John’s Horror Corner: Unspeakable: Beyond the Wall of Sleep (2024), an occasionally wild, bizarrely sexualized, Lovecraftian B-movie.
MY CALL: For fans of Lovecraft adaptations, this is a “bad movie” that’s actually pretty good. It boasts way more special effects that the budget would suggest and really swings for the fences! MORE MOVIES LIKE Unspeakable: Beyond the Wall of Sleep: There are Lovecraftian movies to be taken much more seriously. For more recent Lovecraft-adapted fare, consider Dagon (2001), Dreams in the Witch-House (2005), Cold Skin (2017), The Color Out of Space (2019) and Suitable Flesh (2023). For some clearly Lovecraft-inspired movies, move on to The Shrine (2010), Black Mountain Side (2014), Harbinger Down (2015), Baskin (2015), The Void (2016), The Beach House (2019), The Superdeep (2020), Glorious (2022), and Deus Irae (2023).
Upon his placement in Arkham Asylum in 1998, new inmate James Fhelleps (Robert Miano) hits it off immediately with his cellmate, who finds himself mutilated and separated from his manhood in a most grotesque manner by a seemingly possessed Fhelleps.
25 years later, oneirologist Ambrose London (Edward Furlong; Brainscan, Night of the Demons) is summoned to Arkham Asylum by Dr. Barnard (Susan Priver) to study the strange case of dissociative identity disorder in the patient James Fhelleps, or more so his murderous alter ego Joe Slater. Like a high priest of Cthulhu, Slater preaches Lovecraftian prose of madness beyond great oceans of space and beyond the wall of sleep.
The imagery is often as graphic (and quite provocative) as the limited budget permits. There is some very low budget CGI—like, laughably silly low budget. But this CGI is complemented by maximum effort latex monster makeup, like when Slater’s neck monstrously elongates and he eats an orderly’s face. Likewise, some of the writing (e.g., Slater’s monologues) is most thoughtful, whereas the execution of other scenes (e.g., possessed mobs of patients) is forgettable B-movie fodder. This movie is clearly self-aware of exactly what it is. But, at times, it still aims a good bit higher and, frankly, pleasantly hits above its weight class at times.
PSA: I rented this on Amazon and was most enraged by the large black box censoring out images from the opening scenes. Don’t worry. It’s just this one scene. But again—in the moment—enraging!
Director Chad Ferrin (HP Lovecraft’s The Old Ones, The Deep Ones) had fun with this one. He toys with us with dreams within dreams within dreams, and bizarre macabre imagery. But things elevate to the next level when Ambrose hooks himself and patient Fhelleps (and Slater) up to his dream analysis machine to connect with his mind. This dream sequence explains the origin of Jim Slater (a Color Out of Space-corrupted peasant who lived over 100 years ago), his exposure to a meteorite that corrupted him, and some mutant alien “manhoods.”
More ultra-low budgetiness is observed when the Arkham patients touched by madness behave like manic zombies, but are only recognizable by behavior—some bags under their eyes or blood smears around their mouths. But hey, at least they are eating coils of rubber guts! We also see someone’s face pulled off by a garbage disposal. A high point for sure! And for those who like padded casts, additional small roles are played by Bai Ling (Crank: High Voltage, Samurai Cop 2, Sharknado 5), Ginger Lynn (New York Ninja, 31, The Devil’s Rejects, Buried Alive) and Steve Railsback (Alligator II, Lifeforce).
For being of such low budget, this was a pretty fun bad movie. Worth it if you know what you’re getting into, and more so if you’re a fan of Lovecraft adaptations. This makes me curious to see more of Ferrin’s movies. Although I’m told this one is the best by far, I liked this enough to take the leap.
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The Movies, Films and Flix Podcast – Episode 613: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), Humpback Whales, and Excellent Sequels
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Mark and Niall discuss the 1986 blockbuster sequel Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Directed by Leonard Nimoy, and starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Catherine Hicks and some cool humpback whales, the even-numbered Star Trek film is one of the best sequels ever made. In this episode, they also talk about Donald Peterman’s cinematography, time travel, and a well-timed Vulcan nerve pinch. Enjoy!
If you are a fan of the podcast, make sure to send in some random listener questions (we love random questions). We thank you for listening, and hope you enjoy the episode!
You can download the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker.
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The Ballad of Wallis Island (2025) – Review
Quick Thoughts:
- Grade – B
- The screenplay written by Tim Key and Tom Basden pops with engaging dialogue.
- The Welsh filming locations are stunning.
- Tim Key successfully walks an eccentric tightrope to deliver a likable and charming. performance. Many things could’ve gone wrong when playing a character like “Charles,” but Key avoids any major misstep and makes the guy quite charming.
- It features the best 2025 usages of a phone booth and a bag of coins.
Based on the 2007 Bafta-nominated short film, and filmed in 18 days, The Ballad of Wallis Island is a charming look into what happens when a wealthy maniac named Charles (Tim Key) pays $800,000 for two folk musicians (Carey Mulligan and Tom Basden) to play a concert for him on an isolated island. It asks you to set aside your cynicism and embrace a world where telling a retired folk musician that you bought a lock of their hair is normal. It reminded me a bit of rom-coms like While You Were Sleeping, The Truth About Cats and Dogs, Never Been Kissed and The Proposal – movies featuring lead characters who lie their faces off and somehow come out on top. It’s a good thing that director James Griffiths and writers/actors Tim Key and Tom Basden couldn’t let go of their short film because they’ve produced a neat ‘self-contained little fairy tale’ about how hard it can be to move on.
The Ballad of Wallis Island is a scrappy tale centering around a widower named Charles who after winning the lottery twice, has secluded himself on a gorgeous island inhabited by puffins, fishermen and Amanda (Sian Clifford), the owner of the only store on the island. He spends his days cooking halibut, going on walks, practicing his tennis serve, and listening to McGwyer Mortimer’s records. On the 10th anniversary of his wife’s passing, he shells out $800,000 for Herb McGwyer (Tom Basden) and Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan) to come to his island to perform a show in front of “less than 100 people.”
The major hurdle for Charles is that the popular folk duo broke up their successful partnership years ago when Herb attempted a solo career and Nell moved to America and got married to Michael (Akemnji Ndifornyen). There isn’t any major bad blood between them, but Charles doesn’t tell Herb about Nell coming — which adds drama to the proceedings. Herb arrives first and is immediately put off by the fact that there’s no dry dock on the island and he’s forced to wade through waist-deep water that soaks his belongings and skinny jeans. Herb is the type of person who, even though he is getting paid $500,000 for a few days’ work, can’t be bothered to pretend that he wants to be there or that he cares about the gorgeous scenery. I’ve read some reviews that say nothing is interesting about Herb, which is the point of the character. Decades of touring and recent failures have made him tired and annoyed. Having worked on 200+ film/TV/commercial/music video sets and comic conventions, I’ve witnessed a plethora of artists show up to a set or convention and behave like McGwyer. It’s not that he’s boring, he just hasn’t had to be interesting for years.
Nell arrives a day later with Michael and is immediately smitten with the island and totally game for the reunion because she’s getting paid $300,000 (there’s a good bit when she realizes she’s getting paid less). Michael takes off almost immediately to go on a bird-watching tour (can’t miss the puffins!), which leaves Nell and Herb alone to practice their set and hang with the over-the-moon Charles. During their time as a popular folk duo, Nell helped write the final 10% of each song and was the creative and grounding force that made them successful. When they broke up the band, neither could recapture their former glory and the lucrative money being offered by Charles is a welcome lifeline after they ended their profitable world tours.
The Ballad of Wallis Island offers a few surprises so the rest of the film won’t be spoiled, just know that it ends on a happy note involving the characters being able to kick off a new phase in their lives. The most impressive aspect of the movie is how it adapts a short film with a running time of 25 minutes into a feature-length experience. A decent amount of the lines from the short film reappear, and the leaky sink is still a character, but the new additions don’t feel unnecessary or created to stretch the running time. In the short film, Charles has won the lottery twice, but instead of traveling the world with his wife (which happens in the movie), he spends it on booze, drugs, parties and a monster truck. Also, the character of Nell is never introduced, and her inclusion brings a welcome dose of warmth into an experience dominated by two men bickering endlessly.
The production design by Alexandra Toomey is perfect as Charles’ house is believably snug and Amanda’s shop seems welcoming and real. G. Magni Ágústsson’s cinematography is just as good because he allowed the camera to linger on the walking trails, rock-strewn beaches and the beautiful views of the Irish Sea. On top of the solid production and cinematography, the costume design by Gabriela Yiaxis is top-notch as the characters look great in their comfy sweaters, 1970s-esque tennis gear, flowy dresses, and fanny packs. The Ballad of Wallis Island is a solid all-around production and I hope that it gathers an audience.
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Death of a Unicorn (2025) – Review
Quick Thoughts:
- Grade – B-
- Jenna Ortega and Will Poulter steal the show.
- I love a good mood board.
- Paul Rudd has gone full wet noodle
- If you’re looking for something with an edge, the unicorns and their spiraled cones of death might not be for you.
After years of outlining, researching and writing, Director Alex Sharfman has delivered a film that tackles pharmaceutical companies, unicorn lore, parent death, class commentary, and financial anxiety to create a relatively grounded “unicorns murder rich people” satire. Death of a Unicorn works best as a horror comedy with an emotional center, and even though it’s being described as a “satire,” don’t think of it being on the satirical level of American Psycho, The Menu, Sorry to Bother You or Triangle of Sadness.
The movie opens with a sweet moment on an airplane involving a recently widowed lawyer named Elliot (Paul Rudd) enjoying the fact that his sleeping college-aged daughter Ridley (Jenna Ortega) is using his shoulder as a pillow. While Ridleys sleeping, Elliot is going over a work presentation that finds its way onto the floor. Instead of asking for help, he bends over to collect the papers and Ridley’s head crashes onto the armrest between their seats – which pretty much explains their relationship. Ridley wants her dad’s attention, and he wants the business files that he dropped on the ground.
The duo are on the airplane because they are traveling to the sprawling and isolated estate of Odell Leopold (Richard E. Grant), Elliot’s cancer-ridden boss and pharmaceutical billionaire who wants his family to meet Elliot before he gets too sick to run the company. The plan is for Elliot to become the family lawyer/proxy for Odell’s wife Belinda (Téa Leoni) and his son Shepard (Will Poulter), and they want to meet Elliot before agreeing to the big promotion. While driving to the mansion, the cellphone-obsessed Elliot takes his eyes off the road and plows into the hefty body of a baby unicorn as it’s crossing the road. As the unicorn lies dying, Ridley touches its horn and is mentally transported to a heavenly place, but before she can communicate with a unicorn higher power, Elliot bashes the baby’s head with a tire iron and the duo gets soaked with unicorn blood. Typically, getting splattered with blood isn’t a great thing, but the unicorn blood acts as a healing agent that clears Ridley’s acne and cures Elliot’s allergies. It’s perfectly bad timing, as not only are they visiting titans of the pharmaceutical industry, but the cancer-ridden Odell and his family want to find more unicorns that can be used to save lives (for incredible amounts of money).
What follows is a bloody romp that features impalements, head stomps, intestine shredding and rich people snorting crushed unicorn horn debris up their noses. What’s interesting is that despite all of the gore and profanity, it’s a laid-back experience that is more comfort food than “eating the rich.” For an A24 release from the guy who helped produce The Witch, Blow the Man Down (great movie), and Resurrection (holy moly), it’s unexpectedly subdued considering it features pissed-off unicorns impaling scientists who are attempting to sell their body parts for huge profits.
The Most Valuable Unicorn Killer (MVUK) of the film is Will Poulter and his short shorts which allow him to do his best Paul Mescal impersonation. We’ve seen characters like Shepard before in Ready or Not and Knives Out, but Poulter plays the cocaine-addled bow hunter (who loves a good mood board) in a grounded way that makes everything funnier. Shepard is interesting because he’s insanely rich and he knows that he’s insanely rich – which allows him to not behave like a stereotypical rich jerk (that’s something less rich people do). Shepard is a guy who drinks bloody marys for breakfast and knows his butler Griff (Anthony Carrigan – great) will get him whatever he needs whenever he needs it. He also knows that he is a disappointment to his family, but he gets along well with them and he isn’t a complete liability to their fortune. There isn’t a person on the planet who could say that the Leopolds are likable people, but, it’s interesting, that they like each other and avoid many of the tropes that rich families in films like Ready or Not or Knives Out deal with (E.G. – lots of infighting and pettiness).
The weakest aspect of Death of a Unicorn is Paul Rudd’s Elliot character. His entire arc is based around him learning that earning heaping amounts of money won’t make his relationship with his daughter any better. Elliot is a one-note character and he’s so ineffectual that he slows down the film whenever he appears. As always Jenna Ortega is excellent and her scenes with the charmingly sarcastic Téa Leoni work well. Also, watching Ortega spar with Poulter over her sh*t board (a bad mood board) is a highlight of the film. Overall, Sharfman’s script is constantly engaging and there are some excellent lines, but because he wedged in so many elements the final product is a bit watered down because of all the plot distribution.
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Mark and Erik talk about their favorite movie bosses from Empire Records, Support the Girls, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, The Way, Way Back, and Greyhound. Enjoy!
If you are a fan of the podcast, make sure to send in some random listener questions (we love random questions). We thank you for listening, and hope you enjoy the episode!
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You can download or stream the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker (or wherever you listen to podcasts…..we’re almost everywhere).
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome.
Mark and Aaron draft their favorite action scenes from 2018 movies. In this episode, you’ll hear them talk about The Night Comes for Us, Mandy, Revenge, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Upgrade, Unstoppable, Shadow, Revenger, Black Panther, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Game Night, Den of Thieves, Ready Player One, Overlord and more cool action films. Enjoy!
Make sure to check out Aaron’s new podcast “Two Black Guys Talk Godzilla” wherever you listen to podcasts.
If you are a fan of the podcast, make sure to send in some random listener questions (we love random questions). We thank you for listening, and hope you enjoy the episode!
You can download the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker.
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Black Bag (2025) – Review
Quick Thoughts:
- Grade – A
- It’s my favorite film of 2025 (so far)
- Black Bag is a stylish and breezy film that feels like Ocean’s 11 met Out of Sight and created a well-dressed spy thriller
- Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, and Regé-Jean Page know the assignment and are perfect in their roles
- 93 minutes!
- David Koepp’s script pops
- Yes, this is a lot of praise, but I love the movie.
With 36 years of feature film directing experience Steven Soderbergh has gotten to a place in his career where can make a well-crafted and handsome film like Black Bag feel effortless. A lot of work went into making Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris and Regé-Jean Page look amazing as they deliver David Koepp’s witty dialogue (that doesn’t feel overly witty) – but the 93 minutes are so efficient and lean that you almost think Soderbergh shot it over a long weekend. Maybe it’s because Soderbergh and Koepp have worked together three times in the 2020’s (Kimi, Presence, Black Bag), or that Cate Blanchett can do no wrong, or after Prometheus, Alien: Covenant, and The Killer, Fassbender can play “the smartest guy in the room” with ease. Whatever the case, Soderbergh has made one of the most enjoyably breezy films since Ocean’s 11 (which he also directed).
Michael Fassbender stars as George Woodhouse, a well-dressed operative who works for Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). Woodhouse is known for his human lie detector abilities which is why a fellow operative Phillip Meacham (Gustaf Skarsgård) gives him a list of possible traitors which includes his wife Kathryn St. Jean (Cate Blanchett), a fellow NCSC operative. To root out the mole, he and Kathryn throw a dinner party and their swanky home, and this is where we meet Freddie Smalls (Tom Burke), Dr. Zoe Vaughan (Naomie Harris) Col. James Stokes (Regé-Jean Page) and Clarissa Dubose (Marisa Abela). All four of them work at the NCSC, and they have a night to remember that involves witty repartee, steak knife shenanigans, and Woodhouse watching every move that each character makes. The dinner party ends chaotically, and what follows is a fun spy thriller in which Woodhouse attempts to save thousands of lives while making sure his beloved wife doesn’t get into any trouble.
The charming chemistry between Blanchett and Fassbender is reminiscent of the rapport between George Clooney and Julia Roberts in Ocean’s 11, and Clooney and Jennifer Lopez in Out of Sight (another Soderbergh movie). It’s nice watching a happily married movie couple who are really into each other because it streamlines the plot by keeping out unnecessary marital issues (Black Bag doesn’t have time for that). What’s impressive is that you’re able to figure out their dynamic instantly (they really like each other) which is a credit to Koepp’s writing, Soderbergh’s cinematography. and the costumes designed by Ellen Mirojnick (Kimi, Logan Lucky, The Knick, Behind the Candelabra) Both actors have worked with Soderbergh before (Haywire, The Good German), so the rapport is evident and and Blanchett agreed to work on the film before reading a script because she loves Soderbergh and Koepp so much.
Being familiar with the always solid work from Fassbender, Harris, Blanchett, Burke and Page, the standout of the film is Marisa Abela (I need to watch Industry on Max), who gives a layered and and interesting performance as Clarissa Dubose, a high-level British analyst who is in a tumultuous relationship with Freddie Smalls (Burke). Whether it’s using a steak knife in an interesting way or actually enjoying the brutal party games that Woodhouse makes them play, Dubose is always a welcome presence on screen and it’s nice having a wildcard amongst all the veteran actors. Her polygraph scene is a highlight of the film and it’s fun watching her shake the unshakeable Woodhouse as he realizes how sharp her character is.
Since it’s a spy thriller expect twists, turns, lies and a little dose of TInker Tailor Soldier Spy. Also, Soderbergh is a huge fan of the movie Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (his DVD commentary with Mike Nichols is legendary in the DVD commentary community), so be ready for some truth bombs and no-holds barred insults that you can tell the actors loved unleashing (Harris and Burke especially).
Finally, Phillip Messina’s (Ocean’s 11, Kimi) production design work is impeccable and the design highlight of the movie is the house that George and Kathryn reside in. It’s a bit naive, but at first I thought that they shot in an actual house, but after some research I learned that their home was built in a Pinewood UK soundstage. This makes sense considering a large chunk of the movie is spent in the gorgeous home, but I never felt any artifice to the location and love how lived in and real it feels. Between Mother!, Heretic, Kimi, and now Black Bag, Messina is the king of creating incredible movie homes.
Final Thoughts – Black Bag rules. Watch it.
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The Movies, Films and Flix Podcast – Episode 610: X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), Bathroom Destruction, and Hugh Jackman
You can download or stream the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker (or wherever you listen to podcasts…..we’re almost everywhere).
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome.
Mark and Nathan talk about the 2009 prequel X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Directed by Gavin Hood and starring Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds and Silent Deadpool, the prequel kind of explores the origins of X-Men member Wolverine. In this episode, they also talk about rushed prequels, bathroom destruction, and comic book movies with Rotten Tomatometer scores. Enjoy!
If you are a fan of the podcast, make sure to send in some random listener questions (we love random questions). We thank you for listening, and hope you enjoy the episode!
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Mickey 17 (2025) – Review
Quick Thoughts:
- Grade – B-
- Naomi Ackie and Robert Pattinson are great
- It lacks momentum, which makes it feel overly long
- Don’t invest in macaroons
- I love the creatures
- It’s far from my favorite Bong Joon Ho film, but it’s still worth watching because an auteur was given a boatload of money and he allowed Robert Pattinson to base one of his characters after Jim Carrey from Dumb and Dumber.
Before I get into the review I want to applaud Warner Brothers for shelling out $118 million so Bong Joon Ho could make an expensive science fiction comedy that’s loaded with sex, violence, clones, misunderstood aliens and Mark Ruffalo’s gigantic fake teeth. I love when Bong goes sci-fi (Snowpiercer, Okja, The Host) because the result is always interesting. I’m sad to say that Mickey 17 ranks behind his prior sci-fi efforts, but it’s still worth watching because an auteur was given a boatload of money and he was fine with his lead actor Robert Pattinson basing one of his characters after Jim Carrey from Dumb and Dumber.
Based on Edward Ashton’s 2022 novel Mickey7, Mickey 17 is a lot – which is a good and bad thing. The film starts with Robert Pattinson’s titular character stuck in an ice cave and then goes back in time to explain why he left Earth (macaroon store debt) and became an “expendable” crew member on a spaceship headed to a colony that is far away from murderous debt collectors. After skimming through his employment contract, Mickey agrees to become an “Expendable,” which means he can be killed and brought back (with all of his memories) by a cloning system that is only legal in space. Because Mickey can be easily cloned, he is gassed, irradiated, chopped and used as a guinea pig to cure outbreaks. It’s a terrible existence that is made easier by the presence of his cool girlfriend Nasha Barridge (Naomi Ackie), a security officer who isn’t afraid to put on a hazmat suit so she can sit with Mickey when he’s forced to die a slow death in a toxic gas chamber for research.
The leaders of the expedition are a religious nut job/failed politician (who dances like Donald Trump) named Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo) and his wife Ylfa (Toni Collette), who plan on starting a “pure” colony on a near-uninhabitable ice planet that’s inhabited by “Creepers,” who look like a guinea pig, wooly mammoth, armadillo and a caterpillar smooshed together to create something new. Since Kenneth and Ylfa are horrible people, they plan on killing the creatures, so they task Mickey with catching one of the baby creepers so that it can be studied for weaknesses. Things get complicated when Mickey #17 supposedly dies during his mission in the ice caves (the creepers save him), and the scientists create Mickey #18. The additional clone is a problem because according to an intergalactic law created after a serial killer had copies of himself made, it’s illegal to have multiple clones. The punishment is permanently deleting the person(s) and all their memories – which both Mickey #17 and Mickey #18 don’t want to happen. What follows is a madcap finale that involves explosions, screaming creepers, and Toni Collette making sauce.
As much as I love Ruffalo and Collette, their characters might be the weakest part of the film as they go so over-the-top that they feel like they’re in another movie. Bong has never shied away from class-based themes or hammering home his point, but they are so heavy-handed that they don’t register as humans. The biggest problem with the movie is that it’s so scattershot that it loses focus and the lack of focus makes the experience feel longer than it is. There isn’t much momentum and it very much feels like Bong went a little overboard and lost focus due to him having final cut and very little supervision. To be fair, Bong Joon Ho has earned this blank-check movie, and there’s a lot to like here, but it’s not as tight or propulsive as his other science fiction classics.
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Eye for an Eye 2: Blind Vengeance (2024) – Review
Quick Thoughts – Grade – B – Directed by upcoming action director Bingjia Yang (Fight Against Evil 2, Eye for an Eye), this sequel packs a lot of fun action into its 90-minute running time and is another solid release from Well Go USA (watch One-Percent Warrior, The Prosecutor, Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In, and 100 Yards now)
Eye for an Eye 2: Blind Vengeance focuses on Cheng Xiazi (Xie Miao), a blind swordsman/bounty hunter who takes a young orphan girl (played by Yang Enyou) under his wing after her younger brother is murdered by a gang of corrupt city officials. The two street urchins were trying to steal some food and instead witnessed the slaughter of a group of townsfolk who were meeting to discuss a rebellion against the well-connected city leaders. The leader of the murder-happy gang is a comically drug-addled maniac (played by Huang Tao) who kills women, dogs, children, and the elderly (he reminds me of the villain in 13 Assassins – but a little less evil). He’s the worst of the worst and you can’t wait for him to catch some blind vengeance.
What follows is a familiar revenge tale that features all the tropes of the “orphan adopted by a professional killer/bounty hunter” genre (It feels like a remake of 1994’s The Professional). After being saved by the blind swordsman, the orphan slowly integrates herself into his daily life, and she starts helping him on his various trips to collect bounties in hopes of building the necessary skills to get revenge on the evil city officials. My favorite bounty hunting trip involves a fight on a houseboat that is home to two serial killers who stash their victims underneath the dock that leads to their house. It’s a brutal affair that’s surprisingly violent and leads to some fun water shenanigans and gushing blood.
This all leads to a massive final battle in which Xiazi and the kid battle hordes of villains before they can get to the final boss. The fights were designed and director by direct-to-streaming superstar Qin Pengfei (Red Cliff, Eye for an Eye, Fight Against Evil 1 & 2), and the action set pieces allow Xie Miao to showcase his action skills in bars, boat houses, banks, alleys, and villain’s cavernous lair. I was looking at Pengfei’s IMDb page and he seemingly doesn’t sleep because he either designed the actor or directed five films released in 2024. The action in Eye for an Eye 2: Blind Vengeance is occasionally edited into oblivion, but it does find a welcome rhythm and is well-designed for a straight-to-streaming release.
Final Thoughts – The chemistry between Miao and Enyou is solid and it’s likely due to Miao’s history as a child actor in movies like My Father is a Hero (1994). The two work well together and they make the familiar story feel fun and fresh. Most importantly, there are some fun action set pieces that make it a worthwhile watch.
Movies, Films & Flix 