What to Watch This Weekend: Free Guy, CODA, Raging Fire, Respect, Slasher Flesh and Blood, Luca, Those Who Wish Me Dead, Easy Does It

For A Heartfelt Family Drama: CODA (Theaters and Apple TV+)

CODA is a treat for the eyes and ears, with a beautiful look at a tight knit family that faces both unique and universal challenges as they struggle to deal with life, growing together, and growing apart.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Next Level Video Game Comedy: Free Guy (Theaters)
Free Guy is a love letter to video games and to Ryan Reynolds with an over the top premise, plenty of cameos and Easter Eggs, and a story that will have you cheering until it is game over.   For more information, check out the review!

For A Martial Arts Police Procedural: Raging Fire (Theaters)

Raging Fire is a showcase for Yen and Tse, with fantastic, brutal action, great style, and a police procedural plot that pits these two superstars against each other in a climactic conclusion.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Soulful Docu-Drama: Respect (Theaters)

Respect's all star cast and courage to explore the good and the bad of Aretha's journey will give you a new appreciation of the Queen of Soul's life, music, and the challenges that crafted this strong icon.  For more information, check out the review! 

For A Throwback Action Thriller: Those Who Wish Me Dead (Redbox)

Those Who Wish Me Dead is a 90s style action thriller with an all star cast and great direction.  For more information, check out the review!

For The Kids: Luca (Redbox)
Luca is in the vein of A Little Mermaid, but its beautiful animation, imaginative story, and focus on tolerance and being yourself is a timeless message that appeals to kids and adults alike!  For more information, check out the review!

For A Horror-Based Family Drama: Slasher: Flesh and Blood (Shudder)

Slasher: Flesh and Blood has a Knives Out feel, with a dysfunctional family forced back to the patriarchs estate for a deadly reunion.  I liked the characters and the overall drama, as well as the addition of a killer in the midst!!

For A Fun, Indie Road Trip: Easy Does It (IMDBTV Free With Ads)

Easy Does It is a breath of fresh indie air. The film's cast of quirky, fun characters, entertaining story, style, and fantastic music fuels a wonderfully enjoyable road trip!  For more information, check out our review!

Those Who Wish Me Dead Review: A 90s Style Action Thriller In Modern Times

Release date: May 14, 2021
Running time: 97 minutes
Directed By: Taylor Sheridan
Written By: Michael Koryta, Charles Leavitt
Stars: Angelina Jolie, Nicholas Hoult, Finn Little, Aiden Gillen, Jon Bernthal

A smoke jumper and a 12-year-old boy fight for their lives as two assassins pursue them through the wilderness.

Those Who Wish Me Dead feels like a throwback to a different time of moviemaking, and that is perfectly fine.  The movie is clearly inspired by 90s action thrillers and it feels good watching something like that.  The story barely makes sense, the villains will stop at nothing to get what they want, and everything seems to come together in this difficult journey.  And on top of that, the acting is just a little overdramatic and the effects are just a little over the top.  Altogether it translates into a fun throwback experience that will have you rooting for the good guys.

And on top of being a fun experience, Those Who Wish Me Dead also has plenty of star power.  Angelina Jolie is her usual self, although in this movie she gets to rely more on her motherly instincts as she watches out for her young ward.  She is a strong and respected female smokejumper and helps to lead the film and the adventure.  And this translates into a strong female lead, but one that is not an action star.  Aiden Gillen has carved himself quite a niche playing a gentleman thug, and this film is no exception.  He is charismatic and unpredictable, keeping you a little on edge whenever he needs to do something.  Gillen is accompanied by Nicholas Hoult, who backs him up but seems to not be as ruthless as the more experienced assassin.  And Jon Bernthal is also his normal self, a gruff slightly unpredictable law man who is trying to stop the assassins.

And Those Who Wish Me Dead's flaws are related to its strengths.  It is a 90s style action thriller, so the plot doesn't really make sense when you break it down, but it provides enough to keep the action moving.  And the situations, likewise, are very convenient but that is the style as well.  And also, the characters don't change much or evolve.  Overall though, Those Who Wish Me Dead will give you an hour and a half of entertainment, action, and overall enjoyment.  

Those Who Wish Me Dead is an enjoyable 90s-style action thriller with all the good and bad that comes from that.

Watch it.

If you liked this review and want to see more from Watch or Pass, please consider 

following us on our various social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube. 

Those Who Wish Me Dead is available in theaters and on HBO Max on May 14, 2021.  It will leave HBO Max in mid June.  For tickets to see it in theaters, click here. 

This site contains affiliate links. //Commerce or this site may be compensated when you click through links on our site.  

What to Watch: Dead Pigs, Finding You, The Man in the Hat, Killing of Two Lovers, Those Who Wish Me Dead, Mauritanian, Oxygen, Undergods

For A Masterful, Dramatic Satire: Dead Pigs (Virtual Cinema)
Dead Pigs is a brilliant, satirical look at wealth, business practices, and social perception versus reality in a changing China, fueled by a biting humor and wonderful style.  For more information, check out the review!

For An Irish Coming of Age Rom Com: Finding You (Theaters)

Finding You is as fun as an Irish jig with an entertaining dynamic between the leads, an enjoyable story, and some beautiful shots of the Irish countryside.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Quirky Change of Pace: The Man in the Hat (Digital)

The Man in the Hat is a quirky, bright, and beautiful celebration of life and love that proves that often the journey is more enjoyable than the destination.   For more information, check out the review! 

For A Simmering Family Drama: The Killing of Two Lovers (In Theaters)

The Killing of Two Lovers is a powder keg of emotion that follows a stressful family situation with great dialogue, cinematography, acting, and a compact story.  For more information, check out our review!

For A Dystopian Deep Dive: Undergods (Digital)

Undergods's dire setting and storytelling format make for a fascinating, varied, and horrifying deep dive into this dystopian world.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Star Studed Legal Drama: The Mauritanian (Redbox)
The Mauritarian tells an impressive and important story of justice delayed with an all star cast and plenty of legal and political drama!  For more information, check out the review!

For A Throwback Action Thriller: Those Who Wish Me Dead (Theaters and HBO Max)

Those Who Wish Me Dead is a 90s style action thriller with an all star cast and great direction.  It is streaming on HBO Max for 30 days so make sure to check it out!

For Those Afraid of Being Cooped Up: Oxygen (Netflix)

A claustrophobic scifi thriller, Oxygen makes the most of its limited setting and will have you holding your breath as you watch the protagonist try to conserve her own.

Screening: Those Who Wish Me Dead

Do you want to see Angelina Jolie's latest film, Those Who Wish Me Dead?  If so, enter below to win a Fandango code good for two tickets to see the film in theaters!  Please note that the availability will vary depending on your local theater situation, so please keep that in mind.  The code is only good for Those Who Wish Me Dead, and is only valid at theaters that allow ticketing through Fandango.  But if you have all of that, here's your chance to win a code to see this film for free!  Enter below, winners will be notified on Thursday, May 13, 2021.  

Please ensure that you are comfortable going to the theater before entering.  This contest is for a Fandango code to see the film in theaters.

THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD
In theaters and streaming exclusively on HBO Max May 14, 2021.

From New Line Cinema comes the thriller “Those Who Wish Me Dead,” starring Angelina Jolie and directed by Taylor Sheridan.  Oscar winner Jolie (“Girl, Interrupted,” the “Maleficent” films) stars as Hannah, a smoke jumper still reeling from the loss of three lives she failed to save from a fire when she comes across a traumatized 12-year-old boy with nowhere else to turn.

The film also stars Nicholas Hoult (the “X-Men” films), Finn Little (“Reckoning”), Aidan Gillen (“Game of Thrones,” “Peaky Blinders”), Medina Senghore (“Happy!”), Tyler Perry (“Vice,” “Gone Girl”), Jake Weber (“Midway,” “Homeland”), and Jon Bernthal (“Ford v Ferrari,” “Wind River”).

a Rafflecopter giveaway