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Ground Rules
Must See............llll It’s Worth A Look.....lll See At Your Own Risk.ll Don’t Bother.....................l
Editor’s note: Samantha Ofole-Prince is an award-winning writer and contributor to many national publications and is Blackflix.com’s Senior Critic-at-Large. Khaleel Herbert is a journalism student at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Laurence Washington is the creator of BlackFlix.com. Like Blackflix.com on Facebook, follow Blackflix.com on Twitter
going to get with the Fast and Furious films and this one doesn’t disappoint. From Cuba, a city well known for its car culture, there are stops in New York, Russia and Berlin. Gray, whose versatile filmography includes the biopic Straight Outta Compton, adds a little zest to this latest offering with the comedy and action, but still follows that old familiar deep-seated theme of family, which has been entrenched in every film. The filmmaker, who directed Vin Diesel in A Man Apart, Dwayne Johnson in Be Cool, Jason Statham and Charlize
Ghost in the Shell
Ghost in the Shell lll1/2 By Khaleel Herbert
Scarlett Johansson is the first
Fate of the Furious
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Fate of the Furious
lll By Samantha Ofole-Prince
here are plenty of reasons to love this eight installment of the Fast & Furious franchise. From the camaraderie of the cast, the banters, the comic delivery, the car carnage to Charlize Theron’s intense portrayal of ultimate bandito, The Fate of the Furious is certainly the best to date. Directed by F. Gary Gray, who combines the humor of his directional debut Friday, with the action of The Italian Job, the film kicks off in Cuba where Dom (Vin Diesel) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) are enjoying marital life. After winning a drag race to save his cousin’s car, Dom is approached by Cipher (Theron) who blackmails him into turning against his chums. The world’s most notorious cyber-terrorist has plans for world domination (don’t they always) and she plans to use Dom to achieve this goal by any means necessary. When Dom’s crew learns of his betrayal, their goal becomes to prevent global annihilation and save him from her evil clutches. From crazy car stunts to cool locales, you know exactly what you’re
Theron in The Italian Job, clearly has a connection with the cast and it shows. Franchise favorites Chris “Ludacris” Bridges and Tyrese Gibson, who still serves as comic relief, return as well as previous cast members, Kurt Russell, Nathalie Emmanuel, Dwayne Johnson, Elsa Pataky and Jason Statham, who made his notorious introduction in the Fast & Furious 6. New additions include British actress Dame Helen Mirren whose actions are key to resolving the plot and of course Theron. Some of the highlights of the film are the brilliant and highly amusing banter between arch enemies Deckard (Statham) and Hobbs (Johnson) who continuously rain insults at each other. There’s also a carefully choreographed and outrageous car race through the streets of Havana, an incredible car carnage in New York and an engaging jail break, but the mesmerizing cornrow-wearing, cold and calculating Theron as the ballsy badass super-villain is simply the icing on the cake. With a combustible combination of reggaeton and hip-hop, this turbocharged action movie is guilty pleasure the box office is certainly going to love. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL8-Z-OxQ70
cyborg human who kicks butt in the live-action version of Masamune Shirow’s anime Ghost in the Shell. Ghost in the Shell begins when a lifeless cyborg is rolled into the hospital room of Hanka Headquarters in Hong Kong. We see images of a brain attaching to the cyborg. The cyborg is dipped in paint and soon, Major (Johansson) is born. Dr. Ouelet (Juliette Binoche) explains that Major’s ghost, or personality, is the same. But her new body is a shell. Major is the first cyborg with a human brain. One year later, Major stands on a rooftop overseeing a futuristic metropolis with lights and holograms everywhere. With special communication programs, Major listens to her master, Aramaki (Takeshi Kitano). With her high-definition x-ray vision, Major sees an important meeting between a technology company and an African tribe. A geisha enters the room with tea, but goes rogue. Despite Aramaki’s commands to stay put, Major leaps off the building, disappears (like Fantastic Four’s Invisible Woman) and bursts through the window. She kills the geisha, another cyborg. Major and her loyal partner, Batou (Pilou Asbæk) return to Section 9 of the Hanka Robotics Company. They see Dr. Dahlin (Anamaria Marinca) and ask who the geisha belongs to. Dr. Dahlin doesn’t know. Major immediately decides to do a deep dive into the geisha’s hard drive to search for information. Batou and Dahlin hook her up to the geisha through wires. When inside, Major sees a hooded figure and gets “hacked” by monsters that dogpile her. When Batou and Dahlin can-
Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – May 2017
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cel the dive, Major wakes up and experiences glitches. She sees an image of a house everywhere she goes. Since her memories are shot, she doesn’t know why the glitches keep occurring. Her quest for her memories and the mysterious hacker (Michael Pitt) begins. This film received a lot of backlash– choosing Johansson instead of an Asian woman for the lead –but Johansson is superb as Major. Johansson looked exactly like Major from the anime with the same hair and skin color. Major wants to understand where she came from and who she is (something all humans can relate to) and it’s powerful. Her lack of memories match Wolverine to a tee. Deep down, I wish Ghost in the Shell was rated R. The action scenes could have included dismemberment of limbs and blood. Maybe I’m still on cloud nine from recently watching the violence in The Godfather and Underworld sagas. Asbæk’s performance as Batou was good too. He’s a man who means business, but has a soft spot for Major and dogs. Ghost in the Shell is a joyride from start to finish. I wouldn’t mind seeing it in theaters again. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2SVzNT01vM
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Saban’s Power Rangers llll By Khaleel Herbert
ower Rangers is an epic ride that brings Haim Saban and Shuki Levy’s classic franchise back to the silver screen. In the city of Angel Grove, California, Jason (Darce Montgomery), the prior football MVP, heads to detention while under house arrest for stealing another school’s mascot. He saves Billy (RJ Cyler), the nerdy kid, Continued on page 20