Homefront (Movie Review)

The best thing, worst thing, and main thing about the Jason Statham action flick "Homefront" in about the time it takes to watch the trailer. Don't forget, first person to guess my "Best Ever Challenge" gets the point!

 

REVIEW TEXT:

 I’ve decided Jason Statham movies don't even need trailers anymore. Just give us 2 and a half minutes of black screen with the words "This is a Jason Statham movie." We know the rest.
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“Homefront” aka Parker aka Crank aka The Transporter is the latest Jason Statham mad lib where you take the action star choose your threat, this time a meth dealer, pick a "loved one to protect" this time a young daughter, and then fill in the final showdown, which I won't give away here, cause you know, spoilers. But here's the thing about doing mad libs, sometimes they actually work, and Homefront, surprisingly enough seems to read pretty well. So why is that?
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First off, Jason Statham is becoming the go to action star of this generation for a reason. He's really good at that whole reluctant butt kicker thing and even has a nice soft touch to give these movies a bit of heart. In fact he’s is the best thing about these movies and his strengths get a real chance to shine here as well. Of course It also helps that he's pitted up against a pretty great performance by James Franco whose grinning villain brings a great energy and menace to the screen. I think it's also important to note that the script was written by the often underestimated Sylvester Stallone, who wrote a pretty intense action vehicle here and one that seems to pull on the heartstrings even as it doesn’t pull any punches.
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I will say though If Homefront does err on that action/heart balance it may lean a little bit too much on the emotional heart side. There were a few brief moments where I found myself itching for the next bout of fisticuffs. It almost felt like at points they didn't quite trust that we really understood the back story so they kept piling it on. The other thing I had an issue with, and we can call it the worst thing, is that many of those fight scenes took place in the dark, and weren't shot in a way where you could really see what was going on. This is not ok. If Jason Statham is going to be beating on some bad guys I want it in broad daylight. This little fight of mine you got to let it shine, quit hiding that stuff under bushels man. Sorry, Sunday School flashback. Point being, even if you're going to shoot a night fight make sure we can tell what's going on.
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Overall “Homefront" is a textbook R rated Statham flick with some great action and a great heart. Even if some of the fighting is a bit hard to see, what is visible makes for an aggressively intense adventure. I give it a B.
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