The Last Witch Hunter (2015)

It is the Middle Ages and a band of men trek through a frozen landscape until they come to a massive tree.  Torches blazing, they dare into the dark recesses of the tree to slay the Witch Queen.  The battle proves challenging as the Witch Queen's minions swarm the men and her magic confuses and misleads them.  Among the witch hunters is Kalder (Vin Diesel), who is clearly the strongest fighter.  He manages to overcome the queen's magic and skewer her with a flaming sword.  As she dies, she curses him with immortality.

Modern Day: Kalder is on a plane that is suffering turbulence as it passes through a storm.  Leaving his seat, he uses a glass of water and a bent staple to find a witch.  Matter of factly, he demands that she hand it over.  He finds charms that - when combined - cause storms.  Oops.  After confiscating them, he leaves the witch alone.  Back at his New York apartment, he meets with Dolan (Michael Caine).  Dolan is his handler and liaison with the church, the 36th to hold the position.  Kalder still calls him 'kid' and is not thrilled to see him retire.  The new Dolan (Elijah Woods) arrives the next day.  Just like everyday, there is witchery afoot and Kalder sets out to hunt it.

Rose Leslie, best remembered from Game of Thrones as the girl who said "You know nothing, John Snow" - is a witch who brews potions.  She finds herself needed by Kalder and hunted by other witches.  She also proves to be the love interest.  Maybe.  There is some flirting.  Perhaps it's nothing.  He's a witch hunter and she's a witch, so it looks like it probably wouldn't work out.  Besides, she's in her 20s and he's 800 something years old.  Talk about a May-December romance.

The character of Kalder needed more work.  As an immortal, he fears nothing but that doesn't mean his is invulnerable.  He regularly gets ensorcelled by various witches.  You would think he had a counter for witches messing with his mind after all these centuries.  Also, after 800 years, you would think he would have pondered something he says repeatedly in this movie: To break a curse, you kill the witch that cast it.  Hmm.  If you kill the witch, the curse is broken.  I'm cursed with immortality by the witch I killed.  Wait.  Maybe I should think about this.  Nope.  Another strange thing was that he is mostly unarmed.  I suppose being unkillable makes you cocky.  He has this vast armory at his apartment but only breaks that out for the big fights.

Good popcorn fun!

Zulu (1964)

The British Army has suffered a major defeat at Isandlwana and the Zulus are out to find more soldiers to attack.  Rorke's Drift, an outpost on the border of Zululand, is an obvious choice.  Lt. Chard (Stanley Baker) happens to be in the area to build a bridge across the Buffalo River.  Though he is an engineer officer, he has seniority over Lt. Bromhead (Michael Caine).  Though there are calls to retreat, the last orders were to hold the position; Chard intends to do just that.  He gets the men working on redoubts to protect the mostly open compound, stacking barriers and overturning wagons to create a curtain wall.  Even so, he doesn't have enough men to defend all the walls.  He has roughly 150 men standing against 3,000 to 4,000 Zulus.  The first wave of Zulus do little more than determine the defensive strength; it is practically a turkey shoot.  The next wave comes to the walls and bayonets are needed to defend Rorke's Drift.  With each succeeding attack, more and more Zulus get over the walls and the British retreat to inner redoubts.  Can they hold out until reinforced?

In his first high profile role, Michael Caine is shaky.  He plays the dilletante with a haughty attitude.  His early scenes are unlike what one expects of Caine.  Baker is good as Lt. Chard, providing a strong leader in a hopeless situation.  Nigel Green is the standout as Color Sergeant Borne.  He exudes command despite rarely raising his voice.  He is unflappable and always on the spot to get the men in action.  He is somehow gentle as a pillow but solid as a rock.  Strange.  Impressive.  Most of the support characters are quite good with the sole exception of Henry Hook (James Booth).  The character arc for him is much too cliche and rings hollow.  That it was unlike the real Henry Hook makes it all the worse.

Overall, great popcorn fun.  Recommended.

Gambit (1966)

Harry Dean (Michael Caine) follows a woman through the streets of Hong Kong.  She goes into a club.  There, Dean and another man watch as she performs with other dancers in a floor show.  Both agree that the woman is perfect for their plan.  Dean offers Nicole Chang (Shirley MacLaine) $5000 and a British passport if she will pose as his wife.  When Sir Harold and Lady Nicole arrive in a middle eastern country, she is now a brunette who bares an uncanny resemblance to the dead wife of Ahmad Shahbandar (Herbert Lom).  Shahbandar, reportedly the richest man in the world, invites them to dinner and marvels at Nicole.  In Shahbandar's apartment, there is a priceless sculpture of an ancient Chinese empress; the resemblance to Nicole is startling.  This is what Harry intends to steal.

Here is a heist/comedy/romance.  Like many movies of this type, there is the idealized heist as planned which looks foolproof and then the actual heist that sees a variety of comical setbacks.  This comes off quite well and is entertaining.  The romance is not only secondary, but something of a surprise.  The scenes between Harry and Nicole are mostly him being annoyed at her chattiness.  When he professes his love for her, it comes as a surprise.  Really, I thought it was just as likely that he would abandon her to be caught.

Fun and light.  A must for fans of either Michael Caine or Shirley MacLaine.  Good popcorn fun.

The Whistle Blower (1986)

Bob Jones works for British intelligence as a Russian interpreter.  On account of recent scandals in British intelligence, the workplace has become a low trust zone where everyone is encouraged to rat out any suspicious behavior.  Bob finds this difficult and discusses it with his father, Frank (Michael Caine).  Frank is a former Navy officer who has had a difficult time since leaving government service.  He encourages Bob to muddle through.  He's even a bit disappointed in his son's apparent lack of patriotism.  Soon after their conversation, Bob is dead and Frank doesn't accept it.  He thinks his son was murdered and he starts poking around.

A run of the mill spy thriller in which the West is killing its own agents in order to prevent the public exposure of a high-ranking and unprosecuted traitor.  Imagine how embarassing that would be.  Yes, better we kill some low-level intel officers and a pesky journalist.  Sure, the Soviets are bad but we're just as bad, maybe worse.  Mostly disappointing.  Not one of Michael Caine's better movies.

Skip.

Harry Palmer

With the boom of spy thrillers in the 1960s that started with Dr. No (1962), new franchises appeared.  One of the more successful ones followed the adventures of Harry Palmer, played by Michael Caine.  While James Bond travels to exotic locations to engage in action-packed adventure, Palmer finds himself navigating the bureaucracy of the intelligence service.  There are forms to sign, paperwork to fill out, and places to surveil.  Whereas Bond spends his time wearing tuxedoes in posh casinos, Palmer shops at Safeway and cooks at home.  Palmer is very middle class though, like Bond, he has a gift for seducing beautiful women.  Also like Bond, he has his M, Colonel Ross (Guy Doleman), who appears in all three Harry Palmer films.

The Ipcress File (1965): Professor Radcliffe, one of the leading physicists of the UK, has been kidnapped and his bodyguard killed.  Harry Palmer, an agent with a criminal record, is reassigned from surveillance duty to replace the murdered agent.  Now working for Major Dalby (Nigel Green), he is assigned to track down the man most likely to have Radcliffe and arrange a ransom.  Along the way, he launches an unsuccessful rescue, learns of a mysterious brainwashing technique, kills an American spy, and has multiple dustups with both his current and former bosses.

A Funeral in Berlin (1966): Colonel Ross dispatches Harry to Berlin to arrange a high-value defection.  Harry has many friends and acquaintances in Berlin as he served there just prior to the Ipcress File.  Most of these acquaintances are criminals, something that infuriates Inspector Reinhardt of Berlin Police.  After meeting the local man in Berlin, Johnny Vulkan, Harry learns that the would-be defector is Colonel Stok (Oskar Homolka) of the Russian Army.  Harry thinks it's a con job but reluctantly travels to East Berlin and meets with Stok.  Harry still doesn't believe him but Ross gives the go ahead and forwards the money.  Stok demands that Kreutzman, a man famed for his ability to smuggle defectors from east to west, take charge.  The plot proves more complicated with the involvement of Israeli Nazi hunters, double agents, and people who aren't who they seem to be.

The Billion Dollar Brain (1967): Harry has left the service and is a private detective who is reduced to eating corn flakes in his office.  Ross arrives to ask him back into service, offering a promotion and more pay.  Harry declines but soon after receives a call from a computer that sends him to Helsinki with a mysterious package and a promise of 200 pounds.  In Helsinki, he meets an American friend, Leo Newbigen (Karl Malden).  Leo takes the package and pays Harry.  Then, he proposes that Harry join a private outfit that has no risks and high pay.  He's intrigued and will think it over.  Enter Colonel Ross, who carries out the threat of drafting Harry back into service.  He must recover the package and return it to the UK.  To do this, he finds himself entangled with Latvian rebels, the Russian Army - including a return of General Stok, a Texas oil billionaire with his cowboy goon squad, a super computer - the titular billion dollar brain, and yet another gorgeous woman throwing herself at him.

Of the three, The Ipcress File is the most gritty.  It takes place entirely in London and follows Palmer on his first real case.  In the later two, he's a veteran and not fazed by some of the situations.  Here, he is daring and direct but inexperienced.  A Funeral in Berlin is the best as far as classic spy movies go.  There are lots of characters with conflicting goals and unknown motivations.  Harry is a professional here and has some secrets of his own.  The Billion Dollar Brain is the most like a standard Bond movie.  Harry travels to Finland, Latvia, and Texas.  General Midwinter (Ed Begley) is the standard mad villain with a private army, a secret bunker, and dreams of conquest.  It is the weakest of the bunch, an unfortunate conclusion for the series.

Michael Caine had signed up to do 5 movies but balked after the financial disappointment of The Billion Dollar Brain.  He was released from the contract but, in the 1990s, he reprised the role in a couple more movies.

Highly recommended.  The first two are top notch and the third is still a lot of fun.

The Fourth Protocol (1987)

Kim Philby, infamous British intelligence officer who defected to the Soviet Union, arrives at a remote dacha for a meeting with the head of the KGB.  No sooner has he stepped out of his car than he is murdered by a Soviet soldier.  It should be noted that Kim Philby (1912-1988) was a real person who was still alive in Russia when this film was released.

Valeri Petrofsky (Pierce Brosnan) arrives at a Soviet base where he is met by the very soldier who shot Philby.  The soldier introduces him to the head of KGB, who has a special mission for him.  He is going to assemble an atomic bomb that the KGB intends to smuggle - piece by piece - into England.  He will then detonate it next to a US Airforce Base.  This was the plot of Octopussy (1983)!

Meanwhile, John Preston (Michael Caine) is busy ferreting out a traitor in London.  He exposes the man but does so by ignoring the orders of his director (Julian Glover).  This earns him a demotion to Ports & Airports duty.  As luck would have it, a Russian sailor was hit by a truck while running from a security guard.  He had an unusual metal disk that is an integral part for an atomic bomb.  It is now a race to see if Preston can track down Petrofsky before he finishes the bomb.

Michael Caine is terrific.  He can be charming, funny, or intimidating.  His character is well-developed without beating the viewer over the head.  A single glance at a picture of him, a woman, and his son explains that his wife is dead and he is a single father.  Despite a demanding job, we see he makes time for his young son.  Really, a well-written and acted role.

By contrast, Brosnan is bland.  In every situation, he has the look of a guilty character.  He spends his time glowering at everyone.  Even when he goes drinking with an American (Matt Frewer AKA Max Headroom), he is stone-faced.  Brosnan is an actor who is overflowing with charisma - Remington Steele had 5 season thanks to it - but here he is one-dimensional.  What kind of spy just looks suspicious all the time?

Ned Beatty had a cameo as a Russian general.  That was unexpected.  There was no effort to do a Russian accent which made it odder still.  Yeah, not buying him as a Russian general.

Ian Richardson was a stand out as Sir Nigel Irvine, a high-ranking secret service official who plays realpolitik with cool demeanor.  His cold-blooded rebuke of a man who unwittingly betrayed the nation was great stuff.

Though it has a strong plot and good characters, it lacks action.  There aren't a lot of thrills in this thriller.  Still, enjoyable to watch and a must see for fans of Michael Caine.