Cast – Samuel L. Jackson, Jessie Usher, Regina Hall, Alexandra Shipp & Richard Roundtree

Director – Tim Story

Genre – Action/Comedy

Running Time – 1h 51m

JJ, aka John Shaft Jr. (Usher), may be a cyber security expert with a degree from MIT, but to uncover the truth behind his best friend’s untimely death, he needs an education only his dad can provide. Absent throughout JJ’s youth, the legendary locked-and-loaded John Shaft (Jackson) agrees to help his progeny navigate Harlem’s heroin-infested underbelly. And while JJ’s own FBI analyst’s badge may clash with his dad’s trademark leather duster, there’s no denying family. Besides, Shaft’s got an agenda of his own, and a score to settle that’s professional and personal

Shaft has always had a certain swag about it, this applies both to the earlier and current version. Director Tim Story says it was something of a personal milestone to direct a new action comedy about the character he considers a cultural icon:

“Shaft was, to a certain degree, our first black superhero,” he offers. “From the start, he was a man’s man with style and swagger, who didn’t take any b.s. from anyone. He had a way of talking to everyone that, being black, I wanted to emulate growing up. It wasn’t just a movie; it meant so much more.”

The original 1971 film, starring Richard Roundtree in the title role, helped usher in a groundbreaking cinematic movement that became known as “Blaxploitation”—action films centered around powerful African-American characters. Samuel L. Jackson, who starred as John Shaft in the 2000 installment and reprises his role in the new film, comments:

“Out of all the characters of that era, Shaft is the one that endures. He is legendary—the best dresser, the toughest guy, the sexiest, the coolest…every ‘est’ that you could imagine. Shaft had a dignity about him that made us all proud. He’s the guy everybody wanted to be.”

There’s a lot to like about this one and we especially liked the fact that it doesn’t try too hard. Considering how it’s set up it ran the risk of being very cheesy but surprisingly it’s not and instead what we have is a likeable movie that is expertly driven by Jackson’s swag and poise. If there ever was a movie perfectly made for him it’s this one, he is in his element in this one. His great onscreen relationship with Jessie Usher (who plays JJ) is the main element that drives it. Just a word of advice that it has been rated R (for pervasive language, violence, sexual content, some drug material and brief nudity) so just take extra note of that.

The storyline is simple and for a movie like this that works perfectly and makes it very easy to follow. Humor (something we are huge fans of) is also something you will find in this flick. The action scenes are also carried out with a certain coolness that overall lends itself well to its overall make up. Needless to say it is smooth in every sense of the word and goes down very well. It’s not a must watch but it definitely is one to add to your weekend watching and anyone who wants to let loose and watch a feel good movie then this is it, without a doubt.

Shaft is a very well put together movie driven by the brilliance and presence that is Samuel L. Jackson. It’s very smooth and makes for a very cool watch. It’s good in the sense that even the least avid movie watcher will have a good time watching it. A very cool addition to the Netflix library, Shaft is worth your time, trust us and that’s why it gets a very smooth 7.5 out of 10 rating from us. Good news is you can also now watch it as it’s officially streaming from tomorrow (Friday, 28 June) on Netflix.

Thank you to the Netflix folk for the early screening, as always, classy.

Cast – James McAvoy, Bruce Willi, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sarah Paulson & Samuel L. Jackson

Director – M. Night Shyamalan

Genre – Drama/Fantasy

Running Time – 2h 9m

From Unbreakable, Bruce Willis returns as David Dunn as does Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price, known also by his pseudonym Mr. Glass. Joining from Split are James McAvoy, reprising his role as Kevin Wendell Crumb and the multiple identities who reside within, and Anya Taylor-Joy as Casey Cooke, the only captive to survive an encounter with The Beast. Following the conclusion of Split, Glass finds Dunn pursuing Crumb’s superhuman figure of The Beast in a series of escalating encounters, while the shadowy presence of Price emerges as an orchestrator who holds secrets critical to both men.

Glass is unlike anything you are going to see anytime soon. As mentioned it takes its cue and is part of a trilogy that started with Unbreakable, a movie released back in 2000 and introduced us to the characters David Dunn (Bruce Willis) and Elijah Price aka Mr Glass (Samuel L. Jackson). This was then taken a step further with Split released in 2016. All the aforementioned movies were overseen by M. Night Shyamalanthe, the same creator and director of Glass.

For the entertainment factor the movie definitely has that especially the absorbing and out of this world performance from James McEvoy, we didn’t expect anything less from him to be honest. Samuel L. Jackson also comes through with a strong performance as the enigmatic mastermind Mr Glass, the only let down is Bruce Willis who despite his best efforts in his role as David Dunn, the character seems a bit forced and out of place.

There’s more that could have been done with the movie we also feel, despite its entertaining patches we were disappointed by its conceptual plot and how everything was carried out. Considering how Split was set up, Glass pales into comparison and we feel it’s an opportunity lost. Unbreakable we haven’t seen yet so we can’t quite say how this compares to it. If anything, Glass promises a great platform but falls short of delivering an epic classic.

Glass is a great conceptual movie that was perfectly built up through its predecessors Unbreakable and Split. Despite leaving us with several questions and the feeling of it falling short, it does provide some thrilling moments. No doubt that the main highlight of the movie is James McEvoy who in his role as multiple characters delivers a spectacular performance. If anything, you need to go and see the movie just for his performance. With all that said, Split gets a decent 6 out 10 rating from us. A decent enough watch that you will do best to go checkout for yourself and make up your own mind about. It’s officially in cinemas from today.

Special thanks to MNet Movies (in partnership with Ster Kinekor) for the great screening, as usual.

Several images from the set of the movie as well as supposed plots have been leaked but nothing concrete…until now that is. The official trailer has been unveiled and we are here to share it with you:

The Premise

The film follows Carol Danvers as she becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races. Set in the 1990s, Captain Marvel is an all-new adventure from a previously unseen period in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Captain Marvel stars Academy Award® winner Brie Larson (Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Ben Mendelsohn, Djimon Hounsou (Korath), Lee Pace (Ronan), Lashana Lynch, Gemma Chan (Minn-Erva), Algenis Perez Soto, Rune Temte, McKenna Grace, Kenneth Mitchell (Joseph Danvers), with Clark Gregg (Phil Coulson), and Jude Law (Marv-Vell).

Captain Marvel officially hits the big screen on March 8, 2019, with the fourth Avengers movie releasing on May 3, 2019, and Spider-Man: Far From Home flying in on July 5, 2019. A jam packed 2019 it’s going to be, bring it on!

Another exclusive and well organised Ster-Kinekor screening allowed me to check the movie out a bit earlier than usual…as always a young shout out goes out to those lovely humans!

So, what about the actual movie itself? Does it live up to the billing and the star power it possesses? Before we go there though, if you haven’t seen it yet or just want to check it out again mainly because it’s awesome, here’s the official trailer:

Cast – Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Oldman, Salma Hayek, Élodie Yung, Joaquim de Almeida, Kirsty Mitchell & Richard E. Grant

Director – Patrick Hughes

Genre – Action/Adventure

Running Time – 1h 58m

The Plot

The world’s top protection agent is called upon to guard the life of his mortal enemy, one of the world’s most notorious hitmen. The relentless bodyguard and manipulative assassin have been on the opposite end of the bullet for years and are now thrown together for a wild and outrageous 24 hours. During their journey from England to The Hague, they encounter high-speed car chases, outlandish boat escapades, bullets and merciless. These are directed at them by an Eastern European dictator whose main mission is to make sure that the Hitman doesn’t survive to testify against them.

Saying it upfront, I really loved this movie, more so than I thought I would actually. It’s the type of movie that almost anyone can watch. Though an action movie, in it we also find a fantastic amount of humor (lots of it!) and adventure mostly driven by its two equally fantastic leads (Reynolds and Jackson). The plot is also pretty good, not the best but very good – the concept behind it is what will especially lend itself well to many…a hitman who needs a bodyguard?

The Hitman’s Bodyguard is the type of movie I wouldn’t mind watching over and over again, and recommend to just about anyone continuously. That’s the type of effect it had on me. It’s also one of the best movies I’ve watched this year and honestly cannot find any fault with it. We need more movies like it – good plot, flowing nicely throughout, star power merging well together, humor done in the right way and of course great action sequences.

It promised a lot right off the bat and after seeing it I can safely admit that The Hitman’s Bodyguard delivers on what it initially promises. It includes a perfect balance of everything from humor to action sequences delivered by a cast who ooze star power, charm and swag. The plot’s also not too bad with everything flowing from one end to the other with not much fuss or complication. It opens up in cinemas tomorrow, do the right thing and go check it out. Absolutely dug it and that’s why it gets a 4.4 out of 5 rating from me.