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Time of India
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Shadow Force Movie Review: A bland action thriller that fizzles despite a promising set up
Story: Kyrah and Issac, former elite operatives turned lovers, go on the run with their son after their old team puts a bounty on their heads. Hunted by their ex-boss Jack Cinder, they must fight to protect their family and confront their past. Review: 'Shadow Force' is a film that feels all too familiar, offering little new within its overdone premise. It's a standard action thriller that doesn't bother to break any molds. The plot takes too many liberties, never properly explaining key elements, and leaves the audience to fill in the gaps. While the action sequences may keep you engaged momentarily, the film quickly loses its grip, leaving you indifferent to what's happening on screen. Despite the high stakes and potential for a gripping story, the lack of depth makes it a forgettable experience. The plot centers on Kyrah Owens (Kerry Washington) and Issac Saar (Omar Sy), two former elite operatives who worked for a covert unit called Shadow Force. When they fall in love and have a child, they decide to leave their violent world behind to protect their son. However, their past catches up with them when Isaac's identity is revealed while saving their son during a bank robbery. Once their former boss, Jack Cinder (Mark Strong), discovers they are alive, he places a bounty on their heads and sends a team of skilled assassins to kill them. The couple, forced to go on the run, must rely on their instincts and combat skills to survive. From Mexico to Spain to Bolivia, the action-packed journey unfolds with high-speed chases and near-death encounters. The film suffers from a lack of clarity, particularly when it comes to its central premise. The audience is never truly given an understanding of what Shadow Force is or what Kyrah and Isaac have been doing before the events of the film. If their crime is simply falling in love and wanting to raise a family, it feels like a flimsy excuse for a plot. While the action sequences are thrilling, the narrative leaves much to be desired. The few moments of warmth, especially between Kyrah, Issac, and their son Ky, bring a brief sense of emotional connection. Issac's use of French adds an interesting layer to his character, giving a natural, authentic feel to the portrayal, but these moments are overshadowed by a confusing and shallow storyline. Kerry Washington's performance is a major letdown, especially when compared to her past work. Her portrayal feels uninspired and flat, lacking the depth and intensity needed for such a high-stakes role. It's hard to believe this is the same actress who delivered a brilliant performance in her previous film 'The Six Triple Eight.' Mark Strong, on the other hand, brings a sense of menace and gravitas to the character of Jack Cinder, proving to be a strong presence in his role as the antagonist. But it's Omar Sy who stands out in this film. Despite being French, Sy is perfectly at ease in an English-language film, delivering a performance that balances both toughness and warmth effortlessly. His character feels real, and his natural charisma elevates the film, making him the one redeeming aspect. 'Shadow Force' never fully capitalizes on the potential its premise offers. It stays on the surface level, failing to dive deeper into its characters or plot. While it delivers on action, it never goes the extra mile, and in the end, it remains a forgettable, average film.
Mint
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
World's richest actor hasn't act in films since 2022, still outranks Tom Cruise, Dwayne Johnson, Shah Rukh Khan
The world's richest actor hasn't faced the camera for last three years, but his fortune continues to soar. In fact, he is not as popular as Tom Cruise, Jerry Seinfeld, Dwayne Johnson or Shah Rukh Khan. Earlier, Forbes dropped its list of billionaires in the world for 2025 and revealed the realist actor in the world. According to Forbes, Tyler Perry is the world's richest actor in 2025. The actor, filmmaker has a net worth of $1.4 billion at 55 as per Forbes. With the massive net worth, he outranks other popular actors including Jerry Seinfeld ($1.1 billion), Tom Cruise ($800 million), Shah Rukh Khan ($770 million), and Dwayne Johnson ($700 million). Tyler Perry has written, produced and acted in several films, shows and plays. However, his most successful franchise is the Madea franchise. While he is not best known for any global hit, the series grossed over $660 million worldwide. As per Forbes, 'Perry's wealth comes both from his cut as a producer and from a library dating back to the early 1990s: he owns 100% of the content he's created. In 2019, he opened Tyler Perry Studios, a 330-acre property in Atlanta with 12 sound stages and custom sets that include a to-scale White House.' Beyond this, Tyler Perry also ventured into smart business investments that added significant weight to his financial empire. The magazine also mentioned, 'After seven years creating content for Oprah Winfrey's OWN, Perry struck a similar deal with Viacom in 2019, getting 25% of streaming service BET+.' Perry took the joint 2356th spot in the Forbes list of billionaires, which featured 3000 billionaires across the globe. Tyler Perry was last seen as an actor in the 2002 film A Madea Homecoming, based around the titular character. He also served as the writer, director and executive producer of the show. Since then, he has not acted in films, though he continued to back them as a filmmaker. Among them were A Jazzman's Blues, Mea Culpa, Divorce in the Black and The Six Triple Eight. His recent work as a director, producer and writer was Amazon Prime Video's Duplicity. Tyler will be next seen reprising his iconic role in the upcoming Madea's Destination Wedding. He will also be working on Joy Ridge as the writer, director and producer at the same time.
Boston Globe
29-04-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
Black female WWII unit, ‘Six Triple Eight,' to receive congressional honor
At a ceremony scheduled to be held in Emancipation Hall at the Capitol Visitor Center, House Speaker Mike Johnson and others will present the medal to the family of the unit commander, Lt. Col. Charity Adams Earley. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Kim Guise, senior curator and director of curatorial affairs at the National WWII Museum, said there are only two women living from the 855 who served in the unit. Advertisement 'That really shows how long this recognition took,' Guise said. 'It is really important to recognize the accomplishments of these women and what they went through to serve their country in war time.' Wisconsin Rep. Gwen Moore, who co-sponsored legislation to award the medal to the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, called it a long overdue honor for the women in the unit. 'These heroes deserve their dues; and I am so glad their story is being told,' Moore, a Democrat, told The Associated Press on Monday. 'I am especially honored to ensure my constituent Ms. Anna Mae Robertson and the many others who served with her, are recognized for their selfless service.' Advertisement In 2022, Congress voted 422-0 to bestow its highest honor on the 6888th. 'It's overwhelming,' retired Maj. Fannie Griffin McClendon, who lives in Arizona, told the AP after the vote. 'It's something I never even thought about it.' McClendon joined the Air Force after the military was integrated and retired in 1971. She was the first female to command an all-male squadron with the Strategic Air Command. The 6888th was sent overseas in 1945, a time when there was growing pressure from African-American organizations to include Black women in what was called the Women's Army Corps, and allow them to join their white counterparts overseas. 'They kept hollering about wanting us to go overseas so I guess they found something for us to do overseas: Take care of the mail,' McClendon said. 'And there was an awful lot of mail. ... They expected we were gonna be there about two or three months trying to get it straightened out. Well I think in about a month, in a month and a half, we had it all straightened out and going in the right direction.' The 6888th toiled around the clock, processing about 65,000 pieces of mail in each of the three shifts. They created a system using locator cards with a service member's name and unit number to ensure mail was delivered. Over the years, the unit's story started to gain wider recognition. A monument was erected in 2018 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to honor them, and the 6888th was given the Meritorious Unit Commendation in 2019. A documentary 'The Six Triple Eight' was made about their exploits. In 2024, Tyler Perry directed a movie for Netflix about the unit, starring Kerry Washington. Advertisement Associated Press writer Michael Casey contributed to this report.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Reading NAACP honors local member of famed all-Black women's WAC unit
Sharon Holtz grew up knowing that her aunt, Pfc. Phyllis Long Green, served in the Women's Army Corps, or WAC, during World War II. But it wasn't until recently that she discovered the details. Long Green was a member of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the only all-Black WAC unit deployed overseas during World War II. Holtz of Shillington, her sister Rosalind Matthews of Landover, Md., and other family members took part Friday in a ceremony honoring their relative. Sharon Holtz, Phyllis Long Green's niece, speaks about her aunt during a wreath laying ceremony honoring WWII PFC Phyllis Long Green on Friday, March 28, 2025, at Charles Evans Cemetery. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) The program presented by NAACP Reading Branch 2289 included a wreath laying at Long Green's grave in Charles Evans Cemetery, 1119 Centre Ave. The service was followed by a panel discussion at the Berks History Center, 940 Centre Ave., on racism and sexism in the military. More than 100 gathered at the gravesite to pay homage to Long Green and recognize her service. 'We grew up, of course, knowing that she was in the WACs,' Holtz said of her aunt. 'She would tell us certain things, but we didn't know the whole story.' That was until Holtz watched the 2024 Netflix film 'The Six Triple Eight,' written and directed by Tyler Perry. The movie, based on the article 'Fighting a Two-Front War' by Kevin M. Hymel, tells the story of how the unit was formed, its deployment in 1945 to England and France and its work clearing a massive backlog of mail. It depicts the many challenges the women faced, including racism and sexism within the military and from U.S. and British citizens. The unit is also the subject of several documentaries available for online streaming. The Reading High School JROTC salutes as Taps are played during a wreath laying ceremony honoring WWII PFC Phyllis Long Green on Friday, March 28, 2025, at Charles Evans Cemetery. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) The event Friday was part of a larger effort by the NAACP Pennsylvania Conference to identify the graves of and honor the 17 Pennsylvanians who served in the Six Triple Eight. Their names were read by Le'shay Collins, a Reading High School senior and cadet in the school's Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, or JROTC. Corps members presented the colors and took part in the service. The event marked Women's History Month, an annual observance in March highlighting the contributions of women to U.S. history. Women veterans of Berks County (in red) salute as Taps is played during a wreath laying ceremony honoring WWII PFC Phyllis Long Green on Friday, March 28, 2025, at Charles Evans Cemetery. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) Born in Reading in 1920, Long Green was the youngest of Thomas J. and Elizabeth (Miller) Long's 14 children. Orphaned by age 12, she lived with an older sister, Ellen Gehris, while attending Reading High School. She was working as a clerk in New York when she enlisted in the WACs in 1944, said Barry Kauffman, a local historian who is researching Long Green's service for an article in the Historical Review of Berks County. Kauffman said he hopes to learn more about her work with the unit. The Reading High School JROTC presents the colors during a wreath laying ceremony honoring WWII PFC Phyllis Long Green on Friday, March 28, 2025, at Charles Evans Cemetery. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) Although the Six Triple Eight was assigned to clear a mail backlog, he said, not all its members had postal jobs. Some worked as cooks, medics, clerks, military police and in other supporting roles. Because women were not allowed to carry weapons, WAC MPs were trained in martial arts, he noted. 'They could handle any problem that an MP would normally handle by throwing somebody over their shoulder,' Kauffman said. Following the war, Green Long married Howard Green and lived in Philadelphia, where she worked for 25 years as a telecommunications expert. She died in 1998 and was survived by a stepdaughter, Ardella Woodburn, Atlanta; a brother, Forrest Long, Brooklyn; and two sisters, Jesse Evans, Shillington, and Rose Jones, Brooklyn, according to her Reading Eagle obituary. As one of 855 Black women who served during World War II, Green Long deserves to be honored and remembered, Kauffman said. U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan presents a flag flown over the Capitol in honor of PFC Phyllis Long Green to Green's niece Sharon Holtz during a wreath laying ceremony honoring Green on Friday, March 28, 2025, at Charles Evans Cemetery. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) Speaking at the event, U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, a veteran of the Air Force, said it is especially fitting to pay respect to Long Green and her historic legacy during Women's History Month. 'I commend Phyllis and her battalion's incredible drive to serve our country in a time of great need during World War II,' the representative said. Other speakers included Wynton Butler, president of the Reading NAACP; the Rev. Alberta Jones, pastor of Bethel AME Church, Reading; and state Sen. Judy Schwank. Wreaths were presented by Bethel, American Legion George Washington Carver Post 962 and Victor Lodge 72. The ceremony also included an invocation by the Rev. Dennis Williams, senior pastor of Church of God in Christ, Reading, and benediction by the Rev. Pamela J. Johnson, assistant pastor of Life Church, Reading. Looking out over the crowd gathered to honor her aunt, Holtz said she was filled with joy. 'It's just wonderful,' she said. 'It just does my heart so good.'
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Family remembers Cobb woman as one of the members of the Six Triple Eight unit during World War II
The Six Triple Eight unit was the only unit made up entirely of Black women in World War II and one of them called Cobb County home. Channel 2 Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell spoke with family members of Lettie Roberta Williams who deployed overseas with the unit in 1945. The 855 women of the Six Triple Eight Central Postal Directory Battalion were tasked with working around the clock in extremely poor conditions to sort the massive backlog of mail that had been stacked in a warehouse. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] 'You're helping these families who did not know where there soldiers were, whether they were deceased, missing, alive,' Williams' great-great-niece Trina Delk said. After just three months, the Six Triple Eight had given countless families the answers they had been missing and raising morale among soldiers. Delk and Lacresia Couser say they knew Williams served in the war, but didn't know the extent of what her unit went through until they watched the movie 'The Six Triple Eight' from filmmaker Tyler Perry. 'They started rolling the credits of the names, and I was like, 'Wait a minute,'' Couser said. 'This is amazing. This was my great-great-aunt.' 'I actually watched it twice because I was just in awe,' Delk said. TRENDING STORIES: Missing 5-year-old's body found in Gwinnett County pond Principal identifies student killed in after-school shooting in DeKalb Former Cobb deputy faked multiple sclerosis to get donations, prosecutors say Williams was the first Black woman in Marietta to enlist in the Army Corps. 'She was the first Black librarian of Cobb County,' Couser remembered. 'She worked at the Housing Authority. She helped develop the YMCA,' Delk said. Delk said her great-great-aunt inspired her to not be afraid to join male-dominated fields, prompting her to join the Cobb County Sheriff's Office. 'When I started, I was with mostly men. I ended up training some of the officers and the civilians. Don't let it be just a male thing that you can't do it, just know you can,' Delk said. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
