Marko Zaror is one of the most exciting action stars working today. Fist of the CondorĬast: Marko Zaror, Eyal Meyer, Gina Aguad How to Blow Up a Pipeline is playing in theatres. Sure to be one of the buzziest and most controversial movies of the year, don’t mistake it for an empty vehicle for controversy How to Blow Up a Pipeline is a thoughtful, masterful work that weaves in the principles of what makes heist thrillers fun to great effect. It’s a perfect marriage of the heist thriller genre and the movie’s radical politics, with a likable group of young people and an extremely tense final act. In the movie, a group of people from different walks of life gather in Texas with a plan: to blow up an oil pipeline and finally enact some real change. How to Blow Up a PipelineĬast: Ariela Barer, Lukas Gage, Forrest GoodluckĪn unconventional adaptation of the controversial 2021 nonfiction novel, How to Blow Up a Pipeline applies the ethos of the book (which argued sabotage is a necessary part of environmental activism) to a fictional scenario. With playful fight sequences (one involves a whiteboard marker, another invokes Raiders of the Lost Ark), clever editing (we see Boksoon play out multiple approaches to a variety of situations, whether it’s a target she’s trying to kill or a daughter she’s trying to parent), a powerhouse lead performance, and beautiful sets and costumes, Kill Boksoon is a delight for the senses and great mix of domestic drama and rollicking fun action thrills. Director Byun Sung-hyun punctuates the moments where the camera passes through the doors with action beats of people being slammed into the wall (sometimes appearing on the other side), giving the whole scene a vibrant rhythm and connecting the two fights while still keeping them separate. As the two groups fight on either side, the camera continually rotates through the open doors. The wall has two doors - one on the far left, one on the far right - that are both open. Boksoon and an ally are engaged in fights on opposite sides of the same wall. Let me sell you on one specific fight sequence, to give you an idea of what the movie’s got for you. She’s looking for a way out, as she realizes she barely knows her teenage daughter. Jeon Do-yeon stars as Gil (“Kill” to her co-workers) Boksoon, the top assassin at her firm. Netflix’s first action movie banger of 2023, this stylish Korean thriller is about a world-class assassin balancing the challenges of her job with the difficulties of being a single mom. Polite Society premiered at Sundance and will be released in theaters April 28. (Even if the rest of us are still trying to nail our flying reverse spinning kick.) - Zosha Millman Ria’s story may be singular, but all of us can relate to the enthusiasm and care she brings to her life. It never settles into a single groove, instead dancing its way to a conclusion that pulls together all its various threads in predictably grand fashion. What Polite Society has in spades is heart. Sister fights become knockdown stunts, and a beauty routine becomes literal torture. The movie jumps between genres and tones and makes it all look easy, melding the wedding prep comedy of Lena’s ( The Umbrella Academy’s Ritu Arya) nuptials with Ria’s action thrill ride. Written and directed by Nida Manzoor, Polite Society excels because it never feels like Ria’s mindset is wrong per se - in fact, it revels in it, overflowing with style and confidence. Of course, the combination of those two things means she does what any of us would: plan a wedding heist to rescue her sister from what’s surely a fate worse than death. This (admittedly increasingly specific) hypothetical is the lived reality for Ria (Priya Kansara), who dreams of being a stuntwoman and loves her sister deeply. It’s a little more concerning, considering she used to be your partner in crime, there to encourage and film every new stunt move. Imagine your sister has dropped out of art school - sure, OK, who hasn’t taken a break from their studies? Now imagine she’s also engaged to some jabroni she’s only known for a month. Cast: Priya Kansara, Ritu Arya, Nimra Bucha
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