The Misfits

 Greetings, Readers of the Rotten. Today is a recent release because I needed a break from the typical stuff I view. A mixture of a heist movie worthy of Ocean's 11 and The Italian Job with the stunt work car chases of a Fast and Furious flick. Round that out with a decent cast along with the charm of Pierce Brosnan. This is The Misfits.

 

Vodka martini? Stop copying me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A quick heads up for potential viewers of this movie. Nick Cannon does a lot of narration voice over in this film. You have been warned if you're not a fan of his voice. If this isn't a problem then disregard the warning.

A gentleman thief, Richard Pace (Pierce Brosnan of Remington Steele, Noble House, The Deceivers, The Lawnmower Man, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The Thomas Crown Affair, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Laws of Attraction and Momma Mia) breaks out of a maximum security prison, his fourth one in fact and is off to acquire ill-gotten gains. With a bit of detail, he knows of a fat cat Kuwaitti prince with a collection of expensive time pieces, making him easy pickings. No sooner has he snatched up the watches, the local police, FBI and the creator of said private prison Shultz (Tim Roth of Resevoir Dogs, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Pulp Fiction, Rob Roy, Four Rooms, No Way Home, Planet of the Apes, The Musketeer, The Incredible Hulk, Lie to Me and Broken). Shultz may be a trifle miffed with Pace. There's the escaping his prisons and making him look professionally like an ass but Pace also plowed Shultz's wife soooo...yeah, that could be motive.

Yeah, I know Tarantino.

 

 

 

 

 

With watches in hand, the authorities hot on his heels, Pace accepts a lift from his mark, simply known as The Prince (producer/actor Rami Jaber of 2 Hours 2 Vegas, Fate, Tough Love, The Misfits, Last Man Standing, WarHunt and The Good Neighbor). A con man, fixer and wheeler and dealer of justice.

His crew, the Misfits deal justice to people cheating the system, swindlers, deadbeat dads and general scumbags. The Prince's face, Ringo (Producer/writer/actor Nick Cannon of All That, Shall We Dance, Roll Bounce, Even Money, Monster House, Weapons, Day of the Dead, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Berserk and The Misfits), hardass strong armViolet (Jamie Chung of Samurai Girl, Dragonball Evolution, Sorority Row, Sucker Punch, The Hangover Part II, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Gotham, 1985, The Gifted, Sherwood and Dangerous Lies) and explosives expert Wick (Mike Angelo of Full House, Surprise, Raak Boon 2, Wuxin: The Monster Killer, Kiss Me, My Little Princess and Mr. Swimmer). 

 

WHAT?! WE CAN'T HEAR YOU!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This crew brings Pace a chance to pull a major heist. In one of the prisons outside Dubai is devices set aside for terrorism campaigns. 35 million in gold bars. The thing is they want to steal the gold and do good with it. Pace has been looking out for himself since he started being a thief. It has costed him a marriage and a strained relationship with his daughter, Hope (Hermione Corfield of 50 Kisses, Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Fallen, xXx: Return of Xander Cage, The Halcyon, Bees Make Honey, Star Wars: Episode VIII- The Last Jedi, Rust Creek and Slaughterhouse Rulez), a UNICEF worker and may have learned a fair amount of skills from her father at an impressionable age. Bumping into Hope, the alarm bells go off in my head. An impressive caper, the random encounter with his daughter and Shultz hot on his heels?? C'mon Pace, there are no coincidences.

Hope still holds out...well hope that her father can be altruistic and do some good by removing this gold to avoid future terrorism. The crew is solid, the plan is feasible but there is a lot of planning and prep. Thankfully "The Prince" has deep, deep pockets. Think Tony Stark mixed with even more connections and contacts. Less armored suits of course.

Will Pace and crew pull this off? Will Shultz have them all in the slammer?

So overall, it is a pretty predictable story but I have seen enough heist flicks that the formulae is easy enough to create. The dialogue feels dummy down to appeal to a larger audience but it doesn't detract from the full staple in the film. Six individuals doing good and is loving every minute of it. It didn't blow me away but it was well-executed.

 Pierce and Jamie have a bit of sexual tension there and that felt like they just wanted the same effect of Grace Kelly and Cary Grant via To Catch a Thief with a mixture of The Italian Job car stunts and Ocean's Eleven worthy con jobs. As a whole, it was an enjoyable film and I could watch again. 

 

I miss teleporting.

 

Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe

 What's going on kiddies? We're back with the day of June 22^nd is the birthday of actor/writer/producer Bruce Campbell (The Evil Dead, Moontrap, Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Tornado!, Escape from L.A., Ellen, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess, Bubba Ho-Tep and Burn Notice). From the humble Super 8 beginnings to three novels, this actor boy has been a Three Stooges fan as a lad and got the acting bug roughly about the same time. Today's movie gives us a glimpse into Burn Notice character, Sam Axe and what brought about his mustering out of rank and military clearance. This is Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe.

 

Ash and the Mandalorian side-by-side

 

 

 

 

 

 As our film opens, Sam (Bruce Campbell, in case you missed that.) is in his dress uniform and being brought before a military hearing for his conduct of his last "fact finding" mission in Columbia 3 years prior to the series. The fact this hearing is even happening means everything went pear shaped or SNAFU. Admiral Lawrence (John Diehl of Stripes, Miami Vice, Fail Safe, Lost Souls, The Zeros, Pearl Harbor, Jurassic Park III, The Shield, Land of Plenty, Point Pleasant, Gary's Walk and Gabe the Cupid Dog) wants Sam to walk him through all these events that lead up to the flaming dumpster fire of a mission.

 

What do you mean "sidekicks"?

 

 

 

 

 

As Sam re-accounts his actions bringing him to his mission, he was doing a bit of reconnaissance... or spot the submarine with a rather dishy blonde, Donna (Chandra West of Universal Soldier II: Brother in Arms, Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business, NYPD Blue, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, The Gates, Z and Spiral). The downside to this lover connection? She happens to be the wife of his superior officer, Admiral Maitland (Alex Fernandez of F.E.A.R. 3, Driver: San Francisco, NCIS, Dallas, Killer Women, Devious Maids, True Detective, Stevie D, Lucifer and Christmas Crime Story). Talk about not taking in your surroundings.

 

Can't help you, Sam. I'm just a cameo.

 

 

 

 

 

A near miss with Maitland, Sam leans on his buddy, Michael Westen (Jeffery Donovan of Bait, The Blair Witch Project 2: Book of Shadows, Touching Evil, Hitch, Crossing Jordan, Burn Notice, Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe, Sicario, Shut Eye and Wonder Woman: Bloodlines) back between missions in Afghanistan, takes in Axe's blunder and gives him the advice to lay low and avoid the whole mess.

  No sooner does Sam leave the bar hopping, he is picked up by the SP (Shore Patrol) and delivered to Maitland. Rather than hanging Sam from a yard arm, Axe is given a mission to Columbia to observe the accounts of a rebel movement, Espada Adriente (Flaming Sword, gringos) and work with army liaison Comandante Veracruz (Pedro Pascal of The Good Wife, Lights Out, The Adjustment Bureau, Sweet Little Lies, Red Widow, Game of Thrones, Graceland, The Mentalist and The Mandalorian) then report back their findings. As time passes, Sam feels this is no milk run and uncovers the Colombian army under Veracruz seems to be heavily involved in cocaine trafficking. Ho boy. 

 

Okay, kid. Look. I just like Boba Fett more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meeting with a relief aid worker, Amanda Maples(Kiele Sanchez of Married to the Kellys, Related, Lost, Football Wives, Samantha Who?, Insanitarium, A Perfect Getaway, 30 Days of Night: Dark Days, The Glades, The Purge: Anarchy and Kingdom) and only doctor in the region, Ben Delaney (RonReaco Lee of Man of Your Dreams, Madea Goes to Jail, Worst Week, In the Motherhood, The Good Guys, Let's Stay Together, Complications, We Are Family, The Quad and Running Out of Time), along with seemingly lost orphan Beatriz (Ilza Ponko of La Teacher de Ingles, Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe, Burn Notice, Lynch, The Darkness, Hands of Stone, La Piloto, Ruta Madre and La Reina Soy Yo). The Colombian army is coming down on Sam's head and all the people he may have interacted with. Armed with peasants, farmers and locals, Axe is feeling the hurt and running out of ideas and gas. All must be made silent.  Kinda getting the vibe they have mass burial sites at the ready for such an occasion.

Beatriz wants to fight along side Sam but he wants her to do something to give them an edge instead. Sam has to get the good guys on his side against Veracruz, who is claiming anything he chooses to discredit Sam and then go mop them up. 

 

With directorial by Jeffery Donovan, he and Matt Nix (writer and creator of Burn Notice) got Bruce's speech patterns and dropped a bit of dialogue that worked well with him. A few spoilers is Bruce getting the use of a chainsaw and yes Deadites, we do get a groovy in there. A few goofs I noticed and only because I am a military brat, I give you the following: Naval officers wear white shoes not black ones with dress uniform and he wasn't wearing his SEAL trident.

As far as film goofs of continuity, I couldn't help but notice Sam had his sidearm the whole time, including being kidnapped prior. Overall, the Campbell fans and Burn Notice fans will appreciate this TV movie. I think Matt Nix might have been a Get Smart fan as the opening sequence was similar to the hallway walk through.

Happy 63^rd birthday, El Jefe!

 

Soooo...no beer then?