Month: August 2020

John Wick-Helmer Chad Stahelski Has Interest in Blade!

You may not know Chad Stahelski right now, and outside of the John Wick franchise, it’d be hard to blame you. The director of the trilogy, set to return to the franchise with the 4th and 5th installments shot back-to-back, was mostly known in the industry for his stunt choreography in films like Captain America: Winter Soldier, The Matrix, and The Hunger Games, but now he’s becoming a hot director among action films, with an upcoming take on Highlander in the near-future.

Stahelski was recently speaking with Comicbook.com when he was asked it he’d ever take on a Marvel film of his own, and he said:

“If the opportunity ever came, the one that really jumps out to me would be like ‘Blade.’ If they were going to redo ‘Blade’ or something like that, just because I feel that one, for some reason, the vampire martial art action vibe. That would be a cool one to stretch and try and reinvent.”

For this film fan, I find that Stahelski is doing impressive work with Keanu Reeves in the John Wick franchise, and given the choice of him continuing on that path of leaving to do a Blade film, I’d rather see him do more Wick. Purely selfish, but I like when he has an edge and Marvel won’t give him that. Even as far as Highlander goes, that’s a tough egg to crack, and I think he’s capable, but much like Justin Lin’s work on the Fast & Furious franchise, Stahelski seems to only get better with each film.

All that being said, if Marvel approached him for Blade and he said Yes, I could only be excited. His stunt coordinating on Winter Soldier and its follow-up, Civil War, were both so kinetic and raw and they excited the realm of superhero films and became hard action films. What Stahelski could bring to a vampire martial arts action film could only be good, and I’m all for it as long as he keeps turning out good work (the most frequent John Wick film is the best one yet, fight me).

So what do you think? Would you like to see Chad Stahelski keep on directing John Wick films or should he broaden out by trying to nab a Blade film? Is there another property you’d like to see him tackle? Let me know/Drop a comment below!

John Wick: Chapter 4 is scheduled for release on May 27, 2022.

 

-Kyle A. Goethe

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[Happy 20th Birthday!] Bring It On (2000)

Director: Peyton Reed

Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku, Jesse Bradford, Gabrielle Union

Screenplay: Jessica Bendinger

98 mins. Rated PG-13.

 

Can you believe it’s been 20 years since Bring It On came out? Well, I can, because this is the first time I’ve ever seen it. Let’s take a look back at Peyton Reed’s (Ant-Man, Yes Man) cheerleading film.

Torrance Shipman (Kirsten Dunst, Spider-Man, TV’s On Becoming a God in Central Florida) has just been selected to be the new Team Captain for the Toros cheerleading squad. When Torrance tries to add the new girl, Missy (Eliza Dushku, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, The Saint) to the squad, she learns that her team has been using stolen moves and routines from other people for years. Torrance is forced to reinvent the squad in order to win without stealing, but she soon finds that her team is not as willing to adapt to the new way of doing things.

As I stated earlier, this was the first time I watched this film, and when I spoke with other people who had seen this film back in 2000, I learned that I seem to be in the minority. This is a bad movie. I did not find much to like about it. The opening of this film was awful. I didn’t care much for Peyton Reed’s directing. I wasn’t impressed with the acting. I loathe the screenplay. I’m sorry, but I have to speak my thoughts. This was a bad movie.

The level of cheese that 20 years will add to some pop cultural films will help, and I will say, the cheesiness did help with that. I’m a big fan of Eliza Dushku, specifically from the work she did back in the early aughts, and I enjoyed the character of Missy and what she brings to the team. I feel like the film would be more enjoyable from her perspective primarily with Torrance as a secondary supporting lead.

From a purely technical perspective, the film is technically sound, but it lacks any technical flair. The cinematography is fine, but not flashy. The editing is fine, but the pacing is poor. The music was fine, but it isn’t memorable, even for an older film. There just isn’t anything that I loved about this film.

What it boils down to here is that I really enjoyed Kirsten Dunst and Eliza Dushku as the leads, but the film would work much better with the narrative focused on Dushku’s Missy. I like the way the narrative played out near the end. Outside of that, the film just doesn’t work for me. I’m very glad that many people love this movie, and it’s true. A lot of people love it. I am not one of those people. If you are, I’m happy for you, but it didn’t work for me. Bring It On, for me, simply doesn’t work.

 

2/5

-Kyle A. Goethe

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