GETTING AROUND TO IT // A FILM REVIEW OF "BABY ASSASSINS"

BY MATEO MORENO

BABY ASSASSINS is the kind of film that mixes two very different genres and often doesn't work. But low and behold, this one does, and it's a great deal of fun, filled with oddball humor and spectacular fight sequences that masterfully blends slacker humor with a wild martial arts action film. Chisato (Akari Takaishi) and Mahiro (Saori Izawa) are two high school students on the verge of graduating. They love slacking off, hate having a survival job and would rather do anything but school work. Typical high schoolers. However, they aren't typical at all, because they're also highly skilled assassins, fighting and shooting their way through mark after mark.

Their boss wants them to "blend in," so he requires them to move in together and get "day jobs." This doesn't go great, especially because Mahiro truly doesn't know how to connect with other humans. It also doesn't help that both of them are distracted easily, like when both of them assume the other is listening to instructions on an upcoming assassin job, only to realize neither of them got the information. What's surprising and works so well in BABY ASSASSINS is how leisurely it's paced. Instead of diving into action (which it still does have plenty of), it often meanders into weird little side quests of the two main characters, showing off their quirky and oddball personalities.

Chisato is highly excitable and Mahiro moves like a blank slate that seems to hate everything, except Chisato and killing. Together they have great chemistry and really add a fun flavor to the film. When it does steep deep into action, it involves the Yakuza, two demented sibling rival assassins and a whole lot of fast paced martial arts action. It's an exhilarating joy to watch, grounded in Takaishi and Izawa's great performances. Unlike any other action film you've likely seen, BABY ASSASSINS will charm you and puzzle you and then knock you off your feet.

GRADE: A

WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY Yugo Sakamoto STARRING Akari Takaishi, Saori Izawa, Yasukaze Motomiya, Akitani Mone, Satoshi Uekiya. NOW STREAMING ON Hi-YAH! AND AVAILABLE ON DIGITAL, BLU-RAY & DVD

LOST AT SEA // A FILM REVIEW OF "GET AWAY IF YOU CAN"

BY MATEO MORENO

Trouble is brewing on the sea for a married couple hoping to fix their troubled marriage in the new thriller GET AWAY IF YOU CAN, a new indie thriller created by and starring Dominique Braun and Terrence Martin. Braun and Martin play a couple who are sailing across the ocean while trying to work on their marriage. When they come upon an unknown island, Domi (Braun) wants to get out an explore telling her husband TJ (Martin) that she has cabin fever and just needs to relax off the boat. But he won't let her off because that would ruin his "plan" on getting to their destination on time, something that his father (Ed Harris) has drilled into him. He needs to "take charge on the ship" and "show her that he's the boss." Typical chauvinistic behavior. 

So she leaves the boat in the middle of the night and goes to the island, leaving TJ waking up to an empty boat and screaming her name into the ether. What lies ahead on the island for both of them and will TJ ever stop being such a prick? The answer to the second question is an assured no. From the moment he shows that he has no interest in learning her language and makes a babbling noise mocking her speaking, the audience is done with him. And there's no coming back. All of this is interjected with flashbacks showing scenes with Ed Harris giving terrible advice and shaping TJ into the asshole he currently is. The film wants you to not like TJ but eventually get on his side. But you won't switch sides, cause he never earns it, and I for one simply kept waiting for a divorce that is long overdue.

It also doesn't help that the writing/directing duo of Braun/Martin are amateurish at best. The dialogue is very weak and poorly written (often sounding like bad improv dialogue) and their acting is even worse. The running time is a bit under 90 minutes and even at that length it still feels like it drags and is too long. The only saving grace is the assured performance by Ed Harris. Even as a very unlikable character, he can capture a scene like a master and walks away with every scene he's in. Having Harris is the only saving grace in an aimless film that's literally lost at sea.

GRADE: D

WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY Dominique Braun, Terrence Martin STARRING Ed Harris, Terrence Martin, Dominique Braun, Riley Smith, Martina Gusman. IN SELECT THEATRES AND ON DIGITAL FRIDAY, AUGUST 19th. 

SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS // A FILM REVIEW OF "FALL"

BY MATEO MORENO

If you're the least bit afraid of heights, and hell, even if you're not, FALL will leave you breathless more than a few times. The new "stranded high in the air" thriller from the makers of 47 Meters Down is filled with more than a few cliches and is even downright silly sometimes. But somehow it still all works, and much of that is thanks to the assured performances of its two leads, Grace Caroline Currey and Virginia Gardner.

The premise is simple and to the point: Becky (Currey), her husband Dan (Mason Gooding) and their friend Hunter (Gardner) are mountain climbers and on their latest trip, tragedy strikes. Dan loses his grip and falls to his death. 51 weeks later we see Becky broken and in mourning, unable to do much more than stumble drunkenly out of a bar. Her father (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) tries to connect with her and help her snap out of it, but she keeps stumbling along. That is, until Hunter finds her and wakes her up, convincing her that in order to be able to let go of Dan and to get over her fear, she needs to come with her and climb a 2,000 foot TV tower where they can scatter his ashes in the wind.

The two estranged friends decide to do it, head up the tower and push the past behind them. Hunter shares live footage at the beginning to her Instagram followers, showing them what a "thrill seeker" she is. However, once they make it up, the tower begins to break apart and the two are stranded at the top, with only one way to go. And it's a long way down. FALL works in spite of some story bumps and a rush past much character development. Both leads (Grace Caroline Currey & Virginia Gardner) give assured and exciting performances.

Director Scott Mann finds some very fun and scary things to go wrong for the girls as they try to find a way out of this. The cinematography by MacGregor gives us some thrilling and stunning moments and the fact that much of the film was actually filmed high up above a mountain gives this thriller an explosive edge that truly does feel dangerous. Sure, some of the dialogue isn't the best and as I said before, much of the backstories are skimmed by but it pieces together a thrilling time. Even the muddy third act has some bonkers moments that somehow work. FALL will keep your pulse rate up and make you thankful that you're watching this far down on the ground.

GRADE: B

WRITTEN BY Jonathan Frank, Scott Mann DIRECTED BY Scott Mann STARRING Grace Caroline Currey, Virginia Gardner, Mason Gooding, Jeffrey Dean Morgan. NOW PLAYING IN THEATRES. FOR MORE INFO: FALL