The Mummy is the first film in Universal's Dark Universe and stars Tom Cruise as Nick a soldier in the Middle East who after a skirmish finds a mysterious artefact buried underneath the town they're in this arouses the interest of Dr. Henry Jekyll (Russell Crowe) who summises that this might be the prison of the Egyptian princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella) but alas she awakens and threatens to wreak havoc in order to bring her beloved Set back to life.
The Mummy is far from a bad film it does have some positive elements but it is also a pretty average one and a lot of that comes down to the direction by Alex Kurtzman here directing his first big film there's no real life in any of the scenes the camerawork never truly feels exciting and there's no real sense of a strong story and as a result the film comes across as very bland a lot of the time and also pretty boring with the endless jump scares that only ever work once.
It also doesn't help that Cruise is also really boring in this role but then the script gives him very little to work with and Cruise is at his best when he is the leader of the pack, the smartest man in the room and running a mile ahead of everyone else, Christopher McQuarrie (one of the screenwriters of this film ironically) understands this I feel and Rogue Nation the last Mission Impossible was really good and he was really good in it but here he's just playing a dullard and its a bad fit.
A very good fit however and the one bright spot of this entire film is Crowe as Dr. Jekyll every scene he's in really comes to life in his hands and it makes me want to see more of him in this role hopefully if this movie does well a solo film with his character will be on the cards as he certainly deserves it for without him this movie is a near complete bland fest that just made me want En Sabah Nur aka Apocalypse from the X-Men to show up and bring some life to the film outside of Crowe.
And so that was the Mummy and frankly rewatch X-Men Apocalypse instead as that is a fun Ancient Egyptian being destroyer film whereas this is very bland, 2 out of 5.
Thursday, June 8, 2017
Film Review - John Wick Chapter 2 (2017)
John Wick: Chapter 2 continues on from the original John Wick and sees Keanu Reeves return to that role this time he is asked to help out a man who helped him to get out of the life by killing his sister so that he can take her place on the high table but when your known as the Boogeyman plenty of shadows and bullets come calling with you.
I was very keen to see this sequel mainly because I really liked the original John Wick film in 2014 it was fun, brisk, knew exactly what it was and had Keanu back kicking proper ass again after the lacklustre Matrix sequels but could this sequel deliver the goods or end up just another bullet riddled corpse in the mass grave of sequels that fail to deliver.
Well sadly this sequel is not as good as the first film but it does have an honourable death as the action sequences here are truly terrific plenty of gun fights, car chases and hand to hand combat and all of it had me sitting there with the biggest giddiest grin on my face as it all looks so real at times you think you're watching it live this is not like the endless array of Superhero films where extensive CG effects plaster the action here it is hard and brutal and I LOVED every single moment of it.
Where this film does fall short sadly is in its storytelling whereas the first film had a brisk story of a retired hitman out for revenge after his little puppy was murdered (and to be fair I don't blame him) this one sets up a more elaborate story regarding the underworld that was developed in the first film but it doesn't quite come across as interesting and I think the reason is that the main villain here isn't as interesting as compared to Michael Nyqvist who was an interesting baddie whereas here that is missing and it hurts the overall storytelling.
But that said this is not a bad sequel at all in fact I would say it's one of the better ones to come down the pike but when the first film is as good as the first Wick was its a high bar to live up, 2 and a half out of 5.
I was very keen to see this sequel mainly because I really liked the original John Wick film in 2014 it was fun, brisk, knew exactly what it was and had Keanu back kicking proper ass again after the lacklustre Matrix sequels but could this sequel deliver the goods or end up just another bullet riddled corpse in the mass grave of sequels that fail to deliver.
Well sadly this sequel is not as good as the first film but it does have an honourable death as the action sequences here are truly terrific plenty of gun fights, car chases and hand to hand combat and all of it had me sitting there with the biggest giddiest grin on my face as it all looks so real at times you think you're watching it live this is not like the endless array of Superhero films where extensive CG effects plaster the action here it is hard and brutal and I LOVED every single moment of it.
Where this film does fall short sadly is in its storytelling whereas the first film had a brisk story of a retired hitman out for revenge after his little puppy was murdered (and to be fair I don't blame him) this one sets up a more elaborate story regarding the underworld that was developed in the first film but it doesn't quite come across as interesting and I think the reason is that the main villain here isn't as interesting as compared to Michael Nyqvist who was an interesting baddie whereas here that is missing and it hurts the overall storytelling.
But that said this is not a bad sequel at all in fact I would say it's one of the better ones to come down the pike but when the first film is as good as the first Wick was its a high bar to live up, 2 and a half out of 5.
Saturday, June 3, 2017
Film Review - The Zookeepers Wife (2017)
The Zookeepers Wife is based off of a true story and stars Jessica Chastain as Antonia the wife of a Polish Zookeeper in Warsaw when the Nazis invade in 1939 and during the war the Germans round up the Polish Jews into Ghettos and beat them and kill them but Antonia and her husband can no longer stand by as this continues to go on.
The Zookeepers Wife is quite good and that mainly comes down to the story being told here a true life story of a real person who just couldn't sit by and let what was happening to her fellow countrymen as the Germans were occupying their home and it makes for several rather tense sequences where I thought for sure they were going to get caught though happily they did not, Daniel Bruhl an underrated actor is also quite good as a German Officer who hangs around the Zoo like a bad smell.
But this movie is clearly Chastain's and she is very good here and watching her in this movie I was reminded of how good an actress she can be when she has a role to really sink her teeth into and though her Polish accent was a little distracting at times she holds the screen very nicely it's a shame to see her wasted in films like Interstellar, Huntsman: Winters War or the Martian where she had so little to do hopefully in the future she will get meatier roles as she more than deserves them.
And so that was the Zookeepers Wife a quite good true story film that appealed to me and my love of World War 2 History on film and has a great performance by Chastain worth a watch when it comes out on disc, 3 out of 5.
The Zookeepers Wife is quite good and that mainly comes down to the story being told here a true life story of a real person who just couldn't sit by and let what was happening to her fellow countrymen as the Germans were occupying their home and it makes for several rather tense sequences where I thought for sure they were going to get caught though happily they did not, Daniel Bruhl an underrated actor is also quite good as a German Officer who hangs around the Zoo like a bad smell.
But this movie is clearly Chastain's and she is very good here and watching her in this movie I was reminded of how good an actress she can be when she has a role to really sink her teeth into and though her Polish accent was a little distracting at times she holds the screen very nicely it's a shame to see her wasted in films like Interstellar, Huntsman: Winters War or the Martian where she had so little to do hopefully in the future she will get meatier roles as she more than deserves them.
And so that was the Zookeepers Wife a quite good true story film that appealed to me and my love of World War 2 History on film and has a great performance by Chastain worth a watch when it comes out on disc, 3 out of 5.
Thursday, June 1, 2017
Film Review - Wonder Woman (2017)
Wonder Woman is the latest DC film following Batman V Superman and Suicide Squad and this one is directed by Patty Jenkins and tells the origins of Diana Prince (Gal Gadot reprising the role from BVS) and her upbringing on Theymiscera and her eventual journey to Man's World with Captain Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) where the Great War (World War 1) is being fought in its dying days.
I was pretty keen for this movie to come mainly because of the previews I saw for the film which looked terrific I loved the cast and the WW1 setting but while I had faith in Ms Jenkins and her team I had no real faith in DC who had made a complete mess of their new film universe with both BVS and Suicide Squad failing to deliver the goods, was this one bound to suffer the same fate.
Happily no as this is a very enjoyable film for three key reasons:
- First of all Jenkins direction is very good and though Zack Snyder's influence can be felt in some of the action sequences this is very clearly her film and she has a great skill in terms of keeping the story flowing well, getting good performances from her actors and not letting that big action get too out of hand and overwhelming the overall storytelling of the film.
- Secondly Gadot is really good here and it's very hard now to really imagine anyone else doing this role (and attempts were made in the past to make a WW film) she brings a real mix of naiveté, softness, warmth and heart to this role that made her very appealing in one scene in particular she reminded me of Princess Jasmine in Aladdin when she goes out into the Agrabah Marketplace for the first time a shame someone like her couldn't play Jasmine in the live action Aladdin film.
- And lastly Chris Pine is very good as Steve Trevor who is a great character I remember from the Justice League 3 parter "The Savage Time" and the chemistry between Pine and Gadot is very good in particular and watching him here in this role made me think that he could've been a great Jack Ryan the best after Alec Baldwin if they had just given him the right script and direction but alas that wasn't to be sadly.
Also sadly this film does go downhill somewhat in the third act in a very similar manner to BVS where a big baddie shows up, a big fight breaks out with lots of destruction and flying scenes and high energy punching and it got really boring rather quickly and when thinking about the film it did overshadow the really good work Jenkins put into this film and the villains actually not being all that bad certainly much better than most of the Marvel villains which have been so bland and boring you just completely forget about them.
And so that was Wonder Woman a fun superhero flick that will not be hard to enjoy despite some minor 3rd act flaws, 3 and a half out of 5.
I was pretty keen for this movie to come mainly because of the previews I saw for the film which looked terrific I loved the cast and the WW1 setting but while I had faith in Ms Jenkins and her team I had no real faith in DC who had made a complete mess of their new film universe with both BVS and Suicide Squad failing to deliver the goods, was this one bound to suffer the same fate.
Happily no as this is a very enjoyable film for three key reasons:
- First of all Jenkins direction is very good and though Zack Snyder's influence can be felt in some of the action sequences this is very clearly her film and she has a great skill in terms of keeping the story flowing well, getting good performances from her actors and not letting that big action get too out of hand and overwhelming the overall storytelling of the film.
- Secondly Gadot is really good here and it's very hard now to really imagine anyone else doing this role (and attempts were made in the past to make a WW film) she brings a real mix of naiveté, softness, warmth and heart to this role that made her very appealing in one scene in particular she reminded me of Princess Jasmine in Aladdin when she goes out into the Agrabah Marketplace for the first time a shame someone like her couldn't play Jasmine in the live action Aladdin film.
- And lastly Chris Pine is very good as Steve Trevor who is a great character I remember from the Justice League 3 parter "The Savage Time" and the chemistry between Pine and Gadot is very good in particular and watching him here in this role made me think that he could've been a great Jack Ryan the best after Alec Baldwin if they had just given him the right script and direction but alas that wasn't to be sadly.
Also sadly this film does go downhill somewhat in the third act in a very similar manner to BVS where a big baddie shows up, a big fight breaks out with lots of destruction and flying scenes and high energy punching and it got really boring rather quickly and when thinking about the film it did overshadow the really good work Jenkins put into this film and the villains actually not being all that bad certainly much better than most of the Marvel villains which have been so bland and boring you just completely forget about them.
And so that was Wonder Woman a fun superhero flick that will not be hard to enjoy despite some minor 3rd act flaws, 3 and a half out of 5.
Friday, May 12, 2017
Film Review - Alien: Covenant (2017)
Alien: Covenant is the new Alien film once more directed by Ridley Scott and this film takes place 10 years after the events of Prometheus from 2012 and the crew of the Covenant is awoken after a serious accident which leaves Walter the Synthetic (Michael Fassbender), Daniels (Katherine Waterston), the Captain (Billy Crudup) and Tennessee (Danny McBride) among others they later find a new planet and decide to go down and investigate but they may end up finding something sinister.
I was very nervous going into Alien: Covenant the previews for the film were not the best (the sight of the Alien in full view had some laughing when it showed before Fate of the Furious) and the Alien series has not been the same since James Cameron's 1986 sequel which forged a new direction but with the posters saying "Run, Hide" could I be persuaded.
Sadly not as I was very disappointed in this movie for two reasons:
- Firstly I thought that the feel of the film felt very predictable in the sense that when watching the film I felt like Ridley Scott was both remaking his original Alien film from 1979 as well as rebooting his 2012 film Prometheus and neither really felt all that satisfactory mainly because firstly Prometheus was not the best film wise and should probably have been left alone.
But secondly remaking the original Alien in the sense of trying to replicate that same sense of the slow burn, the mystery and the wonder all of that represented doesn't work anymore it worked in 79 because we didn't know what to expect you went to this Alien film thinking "Oh this is another Sci-Fi film it could be fun" and THEN you were shocked out of your skin here I felt like "I know what's coming Ridley hurry up."
- Secondly the characters in the film tend to become a bit of a gelatinous blob after a while Crudup was good as the captain but a lot of the others don't really seem to stick out all that much, Waterston was fine but very much lacked the strong presence Sigourney Weaver had and Fassbender really needs both a sharp director and a strongly focused script in order to really shine and if you've seen Brent Spiner do both Data and Lore on Star Trek the Next Generation his arc becomes very predictable.
But lastly when I came out of this movie one phrase came to my mind almost immediately and that was "Cameron was Right" and by that I mean when James Cameron set out to make Aliens he made it very clear that while he was very respectable of Ridley's vision he couldn't do what he had done and decided not to he would build on it and make his sequel a combat film and it worked beautifully as well as having a woman at the centre of the film this time there's a real sense of everything going backwards and very much in the same way the Prequel Trilogy sent Star Wars backwards.
And so that was Alien: Covenant a very disappointing entry in the series that sadly is only worth recommending to long time Alien fans, 1.5 out of 5.
I was very nervous going into Alien: Covenant the previews for the film were not the best (the sight of the Alien in full view had some laughing when it showed before Fate of the Furious) and the Alien series has not been the same since James Cameron's 1986 sequel which forged a new direction but with the posters saying "Run, Hide" could I be persuaded.
Sadly not as I was very disappointed in this movie for two reasons:
- Firstly I thought that the feel of the film felt very predictable in the sense that when watching the film I felt like Ridley Scott was both remaking his original Alien film from 1979 as well as rebooting his 2012 film Prometheus and neither really felt all that satisfactory mainly because firstly Prometheus was not the best film wise and should probably have been left alone.
But secondly remaking the original Alien in the sense of trying to replicate that same sense of the slow burn, the mystery and the wonder all of that represented doesn't work anymore it worked in 79 because we didn't know what to expect you went to this Alien film thinking "Oh this is another Sci-Fi film it could be fun" and THEN you were shocked out of your skin here I felt like "I know what's coming Ridley hurry up."
- Secondly the characters in the film tend to become a bit of a gelatinous blob after a while Crudup was good as the captain but a lot of the others don't really seem to stick out all that much, Waterston was fine but very much lacked the strong presence Sigourney Weaver had and Fassbender really needs both a sharp director and a strongly focused script in order to really shine and if you've seen Brent Spiner do both Data and Lore on Star Trek the Next Generation his arc becomes very predictable.
But lastly when I came out of this movie one phrase came to my mind almost immediately and that was "Cameron was Right" and by that I mean when James Cameron set out to make Aliens he made it very clear that while he was very respectable of Ridley's vision he couldn't do what he had done and decided not to he would build on it and make his sequel a combat film and it worked beautifully as well as having a woman at the centre of the film this time there's a real sense of everything going backwards and very much in the same way the Prequel Trilogy sent Star Wars backwards.
And so that was Alien: Covenant a very disappointing entry in the series that sadly is only worth recommending to long time Alien fans, 1.5 out of 5.
Film Review - Snatched (2017)
Snatched stars Amy Schumer as Brooke a young woman who is fired from her job and is then dumped by her boyfriend but before she was dumped her and her partner planned for a holiday in South America which is non refundable so she has to go and decides to take her mother (Goldie Hawn) and the two eventually end up kidnapped whilst on holiday and must now make their way home.
Snatched is unfortunately not a very fun comedy to watch and it's a real shame because I did get a real joy out of seeing Goldie Hawn again on screen and she still has her way of good natured humour and likeable screen presence but apart from her I didn't really laugh very much.
And the reason for that is that so much of the humour is the substandard American humour where by being as foul mouthed as you can, as loud as you can and as gross out as you can not to mention a dash of nastiness on the side then you generate laughs and I just don't like that kind of comedy much and also Schumer is extremely annoying here she wasn't all that funny she was annoying, obnoxious and very unlikeable and even in the film people lose patience with her and I don't blame them I was willing to give her a chance now I've pretty well had it with her.
And so that was Snatched which was not a fun comedy for me then again I am not the target audience for this movie which I will freely admit, 1.5 out of 5.
Snatched is unfortunately not a very fun comedy to watch and it's a real shame because I did get a real joy out of seeing Goldie Hawn again on screen and she still has her way of good natured humour and likeable screen presence but apart from her I didn't really laugh very much.
And the reason for that is that so much of the humour is the substandard American humour where by being as foul mouthed as you can, as loud as you can and as gross out as you can not to mention a dash of nastiness on the side then you generate laughs and I just don't like that kind of comedy much and also Schumer is extremely annoying here she wasn't all that funny she was annoying, obnoxious and very unlikeable and even in the film people lose patience with her and I don't blame them I was willing to give her a chance now I've pretty well had it with her.
And so that was Snatched which was not a fun comedy for me then again I am not the target audience for this movie which I will freely admit, 1.5 out of 5.
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
New Radio Ep
Here is my latest Radio episode in which I reviewed:
- The Boss Baby
- Power Rangers
- The LEGO Batman Movie
As well as briefly discussing the Last Jedi trailer.
As always you can listen here: https://soundcloud.com/abclocalradio_sa/simon-april-21-final
- The Boss Baby
- Power Rangers
- The LEGO Batman Movie
As well as briefly discussing the Last Jedi trailer.
As always you can listen here: https://soundcloud.com/abclocalradio_sa/simon-april-21-final
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