Film Review - Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 (2024)

Horizon is a new western epic by Kevin Costner (no stranger to the genre with Dances with Wolves and Yellowstone to name some examples) and concerns the town of Horizon during the 1860’s which is burnt down by an Indian attack, the film then follows a number of storylines including one with Costner himself, another with Sam Worthington and Sienna Miller and another one regarding a posse who wants to hunt down the Indians.

Horizon was a movie I was keen to see as I am a big Yellowstone fan and Costner’s commitment to this project (one he’s had in his mind since 1988) was partially responsible for holding up Part 2 of Season 5 of that series then the previews for this movie came out and it looked interesting.

But sadly this movie is a bit of a disappointment for me but before I delve into that I want to talk about the good stuff and this movie is very well crafted, Costner’s direction is very self assured and the many landscape shots reminded me of Dances with Wolves (which would win a cinematographer Oscar for that great sun of South Australia Dean Semler) at times and J. Michael Muro’s cinematography does a great job of showing off the wild west of the American frontier, John Debney’s music is also good even if at times it sounds a little heavy handed.

And the film has a range of good performances, Jena Malone is good in a small role as is Worthington and Miller and they have good chemistry together in some of the films more romantic scenes and I also enjoyed seeing Will Patton show up as it sometimes doesn’t feel like a Kevin Costner western without him.

But what dragged this movie down for me was a similar situation that I had when I first saw the Fellowship of the Ring in the early 2000’s in that it was a movie that went for 3 hours and when it was over I felt like I was cheated a little bit in that it was a film that ultimately went nowhere and did very little with such a long runtime though I didn’t feel that way with Dune Part One in 2021 funnily enough.

And also at times the films pacing is a little off, it will spend some time on one story line and start to get interesting and then it would cut away to another storyline and I felt like “Awww man come on, I was enjoying the previous storyline” and it made the film at times feel a bit disjointed to watch which again Dune Part One and Fellowship of the Ring didn’t suffer from though I will say the glimpse of Chapter 2 shown at the end of the film did look very promising.

And so that was Horizon An American Saga Chapter 1 and it was a bit of a letdown for me but it did also show promising signs of things to come and if Dune Part Two and The Two Towers are any guide, Chapter 2 will make Chapter 1’s long and at times laborious setup feel worthwhile, 2 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024)

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is the new film by Guy Ritchie and stars Henry Cavill, Henry Golding, Alan Richson, Alex Pettifyer and Hero Fiennes Tiffin as a group of maverick officers during World War II when they are tasked to try and disrupt the Nazi strangehold on the European boats helping their troops so they can try to help and hopefully allow the Americans to enter the War on their side but such a mission will not be easy.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is I thought a lot of fun and Guy Ritchie’s best movie in what feels like a long time, firstly the film has a breezy pace to it where it doesn’t get too long (though it drags a little bit) but it never feels like the film is cut down and certain beats feel missing, secondly the film has some good action to it especially Ritchson’s character who uses some old fashioned methods but still made me smile when he would kill people.

And this movie definitely made me think “Why isn’t Henry Cavill a bigger movie star” as he does so much to make this movie work as well as it does and his natural charm and charisma shine in every scene he’s in, where the film does drag down a little bit is when the characters played by Eiza Gonzalez and Babs Olusanmokun take a more central part in the mission and those scenes for me just kept me thinking “Bring Henry back” as they just couldn’t compete with him in terms of holding your interest.

And so that was the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, a fun breezy romp with good action and a good cast, 3 out of 5.

Film Review - Alien: Romulus (2024)

Alien: Romulus is the new film in the Alien series and is directed and co-written by Fede Alvarez who did the 2013 remake of Evil Dead and Don’t Breathe in 2016, this film takes place on a Weyland-Yutani colony where a young girl named Rain (Cailee Spaeny) lives with her synthetic brother Andy (David Jonsson) and it is here they learn of an abandoned space station that might help them get off their colony to a better world but unbeknownst to Rain and her companions (Isabela Merced, Aileen Wu, Archie Renaux and Spike Fearn) something creepy this way comes.

Alien Romulus I had mixed hopes for, on the one hand the Alien franchise since 1986’s Aliens by James Cameron has either been mediocre (Alien 3 and Covenant) or stupid (Resurrection and Prometheus) but there was a part of me that also thought that many would see this as a step up maybe even beyond the first 2 films because it was being made by Disney now that they own 20th Century Fox and it was being made by Fede Alvarez who is a popular horror director (a silly thought to be sure but it was one that I had) plus I loved Cailee Spaeny in Civil War earlier this year.

However this movie I fucking hated and the first reason why is that yet again the Alien franchise is either incapable or unwilling to be anything more than what it has become since Aliens which is either quasi-religious bullshit (Alien 3, Prometheus and Covenant) or just devolve into the laziest type of fan service where the movie just has to hit every little beat they’ve seen before and as Vincent Ward pointed out in the Wreckage and Rage documentary about the making of Alien 3 the audience is ahead of you at that point and are just waiting for the movie to catch up to them sitting in their seat.

And this movie for the most part does just that, lazy fan service that has some fun gooey horror effects but like the other films post Aliens it just adds more unnecessary stuff that just ends up taking away that little bit more from the fun and the simplicity of the premise that kick started this damn franchise to begin with which is that the wonders of the universe can be the things we know least about and can also be fucking terrifying and kill us without a second thought.

Where did it come from, who cares, what matters is that this creature is unstoppable and we have to stop it before it kills us all and/or we can get to safety.

Also there is a major part of this movie that every time it came on screen it just kept pulling me out of the movie and made me think “Didn’t this happen to this person” and then finding myself asking “Why didn’t you just use this person, their inclusion would make more sense and also THEIR STILL ALIVE!!!”

And lastly much like when I saw Alien Covenant in 2017 I kept being reminded in my head of Aliens and asking myself “That was a sequel to Alien”, “That film worked brilliantly” and “Why did that one manage to work when the other sequels including this one didn’t” but after asking myself those questions I almost instantly answered my own question like “Simon those are stupid questions, James Cameron was the reason why and he is a movie law unto himself.”

Anywho that was Alien Romulus and once again the Alien franchise just can’t seem to burst out of its own chest as this has lazy fan service, a very questionable character insertion and just feels like more the same that seems to come with this series after Aliens, frankly watch that and the original Alien instead, 1 out of 5.

Film Review - Trap (2024)

Trap is the new movie by M Night Shyamalan and stars Josh Hartnett as Cooper, a firefighter who is taking his daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to a concert by her favourite singer Lady Raven (Saleka Night Shyamalan) but unbeknownst to him the police have cordoned off the arena as they believe a serial killer known as the Butcher will be in the audience and as Admiral Ackbar would say It’s A Trap.

Trap for 2 thirds of its running time is good fun, the use of the concert arena is very effective with the 20,000 plus crowd to pull from as potential suspects, a food court to create distractions, a police watching from security stations and a popular singer to be a distraction and Shyamalan’s direction and writing is most effective in these moments, Hartnett in particular is great and this is a good study of face acting as his expressions give off this warm smile and girl dad persona but there is always this rage and anger ready to boil to the surface at any moment and it makes him fun to watch.

Sadly however the last third of the film gets very silly and it makes the stupid decision to take the action out of the concert arena and this part of the film drags in a major way and I sat there in my seat going “This is getting silly” and not in a good way and look this is M Night Shyamalan you know what your getting with him and I went along with it for the most part but the third act drags this down.

And I know this isn’t a 2 hour film (its 105 minutes long) but because that third act felt as long as it did I began to think to myself this was a 2 hour film and sometimes Shyamalan really struggles to stick the landing with his movies, recently he’s been quite good (2019’s Glass not withstanding) but here he slipped on the stage at the end and it’s a bit of a shame.

And so that was Trap and M Night Shyamalan continues (albeit just) his good run of films since 2015’s The Visit but that third act really drags it down, 2 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - The Bikeriders (2024)

The Bikeriders is the new film by Jeff Nichols and stars Jodie Comer as Kathy who is being interviewed by a young reporter (Mike Faist) about her time being married to Benny (Austin Butler) who was a member of the Vandals Motorcycle Gang in Chicago in the mid to late 1960’s, the gang is led by Johnny (Tom Hardy) and the gang rides around the area, plays pool and drinks and smokes a lot.

The Bikeriders isn’t a bad film but it’s also one that has been done much much better elsewhere but that said this is firstly a well made film by Nichols who is an underrated director these days, at times you can smell the beer and sweat and cigarette smoke through the camera lens a great credit to him and Adam Stone the cinematographer who also does a good job on the film especially in the nighttime scenes.

The film also has a number of good performances, Hardy is as good as ever and he makes for a good leader of this sometimes wayward group of people, Austin Butler is one of the best young actors working today and that is no exception here even if most of the time I kept thinking “That’s FEYD-RAUTHA” from Dune Part Two while Faist, Comer and Michael Shannon are good as well.

But for much of this movie’s running time I kept thinking back to that much much better film than this one and that is Stone an pioneering Ozploitation film from 1974 that also concerned a motorcycle gang and was so much better than this one it isn’t funny, it has the gang comraderie for sure but it also had much better storytelling, higher stakes and great filmmaking with one stunt in particular being one of the very best I’ve seen any person do on film.

And to be honest I would rent Stone instead of this movie which is okay but nothing much despite it being well made and with good performances, 2 out of 5.

Film Review - Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line (2024)

Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line is a new documentary about the history of the Band with interviews from the likes of Peter Garrett and other members of the band as they recount their beginnings, the changing band members and their place in the Australian music and cultural scene.

Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line is a good documentary with well done interviews with Peter and the other band members and I really liked the archival footage particularly one segment that covers their trip to an Indigenous encampment in 1987 and taking their music to the locals, I also really liked the archival news footage from the 80s and 90s and 2000’s that covered the band’s main time together.

But I have to say it felt very weird after a while to be watching this documentary on a big cinema screen, don’t get me wrong it’s great to hear those songs in a cinema with the sound system but the medium of documentary is a very intimate one and because of that it doesn’t quite feel right to be watching one in a cinema which by it’s very nature a public space (and one that look a long time to reopen in the dark times) and a documentary is someone telling you their story and to see that in a cinema feels like your intruding on a private conversation someone is having with someone else and it feels wrong.

That said this is a good doco and if you’re a fan of the band then you’ll really enjoy yourself but you didn’t need to watch this in a cinema, 2 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Deadpool and Wolverine (2024)

Deadpool and Wolverine is the newest Marvel Studios film and the first to properly feature characters from the X-Men now that Marvel Studios has gotten the rights to those characters back after Disney acquired 20th Century Fox in 2019, this story concerns Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) being tasked by the TVA and it’s lead time officer Paradox (Matthew Macfayden) to either join the Earth 616 universe or die with his now that it has lost it’s anchor character in Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) but Deadpool decides not to cooperate and travels the multiverse to find another Wolverine to help him.

Deadpool and Wolverine is something of a mixed bag for me movie wise, I can see why people are having a great time at this movie but I can also see why others have not,

Firstly the best thing about this movie and when it works the best is when Reynolds and Jackman are simply allowed to riff with each other, trade barbs and insults and try to kill each other, the two men have great chemistry together and it’s easy to see why Reynolds was the only person that could get Jackman to play the character again after he bid farewell to it in James Mangold’s Logan in 2017, both men are as good as ever in their roles and the film works best when their on it.

Also really good is Emma Corrin best known as the young Princess Diana in the Crown, they bring a lot of dark energy to their role and I really believed that they and James McAvoy who played Professor Xavier in the previous 20th Century Fox trilogy of X-Men films are related, the MCU has lacked memorable villains in a lot of their films but this one is an exception.

And lastly there are some good action and comedy moments that definitely had me smiling and laughing when they were on screen.

But what really drags this movie into the bog is the multiverse side plot, I am so fucking fed up with this shit now I couldn’t tell you but I will this time because all the multiverse really ends up meaning is that there are no consequences, no stakes in the action and no one really dies and if they do then instead of using the Dragon Balls to bring them back the characters can just hop into the multiverse, find a variant of that character who died and then there they are as if nothing ever happened.

And it just feels so fucking lazy especially when both DC and Marvel have dabbled in this crap and all for some cheap fan service and nostalgia baiting and I don’t care anymore, I remember when people like Mangold and Bryan Singer and Matthew Vaughn gave us X-Men movies that had genuine stakes, exciting action, heartfelt emotion as well as fun comedy and when characters actually died it meant something but now none of it does.

And yes 20th Century Fox as a movie studio made some big big mistakes with their handling of the X-Men and the other Marvel comics characters chief among them their failure to learn the lessons of X-Men 1 and 2 and why those films were as successful as they were in the early 2000’s but when they got it right, they gave you something as a fan or a movie pundit or even just a casual audience member that meant something and could be about something more worthwhile than just one liners, bad comedy, tighty tight and colourful costumes and action scenes that got more and more boring because the villains were so poorly thought out none it mattered.

And Fox as a studio had such a rich movie history as well, those of us like me hear that fanfare and instantly think “Star Wars” and George Lucas wanted to bring that full fanfare back to prominence with the original film in 1977 and along with Disney, Warner Brothers, Columbia, Universal and Paramount were the foundation of the movie business for decades and when Disney acquired Fox primarily because so many Marvel nerds became adamant that they get the X-Men and Fantastic Four to Marvel Studios we lost something fundamental.

And that loss is one that I feel personally when looking at the movie business as it is today and look this movie will make oodles of money and I can see why but given what it was that we lost so this movie could be made as we see it being projected in front of us I wish it was a lot better than it is, don’t get me wrong there is plenty of fun to be had and a good villain is here but the loss of 20th Century Fox as an independent movie studio and the decades of movie going tradition that died with it is one I struggle to overcome but I suspect I’ll be along in feeling this way, 3 out of 5.