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Reviews
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
As Fun As It Is Flawed
Deadpool and Wolverine definitely presented a lot of interesting story possibilities as a superhero film but also a lot of ideas that left me sceptical at best. Put that on top of marvels recent inconsistency and the fact that the Deadpool movies thus far haven't really worked for me meant I was very much going in with a lot of nervous anticipation. It's an uneven ride for sure with a lot of execution that didn't always work for me but it's a very enjoyable experience with a lot of wholesome character moments that I wasn't sure it would give me.
The humour in these Deadpool movies doesn't always work for me but I have to say I found this film to be pretty hilarious when all was said and done. It feels so self aware in all the right ways when it comes to integrating this character into the MCU. Ryan Reynolds continues to prove that he's perfect in this role and as someone who grew up on the Fox X-Men movies I got such a kick out of seeing Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in this movie. Despite the fact that I have a bit of a tricky relationship with Logan I thought it was the right note to end that character on and I was concerned about the idea of this movie bringing him back. Thankfully my fears were alleviated very early on and I thought the way in which they integrated him into this story was almost perfect. His arc here isn't as strong as I wanted it to be however and really neither is the story.
I think that's in large part because of the cameos that everyone is so looking forwarding to seeing in this movie. Don't get me wrong there were plenty that brought out my inner comic fan but I will be honest and say that they did lose their impact on me after a while. It doesn't really feel like they took full advantage of the multiverse concept so very quickly it just felt like a series of flat reveals designed to get applause in a theatre. The villains here are also pretty weak which isn't new for the MCU but I did frustrate me a bit more than usual here. I think it's just because of the great actors playing them who give it their all but it never really felt like the script matched their efforts. With the Cassandra Nova character I actually thought there was an opportunity for a cameo with some real emotional weight but that moment never really came so the character as a whole just felt really underdeveloped.
A lot has been made of the fact that this is the MCU's first R-Rated movie and I have to say it had a mixed effect on me. Shawn Levy is a really good director, I've liked both his other movies with Ryan Reynolds, and his style really fits in well with the Deadpool tone. It's as gory as you'd expect with really great action but not really one set piece that stood out to me. I just thought it was kind of childish in how it incorporated all of the profanity and the gore to the point where it just became eye rolling for me. It just felt like they were looking for any excuse to drop an f-bomb and it just felt ridiculous very quickly and like they were just going for shock value. I didn't think this with the first 2 Deadpool movies and with this being new territory for the MCU they've still got a ways to go to perfecting it.
Deadpool and Wolverine is an undeniable fun ride with moments that were equal parts satisfying as they were frustrating. The cameos were better inserted than I expected but never as exciting as Levy thought they were. It's exciting to see Jackman as Wolverine one last time (I hope) and I did leave the most excited I've ever been to see where the Deadpool character is going next. For me, it wasn't the return to form for the MCU I was expecting but I'd be lying if I didn't say this provide a lot of moments that reminded me of this universe at its peak. That's something which leaves me with hope that they're slowly but surely heading in the right direction.
Twisters (2024)
The Top Gun: Maverick of The Twister Franchise
In theory there shouldn't have been much for me to get excited about for Twisters. I thought the original was just fine largely because disaster movies like this just aren't usually my thing. I was also one of the few people who saw Minari and just didn't really care for it but I will admit that a director from that kind of background doing a blockbuster like this did intrigue me. The trailers ultimately sold me on what looked like a very fun experience which Twisters absolutely ended up being for me.
This film is just so fast paced from the first scenes and for as simple as the story is I never felt like there was any wasted screen time, something I can't say for the original. It's also very well shot with great cinematography and really likeable characters. My biggest issue with the first film is that I just didn't care about any of the character drama and it just ended up dragging the whole thing down. The drama here isn't revolutionary or anything but it's incorporated into the story much more naturally and it made the whole thing flow so much better. I did think the film stagnated a bit going into the third act but these actors ensured that it was never boring.
Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell deserve every bit of the excitement they're generating and just continue to prove that we're entering a new age of movie stars. They have such good chemistry and all their playful bickering and flirtation was frequently hilarious but also pretty wholesome. People are ultimately going to come for the tornado scenes and they won't be disappointed. They're terrifying because they feel grounded in reality for the most part and there's just enough character to make it feel like more than just hollow CGI noise.
Twisters doesn't exactly reinvent the wheel from a story or character point-of-view but it's a very successful use of the formula we've come to expect. It's a crowd pleaser in every sense of the word and I wasn't bored once. As someone who's admittedly not a huge fan of the original I think this film improves on it in every way. It's not as good as something like Top Gun: Maverick but as a sequel Twisters reminded me of that film in all the best ways.
Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 (2024)
Messy But Awe Inspiring, A Solid Start To An Epic Story
Talking about this film is very much the equivalent of reviewing the opening chapters of a novel. Because Horizon Chapter 1 very much feels like a prologue when all is said and done but I do feel like that's very much by design. I didn't find all of the execution to be successful but as the first part in a forthcoming story it ultimately left me excited for more.
Every single penny of this films budget felt present on screen and that's not something I can say for every blockbuster over the last few years. This movie is gorgeously directed with outstanding cinematography and a great use of differing locations to tell it's story. The word epic can be thrown around easily nowadays but it absolutely applies in this films case. There were more than a few set pieces that left me in awe but it also frequently felt slow and deliberate when it had to be.
Costner definitely plays with a lot of classic western tropes that fans of the genre will love. It's got everything people will want from a movie like this but also some very good subversions. I think Costner plays with perspective really well in ways that kept forcing me to change my mind about who I was ultimately the most sympathetic towards. It can be very brutal in places with violence I found to be chillingly effective and a depiction of a landscape that amazed me but also left me fearful for these characters survival.
As I said this very much plays like a set up movie, and I'm very intrigued to see where these story's and characters go, but I do wish this chapter connected the threads a bit more. There isn't really much that connects them as of now and as such it did make sections meander for me. I also think the pacing suffers from having to set up so much and I would be lying if I didn't say it felt disjointed in hindsight. While I am interested to see where these characters go I also wouldn't say I felt a specific connection to one in particular because there are so many. They all got their moments to shine thankfully but as of now it still feels like we're missing a lot of backstory that will hopefully come in the next part. I also wasn't a huge fan of how the film concluded because it felt very much like the ending of an episode of television in all the wrong ways.
Chapter 1 is imperfect in its execution but it ultimately left me excited for what was to come and I believe that's ultimately what it needed to succeed at. It is clunky and messy in places and I did want more development for a lot of these characters but it all felt deliberate and it gives me faith for the rest of this story going forward. I haven't seen a movie like Horizon for quite a long time and I'm definitely eager to see more of Kevin Costner's vision unfold.
Longlegs (2024)
Totally Underwhelming
The line between slow burn and boring is extremely thin and unfortunately Longlegs fell totally into the latter for me. I found it to be so poorly paced and so bizarre tonally so it never managed to hold my interest. It didn't feel deliberately slow but just like a massive slog and all the tension that the director was trying to build just evaporated for me once every sequence dragged on for too long. I love a good serial killer movie but for the most part I didn't really think this did much new with the formula. The set up was intriguing but the ultimate resolution I thought was too out of left field for what the rest of the film was to setting up. I also think the film totally fell flat at how it presented Nicolas Cage's villain. The character was far too over the top and he kept clashing with the overwhelming bleak tone so I just couldn't really tell what Perkins was going for. His introduction is done in the flattest way possible and I don't think the character ever recovered from that for me. I didn't see a single trailer for this movie and was going in purely based off the positive buzz but in the end this was a big disappointment personally. I don't remember the last time my views clashed with the majority this much but I suppose subjectivity keeps film discourse interesting if nothing else.
A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)
A Solid Entry But A Weak Prequel
Day One is a solid entry in the Quiet Place franchise but it did fall somewhat short of its own potential for me. It goes bigger in all the right ways without ever losing sight of it's human story but as a prequel and a spin off I couldn't help but feel underwhelmed by certain aspects of it's story.
Lupita Nyong'o, for my money, is one of the best actresses in the world right now and it's gratifying to see her get leading roles like this. She is fantastic in this movie with a character arc that I don't think I've quite seen in a movie like this before. I'm actively not a cat person but she absolutely made me care about her pet in this movie and that is an achievement in an off itself. She also has outstanding chemistry with Joseph Quinn who is also great here, he's more than just Eddie Munson and this film shows that he's going places and rightfully so. I do wish they gave his character some more development thought as he does seem to just tag along on this adventure without much motivation but with how relentlessly likeable he is it bothered me less and less as the film went on. My favourite scene is when it's just these 2 characters in a bar and that's in large part due to how well these actors play of each other.
The film is massive in scale, especially when compared to the other 2 movies, and not only was it very well realised but it also felt totally right for this story. It helped to differentiate it from the Krasinski films and I thought they found a lot of creative ways to use this premise that were unique to this setting. I thought Michael Sarnoski pulled all of the set pieces off very well and it never felt like he was trying to mimic the look of the first 2 films. On a technical and acting basis I have basically no issues but it's the story and the ways in which this film acts a prequel that stops it from being great for me.
I don't really feel like Day One does much to build upon the mythology of this world and these creatures and as a result the movie did feel like a bit of a missed opportunity for me. We don't really find out anything new that we didn't already know so it ultimately feels like we're getting a slightly expanded version of Part II's opening from a different perspective. Djimon Honsou's appearance in this movie was also a disappointment to me. I was intrigued to see what they would do with him after his small role in Part II and I was hoping it might add some extra emotional weight to that film like the best prequels do. But in the end his role felt like a glorified cameo that added next to nothing to the film.
Day One ends up feeling like a series of very strong set pieces with a solid emotional through line but I couldn't help leave wanting more. I don't think it does enough to build upon this world and as such it didn't totally work as a prequel for me. It goes bigger in all the right ways without skimping on character but it didn't give me everything that I wanted it to. I think this world leaves itself open to so many possibilities that I'm definitely going to be excited to see wherever this franchise goes next.
Kinds of Kindness (2024)
All Kinds of Frustrating
So Kinds of Kindness struck the worst balance for me as an anthology film. Because despite being 3 relatively short stories it's so poorly paced with execution that was infuriatingly inconsistent that it ended up feeling a lot longer than it actually was. Which is saying a lot for a movie over 2 and a half hours long. I was already tired by the end of the first act and there was still essentially 2 movies left of content to go at that point, not a good start for any movie let alone an anthology.
All though all 3 stories were undeniably interesting they each ended up being mixed bags to me. I couldn't get onboard with the tone of the first and as a result I just felt like Lanthimos was trying to be strange for the sake of strangeness. Jesse Plemons and Willem Dafoe were both great in this portion but I found their relationship to be very underdeveloped and the ways in which their back story is explored I just found to be pretty lazy.
The second story wasn't without its issues but it was definitely my favourite. It has by far the best set up and off all these stories it was the one that felt the most like it should've been a full feature to me. The first half I found to be very intriguing with a very good mystery and the ways in which the tension develops between Plemons and Emma Stone's characters I thought Lanthimos portrayed very well. Unfortunately though I found this section to end on a bit of an anti-climax. I thought it went in an utterly ridiculous direction that didn't feel earned at all and all the intriguing questions that the script was setting up ended up being too brushed over and as a result it just ended on a bum note for me.
The third act did little to nothing for me and it was by far the weakest of the three, and I wasn't crazy on the first two to begin with. We find out these characters motivations far too late for me to care, or at the very least understand why they take the actions that they do. It just dials the insanity in ways that never felt satisfying and it felt like Lanthimos was using shock value to mask lazing writing. It ends on a very abrupt note, and by extension so does the whole movie, and it just left me as frustrated as I already had been for the entire runtime.
Taken by themselves all 3 of these short films have their own issues but the weaknesses they share are the pacing and the lack of a connective tissue. Despite only being about 40 minutes each every plot drags unbelievably. There's a barely a scene in this movie that doesn't feel too long and it never felt patient or like it was building to something it just felt overly indulgent. There's nothing that really connects the stories on a narrative level but even thematically I thought it was pretty bare bones. I think the film suffers from a major lack of substance and as such I didn't really find myself wanting to dig deeper to find any kind of deeper connection between these stories.
As 3 individual short films they all have their issues but crushing them together like Kinds of Kindness does just increases my issues with them 3-fold. This film is gorgeously shot and extremely well acted but at the end of the day it just a bit of a slog to get through. Yorgos Lanthimos doesn't always connect with me but usually I leave his films with something to chew on. But leaving this all I felt was frustrated at spending maybe one of the only cinemas trip I'll have this summer on a film that didn't really feel like it amounted to much in the end and just bored me more than anything.
The Bikeriders (2023)
Cool as Hell, Effective as Hell
The Bikeriders is definitely one of the coolest movies I've seen in recent memory but it also packs one hell of an emotional punch that did leave me quite shaken after it ended. I'm not much of a petrol head but this film does such a good job at representing this biker gang and it's way of life that you will leave at least understanding why it appeals to these characters so much. It's emotionally complex and utterly thrilling from beginning to end and I couldn't help but wish that we got more movies like this the entire time I was watching it.
With the calibre of actors that this film has it should come as no surprise that the acting was outstanding but I still couldn't help but be in awe at the performances on display. For this whole film to work you kind of have to fall in love with Austin Butler right away, or at the very least understand his allure, and he hit every beat of this character perfectly. He's purposefully light on dialogue and with that Butler still manages to have phenomenal chemistry with Jodie Comer while also managing to be likeable and endearing and he does all of that and more. Jodie Comer continues to astound me with her range and she really is the heart of the movie and our door into this world as an audience and in lesser hands she could've just become a means of delivering exposition. Tom Hardy really was the MVP for me though. It's great to see him in a movie like this again after devoting far too much time to Venom which really wastes his amazing talents. His accent is on point, he manages to be mysterious, brooding and inspiring without ever seeming inconsistent. It's the best performance he's given in nearly a decade and if the Oscar's were held tomorrow I'd probably give him best supporting actor.
The film is quite thin on plot with it being more of a snapshot of a time in history and an examination of how these characters found themselves at that point. While I think this approach mostly worked it did feel like the film meandered at certain points and I actually think it's a rare film that would've benefited from being a bit longer. Having said that though the film does such a good job and transporting you into this era and does everything it can to sell you on this way of life without ever condoning the increasingly reprehensible actions taken by the characters. It's gorgeously shot with beautiful cinematography and it's absolutely brutal in its depiction of violence that produced audible reacts from the theatre I was in.
I also think The Bikeriders accomplishes another rare feat in that the third act was absolutely my favourite part of the film. There are so many impactful character moments and it really slows the pacing down and examines the era in which this lifestyle started to change. There's a sad inevitability to it in a way that I found to be both satisfying but also devastating. There were some resolutions that I saw coming but it all felt totally right to me and it ended on the best possible note in a way that left me in something of a stunned silence leaving the cinema.
After being so excited for this film since seeing the trailer for the first, and being unbelievably frustrated at its delay, it's gratifying that The Bikeriders totally hit the mark for me. It manages to be extremely entertaining without ever skimping on the characters or it's heavy themes. It tackles such an interesting era in history and it's left me with a real itch for more movies about this period. I've only seen one other Jeff Nichols movie but he's absolutely someone I want to see more from now and I already can't wait to watch this one again.
Inside Out 2 (2024)
A Totally Seamless Continuation
Having got a placement at a camp for the summer I've had to resign myself to the fact that I'm not gonna get to see as many films over the next few months as I usually would. I was sad at the idea of missing Inside Out 2 in cinemas since I love the first one and it was getting such good buzz in the wake of some inconsistency from Pixar over the last few years. Thankfully though the entire staff got the day off unexpectedly and I walked an hour and a half to the closest place showing it and saw my first film in a real American cinema.
I think I have to agree with the notion this film is not quite as good as the first but I think this is a very worthy sequel that continues the themes of that first movie seamlessly. I'm obviously not gonna say there aren't clear financial benefits to making a sequel to one of their most beloved originals but I've always thought that Inside Out lends itself to a sequel. The world that Pete Docter set up with that film feels full of possibilities and Inside Out 2 builds upon them in ways that I thought were very successful and fulfilling.
While the first film was more about family and dealing with change in your adolescence this film deals more with friendship and addressing the difficulties that come with growing up. This to me felt like the perfect place to continue on from the first film and every new addition I basically loved. Anxiety is such a great foil for this cast and I love that she wasn't made to be a clear-cut antagonist and I think even the child audience of this movie will be able to understand her actions. I actually thought this film was much more intense than the first but in the most relatable ways possible.
I also liked the fact that all of the primary emotions go on the adventure this time around whereas the first film was more of a two-handed between joy and sadness. It's somewhat chaotic in it's pacing but that felt totally right for the story that it's telling and I never felt like it was rushing through the important plot beats which is not something I can say for every Pixar film. It's gorgeously animated (that's a given with Pixar at this point), I loved the ways in which they expanded the world of Riley's brain and I thought the last scene was so beautiful in it's simplicity.
What I will say though is that this film lacked as strong of an emotional climax as the first personally and I think that's in large part because of the arc they give Joy this time around. It felt like a bit of a retread of the first film and that the filmmakers went back on her progression somewhat. I also think the film meanders quite a bit in the middle after a very strong first act and some sequences felt thrown in for entertainment sake rather than actually adding to the story.
Pixar is definitely hit and miss when it comes to their sequels but I can honestly say that Inside Out 2 is one of the better ones that they've put out. This never felt like a sequel made for the sake of it and the direction that the plot took felt like such a natural continuation from the original. It's got plenty of classic Pixar moments and even if it doesn't reach the heights of the first film it totally justified it's existence. After Elemental and now this, Pixar is in a pretty good position for me just now and I really hope they can keep this momentum going.
The Watchers (2024)
A Frustrating Waste of an Intriguing Set Up
While Ishana Night Shyamalan absolutely is her own filmmaker, and should her films judged on their own merits, The Watchers reminded me a lot of her fathers works in the ways that I usually find his films frustrating. I'm going to try my best not to keep comparing this to M. Night's movies but in particular The Watchers reminded me a lot of The Village and the issues I have with that film and I think I'd still feel that way with or without the familial connection.
Because like The Village, The Watchers has a very intriguing hook that presents a lot of interesting story possibilities very early on but it never capitalises on them in any satisfying way. The dialogue is really weak here and it's frequently delivered in extremely wooden ways which most rears its head in the exposition. Because Shyamalan clearly doesn't believe in the less-is-more approach in that she feels the need to over explain everything and as a result the mystery never really feels that intriguing. Most of the reveals come across as very flat that feel like they lack sufficient build up to be satisfying.
It's also very repetitive for most of the first 2 acts with it essentially following the same stricture of leaving this house and returning to it before night fall and it just came across as tiring rather tension-building. The reveals don't really feel earned and they're the one thing I wanted the film to explore more but the script really feels like it strikes the worst balance with what it chooses to focus on. The 3rd act was also a pretty big disappointment. The main action that's being built up for the entire film is achieved in a fairly standard way that doesn't feel fitting for what was being set up and it makes the mistake of feeling like it's getting ready to end only to go on for what felt like another 30 minutes.
Thankfully what saves the film from being a complete waste of time is the truly impressive filmmaking on display. It's gorgeously shot and visually ambitious in a way that feels like it could only come from a first-time director. I thought the score was phenomenal as was the cinematography in a way that didn't feel like it was drawing too much attention to itself. There are some very effective scares and genuine scenes of tension, unfortunately it was just never sustained enough to keep my interest. It's the script that ultimately sunk this movie for me but it's very clear that Ishana Night Shyamalan has real talent behind the camera.
The Watchers was frustrating waste of potential for me and something that never really felt like it capitalised on its intriguing set up. It's just reeks of a script that doesn't trust the intelligence of it's audience and I was just so consistently irritated at how the film kept going out of it's way to explain things in the most clunky and unimaginative ways possible. I can see what Shyamalan was going for, and if anything it makes more interested to read the novel, but her very clear talents just end up being wasted on a really poor script.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)
A Great Expansion of Fury Road
One of my biggest unpopular movie opinions is that I'm just not that crazy about Mad Max: Fury Road. I admire it as an action vehicle but as a movie overall it just really leaves me wanting. I've thought this for years but it only really got confirmed to me once it rewatched it the day before I finally saw this movie. The fact that this movie was supposed to be so different from Fury Road was quite appealing to me going in since I don't totally gel with that movie and overall I'm amazed by how much I enjoyed it given my somewhat mixed feelings on the predecessor.
I think where this film succeeds for me compared to Fury Road is that it does takes its time more. There's considerably more world building and moments to breathe between the action scenes. In Fury Road this was very much absent by design but I loved the fact that Miller took a different approach here. I really liked the gradually pace this film took and how it fleshed out this surprisingly interesting world. The one thing I can't deny about Fury Road is how incredible the action scenes are and that's no different here. I think the big difference for me is that there's more build up to them and as such I thought there were more stakes going into them. They're long and jaw dropping in scale and it really does give me an urge to finally watch the original films.
The performances and character work are also top notch and I really appreciate the fact that those are things George Miller doesn't skimp on in his action movies. Anya Taylor-Joy is basically perfect as Furiosa and obviously she's going to be compared with Charlize Theron but ultimately I think both of their portrayals compliment each other very well. While her arc does follow a template we've seen before I ultimately thought it worked very well and I was always interested what action she was going to take next. A big credit for that has to go to Chris Hemsworth who is outstanding and this is easily the best performance I've ever seen him give. He's not the deepest villain I've ever seen but's he's very memorable and Hemsworth gives such an entertaining performance that I just always wanted to see more of him on screen. Tom Burke was also great in a role that I thought was surprisingly wholesome but also quite mysterious in all the right ways.
The story itself though is definitely where the film falters the most for me though. It's split up into very distinctive chapters and in many ways I liked that about it but it also hurt the pacing somewhat. It felt as if the film had to keep re-starting with every new chapter and for as jaw dropping as the action scenes are their length became a bit tiring since the story is so bare bones. I also think the actual ending could've been stronger given that it very much leads directly into Fury Road and the transformation of the Furiosa here into the one in that film didn't feel entirety earned to me.
I had no idea what to expect going into Furiosa but I was so pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It feels like such a natural expansion of the world set up by Fury Road and the character work is surprisingly very strong. It definitely has its weaker aspects but as someone who's not the biggest fan of the predecessor I really appreciated how this movie gave me more than I could've possibly expected.
Hit Man (2023)
The Netflix Original At It's Very Best
I feel like Hit Man is the epitome of how I usually feel about Netflix's original movies. Because whenever one of their films comes out and is bad I'm really not that surprised. But when something of theirs comes out and is great I usually think it deserves to be put out somewhere else and the the latter very much sums up how I feel about this movie.
Hit Man is totally riveting as a viewing experience and I'm glad I got to see it in a theatre while I could. Because this film is utterly hilarious in a way that feels referential to other films that we've seen before but it still feels like its own vision. Glen Powell is basically perfect in this role and I loved still managing to feel invested in his journey despite becoming more and more conflicted by the actions that he takes. As a crime thriller it's totally effective and as a dark comedy it's utterly hilarious. Despite the fact that I felt the core story could've been stronger I was always interested to see where it went next.
I'm already very excited to see it again and as of now it's one of the best original movies that Netflix has put out.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)
A Film That's Worthy of Caesar's Legacy
To say I had some trepidation around this movie would be an understatement. I adore Caesar's trilogy which, to be honest, was my main point of connection to the apes franchise and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to enjoy an instalment without that trilogy's characters. I thought the trailers were solid but they didn't blow me away or alleviate all of my concerns. Thankfully though I thought Kingdom was pretty fantastic when all was said and done and it's more than worthy of the standard set by those movies that I love so much.
Even though I'm actively aware of the advancements of CGI in the last decade these movies still manage to continually amaze me at how photo realistic they look. All I can say is that I was just constantly convinced I was watching real apes on screen and for the amount of visual effects on display it all felt justified and totally seamless. But for as incredible as the effects are they'll get you so far if the characters aren't interesting but that wasn't the case with this movie at all.
I loved this new protagonist Noa in large part because of how different he was from Caesar. Where Caesar was more of a wise leader showing his people a new way, Noa is more of a troubled young man trying to find his way in life. I loved seeing his evolution into a more heroic figure and Owen Teague's performance made sure I was always invested in his journey. It seems like these movies have established a new trend for themselves of having orangutan's be the most loveable and there's a character named Raka here who ended being my favourite in the whole movie. I also really liked Freya Allan as the main human here. They ended up taking her dynamic with Noa in a direction I didn't expect and I like the fact that she didn't end up becoming the main focus of the film in place of the apes.
Kingdom does what Dawn and War did so well in showing the advancement of this world since the last film and I loved seeing how it's advanced in the time since the end of the last trilogy. It kept this interesting to watch and while the story itself isn't anything revolutionary it did keep things movies at a good pace. It is with the story however where some of my issues come from because I do have to say that I did think the first half of this film was slightly better than the second. It's a very patiently paced movie overall, which I really appreciated, but the second half somewhat grinds to a halt and begins to make things feel a bit directionless.
Very similar to War it takes place primarily in one location but I don't think it's done as successfully here primarily because this film doesn't have as interesting of a villain. Kingdom has a lot to say about misinterpretation of religion and revisionist history and I think it's explored extremely successfully up until we meet this villain Proximus Caesar. He just ended up feeling like a bit of a moustache twirling bad guy and I thought his backstory could've been explored somewhat more. I also think that Kingdom suffers a bit from Part One Syndrome in that it devotes a bit too much time into setting up future instalments. Now if I end up liking where all that set up goes this could bother me less on rewatch but for this franchise in particular it just felt a bit cynical. Something I loved about Rise is that it told a complete story while leaving the possibility of more films but overall felt like it's own movie and would've still been a satisfying prequel if the other two movies never came to be.
For a film that I had quite a few concerns about going in, I'm happy to say Kingdom solidly cements itself as one of the best Apes movies. It really feels like it's telling story that justifies its existence rather than just making another sequel for the sake of corporate greed. It's got great characters, an interesting evolution of this world and even if I didn't like the back half quite as much this was still a wholly satisfying experience. I actually feel quite bad for doubting this film to the degree that I did and I'm very excited to see these characters in future sequels.
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024)
Guy Ritchie's Bond Film, For Better and For Worse
So to get my rant out of the way first, Guy Ritchie really needs to stop this recent release pattern he's been doing of only releasing his films theatrically in the US. It feels particularly baffling in this movies case since it's such a British story through and through. At best it feels like a dumb business decision but at worst it feels mildly insulting as a viewer that I have to wait longer to see this film without even getting the luxury of seeing it in a theatre.
That aside though this was a pretty fun ride and even if it isn't Guy Ritchie's best work it's got more than enough of his usual tropes to keep his die hard fans happy. It's filled with razor-sharp dialogue and flashy editing with a lot of great actions scenes that exude energy. The film definitely doesn't try to hide its influences, which brings about it's own issues, and it ends up feeling like the closest we'll ever get go a seeing Ritchie Bond film. Unfortunately though it does ultimately feel like something of a pale imitation of not only Bond but also Inglorious Basterds and it did end up making the story feel a bit derivative.
But the characters really are the best and worst thing about this movie. They're all entertaining to watch and have fantastic chemistry but they're ultimately very light on backstory and development. We learn basically everything that Ritchie wants us to know about them in the first 15 minutes and after that they only really have one or two attributes designed to make them stand out from the rest of the ensemble. Thankfully the actors are so well cast (Henry Cavill and Alan Ritchson are absolutely the scene stealers here) that it always kept things at the very least entertaining.
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare doesn't represent Guy Ritchie at his best but it at least confirms that he's not losing any of his energy as a filmmaker. It's pretty bare from a character and story point-of-view but it was never anything less than entertaining for me. It might sound petty but my biggest issue really comes down to the actual release and in the one-in-a-million chance Guy Ritchie ever reads this review: I'd love to see another movie of yours in a theatre.
The Fall Guy (2024)
A Love Letter To Filmmaking
I love Ryan Gosling. I love Emily Blunt. I love David Leitch action movies. I love movies about the making of movies. So as you can imagine I was very, very excited for The Fall Guy and it basically gave me everything I wanted but also a lot that I wasn't expecting to get out of it also.
This film, from top to bottom, is a love letter to films and the people who make them. As someone who has an active interest in filmmaking I really appreciated that this took the time to reference all the below-the-line jobs in the production process that don't gain as much mainstream attention. Obviously the stunt doubles but also the camera operators and the sound technicians, just to name a couple. Basically the positions that aren't as sexy as all the roles in front of the camera and I really loved how Leitch made the effort to pay tribute to these positions but also how he incorporated them into the plot seamlessly. This whole thing is a massive love letter to filmmaking and as a result I just had the stupidest grin on my face from beginning to end.
But even putting all that aside, this has also got to be one of the most purely entertaining films I've seen in a long while. It's David Leitch so all the action set pieces are phenomenally well realised with a minimal amount of CGI but the story's also a lot stronger than I expected it to be. It's nothing revolutionary but it did keep the whole thing moving at a good pace and these central character are really what kept me as interested as I did. I truly believe Ryan Gosling can do no wrong and he's basically perfect in this. He's totally believable in all the action scenes and if you loved him in Barbie and The Nice Guys this performance is very much in the same league. Emily Blunt and him make a perfect pair and all the biggest laughs come from their interactions. I do think the script overplayed the humour a bit too often though. It's almost like Leitch and the writer didn't trust us and the audience to get the jokes so they kept dragging out the humour out to the point where it felt like they were saying; "do you get it?, you get it right?" and it did become frustrating for me after a while.
As I said, I love the fact that this whole movie pays tribute to the filmmakers at every level and that's no more apparent than in the third act. Rather than end the film on a generic set piece they made the filming process a part of the plot and I got a massive kick out of seeing pure filmmaking as a means of thwarting the bad guys plan. But I do think the road to that third act is a bit clunky. It felt like the film was ramping up to its climax only to stop and set up what ended up being the real ending. I ultimately loved where it went but it but I wish the road to that third act was a bit smoother.
Look, if you just want to watch The Fall Guy as a purely entertaining action movie this will tick all the boxes and then some. But if this opens even one casual moviegoer's eye to all the work that goes into the filmmaking process this entire film will have been worth it. I loved how this film paid tribute to the stunt performers and crews behind movies and all the while delivering a kick-ass action experience. I already can't wait to see it again and, in terms of pure entertainment, this is the most fun I've had with a movie all year.
Boy Kills World (2023)
Great Action, Weak Script
Was a bit mixed on this overall, loved the action sequence but everything in between not so much. Mainly because the story is so generic and the humour was very hit and miss for me. Bill Skarsgard really is the reason to see it though, he's quickly becoming one of my favourites, and as someone who loves gore in my action movies this absolutely scratched that itch. For a debut it's pretty impressive visually but I didn't really like the script that much, it's not got that much originality and there's a few reveals that feel ridiculously contrived. I knew nothing about this movie before I watched it and I can definitely say I was entertained. Suppose the best way I can describe my thoughts is that I liked the parts but the whole left me wanting more.
Challengers (2024)
Exhilarating In Every Way
To tell you something about me; I love scumbags, in movies that is. Some of my favourite characters in film are the ones who are the most morally corrupt and Challengers absolutely fulfilled that quota for me. I couldn't get enough of seeing this central trio interact in large part because of the despicable actions they take against each other. I loved spending time with these perfectly cast characters and I never would've expected to be as invested as I was given the basic log line.
Another thing to understand about me is that I have no interest in tennis, and I mean absolutely none. But clearly all I needed was to see one of these matches through Luca Guadagnino's eyes because I was floored by his work behind the camera in this movie. The best word I can use to describe the directing here is alive. It's so vibrant visually and it's got to be one of the most uniquely directed movies I've seen, maybe ever? I genuinely think he used every possible means of capturing these matches and it kept things so interesting from a visual perspective. I also loved the non-linear approach the script takes. It constantly made me re-evaluate which character I was rooting for and the best thing I can say about it is that I wasn't just interested to see what was going to happen next I was actively excited for it.
These characters would be nothing without their performers and films like this make me question the idea of movie stars being extinct. Zendaya's character needs to be alluring from the second she appears on screen for this 3-way dynamic to work and she hit every beat perfectly. She's the character I found myself being the most unsure of how to feel about and in the hands of a lesser performer it could've felt inconsistent. Josh O'Connor is the one I probably wanted a bit more from. Only because he's portrayed as such a prick from almost his first scenes and I suppose I just wanted to see some more of his back story so I could understand him that little bit more. O'Connor still manages to be effortlessly watchable and I couldn't help but feel consistently charmed by him. Mike Faist stole this entire thing for me though with a character I found to be somewhat relatable and also extremely well rounded. I found him to be the most sympathetic of the three and I loved seeing the journey Faist takes this character on.
My only other real issue lies with the ending. The third act is absolutely riveting with unbelievable amounts of tension and some of the best use of slow-mo I've ever seen in a movie (takes note Zack Snyder). The whole thing ends so suddenly when I wanted a little bit more wrap up between these characters. I couldn't help but feel a bit underserved by the final scene, no pun intended, and that's probably a compliment to the script overall that I was actively looking forward to seeing more of the fallout of these characters actions. I just wish the film actually give it to me when all was said and done.
For a film revolving around a subject matter I have no interest in, I was amazed at how investing I found Challengers to be as a viewing experience. I love unlikeable characters in films and for as deeply flawed as they are I loved spending time with them. This only reaffirmed my love of non-linear scripts with an approach that felt like the most interesting possible way to tell this story. It's a masterclass in filmmaking and it's proof positive that any subject matter can be interesting in the right hands.
Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver (2024)
A Complete Misfire For Zack Snyder
If Rebel Moon Part One felt like Zack Snyder trying to make a self-parody, Part Two just feels like a total squandering of the talents I know he possesses with all his worst trademarks as a director on full display. The film doesn't do anything to build upon the few things that intrigued me from the first part and it just makes this whole "experience" feel like a complete waste of time in retrospect.
Part One felt like a complete exposition dump to set up for this film yet the first hour is still devoted to filling in the blanks of this totally uninteresting world and characters. The dialogue is at best forgettable and at worst completely self-serious without a hint of self-awareness that made a lot of the character interactions cringeworthy more than anything. That first half was excruciatingly boring without any kind of tension building, the actual plot essentially revolves around farming grain and it's about as interesting as it sounds. When the war both these films have been building towards finally comes to ahead it feels like a relief in all the wrong ways because I was just happy to see something meaningful finally happen.
When I say the second half was an improvement that's not really saying much but at least I was moderately entertained. The last hour is essentially a non-stop battle and while it can devolve into visual noise after a while at least it feels like Snyder in his element. The pacing finally picks up and there's actually a few interesting visuals on display with some genuinely entertaining sequences. But after a combined 3-hour build up I think it all came a bit too late for me. Writing really isn't Snyder's strong suit and in future I'd prefer to see him either stick purely to directing or adapting material because that seems to be where all of his best work comes from.
When all is said and done, Rebel Moon represents a colossal misfire for Zack Snyder as a director. I didn't think Part One was a good movie but I had a modicum of hope that The Scargiver would give us some good pay off that would make these movies feel worthwhile. The whole thing just ends up being a massive slog and it's not nearly entertaining enough to make up for how hugely derivative it is. Rather than feeling like a complete story, this movie ends with set up for yet another sequel that I don't know if I have the energy to endure, Snyder fan or not.
Back to Black (2024)
Totally Unremarkable
There really is no worse reason to go to the cinema than "I'm bored, what's playing?" is there?
Granted, this is not the travesty that the trailers made me think it would be but it is yet another generic, by-the-numbers music biopic that lacks any sort of real impact. Marisa Abela is good as Amy Winehouse but I don't really think the script gave her much of a real character to play, outside of the scenes with Lesley Manville which are highlight of the whole thing. The film feels more content to tell us about her passions and her downfalls rather than depict them on screen in any interesting way. I found the portrayal of Winehouse as a character to be pretty unlikeable and it never really felt like a purposeful choice to me, the same goes for her boyfriend played by Jack O'Connell. I definitely felt sympathy for her given all the hardships she goes through but I think that's got more to do with the knowledge that this happened to a real person rather than anything to do with the actual writing. In the end, it's totally inoffensive but not the worst of its type and it's not going to do anything to get me excited for more of these biopics.
Abigail (2024)
Bloody Fun
Abigail might not have quite have as much of a unique voice as Ready or Not but it's a bloody good time (pun absolutely intended). The biggest issue it has is the runtime, this film definitely does not reinvent the wheel from a story perspective and the fact that it's pushing 2 hours for a fairly straight forward story makes the whole thing feel very self indulgent. But what makes Abigail work are the tone and the characters. Radio Silence brings their textbook dark humour to this movie and it's equal parts hilarious and shocking in its content. The characters are also a lot better utilised than I expected, they're definitely not deep but their interactions are fun and the chemistry between these actors makes the entire experience effortlessly enjoyable. Make no mistake; Alisha Weir steals this entire film and I can't wait to see what she does next because she has business displaying this level of talent at her age. The script might not be remarkable story-wise but I do think it gives these characters more to work with than a lot of other films of this type. I had such a fun time with Abigail and while it ran the risk of over staying it's welcome it ended at just the right point and only further cemented how wholly enjoyable it is as an experience. Melissa Barrera is a star, Alisha Weir is a star and Radio Silence are absolutely a directing duo I'm going to be excited to see whatever they do next.
Civil War (2024)
One of A24's Best Offerings and Alex Garland at His Best
I really don't really remember the last time I felt this much constant, gut-wrenching tension for the entirety of a film's runtime but that's exactly what Civil War sets out to accomplish and I was totally gripped from almost the first scene to the final one. Make no mistake; it's a frequently tough watch but that's clearly by design and I'm in complete awe at what Alex Garland pulled off with this film.
I can't say enough about how well this film utilises tension. It's relentlessly bleak but it's not joyless and those moments of levity make the atrocities that Garland portrays all the more impactful. This whole thing is a love letter to journalists and their importance (as twisted as that might sound) and every situation these characters find themselves feels totally earned and with the overwhelming awareness that they're not action heroes who can fight their way out of any danger. Something as simple as car approaching in a rear-view mirror in instantly anxiety-inducing and I constantly found myself scanning the frame for the next threat these characters were going to face, something I haven't found myself doing since the likes of Dunkirk or 1917.
This central group are relentlessly likeable and the acting is outstanding. Kirsten Dunst and Cailee Spaeny really are the heart of the movie and I loved the mentor-mentee relationship they developed. They've got excellent chemistry and I loved the ways in which their relationship develops. There's a choice Spaeny's character makes towards the very end that I know has rubbed some the wrong way but it felts totally earned to me and a totally natural progression. Stephen McKinley Henderson might've just managed to be my favourite character in the film and despite hearing non-stop acclaim about Jesse Plemons role nothing could have prepared me for how terrifying he and his scene truly was. It's one of the best one-scene performances I've ever seen and it's proof more than ever that he's one of the best actors we have.
I hesitate the call the fighting depicted in this movie action scenes but they are brutally realised and I loved the documentarian approach Garland took. I watch a lot of war films, filled with violence, but this is the first time in a long time I've been genuinely disturbed by a film's content. The gun shots are genuinely terrifying, I jumped more than once, and all the gore on display is unbelievably effective. I know some have taken issue with Garland's apolitical stance but with the film being from the perspective of these characters, namely as observers to the conflict and not participants, it felt totally right to me. My only real issues come down to some of Garland's creative choices. I think the editing overall is very solid but sometimes the transitions between scenes could be too abrupt for their own good and it did leave me wanting more from certain sequences. There's also some fairly irritating music choices that frequently felt jarring, sometimes for the better but mostly for the worse.
I definitely had some concerns going into Civil War but Alex Garland may have just made his magnum opus for me. I was riveting from the first scene to the final one and it's one of the most brutally effective films I've seen in recent memory. It does such a good job at drawing attention to the importance of journalists and I for one appreciate the apolitical approach that the script took. It's one of A24's best offerings and I want nothing but success for it going forward.
Mothers' Instinct (2024)
Solid But Not The Best Version of Itself
The biggest issue this movie has is that it seems to be much more focused on pay off than it is set up. The inciting incident of the whole thing comes way too early before the characters and dynamics have time to be properly established. It also has a pretty bad habit of bringing up plot elements right before they come into play so it makes some of the twists and turns less impactful. At 94 minutes things do feel a bit too rushed through for it's own good but I always felt as though I was feeling what I was supposed to.
Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain are outstanding and make this thing almost constantly riveting to watch. It's also a great vehicle for tension and the filmmakers did such a good job at creating situations to get the most anxiety inducing results. It surprisingly manages to blends it's grief themes and thriller elements extremely well and even if some of the reveals feel as if they come in the wrong order nothing felt out of place or jarring.
Knowing this film is based on a novel does make me think there's a more sturdy execution of this story available but it's still not without impact. It's got 2 phenomenal performances at it's centre and when these character are sharing scenes is where this movie feels the most effecting. While it's definitely a flawed experience, it's something I can absolutely see myself recommending.
Monkey Man (2024)
A Totally Impressive Action Experience That Never Feels Like a Debut
The best thing I can say about Dev Patel's work behind the camera in Monkey Man is that it really didn't feel like a directing debut. Honestly, given some of the action feats he pulls off in this movie it felt closer to fairly seasoned pro delivering a long time passion project.
Apart from the occasional overuse of shaky cam, I thought this was gorgeously directed. It's really colourful from a cinematography perspective and it's brutally well realised as an action experience. There aren't quite as many action scenes as I was expecting but I don't really mean that as a criticism. A lot of people have lamented to first 30 minutes or so of this movie as being slow but to me it felt more like deliberate character developing and world building. When the action scenes eventually do come they feel that bit more satisfying because of the build up. Even if I see where some of the John Wick comparisons are coming from this felt far more dirty and raw as an action vehicle and I was just so impressed with Dev Patel's execution of his vision.
It's also actually pretty solid from a writing perspective, even if it is where a majority of the films flaws originate from. I think they do just enough to make this character endearing and invest us in the journey he goes on and Patel makes full use of this opportunity to play an against-type character. I already said that I appreciated the deliberate pace of the 1st act, it always felt something was happening and something of consequence was being built up to. It's after that first act however where the pacing starts to become a bit choppy. The whole thing sort of grinds to a halt after the first 3rd and it almost feels like the film starts over again with a whole introduction to new sets of characters and I already felt like I was as invested as I needed to be. I also think Patel spoons feeds us this characters backstory a bit too slowly for what ends up being a pretty run-of-the-mill origin.
Monkey Man might not reinvent the wheel from a story point of view but this felt like a fully realised vision from beginning to end. I'm so glad Jordan Peele saved this movie from the streaming wasteland because this deserves to be seen on a big screen and talked about for the experience that it delivers. Even if the script has its flaws, the writing is still a lot more solid than it had any right to be. Whether it's another entry in this character's story, another original action movie or something completely different I'll be very interested to see what Dev Patel does next as a director.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)
It's No Minus One But Still Very Enjoyable
The New Empire doesn't exactly shed itself of all the issues I've had with the MonsterVerse movies so far but it thankfully lessens the things I've been frustrated with and it made for quite a fun ride.
Don't get me wrong the characters still aren't up too much. I don't think they're that deep or particularly memorable but they are likeable. They have genuinely good chemistry and even if I felt the film could've taken itself a bit more seriously at points, I still found it a lot funnier than it had any right to be. There's also significantly less of them compared to King of The Monsters and Godzilla Vs. Kong and it does wonders for the pacing.
Since they're not trying to balance so many characters and subplots it makes the whole thing feel much more streamlined and I can honestly say I was never bored, which was not my experience with the last films. It's very fast paced but more importantly it always felt like there was something important happening. Don't get me wrong it's no masterpiece of writing, the dialogue is still bland and the story non-existent but for what I needed from this film it hit just the right sweet spot.
I also loved the fact that there were whole sections devoted exclusively to Kong. In past instalments this time probably would've gone to boring human characters but this is much more along the line of what I want to see. The kills are brutal, the action's fun and even if it devolves a bit too much into CGI noise in the 3rd act I still thought it was fun with some actual sense of scale.
After very little anticipation from me in a long stretch of these movies that I haven't really enjoyed this was quite a pleasant surprise. It's not immune to all this series flaws but it's been more than refined enough to create for an enjoyable experience. It's no Minus One but it's a lot more fun than I ever would've expected.
Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024)
As Fun as I Wanted It To Be
Maybe I watched a different Kung Fu Panda than everyone else, or too many people have gone into it with a massive stick up their ar*e, but I thought this was a total blast. Honestly I'm kind of surprised at the more mixed reaction this seems to be getting compared to the rest of the franchise.
This definitely feels like it's more content to have a fun ride than have a meaningful message compared to the other films but it succeeds at the latter to a degree that it didn't bother me that much. The animation is gorgeous, I think that's something we take for granted too much nowadays, especially given the smaller budget and I also thought it was really creative visually. It's consistently very funny and yes it might be childish humour but I don't know what else I'd expect from this kind of movie. Jack Black is effortlessly watchable (listenable?), Awkwafina is proving to be a perfect comedic sidekick not to mention James Hong and Bryan Cranston who have a surprisingly fun subplot. I didn't really care much for the villain this time round, a bit of a waste of Viola Davis if I'm being honest, and I did think the climax could've been stronger but those are most of the things holding it back for me.
I knew exactly what I wanted from Kung Fu Panda 4 and it pretty much gave me want I was hoping for. It's not particularly deep, compared to the standard set by the other movies that is, but it's still a very enjoyable ride. I doesn't reach the heights of the second film for me but this is a really solid entry in a surprisingly reliable franchise.
Late Night with the Devil (2023)
Original and Totally Effecting
I don't really think you can, or really should, talk about this movie without at least addressing it's use of AI in the creation of some of its images. Personally I do feel a bit disappointed that the filmmakers chose to take that step. It's not something I support and I don't think there are any justifiable reasons for its use in the creation of art. Having said that though I would rather a film of this scale and smaller budget use it in the creation of a few frames rather than a blockbuster of considerably more resources creating whole pages of dialogue or fully rendered scenes or sequences. I've been gratified at the intense response it's provoked here because the less acknowledgment it has the easier it'll be for studio heads to expand AI use in their future productions.
To the judge the film purely on its quality however, I thought this was a totally gripping experience and one of the most unique executions of a horror premise I've seen. I totally fell for the aesthetic these filmmakers were trying to create and I was frequently in awe at how successfully executed it was. It never felt like they were just going for a found footage format with a 70's filter over it. Everything from the grainy quality of the images and the slight echo added to all of the audio is done in aid of the recreation of this era of television. Although I was frequently impressed with it but thankfully more often than not I forgot about it and just became taken by the ride this movie takes you on.
It's not just the technical aspects either, the dialogue and character interactions feel so genuine and like they're ripped straight out of a classic episode of Johnny Carson or Dick Cavett. A lot of this success is also owed to David Dastmalchian who I've always loved as an actor in the usually smaller roles he's given and I got a total kick out of seeing him lead a film like this. He's essentially giving 2 performances; the on screen persona of a talk show host and the man we see behind the scenes and he pulls it all off perfectly. He manages to be funny and totally effecting in a way that made me never quite sure how to feel about the character and those are the kind of protagonists I really love, especially when it comes to horror.
My issues only really come down do how the directors deviate from the rules they establish for themselves. We frequently follow the character in the behind-the-scenes portions of the show and it isn't always handled with the same restraint that the on-air scenes are. Too often it felt like they resorted to normal shot compositions with a black-and-white filter and it did sometimes break the illusion the rest of the movie was going for. There's also a pretty large exposition dump that opens the film which felt like it was trying way too hard to deliver background on this character rather than spoon feeding it more naturally throughout the rest of the narrative. I also thought the third act went a little bit off the rails for what the rest of the film was trying to set up but I never didn't find it effective.
I truly think that the AI discourse should be, and needs to be, a part of the conversation surrounding this movie but I don't want that to eclipse just how fantastic it really is. I found this quite inspiring as a filmmaker and I have so much respect for the vision these directors went for with this film and just how well they executed it. After how many duds 2024 has given us so far, Dune: Part Two aside, seeing a film of this originality really made me happy. People craving originality in theirs movies really should be going out their way to see Late Night with The Devil because I've never seen a horror film quite like this one.