I’m betting a lot of people (particularly younger audiences) will go into “The Fall Guy” completely unaware that it’s loosely based on a 1980s television series. I’m guessing they’ll be going to see the new Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt movie and who can blame them? But “The Fall Guy” was also a fairly popular ABC TV series that ran from 1981 through 1986. It starred Lee Majors as a Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as a bounty hunter. The show also starred Heather Thomas who became a pinup sensation and a brown GMC K2500 4×4 pickup truck that we all wanted to own.

Former stuntman turned director David Leitch pulls some inspiration from the television show but mostly makes his own movie, calling it “a love letter to stunts” in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. That fits considering the stunt work is one of the film’s biggest strengths. Amazingly, mostly practical stunts were used in the handful of intensely choreographed action set pieces. Mix in some decent humor, a semi-interesting romance, and two form-fitting leads with good chemistry and you have the kind of frothy entertainment people often look for in a summer blockbuster.

Probably the least interesting part of “The Fall Guy” is the plot. Written for the screen by Drew Pearce, the story itself is pretty generic although it often puts its stars in positions to shine. Gosling plays Colt Seavers, an accomplished Hollywood stuntman who has spent six years as the primary stunt double for Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), the biggest action star on the planet. While filming Ryder’s latest blockbuster, Colt breaks his back after an ambitious stunt goes wrong. It leads to him leaving the stunt business and his girlfriend, a camera operator named Jody Moreno (Blunt).

Bop ahead eighteen months where Colt is working as a valet for a Mexican restaurant. One day he’s unexpectedly contacted by producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham) who informs him that Jody is preparing to direct her first film, an epic sci-fi blockbuster called “Metalstorm” starring Tom Ryder. Gail invites him to the set in Sydney, Australia telling him that Jody (who he hasn’t spoken to since they split) wants him to join the production. But when he arrives he’s disappointed to discover that Jody didn’t request him. In fact she doesn’t want him anywhere around her movie mainly because she’s never forgiven him for their breakup.

As luck would have it, Jody is in desperate need of a seasoned stuntman for her biggest action scenes. So with the coaxing of her stunt coordinator and Colt’s best friend Dan (Winston Duke), Jody reluctantly agrees to let her ex-boyfriend work on her movie. Her ire is pretty hard to miss. But so is the clear and glaring truth that Colt is still crazy about her. That leads to some pretty obvious tension which eventually starts to melt as the romance angle kicks into gear.

Things take a weird turn after Gail informs Colt that Tom Ryder has vanished after getting involved with some rather shady characters. She wants Colt to secretly search for Ryder and bring him back to the set before Jody finds out and panics. Colt’s unsure at first, but then it hits him – save Jody’s movie by finding her star and win back the love of his life. But wouldn’t you know it, the search for Ryder uncovers some big and deadly secrets. And soon Colt finds himself running for his life, targeted by those wanting to keep him away from the truth.

It almost feels like there are two different storylines. Without question they’re connected, but they play differently. One involves Colt and Jody trying to rekindle their movie set romance. It’s where we get a lot of the cool behind-the-scenes looks at making a movie, especially when it comes to stunt work and directing action scenes. But some of the bigger set pieces are tied to Colt’s search for Tom which is where the story really lags. Both angles eventually collide in the film’s big finale, but one is considerably more entertaining than the other.

Interestingly, Gosling and Blunt have pretty strong chemistry although not as much in the romance department. Instead it’s in their comic exchanges that we see the two connect the most. Pearce works in some pretty good laughs, many of them made better by the two stars effortlessly working off each other. Unfortunately the humor dries up over the course of the second half, not because Leitch and Pearce aren’t trying. It’s that the gags aren’t as fresh and don’t land as intended

“The Fall Guy” certainly has its strengths: a playful energy, a few fun meta moments, some good early laughs, and pretty cool action. Ryan Gosling does his thing while Emily Blunt is delightful as usual. But the movie’s charms can only carry it so far and its routine starts to wear a little thin well before the two-hour mark. It’s not bad but not all that memorable either. Kinda like most of the summer popcorn movies that we still enjoy. “The Fall Guy” is in theaters now.

VERDICT – 3 STARS

I can’t say I was expecting much from another installment of the long dormant Omen film franchise. I can say I left “The First Omen” wonderfully surprised. I didn’t think it would tell such a smart and entertaining story. I wasn’t expecting such good instincts and control from first-time feature film director Arkasha Stevenson. And I had no idea that Nell Tiger Free would deliver such a bold breakout performance.

“The First Omen” is the sixth feature in the franchise and serves as a prequel to the original 1976 movie starring Gregory Peck. In several ways it resembles other religious horror films – the many church symbols, a handful of genre tropes, a generally predictable story arc. Yet “The First Omen” is a wickedly savvy chiller that has its share of wild plot swings and gnarly twists. Even better, there’s an intriguing supernatural mystery furtively nestled within the film’s classic-styled horror frame.

Set in 1971, a young novitiate named Margaret Daino (Nell Tiger Free) arrives in Rome. She was summoned by Cardinal Lawrence (Bill Nighy) who ran the Massachusetts orphanage she grew up in and has been a father figure to her since she was a child. He assigns Margaret to Vizzardeli Orphanage where she immediately connects with a troubled young girl named Carlita Scianna (Nicole Sorace).

Margaret’s growing relationship with Carlita begins to concern the others nuns, especially the orphanage’s abbess Sister Silvia (Sônia Braga). Her efforts to reach Carlita are often stymied by her superiors who are quick to label the girl “a problem child”. Their cruel and abusive tactics include tying Carlita down with restraints and isolating her in a place dubbed “the bad room”. Perplexed by their treatment, the increasingly defiant Margaret begins pushing back against Sister Silvia’s wishes which creates even more tension.

Meanwhile away from the orphanage Margaret is persuaded by her more ‘adventurous’ roommate, Sister Luz (Maria Caballero) to slip off to a popular nightclub for an evening of unsisterlike revelry. It’s one of several key events that leads the devout yet conflicted Margaret to question much of what she’s known and loved about the church for most of her life. And in several ways that growing inner conflict indirectly drives many of her later decisions.

At this point you may be wondering about the supernatural horror. After all this is an Omen movie, right? To Stevenson’s credit, she takes her time unpacking the story and setting up what’s to come. She patiently defines her characters and their places, allowing things to slowly simmer before ramping up to a scalding boil. Yet even in the earliest scenes, Stevenson develops and maintains a looming sense of evil that steadily intensifies, leading up to utterly terrifying final act that’s not for the squeamish.

Margaret’s story takes its biggest turn when she is approached by the disgraced Father Brennan (played in the 1976 film by Patrick Troughton, here by Ralph Ineson). He was excommunicated following his attempts to expose a sinister plot within the church. He warns Margaret to beware of Carlita and that “evil things” will begin to happen around the girl. An uneasy Margaret doesn’t buy his conspiracy theory. That is until truly horrifying things do indeed happen, leading to some dark and shocking discoveries that just may prove Father Brennan right.

Stevenson ratchets things up in the film’s final third as a blood-soaked wave of revelations come to light. The dark twists work well largely due to the time put into developing Margaret as a character and in turn raising the stakes (in sharp contrast to the somewhat similar and notably flimsier “Immaculate” from just last month). It all culminates into something wicked, grisly, and gloriously bonkers.

I love it when a movie surprises me and “The First Omen” did just that. This isn’t some lazy cash grab meant to milk an established franchise. It’s a smart, crafty, and artfully made horror film that doesn’t rely on cheap jump scares or tired gimmicks. It features confident direction and storytelling topped off with a fearless Nell Tiger Free lead performance. It all works to make a film that doesn’t feel bound by franchise constraints yet still shrewdly compliments and eventually connects with the 1976 original in a number of cool ways. “The First Omen” is in theaters now.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

I’ve always felt that Fallout, the long-running and beloved video game franchise now helmed by Bethesda Game Studios, would make for great live-action entertainment. Its retrofuturistic style, dark underlying themes, sardonic humor, and gleefully gory action seemed custom-made for the big or small screen treatment. But knowing the history of video game adaptations all too well, and knowing the creative energy and studio backing needed to do it right, the notion of a live-action Fallout project didn’t seem realistic.

Boy it’s nice to be wrong. Not only have we gotten an actual Fallout series, we’ve been gifted one of the better (if not the best) video game adaptations to date. Yes I know that may be a low bar. But “Fallout”, from show creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, is an absolute knockout – a brilliantly crafted cocktail of postapocalyptic mayhem laced with humor that ranges from cynical to outrageous. Better yet, the show nails that tricky balance of entertaining newcomers while satisfying the most passionate of fans.

“Fallout” plays out over eight one-hour-ish long episodes, all released together and available now on Prime Video. Through them we follow the interconnected stories of three (I would argue four) key characters as they navigate the complexity and chaos of the show’s wonderfully realized world. Fans will have a blast spotting the endless nods to the franchise and admiring the game-perfect detail in nearly every frame. And they (along with everyone else) will also enjoy the offbeat tone, the jolts of violence, and the exquisitely layered storytelling.

The setting goes something like this. In the post-war 1950s a global nuclear war ravaged our planet. Those with the financial means were able to secure spots in underground structures known as vaults. There they stayed protected from the devastation with the intent of preserving the best of humanity until the irradiated surface was fit for repopulation. But while generations of vault dwellers naively lived in safety below, outside a dangerous, violent, and savage new ‘society’ was forming.

The first few episodes do a great job opening up the world while introducing us to three key characters – a vault dweller named Lucy (Ella Purnell), a bounty-hunting ghoul (Walton Goggins), and an ambitious young squire in a militarized organization known as the Brotherhood of Steel (Aaron Moten). We meet the three survivors 219 years after the first nukes dropped, each navigating their own unique storylines which inevitably intersect over time.

The sprightly Lucy and her neurotic brother Norm (Moisés Arias) reside inside Vault 33, a pseudo utopia sealed off from the perilous outside world. Her father Hank (Kyle MacLachlan) is the overseer of Vault 33 whose blue-suited denizens live in a sheltered state of bliss. Lucy is set for an arranged marriage with a dweller from the neighboring Vault 32. But her wedding and subsequent honeymoon turns into a nightmare after the visitors from Vault 32 turn out to be Raiders led by Lee Moldaver (Sarita Choudhury), a mysterious woman who kidnaps Lucy’s father. Defying Vault regulations, the determined yet unprepared Lucy ventures to the surface to find her father and bring him home.

Elsewhere the quiet yet embittered Maximus (Moten) has joined the Brotherhood of Steel, a paramilitary organization devoted to the collection and preservation of technology across post-war America. Through some rather spurious circumstances Maximus is promoted to the rank of Squire and is tasked with accompanying a Knight named Titus (Michael Rapaport) as he tracks down a scientist in possession of some invaluable world-changing tech.

Meanwhile a once famous Hollywood movie star named Cooper Howard (Goggins) has been transformed into a cold-blooded gun-slinging ghoul after being exposed to intense amounts of surface radiation. Now he roams the lawless wasteland as a bounty hunter, complete with a well-worn Stetson, a tattered duster, and Goggins’ signature cowboy drawl. He too is after the scientist in hopes of collecting a big reward. But soon we discover that his manhunt is driven by more than a bounty.

While these three are clearly the main players in the series, there’s also a compelling mystery that uncoils inside Vault 33 as a suspicious Norm unearths secrets about Vault 32 and the even more mystifying Vault 31. It’s yet another piece in what is one big elaborate puzzle. The sheer ability to manage of all of these moving pieces is impressive in itself. But doing so with such artistry and control is astonishing. There are a couple of holes that I haven’t been able to fill, but for the most part the stellar team of writers and directors deliver an absorbing buildup and a satisfying payoff.

Equally vital to the show’s success is the fantastic array of performances. A rich and talented supporting cast help bring the crazy and multifaceted world to life. Dale Dickey, Michael Cristofer, Michael Emerson, and Leslie Uggams are just some of that great faces to show up. But it’s Purnell who is the show’s heart and soul. She immerses us in Lucy’s journey from wide-eyed and gullible to plucky and hardened. And then there’s the beguiling Goggins who astonishes either as the disfigured wastelander or in flashbacks to his Hollywood days prior to the war. He’s an absolute scene-stealer.

The biggest challenge in adapting this particular franchise is in capturing its distinct tone. Thankfully “Fallout” nails it. What we get is twisted, brutal, and even terrifying on occasions. But it’s also outlandish, satirical, and often times laugh-out-loud hilarious. There’s an undeniable bleakness to it all yet it’s surprisingly hopeful in its own absurd way. What’s amazing is that none of these things feel at odds. They all fit firmly together in the world we watch unfold.

“Fallout” can be needlessly crude and a little gratuitous. But I loved watching textured characters grow as they maneuver through the moral haze of a collapsed society. I adored the razor-sharp wit and fabulous 1950s era soundtrack. I ate up the innumerable callbacks and references which is catnip for a franchise fan like me. This show was clearly made by people with a deep admiration for the Fallout video games. It was also made by people who clearly love imaginative worlds, immersive storytelling, and richly developed characters. Sign me up for Season 2.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS

Renowned Hong Kong action director John Woo’s first venture to Hollywood was great for us fans but frustrating for the acclaimed filmmaker. 1993’s “Hard Target” and 1996’s “Broken Arrow” were bullet-riddled blasts but they came with intrusive studio management. It wasn’t until 1997’s “Face/Off” that Woo was finally given the creative control needed to tell the kind of story he wanted to tell and make the kind of movie he wanted to make.

“Face/Off” was a big hit both critically and commercially and the film has aged incredibly well. Without question a major part of the movie’s success was Woo who brought his full arsenal of action-fueled style and imagination to the film. But equally as crucial was the unquestioned talent and charisma of the film’s two leads, John Travolta and Nicolas Cage. Both take on dual roles in portraying the same two characters (sound confusing?) and they absolutely crush it.

Travolta plays plays FBI Agent Sean Archer, the leader of a covert anti-terrorist unit dedicated to taking down a ruthless international terrorist and assassin named Castor Troy (Cage). For Archer the pursuit of Troy is personal. Six years earlier Troy attempted to assassinate Archer, inadvertently killing Archer’s young son Michael instead. Since then Archer has been driven to bring his nemesis down, culminating in a violent shootout at a remote airstrip that leaves several of Archer’s team dead and Troy in a coma.

But Archer’s victory is short-lived after Troy’s captured younger brother and accomplice Pollux (Alessandro Nivola) reveals that a bomb has been placed somewhere in a densely populated area of Los Angeles. But he refuses to give up the location. Out of options, a frustrated Archer is introduced to a top-secret and highly experimental procedure headed by Dr. Malcolm Walsh (Colm Feore) that just might help persuade Pollux to reveal the bomb’s location.

Archer agrees to the procedure which has Troy’s face, voice, and body appearance transplanted to him. From there Archer, who now looks and sounds like Troy (and is now played by Cage), is sent to the same high-security penitentiary where Pollux is being held. But while he’s on his undercover mission to win Pollux’s trust, the real Castor Troy wakes up and forces Dr. Walsh to put Archer’s face on him. Troy then kills everyone who knows about the mission, leaving Archer languishing in prison and stuck as Troy with no way of proving his true identity.

It goes without saying that “Face/Off” has a bonkers premise, but Woo does a great job making it thrilling, suspenseful, and at times surprisingly heartfelt. He injects many of his favorite trademarks from the stylish slow-motion, dual-wielding pistols, and graceful white doves. All of those things on top of his methodical pacing, steady tension building, and layered storylines.

The action is top-notch whether its intensely choreographed gunfights or jaw-dropping (and expensive) set pieces. As for the storytelling, it ranges from funny and over-the-top to downright unsettling. Cage’s wild-man demeanor comes out on several occasions and you can’t help but laugh. At the same time, Travolta slithers under your skin portraying Troy, especially as he infiltrates Archer’s family. His scenes with Archer’s wife Eve (Joan Allen) and their troubled teen daughter Jamie (Dominique Swain) can legitimately make you squirm.

In a time when the action genre seems to struggle to find its identity, it says something that the 27-year-old “Face/Off” still holds up against much of what passes for action cinema today. It’s vintage John Woo who shows why he is such a big screen legend. And it’s a wildly entertaining showcase for John Travolta and Nicolas Cage, both of whom were in the heydays of their careers. So if you’ve never seen “Face/Off” or it has been a while, what better time. It’s now available to own on 4K Ultra HD courtesy of Kino Lorber.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

Director Siddharth Anand (“War”, “Pathaan”) briefly steps away from the popular YRF Spy Universe to make “Fighter”, the first big-budget installment in a planned aerial action franchise. The Hindi blockbuster sees top stars Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone along with screen veteran Anil Kapoor playing aviators in the Indian Air Force who come together to face a potentially devastating threat. Isn’t that usually the case?

Even with that rather obvious setup, “Fighter” still delivers what many will be expecting. It has the unbridled flair, the good-looking stars, the steamy musical numbers, and of course the exhilarating action set pieces. Anand knows what wider audiences want and for the most part he gives it to them. Some will have a hard time with its out-of-fashion hyper-patriotism and comparisons to certain Tom Cruise fighter jet films are inevitable. But as far as big screen fun goes, “Fighter” offers the kind of escapist entertainment many will enjoy.

In the heavily disputed region of Kashmir, a hand-picked group of the Indian Air Force’s top aviators are summoned to Srinagar Air Force Base. There, under the leadership of their commanding officer Rakesh “Rocky” Jai Singh (Kapoor), they are to be turned into a highly trained quick response team. Among the aviators is the infinitely skilled and notoriously reckless flyboy Shamsher “Patty” Pathania (Roshan) and decorated helicopter pilot Minal “Minni” Rathore (Padukone). From the outset we know it’s only a matter of time before sparks fly.

A big chunk of the movie’s first half is spent developing the team’s chemistry and camaraderie. Anand and screenwriter Ramon Chibb do a good job solidifying the group through lighthearted scenes of spirited horseplay and more intense effects-driven training sequences. And of course there’s always time for an elaborate musical number.

As for the characters, Roshan and Padukone are (obviously) an attractive couple and together they have a simmering chemistry. Both of their characters are given emotionally weighty backstories which are hampered by some unnecessary dramatic twists and a schmaltzy narrative convenience or two. Yet Roshan and Padukone keep us attached. As does the solid supporting work from Kapoor, Karan Singh Grover, Akshay Oberoi, Baveen Singh, and Sanjeeda Sheikh.

And of course there’s also the story’s villain, a vaguely conceived terrorist named Azhar Akhtar (Rishabh Sawhney) with an even more vaguely conceived goal of decimating the Indian military. He starts with the horrific bombing of a convoy transporting Indian soldiers. He then sets his eyes on the Srinagar Air Force Base. Indian and Pakistani politics come into play as Akhtar manipulates and maneuvers both sides to his advantage. But neither his motivations or the regional tensions are detailed enough to register, despite Sawhney having the look and grit of a good baddie.

There’s an undeniable playfulness to “Fighter” that blends well with the slow-brewing romance and character-driven drama. But the fuel that flies the film is the action. It’s wild, often thrilling, and sometimes unashamedly over-the-top and reality-defying. This is especially true of the air combat sequences that generally look great, minus the occasionally obvious CGI.

Among the film’s other features or flaws (depending on how you look at them) is a robust score full of emotional cues, some speechifying that goes beyond hokey, and enough gratuitous slow-motion to put Zack Snyder to shame. These things, along with the derivative elements of the script, keep “Fighter” from truly soaring. Yet the film still flies thanks to the sheer star wattage of its outstanding cast and Anand’s go-for-broke style. “Fighter” is out now in select theaters.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS

Director, co-writer, co-producer, co-editor, and co-star Erik Bloomquist is the man behind “Founders Day”, a new feature that can best be described as a political slasher film that plays a little like a whodunit but is at its best as a black comedy. It doesn’t all come together particularly well, but there are some good ideas scattered throughout and fans should find enough to carry them over till the next slasher comes down the pipe.

Bloomquist sets his film in the small town of Fairwood that’s in the middle of a heated mayoral race between incumbent Blair Gladwell (Amy Hargreaves) and challenger Harold Faulkner (Jayce Bartok). The two candidates seem to be lightly modeled after Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump (at least at first) which lends to some pretty good early laughs. Both are glaringly obvious phonies who have put winning above everything else including their community and their families.

But Fairwood is rocked after Faulkner’s daughter, Melissa (Olivia Nikkanen) is brutally killed and thrown off a bridge by a preposterous looking killer who wears a ghoulish red mask, a white founding father’s wig, and a long black judge’s robe. The murderer’s weapon of choice – a wooden gavel with a protracting blade in the handle. From there (as you can probably guess), the killer sets out on their own blood-soaked campaign of carnage, terrorizing the little town and sending the people into a panic.

Among the things Bloomquist and his co-writing brother Carson do well is create a diverting assortment of characters. Inevitably some are just fodder for the killer to beat or butcher. Others are there to fill our pool of suspects. No one has much depth, but they all help convey the feeling of a small town community. Aside from the politicians, there’s also the police commissioner, a loyal deputy, an ambitious campaign manager, the local bartender, a beloved high school teacher, and a loving father and daughter (who seem to be the only Black people in town).

And of course there are the fresh batch of teenagers ready to be carved. Among them are the kids of the two candidates, both of whom are forced to take back seats to their parents’ ambitions. There is the Faulkner’s other kid, Adam (Devin Druid) and there is Mayor Gladwell’s daughter Lilly (Emilia McCarthy). Then there’s Allison (Naomi Grace) who was with Melissa the night she was murdered and the lone eyewitness. As for the other teens, there is a psycho couple (Dylan Slade and Kate Edmonds) and the town bad boy (Tyler James White).

Along the way we get some utterly disposable teen drama that never registers and feels more like filler than anything else. But it doesn’t take the Bloomquists long to crank up the kills. They start rather tame but get gnarlier as the story progresses. As for the story, it’s pretty outrageous and culminates in an ending that’s too hard to swallow to have the effect it wants. Yet admittedly it’s kinda fun keeping up with the characters as Bloomquist moves them around from suspect to victim.

While it’s certainly a horror movie, “Founders Day” isn’t the slightest bit scary. But as fans of the slasher sub-genre know, it not necessarily the frights that people enjoy about them. It’s the gruesome kills, guessing the killer’s identity, seeing who survives, etc. “Founders Day” has all of that plus some unexpectedly funny touches of its own. But that’s as close as the movie gets to originality. If you’re looking for anything remotely fresh you won’t find it here. Otherwise, there’s enough bloody fun to satisfy the genre faithful.

VERDICT – 2.5 STARS