In violent post-Apartheid South Africa, Forest Whitaker and Orlando Bloom are two homicide detectives still effected by scars from their pasts who are called in to investigate the violent deaths of two young women. It’s an intricate crime story that touches on many aspects of the South African underworld and the dark shadow of Apartheid that continues to darken the country. Whitaker and Bloom work well together and both fantastically portray the complex layers of their individual characters.  

Based on the true story of the Jasmine Plummer, the first female to play in the Pop Warner Super Bowl, former local football star Ice Cube is asked to provide after school care for his niece Keke Palmer. With little in common, he introduces her to his favorite sport, only to be surprised to find she has a natural ability to throw the ball. It’s a simple, family-friendly film, but Cube and Palmer have a natural chemistry together and they both elevate their rather predictable individual roles to make it quite watchable. 

Enhanced with a prototype that gives him extra-human strength and agility, Mark Dacascos escapes to the United States in an attempt to sell the device. Unfortunately his Chinese overlords are hot on his tail requiring to hook up with a down on his luck Kadeem Hardison in an attempt to evade the baddies. The story is silly and there’s some really wacky performances by Brittany Murphy and bad guy John Pyper-Ferguson, but the stunt work and fight choreography are top notch, making it an entertaining, mindless weekend flick.    

In an alternate socialist-democracy United States, two feminist organizations use guerilla tactics to bring to light women’s issues still rampant in the new America. I must admit that a great deal of the politics of the film went over my head. This wasn’t helped by the very low-budget, documentary-like style of the film, but there’s still the prevailing feeling that the more things change the more they stay the same. While there’s definitely a similar feel to Lizzie Borden’s later film Working Girls , I have to say that the other film speaks more to me both in its narrative and style.