KILLING SEASON Review

Here's my take on the film KILLING SEASON starring Robert De Niro and John Travolta distributed locally by Captive Cinema.

If you're cup of tea in terms of movie involves seeing iconic Hollywood stars beat the hell out of each other in a deadly cat-and-mouse game then "Killing Season" will definitely be your movie for the weekend.

To sum it all up John Travolta wants to kill Robert De Niro and it just so happens that De Niro's a recluse living in the mountains trying to forget all the atrocities he's done in the past including what he did to Travolta. What happens in between, well that's something you have to see for yourself.

GOOD

- De Niro doesn't have to act to make you pay attention. I was really hoping that he'd go "are you talking to me?" while brandishing his carbon-fiber bow. Too bad that didn't happen. Still it's nice to see De Niro taking on a more physical role despite his age. Massive props.

- The plot is likeable for the Pinoy moviegoing crowd. It's something that you'd really enjoy if you're sick and tired of huge explosions and giant robots and superheroes.

- Personally, I like the whole flawed/ damaged goods protagonist regardless of how cheesy it's been handled. It might not be Metal Gear Solid/ Hideo Kojima level in terms of depth and inner turmoil but it definitely brings the emotions. Give the material to a good actor and let the script come to life. Plus again, I can't stress enough that these are the sort of heroes you get to cheer on when you play games like the MGS series.

- Bows and Arrows are fucking cool. I love that arrows are making a comeback in movies, TV and even video games. It's quickly removing the stigma that arrows are only used by bishounen type guys like Legolas.

- Milo Ventimiglia's appearance here sends you back to the time when HEROES was still cool and not a complete headache to watch.

- That ending. Sends me back to the ending of Alan Moore's classic BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE between a severely beaten Joker and a very angry Batman.

- John Travolta and the injuries his character sustains throughout the movie. Not that I hate... OK I hate Travolta.

BAD

- Man those torture scenes. Not for the squeamish. 

- De Niro's take/homage to Rambo was kinda off.

- John Travolta. John Travolta. John Travolta.

- John Travolta and his accent.

- John Travolta and his faux Abraham Lincoln look. The dead POTUS must be turning over his grave.

- John Travolta cosplaying as Arrow. (just kidding)

VERDICT

Overall, there's a distinct campiness in the film mixed with grit, blood and gore for better effect. From my POV, it felt like the movie's director Mark Steven Johnson wanted to do something but failed to reach all the high notes which backfired. Still as it is, the finished product is to say the least, interesting.

Special thanks to Captive Cinema for the invitation. KILLING SEASON NOW SHOWING!

Finally HEROES Comics Courtesy of Dynamite

Tim Kring's one famous TV series HEROES is finally getting a comeback AND more importantly getting said revival in comics format!

CBR reports from SDCC 2013 that Dynamite Entertainment has picked up the rights to publish an ongoing comic book with writer Cullen Bunn helming the project.

Here's what Bunn had to say regarding which character gets first appearance on the book:

Not the Actual art

"Right off the bat, Claire is going to be our point of view character. The first issue is centered more on her than anyone else. That said, you're going to see most of those core characters early on in the first few issues. Hiro was the character I always liked most in the show for a number of reasons. So you'll be seeing him and Sylar and a bunch of others who will get thrown back into the story early on. Claire, Hiro and Sylar will be big right off the bat, but it won't be long before you see all the core characters."

Looking good. I always was a big fan of HEROES and even though Season 3 was a big pain in the ass, I still welcome this. 

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Shifting to TV

FOX has committed themselves to launch a new TV series based on Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen". 

Apparently the term 'commit' has a bigger meaning for TV execs as they will be forced to pay up if they fail to release/ air said TV show. Pretty ballsy move for FOX to do that. Better still is the fact that Michael Golden from "Heroes" will be the showrunner and writer (he's the good part of Heroes). 

No release date at the moment but this is going to be more interesting. I loved the episodic feel of each issue and sadly, that was lost when they optioned a movie years back starring Sean Connery as Alan Quartermain and "A Walk to Remember" star Shane West as Agent Tom Sawyer (who wasn't part of Moore's team). 

I really hope they reach the part where they reveal that Harry Potter was actually the anti-christ. That was totally awesome and crappy at the same time. For the meantime, I'm dancing PSY's Gentleman to mark this momentous occasion.