Sabotage - Netflix Instant Review

        Arnold Schwarzenegger is back in Sabotage, which would be a different kind of role for him than you may be used to seeing in movies like Last Action Hero or Commando.   He may have needed this since his last movie, Last Stand, wasn’t that great.  

         In Sabotage, Schwarzenegger is Breacher, head of a nasty DEA team with agents who take care of any dirty jobs that come their way, such as infiltrating the drug cartel.  In addition, this unit doesn’t mind taking money for themselves, such as $10 million dollars in their latest takedown.  

          Unfortunately for them, the money that they took has disappeared and no one knows what happened to it.  The unit has also been accused of taking the money and went under investigation.  No charges were brought since there was no evidence that anything was taken.  

          Breacher’s problem is that people in his unit are getting killed.  The killing seems to go on during the police investigation and there seem to be no clues to this other than $10 million dollars that has disappeared, making the agents turn on each other.  In the meantime, Breacher is still trying to cope with the loss of his wife and son who were murdered by the drug cartel. 

           All this leads to a lot of action and suspense as Breacher wants to find out who the people are that are killing his agents.  The answers are surprising and it only makes the movie better, right down to the final scene.  

           If there was one movie that I could think of that was similar to this, I would say it was Copland with Sylvester Stallone.  Schwarzenegger performance is great, along with the agents, who are edgy characters who you would not want to have a run in with.  All of them are memorable and I would say that this movie is worth five stars.  

Ron Hummer 

           

Never Look Away by Linwood Barclay Book Review

         It was a nice summer afternoon and David Harwood decided to take his wife and son to an amusement park.  Then two things happened.  First, Ethan, their four year old son had disappeared when Jan Harwood came back, telling her husband that she just turned her back for a second and he was gone.  

         David and Jan went looking for Ethan and after a few minutes, David found Ethan in his stroller.  Relieved, he called Jan and only got her voicemail.  After several more attempts, he still got her voicemail.  Eventually, he would report this to the police because Jan had disappeared from the park and didn’t go home.  

          This is where Linwood Barclay’s psychological thriller, Never Look Away begins.  Unlike his other novels, I would say that there is a blend of comedy and shades of Elmore Leonard based on vicious and stupid criminals that you would see in early novels from Leonard such as 52 Pickup and Stick.

           Barclay does a great job of capturing what it’s like to work in a newspaper and you see the problems that develop such as having some of these jobs in India.  It adds a lot of comedy to the novel along with the conflicts reporters have on doing stories that could create problems for the paper.  

            As far as the story goes, the tension only mounts as Harwood tries to find Jan, only to receive some surprises and revelations that he did not expect from a woman that he was married to for 4 years.  It’s the type of story that you would see in headlines on the news.  If that isn’t enough, he is also being accused of Jan’s disappearance since the husband is usually the first suspect to be looked at. 

             Barclay has put a cast of characters that you would not expect based on his other novels.  They are believable and only make the story more memorable as the story moves along with a great shifting point of view that kept me on the edge of my couch because I didn’t know what was going to happen next. 

              It’s impossible to say which novel is the best by Linwood Barclay but as far as I’m concerned, Never Look Away is again one of his best novels and I wish I can give it more than five stars.  

Ron Hummer

The November Man - DVD Review

          Based on the series of books by Bill Granger, Pierce Bronson comes back to play an Ex-CIA op who is involved in a personal mission that involves his ex-wife, a former protege, and a corrupt and dangerous Russian political figure.   Having the CIA come after Bronson only makes the movie even more exciting and riveting as well.  

          The movie is off to a tough start.  Bronson, who plays Devereaux, is on a mission with his protege when a child is murdered in the middle of a crowded street.  Devereaux blames his protege for this and the two are separated and never meet again until this mission comes up. 

          Devereaux is asked by his former boss to get someone out of Russia because she may have some secret information.  Devereaux is not told who the woman is and when he gets to Russia, he is very surprised to find out that this woman is his ex-wife. Her secret is a name of a woman who has witnessed war crimes that has involved a Russian political figure.  Fortunately, Devereaux manages to get the name before his wife is killed.  

            All this leads Devereaux on a chase to find the woman before she is killed with the CIA hot and other assassins on his heels.  One of the killers is his former protege, so Devereaux will be battling him and leading him on a game of cat and mouse, escalating it to be more personal as the plot in the movie thickens.  

            As far as performances go, Bronson is at his best as he drives the movie along with his meetings with his ex-boss and protege, making the movie exciting from start to finish.  There are some plot twists and when I reached the end, I was surprised by the outcome since the movie was unpredictable.  

            If you’re a fan of Robert Ludlum and Jason Bourne, then I would say that this is right up there as one of the best movies I’ve seen this year.  It’s certainly worth more than five stars and I will be reading more of Bill Granger’s books in the new year.  

Ron Hummer 

The Other Daughter by Lisa Gardner

            The Other Daughter starts off with the execution of a serial killer.  The subject is not very appealing to me, especially when it comes to killing children, but I have to say that Lisa Gardner comes up with a way to create some tremendous plot twists in this book that really show her at the top of her game.  

            Melanie Stokes is an event planner and she had heard about the execution of a serial killer but based on dreams she is having, she is wondering if there is any relevance to her family that had adopted her after their daughter Megan was kidnapped and never found.  Her worst fears seem to be confirmed when she meets a reporter who says that she may be related to the serial killer.  

             The story takes off from there as Melanie starts to investigate this mystery after the reporter is killed and attempts are made on her life.  The tension in the story only grows based on a rich family that is corrupt and dysfunctional.  Add an FBI agent who was a former baseball player who has to deal with bad back problems to a cast of memorable characters that you will not like only makes the story even better. 

             Issues such as Melanie’s father, who is a doctor, make the story very disturbing when you read about the healthcare industry and the corruption of doctors made the story more engrossing for me.  You can also include Melanie’s mother, who is an alcoholic, and an abusive ex-husband, to make the story seem even more disturbing and realistic. 

             With all that, you have a great plot and a mystery of who killed Megan Stokes.  There are a lot of suspects and I was drawn into each one of them, not knowing until the end who the killer was.  It lead to a great climax that kept me riveted until I was finished.  

              This is only the second book that I have read by Lisa Gardner and I look forward to reading more of them.  It’s certainly worthy of five stars.  

Ron Hummer 

The Thieves - Netflix Streaming Review

         You might think that this is just another heist film that would be up there with Ocean Eleven but I would say that you’re in for a big surprise when you see the movie The Thieves.   This is a film where people from South Korea team up with a crew from Hong Kong to take a valuable diamond called The Tear Of The Sun from a Casino. 

          The movie opens with two woman posing as mother and daughter in order to rob an art gallery.  The mother, who goes by the name, Chewing Gum, along with a wire woman named Yenicall, who is prepared to go down an elevator shaft to grab some valuable art like you would see Parker in action in the TV show Leverage. 

            Once the job is done, the group, led by Popie, wants to move on to a bigger score which would be to grab a diamond at the Casino.  Popie would team up with his old partner, Macau Park, in order to do this.  There are a lot of questions though since Macau Park disappeared after their last heist four years ago where $68kg of gold had disappeared and Pepsee, Park’s partner in the heist, was arrested for it. 

           Of course, this is a dangerous heist since the diamond is owned by the mistress of Wei Hong, who is a gangster and has a past with Macau Park as well.  As the movie moves along from past to the present, you would see that several of the thieves have their own agenda, making for an unpredictable outcome for the heist.  

            During the movie, there will be a good blend of action, comedy, and suspense as the days draw closer to the heist.  I would say that you would never know what is going to happen next as the heist starts and there were a lot things that I did not expect to happen, making the movie even more gripping all the way to the end.  

             Yes, this is not your typical Ocean Eleven’s movie.  I would say that in many ways, it was a better movie. It is certainly worth more than five stars.   

Ron Hummer   

             

              

Judgment and Wrath by Matt Hilton - Book Review

         Joe Hunter is back for another action packed adventure as he is hired to bring Marianne Dean back to her father because her husband is accused of being abusive to her.  With the help of his friend Rink, Matt goes on the mission but finds out that an assassin named Dantelion has been hired to kill Marianne and her husband.  

          Like the previous book, Dead Man’s Dust, the book switches point of view from Joe Hunter to Dantelion as the two face off against each other while Hunter is protecting Marianne and her husband at the same time.  The action is non-stop and you never know what is going to happen next. 

           Of course, the mystery here is why Dantelion is hired to kill Marianne and her husband.  Joe will go out of his way to determine why this is happening and he’s in for some surprises as the story unfolds, making the story even more unpredictable.  

           Comparing this to Dead Man’s Dust, i would say that this is a much better story since the focus of the story is not on the serial killer and Joe’s brother.  We know more about Joe as the story continues and all this makes for a better story with a good blend of comedy, action and suspense.  

            Dantelion makes the story more gripping since he is determined to complete his job, killing anyone who gets in his way.  This makes the story even more intense as Joe and Rink are determined to stop Dantelion by any means, setting up for a great and unpredictable ending to this novel.  

             Is Lee Child in for some competition?  In many ways, I would say yes since Joe Hunter is a great protagonist who adds a good blend of humor, action, and snappy dialogue to the story, along with his partner, Rink.  He’s not only battling Dantelion but taking on the police and the FBI who want Joe to stay out of the way of the investigation.  

              I would say that you don’t have to read Dead Man’s Dust if you don’t want to.  While that is a good story, I would say that Judgment and Wrath is much better and I wish I could give it more than five stars.  

Ron Hummer 

Wasabi - DVD Review

          If you want an unusual opening to a movie, then that’s the way Wasabi begins with Jean Reno.  Reno plays a French policeman who has some unique ways of dealing with criminals.  In this case, three men who are dressed as women are about to rob a bank and Reno goes in there, punching the men out in order to stop the crime from being committed.  

          Reno, who is Hubert Fiorentini, is on the brink of going on suspension for his actions in this case and other cases.  When his boss suspends him, he is told to look at it as a vacation in order to have some fun.  

           For Hubert, that would be difficult since he is still pining away for his girlfriend who is in Japan.  She had left him 19 years ago and he didn’t know why.  Right after his suspension, Reno receives a call from a lawyer who tells him that his girlfriend died and he is to come to Japan since she named him in her Will.  

            Once he arrives in Japan, he discovers that his girlfriend may have been murdered and if that isn’t enough, he finds out that he has a 19 year old daughter from his ex-girlfriend.  Their relationship would bring even more laughs to the movie since she is involved with social media and is always texting, which would be different for Hubert since he isn’t familiar with that. 

             Hubert plays the socially awkward who finds out that he is up against a mafia kingpin in Japan.  His favorite game is golf and he is so skilled that he manages to hit the golf balls exactly where he wants, even if the target includes people.  His antics of getting into fights that are quick brings a lot of suspense as well. 

             Other characters in the story also help to bring in a lot of laughs as well, whether it’s Hubert’s current girlfriend, his boss, or his former bumbling partner, who is even more awkward than Hubert if that’s possible.  

              Between the golf balls and the quick martial fights, there are some laughs in the movie, which make it a good blend of comedy and action.  Even with an ending that is predictable, I would give the movie four stars.  

Ron Hummer