Lion

Dev Patel picked up the BAFTA for supporting actor but did not manage to take the Oscar as well. His Australian accent is very impressive and Lion deals with this idea of adoption and feeling lost. Based on a true story, it comes with a happy ending which makes for good watching.

The real star of this film is Sunny Pawar. Perhaps a little too young to be picking up the Academy awards for best actor, the picture posted by Samuel L Jackson of him with Sunny stating 'the real winner for best leading actor' is more than accurate. I haven't seen 'Manchester By The Sea' and I am told that it is really good, it's just not my sort of film, there are parts of it from reading the synopsis that I wouldn't like to watch. I'm not stating that Casey Afflect doesn't deserve his awards because he probably does but this kid has such a bright future! They sold this film on the names of Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman and David Wenham because no one knew who this boy was but they really should have been selling it on the name of Sunny Pawar. He could not have a better introduction to a career in film than what he has just given on that screen. Everyone that has seen 'Lion' takes their hat off to him and looks forward to seeing him in a lot more films.

Lion is emotional and Dev Patel doesn't even make his screen entrance until halfway through. Sunny Pawar is the lead until he is adopted by an Australian couple. As stated at the start this film is based on a true story- the character of the film did lose his family in India one night, ended up on a train to Calcutta, ran away from a woman attempting to pass him off to bad people and eventually get adopted by an Australian couple, who in this film are played by Nicole Kidman and David Wenham. Those two characters are special because they try their hardest to be the best parents possible and only towards the end of the film do they explain that they can have children but chose to give a better life to children with a tough past than to bring another child in to the world and only be able to give them an okay life. That is an important message because we assume that couples who adopt do so because they are unable to have their own children but that isn't always the case.

Nicole Kidman was stunning, both her and David Wenham were fantastic but Kidman's character had more screen time and her emotionally display was perfect. I don't know the exact events of this true story but Dev Patel was convincing with his accent and even more so of being a adult who has a really decent life until he moves to Melbourne to complete a course and meets a few other Indians. The memories of his time in India makes him spend a lot of time on Google Earth trying to find his home town and find a way back to his mother. It is a painful trip and his relationship starts to dissolve because of it but it is important to him and even though he pushes everyone away they all stand by him so that when he does find his family again and his mum accepts that he has a life and a family in Australia he still has something to return to.

Rooney Mara makes another appearance on the blog (and I didn't even know who she was until I watched Carol) in another supporting role. Only because I had seen the name did I know in the back of my mind that it was her. I didn't recognise her in this role and I think that she played the best kind of girlfriend anyone could want. Hurt by the separation but not giving up on him and never stopped caring. We all make mistakes and have difficult moments in life but we need someone to not run away from us or let us push them away and she was that character. She was fantastic and hopefully she will be another one who makes headlines very soon if she chooses the right films.

The message at the end of the emotional train ride we all take while watching this film is that 80,000 children go missing in India every year and that this film is working in partnership with organisations to reduce that amount. In every country people go missing and there are organisations all over the world trying to reduce the number of disappearances to zero.

There was no way that this film would win 'best film' or expect to pick up many awards because of the nature of the film but Dev Patel would have been worthy of the supporting award and had Pawar been a lot older he could have picked up an award for his performance as well. 

La la land

It was nominated for just about everything and even though it didn't win everything that it was nominated for it still did really well in the BAFTA's.

Yes, it is the first proper musical that has been made for a while but there was a lack of music in it. Something like four songs in the entire film and I was expecting something with about ten songs in it to make it a real musical. Even Hairspray has more songs than La la land has in it. The music is catchy and the opening song sets the feel for a typical musical- dancing all around a standstill motorway in bright colours that can't pass for a random costume selection. You do find yourself starting to dance a lot with that song and there are great singers in the first number but my sceptical brain was questioning the reality of it. There's no way in any musical that when you are dancing down the middle of the street everyone will join in with you but I have been known to dance down the street- I have yet to know of someone who has decided to get out of their car on the motorway and get everyone else to dance with them. It's a great concept but make it a little more real.

Emma Stone rightly picked up the 'best female actor' award at the BAFTA's and she was deserving of it. The character was complex and being able to portray it in the way that she did was fantastic. The character in every way was balanced and that I liked about it. I saw 'La la land' on the same day that I saw 'Fences' and the emotional outburst from Viola Davis meant that I got to see everything from an acting point of view. Emma Stone was a controlled emotional outburst and Viola Davis wasn't. Her voice has potential, a lot of potential but it isn't strong enough, she needs to spend some time with a vocal coach before her next singing role because she has a great voice that needs some strength to it.

Ryan Gosling- where to start. I just am not convinced by him in anyway. Action or Romantic roles, he just is not convincing. Having said all that, he can sing- has a great voice (albeit rather limited in range) that was strong and worked really well for the songs and the three months that they spent in choreography rehearsals really paid off as they had a range of dancing that made everything look really good. Piano lessons for three months also paid off because it is always his hands on the keys that you see and he can actually play the piano but when you hear all the songs being played with other instruments it isn't him playing- what you see is him playing but what you hear is someone else unless it is a slow song. Jazz is really difficult to play at speed. It's probably the hardest form of music to just play because of all the accidentals involved and the rhythm. Slow jazz is okay once you get your head around it but to just pull it out like his character does requires some serious work that three months doesn't quite cover but we applaud the effort from everyone and the decision to go with his hands and not someone else's.

Watching a character who thought so much of himself playing the keytar and keyboard for the songs 'Take on Me' and 'I Ran' was comical, especially when he follows it up with his comment to her about asking serious musicians to play songs like that. Personally I really like those songs and I also like Jazz, they are different skills and different styles but it doesn't mean that someone playing those songs isn't as good as someone playing jazz it's just that jazz predominately features a piano in most work and rock music is selective over when they use it with Bon Jovi being one of the few bands that automatically spring to mind as having a keys player. Don't knock the music and don't think that you are above what anyone else wants you to play. I guess what I am trying to say is that the character of 'Seb' is weak. At times the character was brilliant and strong but at times he just didn't know what to do or who to be and it didn't say much for him at all.

John Legend's slight cameo as 'Keith' was really nice. I don't know if he can actually play the guitar but listening to him sing was relaxing and I am all for current charts musicians taking on roles in musicals so as to show that they can do other things.

Some of the scenes were a little unreal. The walking in the air springs to mind as something that was just ridiculous. We all love some fantasy moments with good music but make it real. If it's just a dream then do whatever you want but it was never supposed to be a dream and that bothered me a little. Look at old movies- when they dance on ice it is because they were already ice skating. If you are going to walk in the air then at least make out like you are playing with wires somewhere where you would expect wires.

Okay, the worst part and most confusing part was the end of the film. Until this point I thought that it was a really good film with a few flaws but actually doing really well. They do the epilogue thing of 'five years later' which kinda didn't go as expected but once you get to that point you know that it wont end the way that you want it to but when they go back and show an alternate ending you are a little confused by the entire thing. Which way did it actually end? I know that showing both endings meant that they both got what they wanted but it wasn't half confusing! I wouldn't say that it was a happy ending but when there clearly is no proposal for a sequel wrap the ending up nicely one way or the other but don't leave everyone feeling really confused by it.

We expect to see more from Emma Stone, a lot more and have high hopes for her future. Ryan Gosling will still be considered attractive by some and be cast in similar films as he is considered the 'hottest' thing in film at the moment but that will pass unless he starts stepping up his game a little but he can sing, dance and play the piano so he has all the tools to make something really good of his future. Maybe he can be like Keira Knightley who learnt how to be good in films with age.

Fences

The BAFTA's have been and gone just recently and Viola Davis won the award for supporting female actor. Knowing that she had won it we had to go and check it out.

Fences is a memorable film because of the topic. It's not really about racism or about abuse it's just about a man who sort of loses his way in his life but isn't the worlds best father to his children. It's a serious film about a world that for most people no longer exists, in a time that was more prejudice and difficult than now. Now it is easy to look on this film, to look on the character that Denzel Washington plays with condemning eyes from the present and no understanding of the times back then. As his character develops you start to understand some of the pain that he has experienced in his life but that doesn't mean that he should let himself become more like the person that he didn't want to be. 

The character isn't a likeable character but he is a character that you find yourself wanting to help. You watch the entire film with not so much eagerness but hope that the character will get better, will turn things around, that there will be a happy ending and there sort of is but there also isn't a happy ending. I spent a lot of time before watching the film asking myself why Denzel Washington wasn't a serious contender for 'best lead actor' but when I saw this film I understood why. He was good but he was so overshadowed by Viola Davis it was almost unreal. When she stepped up her game we expected his level to go up but it kinda stayed where it was and maybe that was how the character was supposed to be played but after watching this film no one should question why she won the supporting actor award.

Fences is a strong film with a simple plot and it does seem to focus a lot on the role of the woman at his side, standing there with him wherever he has been, through all his mistakes, showing compassion and mercy and defending her son. She didn't turn away his son that wasn't hers, she tried to hold the family together at all times and she should have actually been the strongest focus of the film.

Great to see Russell Hornsby in a film. Having seen him in Grim for five seasons seeing him make a name for himself in a film with Viola Davis and Denzel Washington. He's a bit of a mixed character, strong and determined to do what makes him feel good, to pursue the career that he wants instead of getting a job that he doesn't like and I can salute the character for that. There comes a time in life when you do need to take a job that you don't like to support your family but until that time comes you should keep trying to do what makes you happy, what helps get you up in the morning and give you some excitement. Apart from Viola Davis what makes this film are the characters, the ones trying to do what they want and live the life that they want and those who do what they have to do and what is right. The combination of both to show all the values that you need and the transgression between the old world and the new world is something fantastic and no one can fault Denzel Washington and his directing ability for this film.

John Wick

With the second one reaching UK cinema's it was time to watch the first one. Keanu Reeves was actually surprisingly good in 'Constantine' and we had a lot of excitement for this film but did it pay off?

Not really. We expected more from him in this film. The best part of the film was probably the ending because it is such a 'Scorpia' style ending. Keanu Reeves doesn't fill me with fear in the same way that watching Liam Neeson walk towards someone with a serious look on his face does. When Neeson walks towards you or walks towards a character on screen you start to fear for that character, you know that he isn't going to be making it to tomorrow unless Neeson wants him to. When Reeves walks towards you dressed as John Wick you want to laugh and tell him to 'jog on'. There's no fear, there's no way that he could really win that battle as John Wick because he looks like a guy who hasn't been home in months. He doesn't look crazy but somehow his homeless look takes away the intent that might otherwise be seen in his eyes. Whatever he managed in 'Constantine' he completely lost in this film.

A contract killer who refuses to die and takes out a lot of people- we've seen it before in one way or another but not from this guy. The stunts look real, they are well choreographed as it is believable that Reeves could be doing them. They aren't crazy or make you think 'no way can he do that' and they aren't something that shows off the lack of physique that he has. They have sat down and thought about what each character can or can't do depending on the actor and then worked something out. Because the stunts are real the film holds it own. It is dependant on Keanu Reeves name (or lack of one) but it knows its own strengths and works to them. What bothers me the most is that he gets shot more than once and yet he still isn't dead. He's no Luke Cage, he's not bulletproof and he is clearly bleeding out so how he can just get up and carry on is a little beyond me but then this is an action film.

Taking down a Russian mob family- we've seen that before. Why is it always Russians or Italians? I'm up for a good action/gangster film but stop picking on the same people and stereotyping them.

What can we expect from the next film? I'll know in a few days and will post about it in a weeks time!

Carol

This film contains homosexual sex.

I didn't know that about this film, I didn't know anything about the film but i'm not bothered by films of a homosexual nature. Some people that will read this review will be bothered by it and that is why I have drawn your attention to it immediately. It is good to be open minded about things but I appreciate that some people will not want to watch this film.

Cate Blanchett received a lot of attention for this film. Her character (Carol Aird) is a woman with a child who is going through a divorce. She is actually a homosexual who has had an affair with a friend a years before meeting Therese ( Rooney Mara) who is a younger, aspiring photographer. After  a while they spend News Years Eve together and have sex. Their night is taped by someone sent by Carol's husband and Carol goes back to her home to try and settle her divorce. She admits her homosexuality and attempts to fix things with Therese.

This is a romantic film but not with the comical element. It's a passionate and moving film but also a serious film and a very sensitive one. Cate Blanchett is surprisingly good in her role as Carol. There is the temptation to become wild, crazy and horrible when things start to get bad but she keeps everything under control at all times. In her divorce scene she shows more strength that I could have imagined. Integrity is a huge part of this character and it's either something that as a person you have or you don't- you can't really act it, you just have to have it and she definitely has it.  Both her and Rooney Mara have it. They are both strong characters, which is even more surprising given that Mara's character (Therese) is a lot younger than Carol. Often in movies we see the younger character being manipulated by the older woman, who was only using her and never had any intention of leaving their husband. This is not the case, even though she gets a little hurt she doesn't cry or feel manipulated by Carol. There is nothing weak about her character and both Blanchett and Mara were nominated for best leading actress in multiple awards.

What was noted about this film is that neither of these woman are particularly thinking of men and neither of them need a man in their life. Carol is going through a divorce and Therese and her boyfriend split up. They aren't playing with fire, trying to work out who they are because they know who they are. Carol is thinking about her daughter, she has little thought for her husband and Therese rejects every approach from a man and from any other woman. It's not a 'gay phase', it's the real thing.

We wont judge you for not wanting to watch this film but we wont judge the film either for being what it is. It's a powerful and extremely good film.

Hairspray

Remember that time when musicals were being released all the time? Remember when Zac Efron was big? This was way better than highschool musical but I was put off from seeing it because I had seen highschool musical.

With key songs such as 'You can't stop the beat' and 'Good Morning Baltimore' and staring the likes of Queen Latifah, James Marsden, Michelle Pfeiffer, John Travolta and Christopher Walken, along with Chloe from Pitch Perfect (Brittany Snow), Alison Janney, Elijah Kelley and Zac Efron it had every reason to attract musical lovers and a new audience. The songs are catchy and 'I Know Where I'm Going' performed by Queen Latifah is something to seriously be admired.

From the opening song and watching Nikki Blonsky perform that song on top of a van you get the feeling that it is going to be a very good musical. Without the spotlight being on Zac Efron in the same way that it was a few years prior for 'Highschool Musical' and with him being able to sing his own parts this time, the dancing and singing was much better for him, everything felt a lot better.

Hairspray is everything that you want from a teen musical. Cool music, great singing and dancing and overcoming oppression. Watching the typically blonde, really pretty girl lose to a fat girl and watching segregation be overcome on a musical show is worth it. There is no musical like this out there and even though I didn't realise that it was set in the 60's and found bits of it weird, once I had realised that it was set then everything made sense. The first time watching it you are surprised but it is a musical that gets better with watching. Nikki Blonsky was fantastic in this film and considering that it was a career platform for the younger cast in this film it is a shame that she hasn't gone on to be a household name and global star.

The Hundred-foot journey.

Recommended by my sister, 'The Hundred-foot journey' is a film about cooking. An Indian family move from India to start up a restaurant but it doesn't really work out for them and so they move to France. They start up a restaurant 100 feet away from a very successful restaurant which already has one Michelin star to its name.

Selling the film on the name of Helen Mirren and don't take anything away from her, as the head of the opposing restaurant she was fantastic, both as being a horrible person to play against and then having a change of heart and appreciating good food. The rest of the cast were all people that I have not heard of but I am told have been on TV shows that were popular before I was born. If you know the names Om Puri and Manish Dayal then you know what to expect from this film but if you don't then this is a chance to learn a few new names. Om Puri is the dad, who is ever trying to bargain so as to get it at a lower or higher price. He is genius and generally correct in his decisions but he does need an eye opener from the character played by Helen Mirren. Manish Dayal is the main man, the chef and who the film is really about. He masters french cuisine and combines it with Indian spices and soon becomes one of the best chef's in France and well known in other countries.

His love works off for the other restaurant and at first there is no issues between them as they are rivals but she is just working in the kitchen and is not the chef. She is knowledgeable and works hard but she hasn't made it to the top yet. Once Hassan's restaurant gets set on fire but some of the opposition and his hands get burnt he is forced to come and work in the kitchen of the restaurant one hundred feet away and this becomes an issue as they are now directly competing with each other but even after the restaurant has gained another star and he has gone on to be a big name and the chef in a restaurant he still can't replicate as well the meal that he cooked with his love, he forgets his roots and has to go back. The ending is beautiful.

This film is beautiful. The scenery and the selection is lovely. Creating the Indian palace really makes a night in France in the Summer look like a brilliant and exciting place to be. Once you've watched this film you crave Indian food. We all certainly did and that craving hasn't gone away.

The Lego Batman Movie

The tagline is 'always be yourself, unless you can be Batman'. Batman works alone but that doesn't always work out for him. He's not a superhero and he's not a villain, as proven by this film but what we do know is that Lego make great games and great films so it is going to be enjoyable.

Combining all the evil characters from the Lego Batman game and bringing in a little of Batman and Robin so as to introduce the character of Robin there is no way that this film isn't going to be good. With Batman pulling out all the stunts to a hard rock like anthem you have to just sit back and enjoy the amount of fun that they must have had with this film. The stunts are ridiculously good, as can only be done with a Lego film and the creativity behind it all is something to be admired. Beat boxing when you are stressed is a genius idea and the use of a 'nine-pack' set of abs to unite the entire of Gotham is also a stroke of genius.

People of all ages can enjoy this film and if you don't enjoy it then you clearly aren't a Lego fan! Appreciating that Rick Astley's 'Never Gonna Give You Up' can fill you with rage and learning how to use that rage in a good way to defeat Lord Voldemort was another laughing point. Most of us find that song really irritating! They have a solution for everything in this film and this film is exactly why we love Batman.

Michael Cera doing the voice of Robin actually worked really well because when you can't see him you would probably mistake him for being about 12! Ralph Fiennes not as Voldemort but as Albert was a little interesting. He was great as the voice and the character of Albert was fantastic, as always but when the credits came up at the end I was expecting to see his name next to Voldemort and not Albert! Maybe after watching this film you would rather be yourself than be Batman but Batman learns a lot about being Batman as well!

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

For most people this title will mean nothing. It is a film staring Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman and it is the first of three Elizabeth Taylor films to feature on this blog with the others being: Who's afraid of Virgina Woolf? and Lassie Come Home.

With her character this time being more of a 'bitch' in manner and her having marital problems with her husband, who got drunk and broke his foot hurdling in the club sports ground, she is in for a tough ride against her brother in law and his wife who seem to be in the business of knowing everything about them. Sucking up to 'big daddy' because they think that he is dying and want his money when he dies it is anybody's game but makes for good watching. The first thing she does is insult one of the girls, who promptly throws ice cream at her, so she throws some back. The next thing that she does is spend most of the film fighting with her husband.

Paul Newman doesn't have much to do except drink a lot and act angry for most of the time. His eyes are apparently what made him attractive, with them having that intense blue feel that Daniel Craig and Frank Sinatra have/had. There are two great lines in this film, with the first coming from Paul Newman 'Why don't you just kill yourself? Because I like to drink' and the second coming from Taylor 'I am going to spit in your eye and then punch it black and blue'. I do love some of the clever remarks people can make in awkward conversations and the remarks people make in bitch conversation.

The worst thing about this film is character names. 'Big Daddy', 'Big Mummy', 'Grooper' and 'Brick'. I mean, seriously? I've heard of many stupid names but this bunch tops the lot! If I was called 'Brick' I would probably have a drinking problem as well. However, the point of this film is that love is more important than money. With a guy being left nothing by his father and having to make his fortune for himself, he then doesn't learn to love his family and only has a family so that his legacy will live on but when he wants to leave it to the son he likes best, Brick turns it all down because all he wanted was to be loved by his father. It's a complicated ending with a lot of shouting at each other but a nice final shot.

Back to the Future

It it a crime that it has taken me this long to watch this film! Back to the Future is a classic and should be a part of every child's film upbringing!

Huey Lewis and The News quick off this film with 'The Power of Love' which is a blues rocking song, very feel good and great as an opening song to the soundtrack. This is the film in which Marty McFly plays Chuck Berry's 'Johnny B Good' so already it has a fantastic soundtrack to it.

The Doc creates a time machine which can send people back in time, it's a car but after he gets shot by Libyans Marty drives off in the car which can do a record breaking 80 mph in order to escape from the gunmen and once he reaches 80 mph he ends up going back thirty years and interfering with his parents meeting and few other things in the past, meaning that when he eventually gets back to the future things aren't the same so he is going to have to go back to the past in the next film and set things right.

I love the fact that Marty tries out in a band contest and plays a heavy metal of 'The Power of Love' and Huey Lewis tells him that are 'too loud'. Rock and Roll is moving on, by the nineties you have the likes of 'Nirvana', 'Oasis', 'Metallica' and 'ACDC' so there is so much prospect for rock and roll. Seeing Marty play the guitar (even though it isn't James L Fox) is lovely, especially as he is actually playing recognised chords- when he is playing Chuck Berry he is playing it exactly the way that it should be played so even though it isn't him he has at least learnt to make it look real which is always good. A solid soundtrack always makes out for a really decent film. No exceptions.

Back to the Future is a great film in every way. Seeing some of the faces and recognising them from other films is wonderful. People that I thought did nothing with their career after their breakthrough went on to work with Steven Spielberg! Gotta love it. Excited for the second film but it will be a few months until it features as there are a lot of other films that also need to feature and I don't want to write the same review on repeat like I almost did with Mission Impossible.

xXx The Return of Xander Cage.

Sometime after making the first film very successfully they decided to make another film but this time without Vin Diesel. XXX was released in 2002 by Columbia pictures, had a fantastic plot and soundtrack and got everyone crazy about cars, bikes, boards and heavy metal music (most notably Ramsmstein). The film ends with Xander taking some holiday time in Borra Borra with Yuri's sister. Vin Diesel and Rob Cohen both dropped out from the second film because Diesel disliked the script and Cohen was directing something else. Ice Cube took over as the newest XXX recruit. He features at the end of this film as well.

So we are more than 10 years on from the original XXX franchise and no one was going to watch this film if it didn't star Vin Diesel in it. From the moment he climbs a satelite tower, skis off of it before switching to some really cool skateboarding stunts and then back in time to help everyone to watch the world cup you know that you are back where you started with the original films! Remember the line 'Cars, Bikes, Boards, I like anything fast enough to do something stupid with'? that pretty much sums up the first bit of Xander Cage action you see. With Gibbons trying to recruit Neymar Jr as the latest addition to the XXX programme and him dying in Brazil you just get the feeling that it may be a little faked, after all, a film of this calibre without Samuel L Jackson being a constant theme would be very difficult.

The first thing you will notice is that they have taken a sort of Deadpool attitude on the captions, claiming that Neymar thought he was being recruited to join the Avengers team. There is almost definitely going to be a fourth film. Now that we've laughed over the captions we can move on to laughing at how Xander is always smarter than the CIA. So somewhere along the line you know that the CIA are probably going to double cross Cage but then seeing as how he did attach a lead to his soldier team and send them parachuting over the middle east without their consent and then draft in his own team which includes a guy who loves to crash cars, a really hot girl as a sniper and a DJ let's just say he has pissed off most of the people he is working for before even starting- sound familiar?

This time, no cars- it's not the Fast and the Furious. The plan is easy enough, they've tracked the team of ghosts, led by Donnie Yen to the Philippines. Some juggling with Grenades and some dancing involves a water speed chase on motorbikes. Everything that you loved about the first film is in this film but the 'dope' attitude is there as well. The use of 'read between the lines' to kill someone and a few other comments make for a good laugh, also the girls teaming up in one scene to kill a lot of people before Ice Cube makes his introduction and destroys the other enemies in the building. This film has almost everything in it. Donnie Yen beating everyone up without guns and then doing the same with guns in great, the stunts are there and clearly not done by stunt doubles.

On this blog I have been guilty of at times only looking at the headlining cast but not with this film! Deepika Padukone is the most mysterious character. Landed with the job of soldering and welding along with doing the splits for her first couple of scenes it seems this woman is not the normal action woman- doing the splits yes but welding is not. Her dead shot type of personality and the controlled thinker makes her a woman not to be reckoned with. Given the guns as backup, her standoff scene with Ruby Rose (who really owns the blue hair!) is exquisite, similar to Christian Bale's standoff fight in Equilibrium. Ruby Rose is fantastic, I look forward to seeing her because not only is she really attractive but she has that Lara Croft feel about her thinking and actions. She's in Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, John Wick 2 (which hasn't been released yet) and Pitch Perfect 3 (another one for the blog) so she has an exciting future and remember to look out for her. Deepika Padukone is apparently known over the other side of the world but this is the film which should make her in Europe and America so I would suggest watching out for her as well, although I don't know of any upcoming film with her in.

Kris Wu is Canadian-Chinese and relatively big in China but not here. He is apparently a singer but he really owns the DJ scene and is quite good with a gun. I wouldn't be surprised to see him in a few more films as well. Once he puts the hood on he is a really cool character in this film and also not crazy, which makes him more of the Morgan Freeman type character from RED.

Tony Jaa from Ong-Bak, Fast and Furious 7 and The Bodyguard is already making a name for himself. More with the fist fighting martial arts and the dancing than anything else but he also proved to be okay with a machine gun. Along with Michael Bisping, they make up the team of fist fighters with Yen who steal Pandora's box (could they not come up with an original name?). Some of these guys have a bright future and others seem to get type cast a little and that will effect their future in film. With Rory McCann making up the addition to Xander's team and playing the slightly more John Malcovitch role of crazy this guy is already known for Hot Fuzz, Game of Thrones and Clash of The Titans- he already has the career and by playing crazy in this way he is doing something different.

This cast is not one that screams stars but one that screams of stars to be. With names that we already know and names to look out for and the possibility of another film, with this film being almost as good as the first film there is a bright future for this team and I look forward to following this future.