Undercover Grandpa (2017) Directed by Erik Canuel
Guess James Caan was pissed he didn't get asked to appear in any of the "RED" or "The Expendables" movies, so he decided to do one on his own. The end result is nothing too terrible, but I am still scratching my head a bit over it.
Biggest problem I have with this movie is that I just can't figure out who it is made for. It is actually a very childish movie with its approach and humor, yet the action feels mature and let's be honest here; what young kids are going to be interested in seeing a bunch of old guys walking on screen, doing stuff that just isn't right for their age. But to adults this movie just isn't very appealing either. It has a far simplistic story, involving a whole bunch of childish humor and silly, far fetched, situations.
The movie is flawed, in just about every regard. First of all, its concept totally ever fails to work out as anything credible. These guys are supposed to be WW II veterans, which should put them in their 90's, yet the move, talk and look like a bunch of 70 year old, which is a compliment, but something that doesn't exactly work out very well for the movie its credibility. Besides, each one of them is supposed to have a special skill that makes them unique and essential for the team. Yet in action nothing none of their skills come in handy really, or perhaps rather said, the movie completely forgets about their skills and simply lets them fight like a bunch of, mostly incapable, old soldiers. I honestly also still don't get why they were brought back into action. As if they really were the only ones capable of handling this mission. As a matter of fact, it seems dangerous that a bunch of rusty old man go after a kidnapped young girl, who is being held hostage by a group of very bad man, with some very big guns and serious attitude problems.
It further more is an action flick, but without much action really. As a matter of fact, the only real action of the movie happens during its final 20 minutes or so. It is just weird that the only action set piece happens at the end. It makes me even more confused about who this movie got made for exactly. It doesn't make the movie necessarily a slow or dull one to watch, but its lack of action does of course make it a far from exciting or spectacular one.
The style of the movie can best be described as a straight-to-DVD-kids-movie style. The pace, the look, the humor. It all seems kids orientated and my guess is that the kid characters played a much bigger role in the movie initially, until James Caan got cast and the movie suddenly had to be centered around him instead.
And honestly, Caan is quite good in his role. It is still somewhat painful to see him in these type of movie nowadays, but it luckily doesn't seem to bother him at all. He plays his role very professionally and puts a lot into it. He is a joy to watch, but I just can't say that his character was solid enough as well to carry this movie. The movie needed a whole bunch of other decent characters in it to make things a bit more interesting and entertaining, which is something that the movie sadly misses, despite the presence of some other great and well known actors.
It is an harmless and simplistic enough little movie, that isn't going to bore or annoy anyone, but it is definitely far from anything memorable or even really good enough as well.
5/10
Watch trailer
Biggest problem I have with this movie is that I just can't figure out who it is made for. It is actually a very childish movie with its approach and humor, yet the action feels mature and let's be honest here; what young kids are going to be interested in seeing a bunch of old guys walking on screen, doing stuff that just isn't right for their age. But to adults this movie just isn't very appealing either. It has a far simplistic story, involving a whole bunch of childish humor and silly, far fetched, situations.
The movie is flawed, in just about every regard. First of all, its concept totally ever fails to work out as anything credible. These guys are supposed to be WW II veterans, which should put them in their 90's, yet the move, talk and look like a bunch of 70 year old, which is a compliment, but something that doesn't exactly work out very well for the movie its credibility. Besides, each one of them is supposed to have a special skill that makes them unique and essential for the team. Yet in action nothing none of their skills come in handy really, or perhaps rather said, the movie completely forgets about their skills and simply lets them fight like a bunch of, mostly incapable, old soldiers. I honestly also still don't get why they were brought back into action. As if they really were the only ones capable of handling this mission. As a matter of fact, it seems dangerous that a bunch of rusty old man go after a kidnapped young girl, who is being held hostage by a group of very bad man, with some very big guns and serious attitude problems.
It further more is an action flick, but without much action really. As a matter of fact, the only real action of the movie happens during its final 20 minutes or so. It is just weird that the only action set piece happens at the end. It makes me even more confused about who this movie got made for exactly. It doesn't make the movie necessarily a slow or dull one to watch, but its lack of action does of course make it a far from exciting or spectacular one.
The style of the movie can best be described as a straight-to-DVD-kids-movie style. The pace, the look, the humor. It all seems kids orientated and my guess is that the kid characters played a much bigger role in the movie initially, until James Caan got cast and the movie suddenly had to be centered around him instead.
And honestly, Caan is quite good in his role. It is still somewhat painful to see him in these type of movie nowadays, but it luckily doesn't seem to bother him at all. He plays his role very professionally and puts a lot into it. He is a joy to watch, but I just can't say that his character was solid enough as well to carry this movie. The movie needed a whole bunch of other decent characters in it to make things a bit more interesting and entertaining, which is something that the movie sadly misses, despite the presence of some other great and well known actors.
It is an harmless and simplistic enough little movie, that isn't going to bore or annoy anyone, but it is definitely far from anything memorable or even really good enough as well.
5/10
Watch trailer
