Vendetta (Sky Movies)
Another one of Bruce Willis’ final films is now available to Sky Movies subscribers. Here he plays a criminal gang leader who instructs his soon to kill a random member of the public as part of his initiation. When the killer is not prosecuted, the father of the murdered girl, played by Clive Standen, decides to seek revenge.

There is absolutely nothing new or surprising in Jared Cohn’s script but he directs efficiently enough. Standen is pretty believable and it is better than most of Willis’ recent movies.
Rating: 5 out of 10

Dog (all rental services)
A modest box office success earlier this year, I expect Dog to do even better on home viewing platforms. Channing Tatum stars as Jackson Briggs, a former army ranger who is suffering physically and mentally from his service. Desperate for cash, he wants to re-join his old unit. His commanding officer says he will recommend him to do so if he transports an ex service dog, Lulu, to her handler’s funeral and then to an army base where she will be put down.

Inevitably the reluctant Jackson and the distressed Lulu bond on their road trip. You might this would just be a sentimental tale of a man and a lovable animal. On one level it is that, but there is much more to the film than that. Lulu is suffering from PTSD and the story is as much about her learning to trust again as it is Jackson growing as a person. Warm hearted, funny and nicely played.
Rating: 8 out of 10

For those of you with an Amazon Prime account, there have been a few new additions. The Misfits is a jokey crime thriller about a gang who steal from bad or corrupt people and give the takings to the deserving. This movie debuted in most of the world last year but has only just turned up in the UK despite a cast that includes Pierce Brosnan, Tim Roth, Nick Cannon and Hermione Corfield. Director Renny Harlin, who was a major Hollywood player in the 1990’s, keeps things bubbling along quite nicely but it does not have the style or intricate plotting of the Oceans movies.
Rating: 7 out of 10

Emergency (Amazon Prime)
Emergency started so promisingly but ultimately failed to deliver. A pair of black college students, Sean (R J Cyler) and Kunle (Donald Elise Watkins), find a young white girl unconscious in their flat. She has either been drinking, taking drugs or both and the guys believe that they will be blamed. So, instead of calling the cops they try to get rid of her. I thought that this would be an incisive critique of the black experience, but it soon became quite dull.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10

The Contractor (Amazon Prime)
James Harper, a US army veteran takes a job as a private contractor and becomes embroiled in a conspiracy. This is a much better movie than the precis suggests. The expected action is well put together by director Tarik Saleh, but he also gives time for the story to build and fully flesh out Harper’s character. Chris Pine gives another impressive performance, enabling the viewer to understand his choices whilst also knowing that they will backfire.
Rating: 7 out of 10

The other offerings are not worth your time. Starting with Gold. At some time in the near future, a drifter played by Zac Efron finds a huge gold nugget in the desert and has to protect it from thieves and the harsh conditions. Undeniably brutal but also predictable and dull.

In It Takes Three, the hottest guy in school cannot get the attention of a new girl so enlists the help of a nerd to improve his social media presence. Part Cyrano, part every American high school comedy you have ever seen, it desperately tries to feel modern with an over emphasis on sex but the characters are the same old stereotypes.

Sophie Marceau is an excellent actress so it is depressing to see her in the romcom I Love America. A French woman goes to LA and gets involved in a series of romantic incidents. None of them are believable and they barely raise a smile.

Gold, Rating: 3 out of 10
It Takes Three, Rating: 3.5 out of 10
I Love America, Rating: 3.5 out of 10