Trailer for FAST & FURIOUS Spy Spinoff HOBBS & SHAW

Universal released the first trailer the other day for the Fast & Furious franchise spinoff Hobbs & Shaw, starring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham. The Fast & Furious is an odd franchise, because it started out as a mid-budget street racing/crime series, then morphed into a mega-budget international heist series with a serious espionage bent and car stunts to rival Bond and Mission: Impossible. It's also one of the few series I can think of that got significantly better along the way. For me, the fifth film, Fast Five, was a real turning point, when Justin Lin, who had already directed two previous entries, really perfected what would become the series' formula. It was also the movie that introduced Dwayne Johnson's character, a tough-as-nails DSS agent named Luke Hobbs who was on the trail of Dominic Toretto's (Vin Diesel's) gang in Brazil. That was also when, after several less successful attempts, The Rock truly became an action star. His palpable charisma made Hobbs an instant fan-favorite character, and he was brought back in the next entry, Fast & Furious 6, which also introduced (in a post-credits coda) Jason Statham (Transporter 3) as former MI6 agent gone rogue Deckard Shaw. Shaw returned as the main antagonist in Furious 7, before reluctantly joining forces with the good guys (including Hobbs) in The Fate of the Furious. In Furious 7, the series had already shifted its focus to international espionage, courtesy of Kurt Russell's Nick Fury-ish spymaster Mr. Nobody. With Dom working with the bad guys for much of Fate, Hobbs and Shaw had a chance to shine on the good guy team, emerging as the series' clear new stars. So it only made sense to give them a spinoff! With Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, we could see a new spy franchise grow out of what started as a street racing series.

It's high time Transporter star Jason Statham got a big budget action series, and pairing him with The Rock should double the thrills. Atomic Blonde director David Leitch takes the helm, and he's brought on able spy support in the form of Idris Elba (he of perpetual tabloid rumors about James Bond, not to mention the solid neo-Eurospy flick The Take) as the villain (clad in a very Steranko bodysuit) and Mission: Impossible - Fallout standout Vanessa Kirby as an MI6 agent on the run. Eddie Marsan (Atomic Blonde) and Eiza González (Baby Driver, Alita: Battle Angel) round out the impressive cast. The action looks, as expected from that team, hyper-kinetic, Johnson and Statham's chemistry looks good, the cars look cool, and it generally looks like we might have a new action-heavy spy franchise to rival 007 and Mission: Impossible on our hands!

Feig Talks Spy 2, Statham Returning

When director Paul Feig's hilarious secret agent send-up Spy made more than $200 million last year, a sequel seemed inevitable (especially since the movie had been originally conceived as a franchise opener), but things have been surprisingly quiet on that front ever since. This week, out doing press for Ghostbusters, Feig finally spilled some details on the follow-up to Empire (via Dark Horizons). "It's the first thing I did that I set up to be a possible franchise and Melissa [McCarthy] is dying to do it. I have a story for it, and a funny idea that will kick it off that involves [Jason] Statham." Statham proved a scene-stealer in Spy, delivering an absolutely hilarious monologue of his espionage accomplishments sending up both James Bond and the action star's own image. ("I watched the woman I love get tossed from a plane and hit by another plane mid-air. I drove a car off a freeway on top of a train while it was on fire. Not the car; I was on fire.") It wasn't just audiences who were in stitches with Statham's hitherto under-explored comedic chops; he also impressed the director. "Susan Cooper [McCarthy] is one of my favorite characters I’ve ever come up with," Feig went on, "but Rick Ford is possibly the one I’ll take to the grave with me. Will he get any more self-aware in the sequel? No, god no. He’ll get less self-aware." I can't wait to see more of Ford's antics in Spy 2!

Tradecraft: Dates for 2016 Spy Movies

We're only a little more than halfway through the unbelievably spy movie-packed 2015, in which we've gotten at least one every month, but Studios are already locking down their spy films for next year. Adding to Universal's next Matt Damon Bourne movie (the fifth total), which has July 16 staked down, Sony's Sacha Baron Cohen/Mark Strong comedy Grimsby (directed by Transporter 2 helmer Louis Leterrier), set for February 26, and Millennium's London Has Fallen on January 22 (both the latter two were originally slated for 2015, but fled the stiff spy competition), Deadline reports two more dates have been set. Summit's Criminal, starring Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Kevin Costner (Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit), Ryan Reynolds (Safe House), Tommy Lee Jones (Bourne 5) and Gal Gadot (Fast Five) will open on April 15, displacing the studio's Jason Statham assassin sequel Mechanic: Resurrection all the way to August 26. The sequel is already better than the original remake, as Statham is supported by the ubiquitous Tommy Lee Jones (Criminal) as well as Michelle Yeoh (Tomorrow Never Dies) and Jessica Alba (Barely Lethal). Two main takeaways: 1) we've already got five months covered for next year in terms of spy releases, and 2) Tommy Lee Jones is in almost all of them.

Art Poster For Spy

20th Century Fox has released a new Mondo poster design for its Melissa McCarthy/Jason Statham comedy Spy, opening tonight. I like the retro artwork that evokes Seventies and Eighties comedies like The Trouble With Spies and 1941 (though the faces aren't quite cartoony enough for that style), but I would have personally preferred to see this cast rendered in a classic Bondian McCarthy or McGinnis style. Still, it's a good poster for a very funny movie. The campaign for this film has been pretty great all around, from strong parody posters to album artwork.

Theme Song and Soundtrack for SPY Channel 007

20th Century Fox debuted the official theme song for Paul Feig's James Bond parody Spy today. The music video (which I suppose may contain elements seen in the film's credits) is done as an homage to the classic Bond title sequences of Maurice Binder and Daniel Kleinman. The song is performed by LA-based singer/songwriter Ivy Levan. While there's no question she's got the powerful vocal chops to belt out a Bond-style title song, I wish the hook came earlier in the tune. It's a somewhat disjointed affair (and nowhere near as addictively hummable as Take That's Kingsman theme, "Get Ready For It"), but still a cool, distinctively "spy" song, and likely to serve its purpose just fine in the context of the movie. In another throwback to the classic Bonds, Levan's song will be included on Theodore Shapiro's original motion picture score album. Remember when the Bond songs were included on the score albums? That's how it should be! Speaking of that album, the retro-style cover artwork is fantastic. I hope the score itself is as good as Henry Jackman's Kingsman score. With all the espionage movies in the pipeline, this should be a very good year indeed for spy music! Spy, starring Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham, Jude Law, Rose Byrne, Morena Baccarin and Peter Serafinowicz, opens on June 5.

Tradecraft: Transporter Refueled Delayed Until Fall

EuropaCorp's neo-Eurospy series reboot The Transporter Refueled is going to spend a little bit more time at the gas station before reaching its destination in theaters. Deadline reports that Luc Besson's distribution company has decided to move the film out of its original, busy mid-June frame (where it would have been competing with Jurassic World, Pixar's Inside Out, and the original Transporter himself, Jason Statham, in Spy) to September 4, where it will go up directly against the Pierce Brosnan action movie No Escape, which opens the preceding Wednesday. Historically, fall has been the traditional time frame for Transporter releases. The Transporter Refueled stars relative newcomer Ed Skrein in the role originated by Statham and played on TV by Chris Vance. Watch the trailer here.

New Trailer and Poster for Spy Starring McCarthy and Statham

Fox has released a new trailer and new poster for Paul Feig's summer spy comedy Spy, starring Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham, Jude Law, Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale and Peter Serafinowicz. Personally, I can't wait to see Statham do a spy comedy. And the new poster is interesting, too. All of Spy's posters so far have been James Bond parodies. The first one saw McCarthy imitating Daniel Craig's firing-from-his-back pose from the Skyfall 1-sheet, and more recently we saw Statham sporting a turtleneck in a send-up of the just-unveiled SPECTRE teaser poster. We have yet to see Craig strike the classic Bond pose of Dalton and Brosnan (gripping a Walther with two hands next to his head), but now we can see McCarthy give it a try in this gold-hued Spy poster. And on top of that there's the pretty clear nod to Shirley Eaton in Goldfinger. I think it's a pretty clever—and amusing—campaign. Spy doesn't open until June 6, but bolstered by positive reviews in the trades, Fox have already begun having sneak previews to build word of mouth. And all the word I've heard so far has been pretty positive!

Statham Spoofs SPECTRE in Spy Poster

It's perhaps a little cruel of Fox to give us this perfect Transporter poster on the same day that EuropaCorp released their imperfect one. (Imperfect in that it clearly doesn't star Jason Statham.) But coming on the heels of this week's SPECTRE poster, this Statham-centric character poster for Paul Feig's spy comedy Spy is both awesome and hilarious. And it goes a step further than 007. Daniel Craig upheld a longtime spy tradition by dressing for action in a black turtleneck. Statham adds himself to the pantheon that includes Illya Kuryakin, Number 6, James Bond and Sterling Archer by not only posing in a turtleneck, but spelling it out for us! In SPECTRE-style letters no less. (This is the second Spy poster to parody a Bond one; McCarthy mimicks Craig's pose from the Skyfall 1-sheet on the previously released ensemble poster.) Spy, in which Statham co-stars with Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne and Jude Law, and opens June 5.

Trailer, Poster and New Title for the Transporter Reboot

This is kind of a weird trailer. For the life of me, it looks just like a Transporter trailer... except the Transporter himself, Jason Statham, is nowhere to be seen! Which is too bad, because I really like the Transporter movies--and primarily because of Statham. These are the kind of movies where the star is the draw, not the character of Frank Martin. True, EuropaCorp has done okay with getting audiences to accept a different actor in the role on their TNT TV series, but that's TV. Will they accept a new Transporter in the movies? Will I? Hm. Speaking for myself, I'm really not sure. I admit, this trailer does look pretty cool. I love the identical blond wigged babes in gas masks. That's a neat image. And it really does look like a Transporter movie. So much so that some of the scenes seem recycled verbatim from the previous entries. I can't say I'm terribly impressed with what we see here of new star Ed Skrein though. So what I'll have to ask myself come this summer, as will audiences, is do I crave the over-the-top, daffy action of Luc Besson's ridiculous neo-Eurospy movies more than I care about the stars? The answer should prove interesting. So far, stars have been very important in the success of these neo-Eurospy movies, from Statham to Taken's Liam Neeson to Lockout's terrific Guy Pearce to Sean Penn in this week's release The Gunman. Will action alone be enough to propel a refueled Transporter to success? (I do like the reboot's new title, The Transporter Refueled. It's better than the previous one, Transporter Legacy.) Take a look and reach your own conclusions.

Tradecraft: Statham/McCarthy Movie Gets a Title, More Stars

Bridesmaids director Paul Feig's Melissa McCarthy/Jason Statham spy comedy has gotten a title: Spy. Yes, that title's already taken by a UK sitcom (an American remake last pilot season didn't make it to series), but that doesn't seem to be a concern to Feig and distributor Fox. The movie has also gained a few more stars, beefing up an already impressive cast. In separate stories, Deadline reports that spy veteran Morena Baccarin (Homeland) and former White House staffer Alison Janney (The West Wing) have come aboard. They join an international all-star cast including McCarthy, Statham, Rose Byrne, Jude Law, Bobby Cannavale, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Miranda Hart, Peter Serafinowicz, Bjorn Gustafsson, and Verka Serduchka. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Baccarin will play a deadly CIA agent named Karen Walker, while Janney will play what Deadline describes as "top CIA agent Elaine Crocker." I'm not sure if by "top agent" they mean that she's at the top of her game or at the top of the Agency, as the M of this world. The latter would make sense given Janney's formidable resume. McCarthy plays a CIA analyst drawn into the field for the first time. While that's the same logline as the Steve Carrell version of Get Smart, Feig has insisted in the past that his film takes place in a realistic world and is closer in character to Casino Royale than Get Smart or Johnny English. The comedy presumably comes from McCarthy's fish out of water situation rather than the world. Spy began filming last month in Budapest and opens next May.

Tradecraft: Jason Statham/Melissa McCarthy Spy Comedy Adds to Cast

Last year we heard about the somewhat unlikely pairing of Jason Statham and Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids director Paul Feig's "realistic spy comedy" Susan Cooper; now The Hollywood Reporter reports that Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows) is in talks to join the fun as well, and that Rose Byrne (X-Men: First Class) has also been cast. Feig has also tapped UK comedian and TV star Miranda Hart (Call the Midwife) for an unspecified role, according to Deadline.

Law can currently be seen in two excellent movies. He plays a supporting role in Wes Anderson's Grand Budapest Hotel, and delivers a tour de force lead performance in Richard Shepherd's Dom Hemingway. (Shepherd has a knack for coaxing truly masterful performances out of generally dramatic actors in his dark comedies; he previously did it for Pierce Brosnan in The Matador.) No details are given about Law's role in Susan Cooper, but with McCarthy and Statham as the heroes, it seems plausible that he could be up for a villainous turn. Despite his previous collaborations with McCarthy being broad comedies, Feig insists that Susan Cooper is a "realistic" take on a female James Bond owing more to Casino Royale (the '06 version, I mean) than Johnny English. Can that possibly be true? We'll find out on May 22, 2015.

Tradecraft: Ed Skrein Replaces Jason Statham in Transporter 4

For a franchise built solely around its original star (well, and his car), the Transporter series (first of EuropaCorp's many neo-Eurospy franchises and movies) has spawned a surprisingly high number of Frank Martins. After Simon Vance already stepped into the role originated by Jason Statham for the Transporter TV series (which is currently in production on its second season, and set to air this fall on TNT), Variety reports that Ed Skrein will take over the role in the film series beginning with Transporter 4. Skrein had a supporting role in The Sweeney in 2012, and that same year starred in his Sweeney co-star Ben Drew's directorial debut, Ill Manors. He played a recurring role on The Tunnel (the UK version of The Bridge), but he's probably best known to American audiences (if he's known at all) from his recurring role as mercenary Daario Naharis on Game of Thrones. (However, he's been replaced by another actor for Season 4.) He's 30 years old, roughly fifteen years Statham's junior. Word has it that Transporter 4 will be something of a prequel, focusing on a younger Frank Martin before he became the man we know from the Statham movies. (Does that mean he won't have established his rules yet? Or will we see him in his Special Forces days, before he even went private to start transporting?) Variety uses the term "reboot." The new movies are not expected to be related to the TV show.

EuropaCorp CEO Christophe Lambert told the trade that the new film (first in a projected trilogy co-produced with China's Fundamental Films) will return Frank to the French Riviera, setting of the first movie (and some of the TV series). He said the writers Bill Collage and Adam Cooper (Tower Heist, Exodus) have "given more depth to the character of Frank Martin." To that end this film will explore his relationship with his father, for whom they're looking for a prominent actor. This will mark the first entry in the series not written by Robert Mark Kamen and EuropaCorp co-founder Luc Besson (also the team responsible for the Taken movies). The trade reports that Camille Delamarre, who edited EuropaCorp's Transporter 3, Taken 2, Colombiana and Lockout, directed second unit on the Transporter series, and made his feature directing debut on Brick Mansions, the company's upcoming English language remake of their French hit District B13, will helm all three new Transporter movies. So far, an American distributor hasn't yet been lined up. (Fox distributed the first two movies, Lionsgate the third.)

Hm. I'm not sure how to feel about this. I'm excited that there will be new Transporter movies, but I really wish they had just stuck with Jason Statham! He is fantastic in that role. I'm also sorry that Besson and Kamen won't be writing it, but I guess every writer probably has only so many stories in him about a guy driving something from one place to another. The injection of fresh blood into the series is kind of exciting, and I hope that the modest $30 million budget (down from Transporter 3's estimated $65 million) will inspire Delamarre to take the series to new levels of practical lunacy. I just hope that "reboot" doesn't automatically mean turning the series darker, as it has for other series. I enjoy these movies for their completely preposterous, totally daffy action, and their tone akin to Roger Moore Bond movies.

Read my review of Transporter 3 here.

Tradecraft: Jason Statham Joins Melissa McCarthy and Bridesmaids Director on Comedic Female-Driven Spy Franchise

In June, The Wrap (via Dark Horizons) reported that Bridesmaids and The Heat director Paul Feig was plotting a female-driven spy comedy, Susan Cooper, and hoping it had the makings of a franchise. Now Deadline reports that Feig's frequent collaborator Melissa McCarthy is set to star, and the Transporter himself, Jason Statham, is in talks to join her. Feig wrote the script, and described the project to The Wrap as "a two-hander." According to Deadline, Statham will be playing a spy on the same side as McCarthy's titular agent, so perhaps he's the other hand in this comedic spy movie. If so, I'm sold! While I'm always happy to see Statham do his thing, it will be nice to watch him stretch himself a bit with something slightly different. The tough-guy actor actually excels in comedic action movies like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and The Italian Job, though it's been quite a while since he's done one. (Statham also made a cameo appearance in the 2006 version of The Pink Panther.) Feig told The Wrap that Susan Cooper will be "a realistic comedy about a female James Bond" rather than an out and out send-up like Get Smart or Johnny English. He said he was inspired to write the script by the 2006 Casino Royale, which he counts among his favorite movies.

Tradecraft: More Transporter Movies Coming!

It was EuropaCorp's Transporter movies starring Jason Statham that ushered in the whole Neo-Eurospy Age. From their success came further mid-budget action movies with European locations (and money) and Hollywood stars with careers in need of reviving, including From Paris With Love, Lockout, Erased and, of course, the mega-hit Taken movies. But now it looks like the original is coming back! Variety reports (via Dark Horizons) that Luc Besson's EuropaCorp has struck a deal with China's Fundamental Films to co-produce not one but three more entries in the Transporter series! What's not known right now, unfortunately, is whether or not star Jason Statham will reprise his role as Frank Martin. (Frank Martin is not a spy, but a professional "transporter," yet he manages to have adventures filled with enough daffy action to rival Roger Moore's James Bond.) Since 2008's Transporter 3 (review here), Chris Vance (Burn Notice) has stepped into the role for a TV version of the character. The show has already aired in Europe (and is on DVD there), but has yet to be seen on Cinemax here in the United States. So will the new trilogy star Statham, Vance, or someone else? That remains to be seen.

What is known, according to the trade, is that "one of the three installments will likely lens in China, qualifying it as a French-Chinese co-production." Together, Luc Besson's EuropaCorp and Fundamental will finance the new films, each of which "will be budgeted in the $30 million to $40 million range." Fundamental will distribute in China. Fox, who distributed the first two pictures in most territories, has a first-look option on the new trilogy, while Lionsgate, who handled the third one, has a second-look. No director has been hired yet. Personally, with the Chinese connection, I would like to see Hong Kong director Corey Yuen, who co-directed the first film with Louis Leterrier and choreographed the first two, return to the fold. (His Hong Kong spy flick So Close is tremendous fun.) But the most essential ingredient is undoubtedly Statham! I hope they get him signed ASAP.

Trailer For Transporter TV Show!

Despite myriad production difficulties, Cinemax's Transporter TV series (based on the Luc Besson-produced neo-Eurospy movies starring Jason Statham) is finally ready for a trailer. And it looks good to me! Chris Vance (Burn Notice) may have his work cut out for him living up to Statham in the badass department, but the car stunts and locations look on par with the hugely entertaining movies. Andrea Osvart, Delphine Chanéac, Rachel Skarsten and Francois Berléand (reprising his role from the film series as transporter Frank Martin's friend Inspector Tarconi) round out the cast. I think I'll add Cinemax to my cable package whenever this series actually premieres!

New Spy DVDs Out Since Christmas

I've gotten several weeks behind now on new spy DVDs, but there's been some great stuff coming out! So here's a massive post-Christmas catch-up.

Remember Age of Heroes, the movie we first heard about in 2010 about "Ian Fleming's Red Indians," the 30 Assault Unit commando team created by the future Bond author while he served in Naval Intelligence during WWII? It came out on Region 2 PAL DVD last June from Metrodome Distribution, and I had little hope of it ever showing up stateside. But this week, thanks to eOne Entertainment, it has, on both DVD and Blu-ray! The film stars former Bond baddie Sean Bean, and James D'Arcy plays Commander Fleming. A good old-fashioned war adventure, Age of Heroes depicts the incredible true story of how James Bond creator Ian Fleming oversaw the activities of an elite and supremely well-trained commando unit during World War II, following the members of the 30AU from defeat at Dunkirk to a chance to change the course of the war on a top secret mission in Norway. For more on Fleming's involvement with 30AU, check out Craig Cabell's books Ian Fleming's Secret War and The History of 30 Assault Unit: Ian Fleming's Red Indians.

Also out this week on DVD and Blu-ray, from Lions Gate, is Abduction, the teen spy movie starring simian Twilight heartthrob Taylor Lautner. This movie got terrible, terrible reviews when it came out theatrically last fall. And I won't say they're not deserved; it is, after all, a pretty terrible movie. But so are a lot of movies, and Abduction isn't any worse than most other bad movies, and is a whole lot more fun than most bad movies. So... okay, I will say that it didn't deserve quite the drubbing it took. Because if you have some friends over, pour some drinks, and put this on, you're all going to have a pretty good time. And while you're cracking jokes about Lautner's unbelievably terrible performance and wondering aloud what the likes of Sigourney Weaver, Jason Isaacs, Maria Bello, Alfred Molina and Michael Nyqvist are doing in this movie, you're also going to find yourself sucked in a bit by John Singleton's ridiculous action sequences and the overall absurdity of the script. It's bad, yes... but it's enjoyably bad! (And I have a sneaking suspicion that some people probably thought the teen spy movies of my youth were bad, like my own personal favorite If Looks Could Kill.) Extras on both versions include the featurettes "Abduction Chronicle: On-Camera Production Journal," "Initiation of an Action Hero: Taylor's Amazing Stunts" and "The Fight for The Truth: Making Abduction" as well as a gag reel. On top of that, the BD offers "an exclusive In-Film Experience with in-picture documentaries and exclusive behind the scenes interviews with cast and crew." If you care. Retail is $39.99 for the Blu-ray (which also comes with a digital copy) and $29.95 for the DVD, but of course they're both half those prices on Amazon.

Earlier this month, Acorn released the second volume of the Sixties ITC spy series Man in a Suitcase, starring Richard Bradford as sacked CIA agent turned private operator McGill. These episodes from the second half of the show's single, super-sized season made their Region 1 DVD debut. (The entire series was released in single volumes in Britain and Australia.) Many of McGill's best adventures come in the second half, so this would be a welcome release and a must-buy for American ITC aficionados on that basis alone... but as it happens, there's even more reason. Man in a Suitcase: Set 2 also includes a very big bonus feature: the 69-minute interview with star Richard Bradford that first appeared on Network's Region 2 DVD release (but was not found on the Region 4 Umbrella set). Bradford was a perfectionist and a Method actor, which brought him into conflict with some members of the cast and crew and earned him a reputation for being "difficult." In this surprisingly candid interview from 2004, he speaks frankly and openly about those on-set clashes, as well as discussing his early days studying at Lee Strasberg's famous Actors Studio, working with his friend and fellow Method actor Marlon Brando, and more. If for some reason you needed further encouragement to buy the second and final collection of this top-notch Sixties spy show, this is it! Man in a Suitcase: Set 2 retails for $59.99, though it's considerably cheaper from the usual online vendors.

Read my review of Acorn's Man in a Suitcase: Set 1 here.

In the last week of 2011 (on my birthday, in fact), Fox snuck out one of the very best spy releases of the year, Archer: The Complete Season Two, on DVD and Blu-ray. The wildly irreverent, always inappropriate Archer remains one of my favorite spy shows on TV, and as I said in my post about the Best Spy Television of 2011, I find it very impressive that the writers managed to maintain the high level of quality in its second season. That's particularly tough for a parody series. The secret, of course, is that Archer is much more than a mere spy parody. It's a dysfunctional family comedy that happens to be set in a spy agency. As I said before, the extremely raunchy humor is definitely not for all tastes, but if it is to your liking, you'll no doubt appreciate the excellent animation and cool spy style on top of the gags. And even if I didn't love it already, a very obscure Magnum, P.I. reference in Season Two assured the show my allegiance forever! The Season Two discs contain some very good extras, including excerpts from last year's Comic-Con panel, which are hilarious (though I wish they'd included the 2010 panel, too, which featured less cutting up from the cast, but more legitimate answers about how the show is made and what influenced its creators), and several animated shorts. In one, Archer himself answers viewers' questions (and the writers get a whole lot of mileage out of a single set-up!), and in another he messes up the opportunity to give a shout-out to troops stationed overseas who love the show in a uniquely Archer way. These extras certainly make up for Season One's fake "unaired pilot" (which annoyed some fans), but they don't let that concept go, either. In fact, another funny short expands upon the main gag in that feature. The same day Season Two came out, Fox also made Archer: The Complete Season One widely available on Blu-ray for the first time. The high-def version was previously a Best Buy exclusive, and Archer's top-notch design and crisp animation make it one show that truly benefits from high-def presentation.

Finally, Universal released the Jason Statham/Clive Owen period assassin thriller Killer Elite on dual formats, DVD and DVD/Blu-ray combo. The only real bonus material on both versions is deleted scenes, which is too bad, because I would have liked some featurettes exploring the supposedly factual book on which the movie was based, The Feather Men, and how and why the film deviates from its source. Oh well. The combo version also includes a digital copy and an Ultraviolet copy (oooh!), which is something the studio wants you to be way more excited about than you no doubt are. Retail is $29.98 for the DVD and $34.98 for the combo, though of course both are considerably cheaper than that on Amazon right now. I really enjoyed Killer Elite. You can read my full review of the film here.

Upcoming Spy DVDs: The Debt, Killer Elite and Mission: Impossible

2011 has been a good year for spy movies in theaters in terms of quantity, and not surprisingly, that means a good winter for spy DVDs. Besides the already-announced Colombiana coming out December ___, we can also look forward to The Debt on December 6, Killer Elite (2011) on January 10 and, just in time for the fourth entry in the theatrical franchise, the Mission: Impossible Extreme Blu-ray Trilogy, also on December 6.

The Debt (movie review here), coming to DVD and Blu-ray from Universal, will include the featurettes "A Look Inside The Debt," "Every Secret Has A Price: Helen Mirren In The Debt" and "The Berlin Affair: The Triangle At The Center Of The Debt," as well as an audio commentary with director John Madden and producer Kris Thykier on both formats. Retail is $29.98 for the DVD and $34.98 for the Blu-ray, though naturally both are substantially cheaper at all the usual online vendors.

Killer Elite also comes from Uni in dual formats, DVD and DVD/Blu-ray combo. The only real bonus material on both versions is deleted scenes, which is too bad, because I would have liked some featurettes exploring the supposedly factual book on which the movie was based, The Feather Men, and how and why the film deviates from its source. Oh well. The combo version also includes a digital copy and an Ultraviolet copy (oooh!), which is something the studio wants you to be way more excited about than you no doubt are. Despite the scant extras, I'm looking forward to owning this one. It's a movie I'll enjoy watching again. Retail is $29.98 for the DVD and $34.98 for the combo, though that one's actually cheaper to pre-order on Amazon than the standard DVD right now.

Even the Mission: Impossible "Extreme Trilogy" comes on both Blu-ray and DVD, though most people who want to no doubt already own the DVDs. I'm not really sure what qualifies these three feature films spun out of the classic TV series as "extreme" (dangling, I guess? They're not xXx!), but I do know that one of the reasons why I love Peter Graves is because he was never extreme. (Though some of his shirts and coats were.) Extreme or not, the cover art is actually pretty cool, and this set certainly makes for a good way to accumulate the first three movies at a very reasonable price just in time for the new fourth entry from director Brad Bird. The Mission: Impossibe Extreme Blu-ray Trilogy retails for $39.99 (though it's currently under thirty bucks on Amazon), and the Mission: Impossible Extreme DVD Trilogy is priced at just $26.98 ($19.99 on Amazon right now).

First Trailer For Jason Statham's Safe

First Trailer For New Jason Statham Movie Safe

Lionsgate offers us our first glimpse at the new Jason Statham actioner Safe (not to be confused with Todd Haynes' seriously unsettling 1995 horror movie of the same name) in this trailer released today. Based on the trailer, there doesn't actually look to be much spyish about this one after all. Initial plot synopses described Statham's character as a former government operative, but the trailer makes it look like he's actually a former cop. (The other possibilities for Statham movies are former soldier and former assassin.) Still, it's a new Jason Statham action movie, and I tend to like those, so I'll post it anyway. Safe opens March 2, 2012.

Movie Review: Killer Elite (2011)

Movie Review: Killer Elite (2011)

Killer Elite tells the supposedly true story of a 1981 showdown between a team of professional assassins (led by Jason Statham's Danny) and a team of ex-SAS officers (led by Clive Owen's Spike) known as the Feathermen (so named for their light touch), all elite killers. (It's loosely based on Ranulph Fiennes' "non-fiction novel" The Feather Men.) The circumstances that lead these groups to battle each other are rewardingly convoluted, but the overall gist is that a wealthy sheik exiled from Oman wants revenge for the deaths of his three sons in a conflict in which the British weren’t officially involved. He’s somehow gotten the names of the SAS soldiers he thinks killed them. Danny is the best assassin in the world, but he’s inconveniently retired, having sworn off killing after a child got in the crossfire during a botched Mexican assignment. So to lure him out, the Omani sheik kidnaps his former mentor, Hunter (Robert De Niro—surprisingly not just phoning it in!) and uses Hunter's liberty as leverage to force Danny to track down and kill each of the men on his list. However, the sheik doesn’t want to incur retribution, so he must make each death look like an accident. Spike, however, isn’t fooled. He’s the operational leader of a secret society of ex-SAS soldiers sworn to protect their own. So when he hears about strangers asking questions about Special Forces soldiers who were all on the same Omani mission, he gets suspicious and activates his network. Spike and his men attempt to protect the Oman veterans, while Danny and his men attempt to take them out, setting the two British action heroes on a collision course.

It may seem like an odd choice, given this scenario, to focus on the assassin (Statham) rather than the former soldier (Owen) as the protagonist, since Owen seems like the ostensible good guy here. But upon reflection, it’s a very good choice. Assassin movies generally focus on the proverbial “one last job,” and show their heroes trying to get out of the business in order to make them relatable. Danny is already out, but he’s forced back into the game in order to protect the people he cares about: first Hunter, and then his young fiancé, Anne (played by Chuck’s Yvonne Strahovski, using her own Australian accent for once). Thereby, the assassin gets our sympathies, while at the same time the nobility of the SAS in that undeclared war in Oman is called into question. The result is a film without any clear “good guy” (“Some good guy,” Owen says of himself after behaving in an un-good-guy-like manner), but opposing killing machines in shades of gray, both of whom you want to root for—not in the least because of the appealing stars playing the roles. Other characters operating in the same gray area include Danny’s and Hunter’s untrustworthy boss (Lost's Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), who brokers hits, and a mysterious MI6 man who just might be pulling everybody’s strings to achieve his own dubious ends. The latter character gets a great entrance, especially for spy fans. He lands in an unmarked helicopter to meet Feathermen boss Commander B (The Man From S*E*X baddie Nick Tate, driving a Silverbirch Aston Martin DB6) and, when asked his identity, snidely explains, “I’m the guy they let fly around in an unmarked helicopter with a gun in his pocket, but you can call me Mifwig—Motherf#cker What’s In Charge.” (I know, the acronym doesn’t quite work, but it’s fun!)

Those expecting a straight-up Statham action-fest along the lines of his neo-Eurospy Transporter movies or Crank may be disappointed. This is a rather sprawling tale of intrigue that has more in common with The Bank Job or Steven Spielberg's Munich—though it’s not quite on the level of either of those films. (In fact, it reminded me quite a lot of Spielberg’s story of a team of assassins set in the same general period—even if the motives for this team aren’t nearly as noble.) For me, that made it all the better. The Cold War setting is well-realized for the limited budget, and Australia does an ample job standing in for far-flung locations like Oman, Dubai, Wales, Paris and London.

That’s not to say, however, that there isn’t some typically awesome Statham-style action as well. In one early scene, Statham gets to demonstrate some patented lightning-fast moves when he attacks a guard with a teacup. In one of the most badass (if not entirely plausible) moments of in-the-field ingenuity I’ve seen this side of Bourne, he then proceeds to grab a loaf of French bread and tear it in half. What’s he doing? Is he hungry, in the middle of a battle? No, he’s improvising a silencer! Statham sticks his small-caliber pistol entirely inside the loaf of bread (along with his hand) and uses it to muffle his next shot at close range! (Actually, maybe that’s not so far-fetched as other movie silencer moments. I suppose the bread would effectively diminish the sound of escaping gasses, and at such close range it wouldn’t seriously affect his accuracy.) Later on, we get two different versions of the Statham-vs-Owen showdown we’ve been waiting for (their first go is interrupted), with the second one resulting in that shot you’ve no doubt seen in the trailers where Statham manages to disarm his opponent and then flip backwards out of a window all wile tied to a chair! I’ll grant that moments like this awkwardly stand apart from the more serious ones and make it rather difficult to believe the film’s claims of being “based on a true story,” but Jason Statham is one star who can actually pull that off. We expect that kind of move from him, and therefore adjust our sense of disbelief accordingly.

Director Gary McKendry struggles a bit with the pace. All that globe-trotting seems to slow things down a little rather than speed them up. Still, the film is drenched in the atmosphere of its era, and that—coupled with three very compelling leads—goes a long way. It’s no masterpiece, but Killer Elite is still a rewarding viewing experience for spy fans and Statham fans, occupying a middle ground somewhere between the sublime excess of Transporter 2 and the grounded speculative history of The Bank Job.

Studios Pull a Statham Switch

Bad news/good news, Jason Statham fans. Remember that surprise Jason Statham movie I posted about last month that was supposed to open so soon after the well-publicized Killer Elite? Safe, the one where Statham plays "a former elite operative who must protect an adolescent girl from the bad guys?" (You know... that one!) I was so excited to learn we'd be getting Unexpected Statham hot on the heels of the Statham we've been expecting and eagerly anticipating for some time. Well, unfortunately Lionsgate seems to have reconsidered the "surprise Statham" strategy, and has moved Safe's release date back to early next year, giving them more time to promote the picture. Instead of next month, Safe will now open on March 2, 2012. Probably not a bad idea, actually, given that it would have been tailgating the September bow of Killer Elite so closely. Does the public really have a threshold for Statham? Lionsgate is taking the Safe bet (heh heh), but someone else evidently thinks not...

You see, luckily, the Statham Industry is self-regulating, self-perpetuating and unstoppable. That means that no sooner did Lionsgate move Safe out of its October berth than Anchor Bay stepped in and slotted another Statham action movie for that month. 13, which their publicists are positioning as "Jason Statham's 13," but is in fact an ensemble movie co-starring Ray Winstone, Mickey Rourke (who has publicly slammed the film, not that that necessarily means anything), 50 Cent, Sam Riley and Alexander Skarsgard. Unfortunately, this one (as far as I know) is not a spy film in any way. So, since it stars Jason Statham and it's not a spy film, we can conclude quite correctly by process of elimination that it is a crime film, specifically one about an underworld Russian roulette competition where the stakes are (obviously) high, but so is the potential payout. 13 , a remake of the 2006 Georgian film 13 Tzameti, opens (in an extremely exclusive engagement limited to New York's Village East Cinema and LA's Laemmle Monica 4-Plex) on October 28 en route to a November 8 release on DVD and Blu-ray.