Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - 星際異攻隊3

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (星際異攻隊3) is an 2023 film. The movie stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Sean Gunn, Chukwudi Iwuji, Will Poulter, Elizabeth Debicki, Maria Bakalova, and Sylvester Stallone. As the title suggest, this is the third Guardians movie. James Gunn returns from exile to finish the trilogy. This is also the 32nd MCU film. The current Guardians cast say that this is their ending. Let's see who survives this movie and continues on in the MCU.

The Guardians have now bought Knowwhere and are building it out. Adam attacks and does a lot of damage. When they finially stop the rampage, Rocket is seriously injuried. While trying to save him, they find that they can only do it if they find out who made him. The Guardians set out to find his maker and try to save him. Can they save Rocket and keep everyone alive?

This was a ride and than some. Hard to believe that the James Gunn era is over. And Gunn went out with a bang. Since Vol. 3 comes out so long after Vol. 2 and the events of the Thanos, it feels like they have bonded. And at the same time, it feels so different than Vol 2 and Endgame GOTG. We see a bit from the Christmas special, but it only bridge GOTG from Thor to Vol 3. You have to have a bit of MCU GOTG knowledge to know where they are at now.

The movie itself has a bit of everything. This one has lots and lots of flashbacks, mostly from Rocket. but of others too. When set up many sob moments because of how cruel Rocket was created. It also has plenty of "family" moments meant to draw sobs. I wonder if I will be so teary eyed on repeat watches.

Some of the headlines have been that this is best MCU movie since Endgame. This movie was maybe the closest you get to the feeling you had when you watch Infinity War and Endgame. The recent MCU movies of phase 4 and 5 have been good, but it does not have that awe luster that phases 1, 2, and 3 brought out of you. Old school MCU and this may be the last one of that sort. The movie belongs as part of Phase 3.

Rambo: Last Blood - 第一滴血5

Rambo: Last Blood (第一滴血5) is an 2019 film. The movie stars Sylvester Stallone in his fifth outing as John Rambo. Rumor is that this will be the last movie of this current franchise. The notable supporting cast include Paz Vega and Yvette Monreal.

John Rambo is now stateside and relocated as a horse trainer in Arizona. He's taken on the mantle as Uncle John to Gabrielle, the grand daughter to one of the workers. Rambo has helped to raise Gabrielle for the past 11 years. Gabrielle has just graduated from High School and set to start college. Gabrielle learns the location of her father whom abandoned her in your childhood and heads to Mexico to find him and get closure. However, the friend that found him for Gabrielle has bad intentions for her. After Gabrielle's father tells her that he does not want her in his life, distraught, she gets hammered at a local club and is sold into slavery. Rambo is worried and make his way to Mexico to find her. But he himself is badly beaten, but manages to free Gabrielle with the help of a local journalist. Gabrielle dies on her way back home and Rambo is dead set on getting revenge. Will this be John Rambo's last stand?

I caught this movie via Amazon Prime Video recently. Am I glad I kinda got it for free. This movie was all sorts of bad. The bad acting and highly stereotyped characters. And I am Asian! Asians are also not in this movie to my recollection. I was not paying attention as I just trying to get through this movie. Luckily this movie was only around 85 or so minutes of actual movie. The first half is character development of the bound that John Rambo has with Gabrielle. You have to build that father daughter bound for him to go risk his life later. Which wasn't bad. But things turned really bad and stereotypical once Gabrielle finds out about her long lost father. The storyline from there to Rambo's revenge was all sorts of bad and hard to watch. I think I managed to make it through this as I washed some dishes and got a snack.

The revenge factor of the second half is really the only reason most of us even considered watching this movie. Rambo 4 was actually good in my recollection. So I was excited to watch this even though I had never seen the trailer. But the Gabrielle storyline was very weak and hard to watch. What I did like was the revenge story of the second half of the movie. That's why I watched this movie.

If you can get through the first half, you'll enjoy the Rambo revenge storyline very much.

Creed II - 金牌拳手:父仇

Creed II (金牌拳手:父仇) is an 2018 film. The movie stars Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, and Dolph Lundgren. The movie is an sequel to Creed (金牌拳手). This movie re-introduces the Drago family from Rocky 4.

Creed is now the champion and has a son. Ivan Drago has a son that's the same age as Adonis. Ivan is training him to be a master boxer like himself. As both live out their lives, Drago makes his move to regain his glory. One of the fastest ways is by defeating Creed. How will Creed respond as he lives a life of luxury against the scion of the advisory that killed his dad?

This movie is very similar to Rocky 4. The first fight that brings Creed a lost. And a lost of purpose. But the road to redemption for the 2nd fight to restore purpose. Even though it was a repeat, the story was presented for the modern era. However, I didn't really get on board. They also played the Drago family storyline as a victim versus the villain.

I caught the film via T-Mobile Tuesday Redbox promo.

Creed - 金牌拳手

Creed (金牌拳手) is an 2015 film. The movie stars Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, and Tessa Thompson. The movie continues in the same universe as the Rocky movies. Creed is a namesake of Apollo.

MBJ plays Adonis "Donnie" Johnson, the son of Apollo Creed. Adonis doesn't want to live in the shadow of his father's legacy and starts to train himself in boxing while living another life. When he finally comes clean, he wants to fight the best. But the path there isn't so easy being born with a silver spoon. Creed finds himself back in Philly and reconnects with Rocky. Rocky is now running a restaurant. But the two bond and start a relationship that leads to getting to the belt. Will Creed make it?

Creed take many elements of the first two Rocky films and brings them to a the modern era. Its good to see MBJ in this role before his break out in Black Panther. Sly has been busy post action hero days and he slips back into form with this movie.

If you're a fan of the Rocky movies, this movie does a good job of handing the baton to Creed and keeping the legacy of Rocky intact.

Escape Plan 2: Hades - 鋼鐵墳墓2

Escape Plan 2: Hades (鋼鐵墳墓2) is an 2018 movie. The film stars Sylvester Stallone, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Dave Bautista, Huang Xiaoming, Jaime King, Jesse Metcalfe, Titus Welliver, and Wes Chatham. The movie is a sequel to Escape Plan.

Huang Xiaoming as Shu is taken to a jail. Sylvester Stallone as Ray needs to break them out. The then go through the motions of trying to find the weakness and of course, you break out. Huang ends up being the main star of the movie with even more screentime than Sly in the first half. Eventually Sly's role increases and it ends with him.

A third installment is already in the works and this installment was released to Redbox, digital, and the box office at the same time. If you like Sly and b-movies, you'll be slightly entertained. I for one didn't really enjoy this. Got this via Redbox T-Mobile Tuesday gift.

Bullet To The Head - 頭號目標

Bullet To The Head (頭號目標) is an 2012 film. The movie stars Sylvester Stallone, Sung Kang, and Sarah Shahi. The movie was released in US theatres in 2013.

Detective Taylor Kwon, played by Sung Kang, arrives in the Crescent city to investigate the murder of a former partner of his back in DC. James "Bobo" Bonomo, played by Sylvester Stallone, comes up as a possible suspect. Kwon however is an outsider and goes on his own to do some investigations. Joining forces with Bobo, Kwon is shot and taken care of by Lisa Bonomo, played by Sarah Shahi. Lisa is Bobo's daughter and is later kidnapped and used as bait in exchange for a jump drive with all the data of the criminals behind the hit.



This movie felt B-movie like from the very beginning. The quick montage tricks didn't play out to add to much artistic value, but more amateurish. But the storyline was compelling enough for me to keep going. I also think Sung Kang kept me going. I wanted to see him kick @$$ and for names later. Which didn't happen much as that was left to the geriatric Sylvester Stallone. For his age, Sly still looks defined, but it looks silly that he would hold his own against Jason Momoa.

I watched this via my current HBO subscription. I will be ending it soon as my 50% off for 6 months is almost up.

Dredd - 超時空戰警

Dredd (超時空戰警) is an 2012 British and South African film. The movie stars Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, and Lena Headey. The movie is based on the long running British comic series Judge Dredd. This film is not a remake of the 1995 version called Judge Dredd, starring Sylvester Stallone.

Karl Urban plays Dredd who has to train a new rookie judge, Cassandra Anderson, played by Olivia Thirlby. Anderson is part of a new crop of judges that have psychic abilities. Based on these abilities, they can make on the job judgements of life, death, or imprisonment. In most cases, it is death. They track down a drug king pin or queen pin to a local mega city tower run by Ma-Ma, played by Lena Headey. The judges capture a guy that could shut their drug trafficking operations. In turn, Ma-ma locks down the building and all hell breaks loose. Can these two judges withstand the entire crime syndicate of the mega city?

This movie was really fun to watch. Urban plays it straight as Judge Dredd, adding both humanity and humor. Thirlby did a great job of transforming herself during the movie. From reluctant Judge to @$$ kicker. If you're an action geek, the movie is great. No need to read the comics to come along for the ride. The movie was a little reminiscent of a recent Indonesian film, The Raid.

The Expendables 2 - 浴血任務2

The Expendables 2 (浴血任務2) is an 2012 film. The movie stars Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham. The rest of the ensemble cast include Jet Li, Yu Nan, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Liam Hemsworth, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Wow, what a cast. Did will enough at the global box office that a second sequel is in the works.



The movie is much like the first one. Sly plays the leader and has to recover something from a far away land that has no stable government. Lead by JCVD, this rouge terrorist group is looking to do something bad with a black market weapon. Enter Bruce Willis asking Sly for a favor. Off they go to this country to get this thing. Insert all the craziness of all these cast members.



This movie was entertaining. Fun to see all these old skool action heroes try to make it look good. Some did, some didn't. Arnold is passed his prime. I just watched the Running Man the other day. Classic 1980s movie. Not classic in his cameo in Expendables installment.



Jet Li only see action in the first 5-10 minutes of the film. After that, he's not even on the team. They left the Asian representation to Yu Nan, the government liaison. For some reason, they were trying to play Yu and Sly in some "love" relationship. Didn't work and it was just awkward. Please don't do that again.



If you liked the first one and are as old or older than me, you may enjoy this. Lots of fighting, shooting, and explosions.

The Expendables - 浴血任務

The Expendables (浴血任務) is a 2010 film. The film stars Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, Terry Crews, and Mickey Rourke. The supporting cast includes Eric Roberts, Gisele Itié, Gary Daniels, Bruce Willis, Charisma Carpenter, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. I didn't catch this in the theaters but on DVD and had been looking forward to it since the trailer was released.



The Expendables are a group of mercenaries lead by Sylvester Stallone's Barney Ross. They start out rescuing hostages highjacked by Somali pirates. When back in the states you see a little bit of there lives and they pick up a job to take out the general running a small island in the Gulf of Mexico. It is there that the guys get a heart and try to make a difference. You guessed it, all bloody hell breaks loose when the action starts.

Very nice movie. A throwback if there ever was any. The only missing pieces where JCVD, Steven Seagal, and Bruce Leeroy. But it was a very good film. Charisma Carpenter sighting too! Watch it if you're a action film freak. You won't be disappointed.

Rambo (Rambo 4) - 第一滴血4

Originally posted on xanga. Updated 1/16/2009.



Rambo (4th installment) (第一滴血4) is worth a watch. It runs pretty short at around 80 minutes. So, it gets to its point and stays on target without much fluff.

So, what should you expect? If the other 3 Rambo's are any indication, it's Rambo being put into a difficult situation and he blast his way out. Expect nothing different.

In this installment, the situation of Burma is the backdrop for the difficult situation and the antagonist.

The special features give a good background on the movie and there's a feature on the situation in Burma. Don't skip out on the Burma feature.

Of course, its another movie about a bunch of Asians(Burmese) needing saving from a white guy. But if its coming out of Hollywood, it's expected.