Triple Frontier is a new Netflix movie directed by JC Chandor who also made A Most Violent Year back in 2015, the story follows a group of former Army officers (Oscar Isaac, Ben Affleck, Charlie Hunnam, Garrett Hedlund and Pedro Pascal) who raid the home of a Drug kingpin in South America and make off with all of his money but getting that money safely out of the country along with all of their lives is going to be very difficult.
Triple Frontier is really good and this is probably the first movie Netflix has made that I have genuinely really gotten behind and a lot of that is due to Mr Chandor’s direction as like in A Most Violent Year he displays a firm hand at the directorial wheel and is once again helped by his editor Mr Ron Patane and his cinematographer Mr Roman Yasyanov both of these men do terrific work in their respective fields with both Mr Patane’s fluid and streamlined editing that not only shows off the beautiful landscapes but also gives the films action scenes a sense of clarity and vividness while Mr Yasyanov shows off the Andes’ Mountains and the Jungles of South America very well with the wet, the cold and the beaches all looking very nice.
The 5 main actors also do very good work both as a group and on their own, Oscar Isaac I feel hasn’t been this good in a movie in a while and he shows us what an utterly charismatic leading man he is in his performance carrying the film very well on his shoulders, I also loved seeing Ben Affleck again in a movie and he was good in this film as well even though he isn’t quite delivering his A game like he has in recent years, Mr Pascal, Mr Hunnam and Mr Hedlund were also all pretty good even though they don’t quite get to shine as much as the other 2 men do.
And lastly though there aren’t many of them the films action scenes are also really good and nicely show off a lot of blood after a gunshot is fired which is something that I have missed with a lot of the action movies of recent years opting to be bloodless in their violence mainly to get that coveted PG-13 rating which guarantees the biggest possible audience well I like seeing blood in my action scenes and gunfights and I am glad there was some here.
And so that was Triple Frontier and it continues JC Chandor’s strong streak with a good ensemble, editing, cinematography, direction and action, this was a movie I really enjoyed, 3 and a half out of 5.
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
Thursday, March 7, 2019
Film Review - Captain Marvel (2019)
Captain Marvel is the newest Marvel Studios film and the last one to come before Avengers: Endgame in April and this time Brie Larson stars as Carol Danvers who while chasing a Skrull (a race of shapeshifters not unlike the Founders in Star Trek Deep Space Nine) ends up on Earth in the mid 90s, while there she meets a young Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) while she also attempts to piece together the mystery of her past and how it relates to the Kree/Skrull conflict.
Captain Marvel is sadly a big big disappointment and 2019 has already had 2 of those already for me in both Glass and the Lego Movie 2 (if Endgame joins this list I’ll probably need some form of counselling) but before I delve into this I will talk about what does work and for the most part Ms Larson does what she can with the material she’s given as Carol Danvers, her sassiness reminded me an awful lot of Mel Gibson as Martin Riggs in the first Lethal Weapon film and the chemistry she shares with Mr Jackson is also reminiscent of Mel and Danny Glover’s chemistry in those films plus there are some great mid 90s references to be seen.
I also liked Ms Lanshana Lynch as Maria Rambeau as well as some of the action scenes that Carol does in the end of the film even if it reminded me of how Goku and Company became a Super Saiyan in Dragon Ball Z.
But this films first of 2 missteps in its storytelling, so much of Carol’s past and origins as a hero is shrouded in this Memento style fashion of near constant flashbacks with very little connective tissue and as a result the more I began to think about this as a structure for a superhero origin story the more I began to feel that it was a mistake to go down this path as it robs the audience of that vital connection to that character and when she does become that fully fleged hero it doesn’t land with the same emotional resonance that it does with the likes of Cap, Mr Stark, Thanos, Dr Strange and Black Panther to name as examples where all of them were very memorably introduced and had properly built story and character arcs.
The second misstep is in the filmmaking, Anna Fleck and Ryan Bowden are the directors here and they came from the independent world and they at times struggle with the transition to studio level filmmaking with their plentiful close ups in the action scenes to the general bland feel of the film, it really feels like they didn’t have the confidence in them at times to get their head around these huge action and visual effects stations and that does take time but when you consider:
- Bryan Singer on X-Men
- Joss Whedon on the Avengers
- Scott Derrickson on Doctor Strange
- James Gunn on Guardians of the Galaxy
- Jon Favreau on Iron Man
- Kenneth Branagh and Taika Watiti on Thor
- Ryan Coogler on Black Panther
And both the Russo Brothers and Joe Johnston on Captain America and later the Avengers movies these guys really felt like ideal fits for the characters they were adaptating to the screen and while some of them played to their strengths initially while getting their heads around the action and visual effects specialties they were quick learners and able to adapt on their feet to the task at hand.
Whereas with Ms Bowden and Mr Fleck you can really feel the struggle, the push and pull and the toughness of that transition and as a result this along with the storytelling device problems I began to lose interest in the movie after a while and I began to get a bit bored with it all after a while.
And so that was Captain Marvel and it feels like its been a very long time since Marvel Studios stumbled as badly as they did here and don’t get me wrong this is not a bad film at all and if you’re a fan you should see it for yourself but this is not one of their better movies in fact I would say its in some unfortunate company with the Iron Man sequels, Thor the Dark World and Avengers Age of Ultron.
Hopefully Avengers Endgame will be better and be able to live up to the huge expectations set by Infinity War and how good that film really was, 1.5 out of 5.
Captain Marvel is sadly a big big disappointment and 2019 has already had 2 of those already for me in both Glass and the Lego Movie 2 (if Endgame joins this list I’ll probably need some form of counselling) but before I delve into this I will talk about what does work and for the most part Ms Larson does what she can with the material she’s given as Carol Danvers, her sassiness reminded me an awful lot of Mel Gibson as Martin Riggs in the first Lethal Weapon film and the chemistry she shares with Mr Jackson is also reminiscent of Mel and Danny Glover’s chemistry in those films plus there are some great mid 90s references to be seen.
I also liked Ms Lanshana Lynch as Maria Rambeau as well as some of the action scenes that Carol does in the end of the film even if it reminded me of how Goku and Company became a Super Saiyan in Dragon Ball Z.
But this films first of 2 missteps in its storytelling, so much of Carol’s past and origins as a hero is shrouded in this Memento style fashion of near constant flashbacks with very little connective tissue and as a result the more I began to think about this as a structure for a superhero origin story the more I began to feel that it was a mistake to go down this path as it robs the audience of that vital connection to that character and when she does become that fully fleged hero it doesn’t land with the same emotional resonance that it does with the likes of Cap, Mr Stark, Thanos, Dr Strange and Black Panther to name as examples where all of them were very memorably introduced and had properly built story and character arcs.
The second misstep is in the filmmaking, Anna Fleck and Ryan Bowden are the directors here and they came from the independent world and they at times struggle with the transition to studio level filmmaking with their plentiful close ups in the action scenes to the general bland feel of the film, it really feels like they didn’t have the confidence in them at times to get their head around these huge action and visual effects stations and that does take time but when you consider:
- Bryan Singer on X-Men
- Joss Whedon on the Avengers
- Scott Derrickson on Doctor Strange
- James Gunn on Guardians of the Galaxy
- Jon Favreau on Iron Man
- Kenneth Branagh and Taika Watiti on Thor
- Ryan Coogler on Black Panther
And both the Russo Brothers and Joe Johnston on Captain America and later the Avengers movies these guys really felt like ideal fits for the characters they were adaptating to the screen and while some of them played to their strengths initially while getting their heads around the action and visual effects specialties they were quick learners and able to adapt on their feet to the task at hand.
Whereas with Ms Bowden and Mr Fleck you can really feel the struggle, the push and pull and the toughness of that transition and as a result this along with the storytelling device problems I began to lose interest in the movie after a while and I began to get a bit bored with it all after a while.
And so that was Captain Marvel and it feels like its been a very long time since Marvel Studios stumbled as badly as they did here and don’t get me wrong this is not a bad film at all and if you’re a fan you should see it for yourself but this is not one of their better movies in fact I would say its in some unfortunate company with the Iron Man sequels, Thor the Dark World and Avengers Age of Ultron.
Hopefully Avengers Endgame will be better and be able to live up to the huge expectations set by Infinity War and how good that film really was, 1.5 out of 5.
Monday, March 4, 2019
Film Review - King of Thieves (2019)
King of Thieves stars Michael Caine, Jim Broadbent, Michael Gambon, Ray Winstone, Charlie Cox, Paul Whitehouse and Tom Courtney as a group of thieves who decide to heist the various Jewellery stores in a busy London store but after they make the heist the loyalties in the group start to fracture and Caine’s Brian is the source of many frustrations within the group.
King of Thieves is one of those movies that does exactly what it says it will do on the box and that is be a good, fun, light hearted time at the movies and that was what I got out of this movie, I had a lot of fun watching it and there were times where I was laughing a lot out loud in my cinema seat and the cast is clearly having a lot of fun playing their age.
Even though part of me will never forgive Ray Winstone for being in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Plastic Prop sorry Crystal Skull I thought he was pretty good here, Charlie Cox is also quite good even if the entire time I just kept thinking “He’s doing this to save his Netflix Daredevil Series” and also Sir Michael Caine still has that charismatic charm and the twinkle in his eye that can carry any movie he’s in with great ease.
However I have to say that the films second half is not as strong as the first as the loyalties between the thieves begin to fray and the police go on the hunt for the robbers, I felt that this section dragged a little bit for me and it became a little predictable but despite all that this is not a huge knock on the movie overall.
And so that was King of Thieves and it’s a fun movie that is worth a watch on a rainy Sunday afternoon, 3 out of 5.
King of Thieves is one of those movies that does exactly what it says it will do on the box and that is be a good, fun, light hearted time at the movies and that was what I got out of this movie, I had a lot of fun watching it and there were times where I was laughing a lot out loud in my cinema seat and the cast is clearly having a lot of fun playing their age.
Even though part of me will never forgive Ray Winstone for being in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Plastic Prop sorry Crystal Skull I thought he was pretty good here, Charlie Cox is also quite good even if the entire time I just kept thinking “He’s doing this to save his Netflix Daredevil Series” and also Sir Michael Caine still has that charismatic charm and the twinkle in his eye that can carry any movie he’s in with great ease.
However I have to say that the films second half is not as strong as the first as the loyalties between the thieves begin to fray and the police go on the hunt for the robbers, I felt that this section dragged a little bit for me and it became a little predictable but despite all that this is not a huge knock on the movie overall.
And so that was King of Thieves and it’s a fun movie that is worth a watch on a rainy Sunday afternoon, 3 out of 5.
Friday, March 1, 2019
Film Review - Isn't It Romantic (2019)
Isn’t it Romantic is a Warner Bros/Netflix movie starring Rebel Wilson as Natalie who works as an architect but is ignored by those around her including a company client named Blake (Liam Hemsworth) but after a mugging attempt leaves her in hospital she wakes up in a very different New York that could or could not resemble a romantic comedy.
Isn’t It Romantic is not a bad movie and certainly Netflix has participated in a fair few of those but its also not that great of a one either, it just becomes very forgettable after a while but before I delve more into those I will talk about what I did like and firstly the production design and the cinematography of the Rom Com style New York is very nice, everything looks sparkly and clean like in a film like Pretty Woman and the colours are very bold and bright much like a musical.
And also I did like both Mr Hemsworth as Blake who plays kind of the Gaston type role in this movie and channels his charisma (must run in the family) very nicely and also Ms Priyanka Chopra is a lot of fun in this movie and almost steals the show with her comedic timing, I liked her so much in fact that part of me wishes she was playing Princess Jasmine in the live action Aladdin later this year she would’ve done a good job with that role.
But for a movie that so wants to point at all the hallmarks of the romantic comedy genre it sadly becomes undone by them the main one being that it becomes blindly obvious who is going to end up together at the end of the film and your just waiting for that moment to come on screen so it can be over and done with and also I find Ms Wilson to not be that funny, a lot of the time she can be very obnoxious and she uses that to try and get a laugh out of you and for me personally I don’t find that to be very funny plus she tends to also shout for a laugh as well and again for me I’m not a big fan of that.
And so that was Isn’t It Romantic and look its okay but its not a movie I’ll be going back to again especially when 2 legendary rom coms When Harry Met Sally… and Pretty Woman are around and those are great movie in their own right, 2 out of 5.
Isn’t It Romantic is not a bad movie and certainly Netflix has participated in a fair few of those but its also not that great of a one either, it just becomes very forgettable after a while but before I delve more into those I will talk about what I did like and firstly the production design and the cinematography of the Rom Com style New York is very nice, everything looks sparkly and clean like in a film like Pretty Woman and the colours are very bold and bright much like a musical.
And also I did like both Mr Hemsworth as Blake who plays kind of the Gaston type role in this movie and channels his charisma (must run in the family) very nicely and also Ms Priyanka Chopra is a lot of fun in this movie and almost steals the show with her comedic timing, I liked her so much in fact that part of me wishes she was playing Princess Jasmine in the live action Aladdin later this year she would’ve done a good job with that role.
But for a movie that so wants to point at all the hallmarks of the romantic comedy genre it sadly becomes undone by them the main one being that it becomes blindly obvious who is going to end up together at the end of the film and your just waiting for that moment to come on screen so it can be over and done with and also I find Ms Wilson to not be that funny, a lot of the time she can be very obnoxious and she uses that to try and get a laugh out of you and for me personally I don’t find that to be very funny plus she tends to also shout for a laugh as well and again for me I’m not a big fan of that.
And so that was Isn’t It Romantic and look its okay but its not a movie I’ll be going back to again especially when 2 legendary rom coms When Harry Met Sally… and Pretty Woman are around and those are great movie in their own right, 2 out of 5.
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Film Review - Stan and Ollie (2019)
Stan and Ollie stars Steve Coogan and John C Reilly as Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, the legendary comedy double act that went to the top in Hollywood in the 1930s but in 1953 as both of them are getting older in years and aren’t enjoying the huge success they once did they embark on a tour of the UK hoping to also get a new movie project off the ground and proving they still have it.
Stan and Ollie is a very nice movie that is elevated in a very large way by its 2 central performances by Mr Coogan and Mr Reilly though Coogan is the better of the two men though at times I thought that he sounded like Sam Neill as for Mr Reilly he is good in the film even if some of the facial makeup is very noticeable at times but there were also times where I could not help but think just how good John Goodman would’ve been in his role as if there was anyone born to play Oliver Hardy it was him but the two of them do a good job with the light hearted script material they have to work with.
While watching it though I did begin to think of when I use to do my old Radio show with my friend Selina as like those 2 men I couldn’t have imagined doing my old show without her and while there are huge differences between what we did and what those 2 men did together the sense of that double act and not being able to do that one thing without that person to act as the ideal counterpoint and deliver that chemistry really got to me in a way that I did not expect it too.
Hell I very nearly skipped this movie feeling I was all caught up before Captain Marvel was due to open but I decided to stick with it and I am very glad I did even if it did make me miss my old friend.
And so that was Stan and Ollie and it’s a very nice movie with 2 great performances that got to me in a more personal way that I ever thought it would, 3 out of 5.
Stan and Ollie is a very nice movie that is elevated in a very large way by its 2 central performances by Mr Coogan and Mr Reilly though Coogan is the better of the two men though at times I thought that he sounded like Sam Neill as for Mr Reilly he is good in the film even if some of the facial makeup is very noticeable at times but there were also times where I could not help but think just how good John Goodman would’ve been in his role as if there was anyone born to play Oliver Hardy it was him but the two of them do a good job with the light hearted script material they have to work with.
While watching it though I did begin to think of when I use to do my old Radio show with my friend Selina as like those 2 men I couldn’t have imagined doing my old show without her and while there are huge differences between what we did and what those 2 men did together the sense of that double act and not being able to do that one thing without that person to act as the ideal counterpoint and deliver that chemistry really got to me in a way that I did not expect it too.
Hell I very nearly skipped this movie feeling I was all caught up before Captain Marvel was due to open but I decided to stick with it and I am very glad I did even if it did make me miss my old friend.
And so that was Stan and Ollie and it’s a very nice movie with 2 great performances that got to me in a more personal way that I ever thought it would, 3 out of 5.
Film Review - Happy Death Day 2 U (2019)
Happy Death Day 2 U is the sequel to the surprise of 2017 Happy Death Day and Tree (Jessica Rothe) is out of the death loop that set her back in the first film but now her boyfriends roommate Liam is stuck in a death loop of his own which does not make Tree very happy.
I was very excited for this sequel as I was very much surprised by the first Happy Death Day movie, it was a film that I really only went and saw to fill a slot on my old Radio show with ABC South East but to my surprise I found myself really enjoying it so a sequel has come and could it deliver or fall in with the bulk that just end up disappointing.
Well with regret this is in the latter camp as I was left very underwhelmed with this sequel but before I delve more into that I want to talk about what I did like and that once again is Ms Jessica Rothe she is as good as she was in the first film and she gets some great scenes in this sequel as well as carrying the film effortlessly on her own shoulders, I hope that she gets to do more movie work as she has a great screen presence especially when handling comedy.
But this sequel suffers from what I like to call the Planet Zeist Syndrome and allow me now to explain what that is, well in the original Highlander movie from 1986 we didn’t know much about the origin of the Immortals and we didn’t need one but so many enquired about it that those in charge of Highlander 2 felt they had to explain it and the explanation they came up with was that they were Space Aliens from a Planet called Zeist and it went down very very VERY badly with the Highlander fans.
Here in this movie Science is used to explain away the rather interesting concept of this Groundhog Day attempt at a horror film that the first film did and it got so convoluted and messy on screen that after a while I found myself losing interest and thinking that while I loved the first film I was not feeling it with this sequel and I got kind of bored with it after a while.
And so that was Happy Death Day 2 U and it joins the sorry ranks of Glass and the Lego Movie 2 as being another underwhelming sequel for 2019 and it is a real shame as I was very excited for all 3 of those films these things happen I suppose, 2 out of 5.
I was very excited for this sequel as I was very much surprised by the first Happy Death Day movie, it was a film that I really only went and saw to fill a slot on my old Radio show with ABC South East but to my surprise I found myself really enjoying it so a sequel has come and could it deliver or fall in with the bulk that just end up disappointing.
Well with regret this is in the latter camp as I was left very underwhelmed with this sequel but before I delve more into that I want to talk about what I did like and that once again is Ms Jessica Rothe she is as good as she was in the first film and she gets some great scenes in this sequel as well as carrying the film effortlessly on her own shoulders, I hope that she gets to do more movie work as she has a great screen presence especially when handling comedy.
But this sequel suffers from what I like to call the Planet Zeist Syndrome and allow me now to explain what that is, well in the original Highlander movie from 1986 we didn’t know much about the origin of the Immortals and we didn’t need one but so many enquired about it that those in charge of Highlander 2 felt they had to explain it and the explanation they came up with was that they were Space Aliens from a Planet called Zeist and it went down very very VERY badly with the Highlander fans.
Here in this movie Science is used to explain away the rather interesting concept of this Groundhog Day attempt at a horror film that the first film did and it got so convoluted and messy on screen that after a while I found myself losing interest and thinking that while I loved the first film I was not feeling it with this sequel and I got kind of bored with it after a while.
And so that was Happy Death Day 2 U and it joins the sorry ranks of Glass and the Lego Movie 2 as being another underwhelming sequel for 2019 and it is a real shame as I was very excited for all 3 of those films these things happen I suppose, 2 out of 5.
Film Review - Cold Pursuit (2019)
Cold Pursuit stars Liam Neeson as Nels Coxman a local Snow Plow driver who is awarded as the town of Kehoe’s local citizen of the year but when his son Kyle (Michael Richardson, Neeson’s real life son) is found dead of a suspected drug overdose Nels seeks revenge against those responsible.
The first half of Cold Pursuit is a lot of fun with some great MA15 rated violence, Liam Neeson enjoying himself for a change as opposed to just sleep walking through a movie and just wanting the pay cheque at the end of it and some very funny humour even if most of the time all I could think of was the Mr Plow episode of the Simpsons (at one point I thought Linda Ronstadt was on the soundtrack) and during the films first half I just kept thinking of lines from that episode such as:
- So Long Superman, Your Secret Identity is Safe with Me
- We won’t miss a minute of School thanks to your father
- Say Hello to the Plow King
Among other lines plus I was thinking of Forbidden Widows Peak I know this sounds awfully silly as the two are very different in their feel but hey that’s just how I felt while watching this movie.
Unfortunately the second half becomes a little more serious in its tone and it wasn’t as much fun as the focus shifts towards these rival drug dealers and it got a little boring especially as Neeson has very little to do with this section of the film, as for Ms Laura Dern who plays his wife in the film she has a couple of moments and then leaves while the drug dealer villain was kind of boring and it’s a real shame as when this movie was fun it was a lot of fun to watch.
And so that was Cold Pursuit and “Call Mr Plow that’s his name that name again is Mr Plow” sorry I couldn’t resist though this is best saved to watch when there’s nothing on at 3.17am I’m afraid, 2 out of 5.
The first half of Cold Pursuit is a lot of fun with some great MA15 rated violence, Liam Neeson enjoying himself for a change as opposed to just sleep walking through a movie and just wanting the pay cheque at the end of it and some very funny humour even if most of the time all I could think of was the Mr Plow episode of the Simpsons (at one point I thought Linda Ronstadt was on the soundtrack) and during the films first half I just kept thinking of lines from that episode such as:
- So Long Superman, Your Secret Identity is Safe with Me
- We won’t miss a minute of School thanks to your father
- Say Hello to the Plow King
Among other lines plus I was thinking of Forbidden Widows Peak I know this sounds awfully silly as the two are very different in their feel but hey that’s just how I felt while watching this movie.
Unfortunately the second half becomes a little more serious in its tone and it wasn’t as much fun as the focus shifts towards these rival drug dealers and it got a little boring especially as Neeson has very little to do with this section of the film, as for Ms Laura Dern who plays his wife in the film she has a couple of moments and then leaves while the drug dealer villain was kind of boring and it’s a real shame as when this movie was fun it was a lot of fun to watch.
And so that was Cold Pursuit and “Call Mr Plow that’s his name that name again is Mr Plow” sorry I couldn’t resist though this is best saved to watch when there’s nothing on at 3.17am I’m afraid, 2 out of 5.
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