Dear Watchers,On this Genre Movie Wednesday, we take a trip to the past with one action film that sets its swashbuckling sword fights in the 19th century and another that puts its violent rampages just after World War II. Our expert in action movies, Robert Daniels, highlights the acrobatic skills of the Indian action star Priyanka Chopra Jonas in one of his picks. He pairs that with a bloody Finnish sequel that ramps up its death toll alongside its ambition. Read what Robert has to say about each film below, then head here for three more of his picks. Happy Watching. ‘The Bluff’
Where to watch: Stream “The Bluff” on Amazon Prime Video. Ercell Bodden (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) is a doting mother to her disabled son, Isaac (Vedanten Naidoo), her only child, and a devoted sister-in-law to Lizzy (Safia Oakley-Green). What neither Isaac nor Lizzy know about Ercell, however, is her pirating history under the moniker Bloody Mary. Ercell’s past returns with grave consequences when the savage Captain Connor (Karl Urban), who wants the gold Ercell stole from him, takes her husband hostage, reawakening the fighting spirit inside this quaint housewife. Set in 1846, this swashbuckling adventure from the director Frank E. Flowers rests on the assured shoulders of Chopra Jonas, a formidable action star in India and America. In skirmishes with Captain Connor’s men, she moves with an intense, balletic fury — one scene has Ercell bashing in a man’s face with a seashell — and her sword-fighting skills would make Errol Flynn blush. ‘Sisu: Road to Revenge’
Where to watch: Stream “Sisu: Road to Revenge” on Netflix. “Sisu: Road to Revenge” is even better than its predecessor. The first film in the series followed the silent Finnish prospector, Korpi (Jorma Tommila), as he fended off conniving Nazis who were trying to steal his gold. The gory sequel puts Korpi in a postwar fight against the U.S.S.R., which seeks vengeance for his slaughter of Soviet soldiers during the early days of World War II. Naturally, the K.G.B. dispatches Draganov (Stephen Lang), the man who murdered Korpi’s wife and children, to hunt him down. Split into seven chapters, “Road to Revenge” is a bruising exploitation picture built on superhuman violence and Tommila’s soulful performance. Again and again, Korpi reaffirms his near-mythological status as “the man who wouldn’t die,” as in one scene when he is thrown headfirst through several train cars, only to get back up, ready to throw more punches. Tommila, meanwhile, lends this quiet man a kind of earned pathos: Might this killing machine finally find peace?
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