The Doorman

Cast: Ruby Rose, Jean Reno, and Aksel Hennie 

Director: Ryuhei Kitamura 

92 minutes (15) 2020

Lions Gate DVD   

Rating: 6/10

Review by Ian Shutter

Traumatised ex-US military sergeant Alex ‘Ali’ Gorski (Ruby Rose, Batwoman) gets a new job as porter at New York residential hotel The Carrington, just closing for renovations by contractors. She’s estranged from in-laws the Stanton family, but struggles to re-connect over Easter dinner. Jean Reno plays Victor Dubois, the gang-leader of thieves, holding an elderly couple hostage to expose the man’s dark past in Europe, and find their loot buried in the walls.

The Doorman is a standard US action-thriller with a rather predictable B-movie plot (as, essentially, it’s Die Hard set in an old block of flats), but with its home-invasion menace, and enough well-shot kung fu sequences and stylish gun-fights, it often rivals John Woo’s filmic signature. Secret doorways and hidden passages add extra appeal to this building’s maze of empty corridors where henchmen stalk feisty heroine Ali. You won’t have to be a fan of Rose and/or Reno to enjoy this, but it certainly helps.   

Since his feature debut with zombie mystery-thriller Versus (2000), Japanese film-maker Ryuhei Kitamura has managed to dazzle and impress genre fans, with samurai adventure Azumi and superhero fantasy Sky High (both 2003). He has proved adept at suspense in grisly American-horror debut The Midnight Meat Train (2008), and glossy comedy in slick heist movie Lupin The 3rd (aka: Lupin III, 2014). Although Kitamura’s credits include fun sci-fi epic Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), tense sniper-movie Downrange (2017), and a segment (titled ‘Mashit’) for horror anthology Nightmare Cinema (2018), his film back-list cannot match the vast range of contemporaries like prolific Takashi Miike.

However, a high level of instinctive ability in Kitamura’s proficiency means that his varied films always maintain a consistency of quality that’s commendable, instead of being only variably-good like Miike’s relentless churn-out of screen products. The Doorman is a welcome addition to 21st century cinema’s polished brand of internationalism. This is a worthwhile actioner with its cast and crew collected from all around the world, blending its variety of global skills and multi-cultural talents, with entertaining results for a fast-moving thriller that offers a lot more than just the sum of its parts.      

 

Bonus: In Service Of Others - cast interviews (12 minutes).

Bill & Ted Face The Music

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, and Samara Weaving

Director: Dean Parisot

92 minutes (12) 2020

Warner Bros. 4K Ultra HD 

[Released 25th January]

Rating: 8/10

Review by Christopher Geary

When it began in 1963, Doctor Who was intended to have a partly educational aspect but it wasn’t until much later, following the chronological expeditions of Terry Gilliam’s dream-fantasy Time Bandits (1981), that the American cult-comedy Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989), fully explored amusingly barmy, functional sci-fi trick of collecting legendary famous figures from history, for a school’s lesson plans, and theatrical presentation at students’ exams. Being a better comedy movie, of its type, than contemporary rivals, like Wayne’s World (1992), eventually established B&TEA as a pop phenomena that's transcended generations. Despite its troubled release - stymied by pandemic restrictions, this belated sequel is, very probably, the final epic about doomed hopefuls Ted Logan (Keanu Reeves) and Bill Preston (Alex Winter), and it’s a delightfully witty triumph of youthful enthusiasms over wholly middle-aged aspirations.  

To unite the world and save reality, from temporal glitches and chronological collapse, Bill and Ted learn they must create a wondrous song to fix the wobbly cosmic turn-table. Their main problem is a strict deadline, minutes away, but at least they have use of a time machine... Meanwhile, Bill and Ted’s kids helpfully pull together an extraordinary super-group, including Jimi Hendrix, young Louis Armstrong, and Mozart. On bass guitar, Death - the Grim Reaper (William Sadler) returns from Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991). In a flurry of sketches, Reeves and Winter revel in portraying vastly different versions of Ted and Bill - so often tragic losers, like prison hulks or death-bed seniors - discovered on the time-line of infinite diversity for this franchise’s multi-verse. After Bogus Journey’s parody of The Seventh Seal (1957), this movie spoofs Terminator, with a clumsy robot assassin called Dennis. Inevitably a parody of dysfunctional-family dynamics, this movie directed by Dean Parisot forms a bridge over millennial concerns, and so it works better than any similar Hollywood project that might have been motivated simply by financial gain or a career-salvaging comeback.    

Brigette Lundy-Paine is marvellous fun as Ted’s daughter Billie, doing a cool impression of her dad’s jittery mannerisms and goofy expressions. This is quite uncannily effective as wry comedy, and a charming performance that is funnier than Keanu’s aged letdown Ted. Bill & Ted Face The Music rises above its ridiculous sci-fi ideas, and typical genre sitcom satire, when it reaches for a certain something of cultural significance, much like Rush’s concept-album of profoundly philosophical allegory Hemispheres (1978), and the historical event Live Aid (1985), to unite all humanity with music. B&TFTM is remarkably silly, of course, but it still dares to ask the naive but ultimately heartfelt question, about co-operation instead of pointless antagonism: why can’t we all just play along together?  

Extras on Blu-ray disc:

Bill & Ted comic-con panel (42 minutes)

Be Excellent To Each Other - casting choices

A Most Triumphant Duo - characters

Death’s Crib - 'Hell' set-visit