Tank 432 (2016) - Through the Eyes of Cat

By Cat

Number Rolled: N/A

Movie Name/Year: Tank 432 (2016)

Tagline: There's no turning back.

Genre: Action, Horror, Thriller

Length: 88 minutes

Rating: NR

Production Companies: Belstone Pictures, IFC Midnight

Producers: Finn Bruce, Peveril Bruce, Jennifer Handorf, Cosmo Jackson, Minna Mills, Ben Wheatley

Director: Nick Gillespie

Writer: Nick Gillespie

Actors: April Pearson, Deirdre Mullins, Michael Smiley, Steve Garry, Rupert Evans, Gordon Kennedy

Stunts: Peter Pedrero

Blurb from Netflix: Running for their lives, a desperate group of mercenaries take shelter in an abandoned tank, not knowing that the terror is only just beginning.

I was so disappointed in this movie. Honestly, the trailer is a better version that conveys pretty much the whole thing without wasting an hour of your life.

When pulling the YouTube link to attach said trailer to this review, I scrolled down the comments a little and had a pang of sorrow for all of the poor people exclaiming how they wanted to watch the movie to answer all the questions the preview had sparked.

Sucks for them – this movie answers none of them.  Maybe it’s just sucks for me, because I actually watched this and they might not yet have fallen into the time vacuum of this film.

There’s no setup for the plot aside from some vague military conflict. There’s no explanation for where the prisoners come from or why. There’s nothing flowing or organic about the dialogue. I was fighting falling asleep, I was so bored. There’s a twist at the end – but all it did was leave me with more questions, and a profound sense of bewilderment.

There are even better shaky-cam-centric movies out there. Seriously – unless you enjoy tension and pointless screaming as background noise – give this one a pass. 

Languages

Speech Available: English

Subtitles Available: English [CC]

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 17%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 8%

Metascore – 43%

Metacritic User Score – 4.5/10

IMDB Score – 3.4/10

Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 1/5

Trust the Dice Parental Advisory Rating: R

Movie Trailer:

Beyond Skyline (2017) - Through the Eyes of Cat

By Cat

Number Rolled: N/A

Movie Name/Year: Beyond Skyline (2017)

Tagline: None

Genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure, Horror

Length: 106 minutes

Rating: R

Production Companies: Beyond The Mothership, Infinite Frameworks Pte. Ltd., m45 Productions, Head Gear Films, Hongmaisui International Culture (Beijing) Co., Infinite Frameworks Studios, Media Rights Entertainment, Metrol Technology, North Hollywood Films

Producers: Matthew E. Chausse, Lucy Chen, Jennifer Coccimiglio, Maguy R. Cohen, Allen Dam, John 'Duke' Duquesnay, Cody Hackman, Tom Harberd, Matthew Helderman, Phil Hunt, Roman Kopelevich, Joe Listhaus, Allen Liu, Lindsey Martin, Emilio Mauro, John Radel, Li Kitty Rong, Compton Ross, Colin Strause, Greg Strause, Luke Taylor, Robert Van Norden, Mike Wiluan

Director: Liam O'Donnell

Writer: Liam O'Donnell

Actors: Frank Grillo, Bojana Novakovic, Jonny Weston, Callan Mulvey, Antonio Fargas, Jacob Vargas, Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian

Stunts: Casey Adams, Austen Brewer, Bobby Brown, Anis Cheurfa, Clay Cullen, Zack Duhame, Anthony Ferri, Jeremy Fitzgerald, Sara Holden, Billy Huang, Muhammad Irvan, Eko Kurnianto, Kurt D. Lott, Craig Morgan, Udeh Nans, Eka 'Piranha' Rahmadia, Paul Rapovskil, Carly Rees, Tim Rigby, Yayan Ruhian, Monty L. Simons, Yasca Sinigaglia, Yandi 'Piranha' Sutsina, Iko Uwais, Cord Walker, Judd Wild, Eva Wulan, Muhammad Yazid, Very Tri Yulisman

Blurb from Netflix:  In the wake of extraterrestrial invasion, a suspended L.A. cop teams up with other survivors to stop the onslaught and rescue human captives.

This sequel to Skyline (2010) had landed at #12 on my Top 20 list for movies coming out in December 2017. I remember my excitement for this film after watching the trailer. It was a feeling that carried forward to when I saw the title available on Netflix.

There are a couple things I touched on in my list entry that I feel need addressing now that I’ve seen the movie.

First, I said that this sequel didn’t appear to follow the recipe where events pick up with the same characters following the end of the first film. I was incorrect there. This movie is a ‘true sequel,’ explaining the fate of some of the characters from the first film – they’re just not played by the same actors. Unfortunately, I can’t share who it is for those that haven’t figured it out already because it’s a key plot point. The primary focus of the film, however, is a different set of people.

I also offered a bit of conjecture that as Liam O'Donnell (Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, Iron Man 2, The Bay) was going to be at the helm of the sequel in both writing and direction, we would get a more cohesive picture of the story he envisioned.

From a sci-fi perspective, it’s definitely a story that puts a slight twist on the alien invasion trope, but I can’t say that it was more successful than the original movie. Even so, I have to give credit where credit is due. Beyond Skyline is definitely a headlong rush full of action. There were some seriously kickass fight sequences.

The visuals for this film were generally spectacular. The creature feature was a fairly good blend of CG and practical effects, again, generally. There’s one sequence with the aliens that I feel suffered in the effects department; but honestly, if there’s only one that’s not too shabby.

Beyond Skyline had some solid entertainment value in its quest to showcase the strength of the human spirit. While it might not be the best sci-fi thriller I’ve seen, I wouldn’t mind giving it a recommendation. 

Languages

Speech Available: English, European Spanish, French, Italian

Subtitles Available: English [CC], European Spanish, French, Italian, Portugese

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 69%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 43%

Metascore – 46%

Metacritic User Score – 5.5/10

IMDB Score – 5.4/10

Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 3.5/5

P.S. There’s a blooper reel at the beginning of the credits. 

Movie Trailer: