21 Bridges - A Pretty Entertaining Action Thriller Movie with Some Easily Guessed Twists

This movie was actually scheduled to be released last week but it never did and was replaced with another film. It was finally shown last night, and lucky for me and my wife, it was playing in the cinema near our home so we were able to see it there without any hassle. OK let us get on with the movie.

Brief Story Line

In the Manhattan city, two small time criminals Ray Jackson (Taylor Kitsch - American Assassin, Only the Brave etc) and Michael Trujillo (Stephan James - If Beale Street Could Talk, Homecoming TV series etc) were trying to rob some cocaine. But it went bad when they encountered some police officers and ended up being hunted by the whole New York Police Department.

(Special Screening) Dark Waters - An Amazing Eye Opener True Story on one of the Most Shocking Fact in Our Lives

This movie actually premiered yesterday at certain cinemas, so it was a bit of a surprise when my wife got an invitation to its special screening on the same day it was released. Usually such event would be done prior to the release of the movie. Regardless though, my wife and I accepted the invitation and went to see this at CGV Grand Indonesia for the 7PM show. OK let us find out more on the movie now.

Brief Story Line

Robert Billot (Mark Ruffalo - Now You See Me 2, 13 Going On 30 etc) an attorney in a major law firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister got a request from Wilbur Tennant (Bill Camp - Molly's Game, Vice etc), a farmer in West Virginia to assist in finding out the suspected pollution on the water in Wilbur's farm. Despite his reluctance and the hesitance from senior partner Tom Term (Tim Robbins - Mystic River, Dead Man Walking etc) Robert still tried to assist Wilbur.

Primal - Another So So Nicolas Cage Action Movie

There was supposed to be a new movie released on Friday starring Chadwick Boseman, same time as the US but at the last minute, it was replaced with this movie while that one was released as midnight show on Saturday. This one was only playing in very few theaters but yesterday more studios were showing it including the one near my home. Anyway I saw this one by myself as I was a bit doubtful my wife would have liked it. OK let us get on with the film now.

Brief Story Line

Frank Walsh (Nicolas Cage - Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse, The Humanity Bureau etc) was a hunter for exotic animals. After capturing quite a number of them, including a Jaguar who was said to be a man eater, he planned to return to the US on a ship. However a group of US Marshalls led by Agent Ringer (LaMonica Garrett - Designated Survivor TV series etc) were also on board the same ship while bringing a dangerous prisoner named Richard Loffler (Kevin Durand - Swamp Thing TV series, The Butterfly Effect etc) to be tried in the US.

Frozen II - A Beautifully Animated Sequel to that Magical Lovely 2013 Movie

Finally that long awaited sequel was released. My wife and I wanted to see this movie on its first day premier, but it was shown on the same day when she was already engaged to see music concert with her family. So we got the chance to see this one last night and it was in my favorite Dolby Atmos theater where we could enjoy the songs better. OK now, I will go straight to the movie.

Brief Story Line

Few years after the events of the first movie, Elsa (Idina Menzel - Enchanted, Glee TV series) was now becoming the beloved queen of Arandelle. Meanwhile her sister Anna (Kristen Bell - Teen Titans Go! to the Movies, Veronica Mars TV series etc) was happy with the love of her life Kristoff (Jonathan Groff - Mindhunter TV series etc) and the kindhearted snowman Olaf (Josh Gad - A Dog's Journey, The Angry Birds Movie etc).

(TV SERIES) The InBetween Season 1 - A Short Lived Police Procedural Series with Supernatural Elements that Sadly did not Have Time to Live Up to Its Potential

I watched glimpses of this series when it was aired in one of the cable TV and thought it was kind of interesting. But I only got the chance to watch the complete first season recently. Too bad though that I found out later the series has been cancelled. Nevertheless, I still want to write something about it. So let us get on with it now.

Brief Story Line

Series was focusing on the life of a young woman named Cassie (Harriet Dyer - Love Child TV series etc) who could get visions of something terrible happening on other people plus seeing and communicate with the spirits/ghosts. She worked in a bar with her co-worker Will (Chad James Buchanan). Cassie would also use her unique ability to help her father Detective Tom Hackett (Paul Blackthorne - Lagaan, Arrow TV series etc) solve different cases, although her assistance was seen a bit skeptically by Tom's new partner Detective Damien Asante (Justin Cornwell - Training Day TV series etc). 

Ford v Ferrari - An Extraordinary Sports Biography Drama

I was looking forward to see this movie when it was scheduled to premier on Friday. Unfortunately once again my favorite Dolby Atmos studio was having an event at around 7 PM and no shows were available during that time. My wife and I ended up seeing this one only yesterday at that studio. Anyway, I'll go on with the movie now.

Brief Story Line

Set in the early 1960s, Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon - The Adjustment Bureau, The Great Wall etc) was the owner of automobile manufacturer Shelby American. When Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts - Lady Bird, The Post etc) wanted to create a new race car for Ford capable of winning the Le Mans and beat their competitor Ferrarri, he assigned one of his executive Lee Iacocca (John Bernthal - The Punisher TV series, Baby Driver etc) to engage Shelby with this difficult task.

(TV SERIES) S.W.A.T - A Quite Entertaining Action Series on the Elite Unit of LAPD

I have known about this 2017 series for quite some time and did not have the chance to watch it until recently. I saw its promotion on cable TV few times and noticed that it starred one of the person whom I knew from the famous long running Criminal Minds TV series and I felt it would be an interesting action series. Well I'll go more into details now.

Brief Story Line

The series focus on a unit of LAPD's Special Weapon and Tactics (SWAT) led by Sergeant II Daniel Harrison aka Hondo (Shemar Moore - Criminal Minds, The Young and the Restless TV series etc) with his team that consisted of the new hot headed Officer III Jim Street (Alex Russel - Chronicle, Carrie 2003 version etc), the only female Officer III Chris Alonso (Lina Esco - Free the Nipple etc), Officer III+1 Dominique Luca (Kenny Johnson - The Shield TV series etc), Officer III Victor Tan (David Lim), and Sergeant Deacon Kay (Jay Harrington - Benched TV series etc) in dealing with matters that required their expertise.

(2019) Charlie's Angels - A Fresher Look at the Famous and Iconic Characters from the 70s-80s TV Series

I did not realize that they were making a new Charlie's Angels movie until I saw the trailer few weeks ago. Since my wife and I are fans of adventure comedy movies and after seeing the trailer few times, we thought the movie looked interesting so we did not hesitate to buy the tickets during the advance sale event last week. Too bad it did not play in my favorite Atmos theater last night and we had to settle for a cinema with the standard Dolby system. OK, enough of that and let's get into the movie.

Brief Story Line

Sabina (Kristen Stewart - The Twilight movies, Panic Room etc) and Jane (Ella Balinska) were two angels who were assigned by Charlie to protect Elena (Naomi Scott - Aladdin live version, Terra Nova TV series etc) who had created something that might endanger the world if fallen into the wrong hands. Elena was trying to report to the company's owner Brock (Sam Claflin - Adrift, Snow White and the Huntsman etc) on the problem and also fix her creation. 

Midway - A World War II Movie with Some Great Visual Effects and Focusing (a Bit too Much?) on Historical Accuracy

To my surprise, this movie premiered on Friday which was usually set for comedy or animated movies. But this time it was a war action movie that my wife and I saw its trailer once few weeks ago and were immediately intrigued by it. As my wife was still on vacation and she told me not to wait for her, I saw this one today by myself. So how was the movie? Let's find out more below.

Brief Story Line

Set during the World War 2, story was focusing on the battle between the US and Japanese Naval forces. After the Pearl Harbor attack, Admiral Nimitz (Woody Harrelson - Zombieland: Double Tap etc) was now assigned to take command on the US Naval forces while supported by the intelligent officer Edwin Layton (Patrick Wilson - Aquaman etc).

Doctor Sleep - A Different Style Adaptation of Stephen King's Novel & Sequel to 1980's The Shining

This was a movie which I had no idea whatsoever about the premise but to my surprise it had an advance ticket sale event since last week. After I read a bit detail, I found out that it was a sequel to one of the most critically acclaimed horror movie from 1980 titled The Shining which was adapted from Stephen King's novel. My wife who could not accompany me as she was having another holiday trip, bought the ticket for last night's show. So how was the movie? Let us get into it below.

Brief Story Line

Set decades after the first movie, a now adult Dan Torrance (Ewan McGregor - Christopher Robin, Moulin Rouge! etc) had moved to a small town and worked at a nursing home. He had tried to supress his "shining" ability and only used it to help the people in that place, which earned him the nickname Doctor Sleep. At another city far away from Dan's place, a young girl named Abra Stone (Kyliegh Curran) was starting to develop her own shining ability which was even greater than what Dan had.  

(TV SERIES) Swamp Thing Season 1 - An Interesting & Dark but Unfortunately Short-lived Superhero Series with Some Strong Horror Feel

I have heard about the making of this series some time ago, but then I read news that it was cancelled only after premiering its 1st episode. Then I lose interest as I thought what's the point of watching only 1 episode. Turned out though that the rest of the episodes were still shown which made me intrigued and wanted to give it a try. Well anyway, I just completed the whole season few days ago and will share more below.

Brief Story Line

A CDC doctor Abigail Arcane (Crystal Reed - Ghostland, Teen Wolf TV series etc) was called to investigate some infectious disease spreading in her old hometown of Marais. She later met with a biologist named Alec Holland (Andy Bean - It Chapter Two, Power TV series etc) who claimed he knew more about the reason for the disease which was related to the swamp in that area. Abby also reacquainted with her old school friends Liz (Maria Sten) who now became part time bartender and reporter, and also with Matt Cable (Henderson Wade) who had become deputy in the Sheriff department under Marais' Sheriff Lucilia (Jennifer Beals - Flashdance, The L Word TV series etc).

Countdown - A Horror Movie with Creative Idea and Fairly Good Execution

This was a movie that seemed interesting when my wife and I saw its trailer. We thought it has an intriguing idea and thus we decided to see it even if it was a supernatural horror movie. So when it premiered last night we went ahead to a cinema not far from our home and caught the 7.05 PM show. Now I will go straight to the movie.

Brief Story Line

A young nurse named Quinn (Elizabeth Lail - You TV series etc) had downloaded an app which supposedly able to predict how much time a person had until her demise. She panicked upon learning that she had only 3 days left and found out other people really died just as the app predicted.

Terminator: Dark Fate - The Perfect Way to Bring Excitement to an Otherwise Tiring Franchise

I have been eyeing to see this movie for a while, especially since I saw the trailer few times earlier which made me feel excited. However, as it was released on a date where I could not drive to my favorite Dolby Atmos theater freely, I opted to see this on its 2nd day last night. We were able to catch the 5.50 PM show even though it was quite tight after office hour. Well enough of that and let's just get into the movie now.

Brief Story Line

Set in the current year, a new kind of Terminator called Rev-9 (Gabriel Luna - Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D TV series etc) was sent from the future to terminate a seemingly normal young woman named Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes - Cumbia Ninja TV series etc). At the same time, a female enhanced human called Grace (Mackenzie Davis - Tully, Halt and Catch Fire TV series etc) was also sent from the future to protect Dani. 

Things looked really bleak for Grace and Dani as Rev-9 was too sophisticated and had immense power, until they got the unexpected help from Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton - Dante's Peak, Beauty and the Beast TV series etc) and later on a "retired" T-800 model Terminator who now referred to himself as Carl (Arnold  Schwarzenegger - Commando, True Lies etc). They all reluctantly joined forces despite the animosity between Sarah and Carl to try and stop Rev-9 before it manage to kill Dani and change the future.

So what would happen to this group? Find them all in this truly amazing sci-fi action movie.

End of Brief Story Line

Wow! That was one awesome action movie. It has all the great elements from the first two Terminator movies which were perfectly combined with the fresh new people and an upgraded unkillable terminator from the future. What really made me love this movie was the amazing special effects which brought back so much memory of 1991's Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Back then I saw the movie with some friends and we were all so captivated by it and in awe of the scarily lifelike liquid based terminator which made Arnold's model obsolete at that time. And this one had similar kind of formula that I personally thought was a real success.

This movie had few of the craziest jaw dropping intense kind of actions I had ever seen. My wife and I were strapped to our seats during that real suspenseful almost nonstop chasing sequence in the early part. There were also few brief action sequence but it was truly satisfying for me as the climax was spectacular with some surprises along the way. It was one of the most memorable experience I had while watching a movie in a cinema, not only because of its awesomeness but also due to the nostalgic feeling I had.

For a movie which had a duration of 128 minutes, I did not feel it to be too long. There were some brief moments which felt like it was trying to bring the emotional feel, especially during the scenes where the main female leads were bonding, but I personally felt the bonding was more interesting when Carl was in the picture. To my surprise, he brought some brief humorous sense for us where we could chuckle a bit because of him. I also waited for the very long closing credits where it showed the many people involved in creating the wonderful special effects but it did not have any mid or post end credit scenes. Btw, this movie was categorized for 13+ in Indonesia which I think was OK, as long as they are comfortable with quite numerous foul language used.

Aside from the great special effects, I thought this movie was also entertaining because of the performances of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton who reprise their original roles and joined together after 28 years. Mackenzie Davis and Gabriel Luna were both perfect in portraying their roles and showing off their capability in action. Oh before I forgot, this movie did not consider Terminator 3-5 and considered itself as direct sequel of Judgment Day. Personally this made more sense to me although I could not say for other people. This type of treatment was similar to that 2018 Halloween which was a direct sequel to the 1978 movie and disregard all the films in between. This movie was directed by Tim Miller (Deadpool) with one of the producer James Cameron (Titanic, Avatar etc) himself who created the first Terminator films. So it should not come as a surprise that this movie had that strong original Terminator sense.

Overall this was a really fantastic action movie to my opinion as it had really great intense action sequence with epic climax scenes. It had some really wonderful special effects combined with cool Dolby Atmos sound effects plus a not too complex story to absorb, a bit of humor and brief emotional moment (which brought some tears to my wife) making this a truly entertaining movie for me and her. We were really satisfied after seeing this film and I personally would not mind watching it again just to experience all the actions. So if you are fans of Terminator series (especially the first and second movie), then this one would definitely satisfy you. Just do not overthink about the confusing timeline and ignore the other Terminator movies and you should be fine.

Happy watching!

Mike's movie moments rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Special note (SPOILER WARNING!) Only continue to read if you have seen the movie: