen died in late 2016 aged 82.

With five new release movie offerings this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere at your local Odeon in the coming week.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

EXTRACTION : Monday 27th April 2020.

In these very trying and testing times for us all that has seen many cinema's, Odeon's, and movie theatres around the world close their doors for the foreseeable future because of the escalating threat of the COVID-19 Coronavirus taking an ever increasing hold on the world at large, many film and television productions halted in their tracks indefinitely, and new film releases pushed back to some future date when some sense of movie going normalcy is expected to resume, I have, needless to say, had to adapt to this new world order. And so with my usual Reviews of the latest cinematic releases being curtailed, instead I will post my Review of the latest release movies showing on Netflix until such time as the regular outing to my local multiplex or independent theatre can be reinstated.

In the last few weeks then, a number of new feature films have landed at Netflix - of which I review as below 'Extraction' which went live on the streaming service on 24th April and which I saw from the comfort of my own home on Monday 27th April.

'EXTRACTION' is Directed, in his first feature film, by Stuntman, Actor, Editor, and Writer Sam Hargrave whose impressive line up of movie stunt work takes in the likes of 'Avengers : Endgame', 'Deadpool 2', 'Avengers : Infinity War', 'Thor : Ragnarok', 'Suicide Squad', 'Captain America : Civil War', and three of the 'Hunger Games' films amongst many others. This film is based on the comic 'Ciudad' by Ande Parks and the story was developed by him and Joe and Anthony Russo, written for the screen by Joe Russo, and Co-Produced by the Russo brothers and Chris Hemsworth. Needless to say Hargarve, Hemsworth and the Russo's have much history together having worked with each other on the final two 'Avengers' offerings. The film was made for US$65M and has garnered largely mixed or average Reviews so far, although as the lead, Chris Hemsworth has been praised for his performance.

The film opens up with young boy Ovi Mahajan Jnr. (Rudhraksh Jaiswal) being kidnapped and held for a hefty ransom by Bangladesh's biggest drug lord Amir Asif (Priyanshu Painyuli). Next we see Saju (Randeep Hooda), meeting the young lads father Ovi Mahajan Snr. (Pankaj Tripathi) in prison to tell him that his son has been kidnapped by his arch rival and nemesis Asif. Ovi Snr. is behind bars because he is India's biggest drug lord and kingpin. Saju is a former Para (Special Forces) operative and the right hand man of Ovi Snr. who was under explicit instructions to never let Ovi Jnr. out of his sight and to keep him closely guarded at all times. Major fail here on Saju's part, who is told in no uncertain terms to locate Ovi Jnr. and bring him home safely by any means necessary or suffer the consequences which Ovi Snr. is still able to wield even from inside prison.

We then cut to three likely lads in the Australian Kimberly Ranges, one of whom is a dozing in the shade thirty metres above a natural rock pool, with a beer in his hand - Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth). He comes around having been taunted by his two mates, gets up and nonchalantly walks straight up to the edge and launches himself into the clear waters thirty meters below. He then sits on the bottom on the lake for several minutes, as a memory of footprints on a sandy beach flash in his mind. Returning to his isolated cabin, there is a helicopter in the paddock, and inside the house is his handler and fellow mercenary Nik Khan (Golshifteh Farahani). It turns out that Tyler Rake is a former Special Air Services Regiment soldier and now a black market mercenary for hire. Khan tells Tyler that his services are required in India to extract a young kidnapped kid and there's a hefty pay day in it for him, to meet up at a pre-determined point in the morning, but only if he's sober.

In Dhaka, Bangladesh Tyler meets with the 'extraction' team, receives his briefing and heads to the city centre awaiting his next move. He takes a call on his mobile phone and walks across the street and is hastily bundled into the back of a van and taken to a house bound and blindfolded. With a room full of goons, Tyler is held at gunpoint and asked to hand over the ransom money. Tyler responds coolly with wanting proof of life first, and after seeing the bound and hooded boy in a neighbouring room is carted off to arrange for the ransom money to be transferred. Needless to say before Tyler has even exited the building three of his captors are dead, and he's back knocking on the door all guns blazing to take out the rest of the goons and rescue the boy. With the young lad in tow, they make a get away in a car and then traipse a couple of kilometres through a forest on foot to make a rendezvous with a boat that will get them outta Dodge.

What they didn't count on was Saju, with his own agenda to rescue young Ovi from Tyler, who is hot on their tail and determined to make life as uncomfortable for Tyler as possible, for fear of Ovi Snr. taking retribution on his own family if he is unsuccessful and because he cannot pay the ransom because all of his money and assets have been frozen. Meanwhile, Asif has ordered a complete lockdown on Dhaka, through the Colonel of the Bangladesh Elite Force (Shataf Figar) who Asif has in his pocket. All the while Tyler is in radio contact with Khan, who advises that the plan has gone south rapidly as more of Asif's henchmen and Elite Force are converging on the boat, and to get the hell outta there.

After various other close run ins with the Police, Elite Force, Saju and Asif's goon squad involving lots of creative gun play, close quarter hand to hand combat, car chases, explosions and an ever rising body count the pair find safe haven for a couple of hours at night in the run down office of some manufacturing plant. However, their R&R is interrupted when they attempt to exit by Farhad (Suraj Rikame) a teenage boy who wishes to prove himself to Asif by killing Tyler, and his merry band of gun totting youngsters. Tyler beats off the boys but spares them their lives. Taking temporary refuge in a rat infested sewer, Tyler contacts Khan and tells her to contact Gaspar, a former team mate, now living in Dhaka, who owes his life to Tyler.

Sometime later and Gaspar (David Harbour) picks the pair up and drives them to his home, where Tyler and Ovi shower, freshen up, Tyler tends to his wounds, Ovi sleeps and the two friends share a whisky and talk about old times, before Gaspar leaves. Tyler takes food upstairs to Ovi, and the pair talk about Tyler's ex-wife whom he hasn't seen in years and his six-year-old son who died of lymphoma. When Gaspar returns, he tries to convince Tyler to give up Ovi for the US$10M bounty on his head which would set them both up for life and reveals to him that Asif is actually his friend whom he cannot cross. He and Tyler get into a fist fight and Ovi finds the two mid-fight. Gaspar starts to explain and approaches Ovi who is holding a pistol. Ovi ends up shooting Gaspar twice in the chest sending him reeling backwards slumping down in an easy chair where he draws his last breaths before dying. Ovi is shaken and collapses on the stairs crying and is comforted by Tyler.

Despite Tyler beating the crap out of Saju in an earlier fist and knife fight and then mowing him down with a truck, he calls Saju and asks for his help, forcing them to team up against the Police and Elite Force in order to escape Dhaka. Tyler creates a diversion away from Saju and Ovi using a rocket launcher, and rapid machine gun fire, as the two attempt to make their way through a bridge checkpoint. The pair are separated when their identities are revealed - with Saju pinning down the advancing Police with gunfire and Ovi taking refuge in an abandoned bus. Tyler makes his way back towards the bridge along with Khan's extraction team of mercenaries in an advancing helicopter as Asif watches from afar.

During the ensuing firefight, Saju is sniped and killed by Asif's Colonel who is then in turn sniped and killed by Khan. Rake continues to cover the extraction now with more Police and Elite Force advancing and is severely wounded in the shootout. He instructs Ovi to run towards the now landed and waiting helicopter and continues firing until the last of the Police and the Elite Force are dispensed with, with the intent to follow. Ovi watches alongside Khan as Tyler makes his way towards the helicopter, only to be shot in the side of the neck by Farhad. Tyler drags himself to the side of the bridge and falls over the barrier backwards into the river below, but not before seeing a clear vision of his son playing by the waters edge on a pristine beach. 

Ovi, Khan and the extraction team escape to Mumbai, as Asif watches the departing helicopter from the distance. Eight months later, and Asif is in a lavish restaurant, and taking a toilet break he is shot clean through the head at point blank range by Khan, who then shoots his lifeless body again in the head for good measure before exiting the mens washroom. Ovi at school again, jumps into his school's swimming pool from a diving platform and submerges himself to the bottom for a prolonged period of time. As he surfaces we see a white man watching over him, that could possibly be Tyler.

With 'Extraction' Stuntman turned Director Sam Hargrave has more than proven his ability behind the  camera as well as in front of it, with this heavily stylised, violent, bloody, take no prisoners approach to the fast paced action genre, just as Chad Stahelski did with the hugely popular and successful 'John Wick' franchise. And much of the fist fights, the gun play, the close quarter combat and the ever mounting body count as seen throughout 'Extraction' come straight out of the 'John Wick' playbook and there is nothing wrong with that, as Oscar Wilde once said 'imitation is the sincerest form of flattery . . . '. This film is two hours worth of relentless action that doesn't let up for too long before the next set piece that Hargrave delivers with a keen eye for the detail, the authenticity and for keeping his target audience duly entertained. And Chris Hemsworth as the emotionally drained, world weary, kill or be killed hardened combat soldier gives a convincing performance that gives John Wick a run for his box office money. And with that ending, the Russo's, Hargrave, Hemsworth and Netflix might just have found the next action hero franchise. 

'Extraction' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online- 

AVENGERS : ENDGAME : Wednesday 24th April 2019.

I saw 'AVENGERS : ENDGAME' at my local Multiplex on its Australian opening night and sat in a packed out theatre showing back to back sessions throughout the day - all to sell out audiences. And so if you didn't already know it, this is the direct sequel to 2018's 'Avengers: Infinity War', a sequel to 2012's 'The Avengers' and 2015's 'Avengers: Age of Ultron', and the 22nd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 'Avengers : Endgame' arrived this week following much hype, eager anticipation from legions of fans across the world, and plenty of record breaking buzz despite the plot secrecy from Marvel Studios, Directors Anthony and Joe Russo and the principal cast and crew. Following on immediately from where 'Infinity War' left off the film picks up after half of all life in the universe was killed due to the actions of Thanos once he had amassed all six infinity stones and placed them strategically in his Infinity Gauntlet, and simply clicked his fingers. The remaining Avengers and their allies must reassemble to revert those actions in one final stand to restore balance to the universe and save all humanity . . . or half of it at least!

With an ensemble cast that consists all of our much loved Superheroes and a few nefarious intergalactic villains too, and the conclusion of eleven years of MCU story telling that has so successfully interwoven individual standalone films with cross-over episodes to drive a franchise that we're invested in, Box Office records could well & truly be smashed here. Advance ticket sales amounted to about US$130M, with the potential to top the worldwide Box Office takings of US$2.05B as seen for 'Infinity War'. At a running time of three hours and two minutes, the film has so far received generally positive Reviews with Critics praising the Direction, the Acting, the sheer entertainment factor, the emotional heft and this being a fitting end to the 22 film spanning story. And all this is off the back of a production budget somewhere in the region of nudging US$400M, which must qualify this film as the most expensive of all time. At the time of publishing this Post on 27th April, Box Office receipts were at US$305M, having been released on 26th April in the US, on 25th April in the UK, and in China, Australia, parts of Asia and Europe on 24th.

The film opens up with Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) at home on his remote property on a bright sunny day. He is teaching his daughter to shoot arrows into a target while his wife and younger son prepare lunch. It's a picture of domestic bliss. His daughter shoots a bullseye, his wife calls lunch ready. As Clint retrieves the arrow from the target he momentarily looses sight of his other beloved family members. When he turns around there is an eerie silence and they are all gone, vanished into dust . . . victims too of the Thanos snap!

Up in deep space a thousand light years from the nearest 7/11 Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jnr.) are drifting, having run out of fuel, food, water and pretty damn soon oxygen. They are stranded following their defeat at the hands of Thanos. Stark sends a final farewell message to Pepper Potts using his Iron Man helmet, before falling asleep from exhaustion. Saviour however, comes perhaps when you least expect it.

Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) in the form of Captain Marvel arrives in a flash of bright light and escorts the stricken ship of Stark and Nebula back down to Earth and the Avengers Headquarters. There she reunites the pair with Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), Rocket (Bradley Cooper/Sean Gunn), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and James Rhodes (Don Cheadle). After a somewhat frosty reception between Tony Stark and Steve Rogers and a status update from the remaining Avengers, Nebula comes forward with the strong possibility of knowing Thanos' whereabouts since the team have drawn a blank in locating him since the snap of five weeks before.

The assembled Team converge on the defenceless, unarmed unguarded garden planet where Thanos is the sole resident, and take him by surprise. Thanos confides that he used the infinity stones to destroy themselves so preventing the Team from using them to reverse his actions. In a fit of rage, Thor uses his new Stormbreaker axe to decapitate Thanos.

We then fast forward five years, and Steve Rogers is chairing counselling sessions with a self help group, Bruce Banner has merged permanently with his Hulk alter ego and Thor has become the drunken ruler (boasting an impressive beer gut) of Asgard's refugees in a remote fishing village on the Norwegian coast which he has affectionately named New Asgard. Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) meanwhile escapes from the Quantum Realm not knowing what has gone down in the last five years. After learning the truth from his now adult daughter which he has been able to track down as one who survived he makes for the Avengers HQ where he is met by a surprised Rogers and Romanoff. He explains that for him only five hours had passed and suggests the Quantum Realm permits time travel. The three travel to Stark's lakeside residence where he is now happily married to Pepper Potts and the couple have a five year old daughter Morgan. They discuss with Stark the possibility that they can travel back in time to retrieve the Infinity Stones before Thanos collects them. Stark rejects this, concerned over what altering history will mean for his young daughter, but after reflecting upon the loss of sixteen year old Peter Parker (Tom Holland), he designs a working time machine that can be used to enter the Quantum Realm.

Stark drives to the Avengers HQ to reveal that he has built a stable time travel device just as Banner and Co. have been experimenting somewhat unsuccessfully on Scott Lang with his own time travel techniques. And so the regrouped Avengers split into separate teams for their mission to retrieve the infinity stones before Thanos has done so.

Banner, Rogers, Lang, and Stark travel to the Battle of New York to retrieve the Time, Mind, and Space Stones. Banner visits the Sanctum Sanctorum also in New York and convinces the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) to give him the Time Stone some five years before Stephen Strange even arrives on the scene, and Rogers overcomes undercover Hydra agents and his past self to retrieve the Mind Stone, but Lang and Stark's failed distraction enables Loki (Tom Hiddleston) to escape with the Space Stone. Rogers and Stark then are forced to travel back further to the U.S. Army's Fort Leigh in 1970, to steal both an earlier version of the Space Stone and vials of Hank Pym's (Michael Douglas) size-altering Pym Particles to enable them all to return home to their present day afterwards. The pair succeed, but not before Rogers has a close encounter with his one true love Peggy Carter, and Tony Stark bumps into his Dad, Howard Stark en route and strikes up a conversation about his pending fatherhood to the as yet unborn Tony Stark.

Back on Asgard before it was wiped out, Rocket and Thor retrieve the Reality Stone from Jane Foster (Natalie Portman). Thor comes across his mother Frigga (Rene Russo), whose wise counsel restores his conviction, and he obtains a past version of his hammer, Mjolnir, proving that he is still 'worthy' to wield it. Barton and Romanoff travel to Vormir for the Soul Stone. They learn there from its keeper, Red Skull (Ross Marquand), that it can only be retrieved by sacrificing someone they love. After a struggle between the pair, Romanoff sacrifices herself. Barton returns to the present day, with the tragic news of Romanoff's untimely death, in which the other Avengers share in his mourning.

On Morag, Nebula and Rhodes steal the Power Stone before Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is able to do so. Rhodes returns to the present with the Stone, leaving Nebula stranded behind as her cybernetic implants interface with those of her past self. Thanos leverages this fact and is able to tap into her memory banks to see present-day events. In turn, he sends the past incarnation of Nebula to the future in present-day Nebula's place.

Back at Avengers HQ with all the Infinity Stones now retrieved, Stark has been able to model a new Infinity Gauntlet in which the Stones are placed one by one. Banner steps up to volunteer to wear the Infinity Gauntlet as in doing so it gives off enough gamma radiation that Banner retorts that he was made to wear it, given his exposure to Gamma Rays that turned him into what he is today. Upon wearing it and activating the amassed Infinity Stones, the world is restored to its pre-Thanos snap. However, having come through the time machine with the other Avengers, past Nebula uses the time machine to transport Thanos and his ship from the past to the present day, whereupon he unleashes the might of his firepower upon the Avengers HQ and reduces it to rubble.

Amongst the rubble and wreckage of the Avengers HQ, Rogers, Thor, and Stark confront Thanos, though he overpowers them, even when Rogers proves that he can wield Mjolnir.

Thanos summons the entire might of his armed forces, but the revived Avengers arrive on the battlefield, along with the Sanctum Sorcerers and the armies of Asgard and Wakanda. Present-day Nebula convinces past Gamora (Zoe Saldana) to turn on Thanos, and in the ensuing standoff Nebula kills her past self. Following an epic battle between the two factions, Stark eventually retrieves the Infinity Gauntlet from the battlefield and activates the Infinity Stones with a snap of his fingers which disintegrates Thanos and his army into dust which quickly disappears on the wind.  

Enough said, right there! You'll just have to catch the last fifteen minutes to see how it all plays out, but suffice to say, the Avengers survive to battle it out another day - well most of them do!

'Avengers : Endgame' is everything you would wish for in the conclusion of a hugely successful eleven year run of twenty-two films, and then some. It delivers on many levels - the script penned by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely tightly blends action, emotion, humour and the smarts to satisfy even the most die-hard MCU fan; the deft touch in remaining true to what has gone before by Directors Anthony and Joe Russo; and for giving believable grounded performances by the principal cast and most notably Downey Jnr., Ruffalo, Hemsworth, Evans, Brolin, Rudd, Johansson and Renner plus the entire ensemble who all contribute amiably in their own small way to the bigger picture. Epic, exciting, intimate, powerful, expertly rendered down to the smallest detail, and truly a very fitting end to this phase in the MCU that still leaves the door open for some of our much loved Superheroes to return and reunite at some future date, while introducing others that we're only just getting to know. Join the legions of fans flocking to see 'Avengers : Endgame' - and see it on the biggest screen you can - you won't be disappointed. Watch out too for what is probably the last cameo appearance of the late great Stan Lee.

'Avengers : Endgame' merits five claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-