Tag Archives: Phylicia Rashad

415 – The Beekeeper

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As José describes, the Expendables films set Jason Statham up as the logical inheritor of the action hero crown formerly held by Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Van Damme and so on – and true to his status as such, Statham has many rubbish films under his belt. The Beekeeper is the latest, in which we learn of a programme of state-sponsored vigilantes – the Beekeepers – who act on their own terms, when something goes awry, to protect the hive that is the USA.

That the film is trash doesn’t mean it’s not fun, and Mike had a good time with the story’s daftness, the obviousness with which its cogs turn, and the action, which, while far from brilliant and heavily reliant on sound effects, is also intense and entertaining. José decries the film’s politics, dumbness, and use of British actors in so many of its American roles.

With José Arroyo of First Impressions and Michael Glass of Writing About Film.

391 – Creed III

Listen on the players above, Apple Podcasts, Audible, Google Podcasts, or Spotify.

Listen to our podcasts on the original Rocky and the Rocky series here.

Michael B. Jordan makes his first feature as director in his third Creed film as star. Creed III sees a retired Adonis Creed living comfortably with his wife and daughter, the walls of their mansion coated with trophies achieved during successful careers… until a figure from Adonis’ past comes back to haunt him.

If that language sounds clichéd, then good, because the film is nothing but. 2015’s Creed was a powerful reinvigoration of the Rocky series, so perhaps it’s fitting that this third instalment is reminiscent of those Roman numeralled sequels, all soap opera and surface. What could have been rich and dramatic is instead thin and uninterested in complexity. But the fights are nice and punchy and Jonathan Majors’ Damian is a bright spark, so there’s that.

Creed III isn’t a dreadful film, but it falls terribly short of its obvious potential and of the standard set by its predecessor.
With José Arroyo of First Impressions and Michael Glass of Writing About Film.