Not the most spirited or remarkable Hollywood action director around, but Fuqua made some pretty solid films and didn't direct too many obvious flukes. His oeuvre offers good filler when you're looking for slick, entertaining action films.
Movies
A big blockbuster that never made it to the big screen (for some or other reason). It's a film that wouldn't look out of place next to a random Marvel flick or the latest Bond, except that it is much shorter and punchier. And for that reason alone, it deserves a fair bit of praise, I certainly wouldn't have liked a 2+ hour version of this quite as much. When Evan tries to sell a sword for a bag of pills, he is taken in by the police. An odd guy comes in to question him, telling Evan he's known him for hundreds of years. Evan doesn't remember him, but he'll soon find himself in a century-spanning battle between two factions of Infinites, people who reincarnate after they die. The action scenes are pretty cool and Wahlberg is perfect for his part. The lore here is somewhat basic, not dragging it out as if it was something that actually warrants a lot of attention is genius though. This is just a bit of expensive action/fantasy fun and does a great job at that. It also has a perfect premise for doing some Cloverfield-like sequels, though I don't think we'll be that lucky.Read all
A fine sequel. Denzel Washington returns as the good-natured but deadly killer, Fuqua is visibly at ease doing this kind of action work. The action scenes are stylish, the mood is dark enough and the action is on point. 120 minutes is a bit much though and there aren't any standout moments, but it's good filler.
A straight-up remake of the Danish original, with some extra (but unnecessary) Hollywood touches here and there. It's actually quite interesting to watch them close together, as it becomes easier to pinpoint what exactly constitutes an "American remake". Not too surprisingly, the result is worse than the original. Joe is a demoted officer on call duty. In between more pedestrian 911 calls, he receives a message of a woman who is being kidnapped by her husband. Joe tries his best to save the woman, but when the HCP stop the wrong van it seems the two are lost. Joe goes above and beyond to solve the case from his station. Most of the plot and the dialogue are copied from the original. There is a bit more padding (to clear up certain plot points) and some slight changes that take some edge off. Gyllenhaal isn't at his best and the film does leave the call station for a single scene, which was pretty unnecessary. Not terrible, but make sure you watch the original first.Read all
Fuqua is a decent enough director, but when he ventures outside of his comfort zone it quickly becomes apparent that he is somewhat limited too. I don't really care much for these historic epics, but King Arthur turned out to be particularly boring. A bland and generic blockbuster spectacle that never felt very spectacular. The film offers a somewhat grittier and more realistic take on the King Arthur legend, which means that it removed all the fun parts and leaves the story about a boarish man going on a quest to unite Britain and give the land back to its people. Much fighting and battlefields ahead in other words. The performances are weak, the cinematography is bland and the plot didn't interest me at all. The two-hour runtime isn't that extreme, but it was still way too long for a film where I found nothing to amuse myself with. It's a good thing this was just a one-off for Fuqua because this was pretty terrible.Read all