I found this tough sledding. If the writer/director wanted me to dislike all the characters, he succeeded. Admirably. Which can work for a film that’s got skillful pacing and a gripping story. Unfortunately this has neither. It succeeds in a mean-streets/gritty Scorcese feel, but lacks his knack for characters.

FF=3

They should have quit after 3. Linden and Holder, never easy to like, squander any goodwill they built in the first 3 seasons by losing their cool and doing stupid, narcissistic things. The pacing is more plodding than usual (this did NOT need 6 hours) and the mass murder thread has a jumbled, WTF? denouement. It all manages to end on an up note, but by then I simply wanted it OVER.

FF=3

I’ve heard AWFUL things about this remake, but in the past that’s never stopped me from watching a film.  It wasn’t so bad. Predictable and a little cornfusing, but it doesn’t suck all the things and stuff I was told it did. Thing is, Adrienne Barbaloo or not, I never liked the original. Maybe because my expectations were so high for that one; but compared to Halloween it was a huge letdown. And after what I’d heard about the remake, well, maybe my expectations were so low that it seemed tolerable.

FF=3.

This is the second (and probably the last) of these blind swordsman films I’ve seen.  Okay, but the novelty has worn off.

FF= 3