It's That Time Again: 2017 in Film

Part 1: The Overall Picture

Well here we are another film year has pretty much come to a close and in this first part I like to write about my overall thoughts on the year in film as a whole.

And well it hasn’t been a bad year in movies but certainly not one I would want to say was a favourite of mine which is a far cry from the great period of 2011-2015 which I would put up there with great periods of movies.

The reason I feel this way is that after a while a lot of the releases that came my way started to feel a bit of the same in that there was a lot of animated films, blockbusters and big franchise revivals and those tended to get more airtime down my way than some of the smaller ones others have talked about and reviewed.

And it was those smaller ones and especially documentaries that I missed this year now sure some of them like mother! and Battle of the Sexes came but they also went very quickly before I could get a chance to see them although from what others said I didn’t miss very much so easy come easy go.

But that was this year and we look forward to 2018 but before we delve into that I must talk about my best and worst of 2017 cause you see Fun isn’t really something one considers when writing this list but they do put a smile on my face.


Part 2: The Worst of 2017

Ah the worst lists a real pleasure of mine every single year mainly because I get to take one more shot at 5 films that took a day out of my life that I’ll never get back.

And we start at number 5 with:

Daddy’s Home 2: Now part of me was looking forward to this movie it had some fun previews going for it, it had a cast in Mark Wahlberg, John Lithgow and Mel Gibson and it was coming out at Christmas time so it became my main Christmas watch this year apart from Christmas Vacation.

Instead all I could say coming out of it was BAH HUMBUG! as it reaffirmed some of my Grinch tendencies at Christmas time but there are deeper problems here.

First off the film is just not funny or fun at all with far too much reliance on slapstick humour that is poorly timed and filmed and after a while becomes borderline abusive with poor John Lithgow a man who can be very funny becoming far too often the butt of snowballs, pratfalls and other embarrassing moments though Will Ferrell fares little better.

But the real sin here is the casting of Gibson and the humour that comes with him way too often it isn’t funny and in what is essentially a PG rated family movie (the first film was M rated) it often made me feel very uncomfortable sitting there in my seat and given Gibson’s own history in the last decade or so these jokes which would be bad with any other actor feel a lot worse when coming out of his mouth and whatever good will he got back with Hacksaw Ridge which I thought was a great film has now evaporated.

And look I am someone who can separate an artist from their work very easily but given everything going at the moment in regard to that point and whether it is a liberty all of us as film fans may have to give up albeit grudgingly in order to see real change in Hollywood going forward all of this becomes more uncomfortable to admit and/or talk about than I myself certainly would like to as this man as well as others have made films I love and have inspired me as a writer/storyteller and as a person.

4. Suburbicon: George Clooney’s return to the directors chair since the Monuments Men in 2014 boasts some very impressive credentials; An interesting story, a script co written by the Coen Brothers and a cast with the likes of Matt Damon, Julianne Moore and Oscar Isaac what could possibly go wrong?

Well almost the whole damn thing went wrong as this movie was awful to sit through at the cinema, its performances were incredibly weak Damon and Moore in particular stink to high heaven, Oscar Isaac can’t do anything to lift it out of the muck and the script is a mess and a half.

And once again just like the Monuments Men Clooney can’t balance the darkness and the light and focus on what story he wants to tell I mean you have a fascinating story of the first black family ever to move into a white neighbourhood which should open up a range of fruitful storytelling to hold up as a mirror to a contemporary audience and what the fuck does he focus on instead?

This boring as batshit black comedy about the Mob and owing money to them and insurance fraud and none of it not one scene of it is in any way interesting to watch and in the home invasion scenes early on I just wanted Damon to take off the glasses rip the shirt open Superman style and turn into Jason Bourne and kick the living shit out of the robbers instead he mopes around the damn film looking miserable and Moore is way way to cartoonish and it doesn’t fit in the film at all.

But my biggest disappointment is with Clooney I like this guy a lot he’s charismatic and great to watch but as a director he’s incredibly hit and miss and I’m beginning to lose my patience with him Money Monster was a welcome return to form but goodwill only lasts so long if it isn’t followed up with another success.

3. Alien: Covenant

Of all the picks on this list this is the one that I take no pleasure in having here mainly because a very good friend of mine really liked this movie but this was not a good film at all.

I love Ridley Scott he’s one of my favourite directors Blade Runner is one of my top 10 favourite films Black Rain is severely underrated and I loved his previous film the Martian so this should’ve continued that film’s upward curve.

Well it didn’t for three reasons first the film just isn’t that scary all of the scenes with the Alien we’re just sitting around in our seat waiting for as the sense of mystery that worked so well in 1979 because we didn’t know what to expect because Alien was just a new Sci-Fi film we went to because we loved Star Wars here I felt like just get on with it.

Which leads me to reason number 2 the characters, all of them are boring and unmemorable now go back to particularly James Cameron’s Aliens from 1986 that film is chock full of memorable characters not just Ripley but Newt, Hicks, Hudson (RIP Bill), Gorman, Vasquez, Burke, Bishop, Apone all of them have great personality and terrific lines and as a result when the Aliens come and their fighting for survival you care about whether they make it out alive or end up cocooned.

That doesn’t happen here I didn’t care less about any of them and when they do start dying horribly I’m like “Here they are nice juicy humans come and get them Here Muty Mutant” I don’t care about them and the performances even Michael Fassbender fluting himself didn’t do a bloody thing for me,

And lastly this story is pathetic and sitting through it gave me vibes of sitting through the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy all over again and by that I mean your watching this boring backstory that is told in a way that is so complicated you just don’t care and you can also feel the high arrogance of Ridley much like you did with George and now this great franchise has yet another failure to put on its bow its time this creature was put out to pasture as its days are over.

2. Passengers

Now this had some potential to be a pretty good Sci-Fi flick you had Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence and a terrific premise of this man who is woken from hypersleep following a routine error in space and has to live out his days alone and watch everyone else sound asleep without a care in the world and sure you can wake someone else up to have some company but that comes with some very very murky territory.

Territory that this movie does not navigate in any way shape or form that is even remotely tasteful and all involved squander a great idea as a result and it doesn’t help having Pratt cast in that role as you just don’t believe him doing those horrible things and to then turn around watch him be Star Lord again in Guardians 2 made this feel worse.

As for Lawrence she does what she can but this film just goes off the rails so quickly that any kind of goodwill you might have still had a sliver of just gets flushed out of the airlock as the lovers reunite and their ship starts to malfunction and sink and well it may as well be playing on the soundtrack:

Don’t let the shippp sink out in spaaace,
Although I search my soul,
Its always your hurt feelings I see,
Your just another section of our ship,
To have to fiiiixxxxxxxx.

But losing you out there,
Is like the ship sinking out in spaaaceeee…

It literally gets that bad and when it was over I was like YUCK and I walked out of that cinema on that day with a very very very bad taste in my mouth.

And now we come to the number 1 single worst film not just of this year but in any year as far as I’m concerned and that is:

The Snowman.

Yep this was the worst movie experience of this year and probably of all time for me it is that bad and it didn’t have to be for you have:

- A great cast consisting of Michael Fassbender, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Val Kilmer, JK Simmonds and Rebecca Ferguson
- A good director in Tomas Alfredson
- Martin Scorsese as Executive Producer
- Houssen Amini as one of the screenwriters
- Thelma Schoonmaker as one of the Editors

Mr and Mrs Film Lover this gives you all the clues of a great hit and yet it is absolutely pathetic on every single level.

I mean when I was sitting there watching this pile of shit I felt like my time was being wasted as this is horribly put together in terms of its editing there’s no rhythm or flow to any of the scenes and none of them feel like they go well together, flow from one story point to the next in a logical progression and far far too often rely on the old editing trick of filming a simple drive shot and then having the actors do some ADR work over it in post production to cover any missing gaps.

But what is truly staggering is that not one of these distinguished people ever bothered to sound the alarm and go “Ah guys something is very very wrong with this movie and we need to fix it before releasing it” now Alfredson did say in an interview that he did not get to shoot 10 to 15 percent of his shooting script but why didn’t he notice there were major problems when he was editing the fucking movie and Ms Schoonmaker is one of the worlds finest film editors where was she in all this I mean this is just pathetic all around.

And my blame doesn’t stop there where the fuck was Universal Pictures and all of its management teams and executives why couldn’t THEY see this trainwreck coming and allow Alfredson the time he needed to shoot those crucial pages I mean studios have a sixth sense at least the smart ones do for knowing when their film isn’t working they sometimes restrict press showings, have late review embargoes or don’t do much in the way of advertising it just defies belief for me that nobody could see that this was not a film to release in this form.

But these things happen I guess but on the bright side I had a definitive worst film so now I can throw those turkey bones and focus on the positives because now Happy Days are Here again, the skies above are clear again, let us sing a song of cheer again.


Part 3: The Year’s Finest

Well we’ve taken out the rubbish and now it is time to talk about the favourites the 5 films that really connected to me the most this year even if they didn’t really connect with others as much.

With that out of the way let’s start with number 5 and it’s:

Wonder Woman: All the world was waiting for her and the power she possessed.

Now I will freely admit I was deeply nervous going into this movie mainly because the DC Cinematic Universe has not really done very much for me from Man of Steel which was fine but not a patch on Richard Donner’s Superman movies to Batman V Superman which was a 3 hour slog (a 3 hour slog) and then Suicide Squad which not only was a total mess but unforgivably took the abusive relationship between the Joker and Harley Quinn and glamourised it into something romantic.

Talk about Barf City.

But then I saw Wonder Woman and what a refresh this movie was not terms of a frantic DC Universe run by it seems a pack of Homer Simpsons who want it all: The Terrifying Lows, The Dizzying Highs and the Creamy Middles this was Patty Jenkins knowing the film she wanted to make, the story she wanted to tell and yeah Zack Snyder gave her some guidance with the action scenes but this was her film through and through and Warner Brothers were smart (well this time) to stay out of her way.

And much like Donner’s Superman and Bryan Singer’s X-Men work it has great action, storytelling, characters and those fundamental filmmaking rules come first and all of the quips and powers and comic references and isms that dominate so many of the films in this genre nowadays even good films like Thor Ragnarok come second.

What I also love is that it not only has the best elements of a superhero film but also the feeling of a war film of good people laying down their lives for the greater good and that heroic spirit is felt in every frame of the film and it gave me hope that DC could make something of this series if they just stuck the course and stayed out of their directors way.

4. Paddington 2: This was a film that I had very high hopes for as I loved the first Paddington film, it was charming, heartfelt and had a great villain in Nicole Kidman so the bar was high for this sequel to jump.

And it jumped it with complete ease as this was a wonderful sequel to the first film and it was that rarest of birds in that it was better than the first film in almost every way, retaining the originals charm, heart and humour while doing what a great sequel should do which is to build on the strengths of the first film, deepen the character bonds and get going right away on a new adventure.

But this movie also has another great villain in Hugh Grant who is very funny, comically sinister and has a clear goal and is the main reason I feel this sequel exceeds the original film and both of these films I give enormous praise for having great fun villains in them and their presence enhances both of these films and for this sequel it made me so happy.

And when I’ve thought about this sequel it has made me think that this is the exact same feeling that I want and hope for from the rumoured Accountant sequel with Ben Affleck as if that one were to fall short like so many sequels do it will feel like for me a personal heartbreak but to do what that first film did for me again is going to be a very tough ask.

3. Split: This was for the longest part of the year my number 1 film as I could not get it out of my head I still can’t to some extent and even as the second half of the year got underway I thought that nothing would top it come the year’s end but 2 others did but before I reveal those let’s talk this movie.

Who knew that M. Night Shyamalan still had it in him to make great movies again because I honestly had given up on him completely he had had his success but a string of complete turkeys had made an awful lot of people lose faith in him but here he’s come roaring back with a story that returns to the style and tone of his 2 breakout films the Sixth Sense and Unbreakable.

And this film firstly combines the best elements of both very well Unbreakable was really ahead of its time as a movie commenting on the Superhero genre before there even was a genre to comment on plus it was a high concept type film while the Sixth Sense was more of a traditional horror film that also took time to highlight how children deal with abuse and trauma to some extent and both elements combine very well in Split.

And also much like Bruce Willis in those 2 films he had a leading man in James McAvoy that he completely trusted in and let loose which sometimes is all that’s needed for a character to be scary in a horror film and McAvoy is Academy Award nomination good here he’s powerful, imposing, a little scary but also funny at times in a creepy way and utterly captivating every scene he had I was beaming from ear to ear and glued to the screen I can’t wait to see him again in Glass in January 2019.

2. Kingsman the Golden Circle: Coming in at number 2 is Matthew Vaughn’s sequel to his 2015 sleeper hit Kingsman the Secret Service.

This was the most joyous fun I had watching a movie in a cinema all year and much like when I saw X-Men Apocalypse last year it was because I was loving being back in this world and with these characters again and Vaughn’s direction hasn’t lost a step here with its combination of high energy action, game performances and a willingness to go far out on the edge in terms of the villain and her goals something that is missing for me in most mainstream films nowadays.

The film also has a great use of music in some of its action scenes and a great cameo by Sir Elton John who elevates every scene he’s in and nicely parodies one of his hit songs in a key climax scene I know this did not get the best reviews but this was a film I really loved and would put on par with the first film.

And now we come to number 1 the top of the heap and really there could be only one this year and that is:

Dunkirk: Christopher Nolan’s World War 2 thriller was simply awe inspiring and after the Dark Knight Rises and Interstellar failed to do very much for me despite their great ambition this was a most welcome return to form.

And first off the way he tells this story is a very unique one within the War genre utilising 3 different time scapes and yet making each one synchronise seamlessly and ticking like a Swiss watch the use of dialogue is also very much on a need to know basis like those kind of operations would be and the decision to make this a ticking clock race for survival was a genius move as that is how it would have really felt for those trapped on that beach the enemy is getting closer and time is quickly running out to evacuate so Britain can stay in the war.

And secondly this is a master filmmaker like Christopher Nolan at the height of their power, the way he marshals his actors, his musical score, his cinematography, his sound design, his editing and his storytelling is why Nolan has such a devoted and passionate fan base around him and one that will also follow him on any movie he makes and power it to big box office success and in a world where directors perhaps aren’t as valued as they should be to see this kind of super stardom for a director like him is most welcome.

And also watching this movie I was in awe of it because of that precision and craftsmanship and when you see a movie like Dunkirk that not only has that great craftsmanship of filmmaking but combines with it great storytelling you just think to yourself “This is what this medium called Movies is really about.” And while they may let us down sometimes even those are worth for films like this one.

And so that was 2017 in film hopefully 2018 will be worthwhile as well after all we have Avengers: Infinity War to look forward to and everything I’ve seen from that film looks phenomenal and could very well be a height of the superhero genre that is hard to top because it has everything that Dragon Ball up to the battle with Freeza had:

- A great roster of well developed heroes
- Years of storytelling coming to a head

And a powerful villain who looks to have a big big impact and man oh man I cannot wait to see what transpires according to the Russo’s design so BRING IT ON.

Film Review - Valkyrie (2009)

Valkyrie is directed by Bryan Singer and is based off of the real life story of Operation Valkyrie in which Colonel Von Stuaffenburg (Tom Cruise) tried to assassinate Adolf Hitler but given that it was a military operation things can always go wrong.

Valkyrie is a well made thriller with nice direction by Singer first off, he makes sure that there is plenty of breathing space to explain the complicated nature of the operation as well as flesh out the people involved that made up the operation as well as the effects and aftermath of the plan and as a result the film while taking its time with the storyline doesn’t allow itself also to get too long winded and overstay its welcome.

Secondly the period design of the film is quite nice with the multiple flags, uniforms, lavish hall sets that feel very nicely detailed and I particularly liked the uniforms as for me they felt very authentic plus I loved all the old timey communication devices and the overall sound design was quite good but mainly because I’d been watching Dunkirk I did get a little more jumpy than normal when guns went off on the soundtrack.

And lastly the ensemble cast of Cruise, Terence Stamp (and I did kneel before him when he first came on), Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Kenneth Branagh, Thomas Krestchmann (Baron Von Struckker) among others were quite good Cruise in particular really surprised me here as I’ve been hit and miss with him over the years but here I thought his smarts and charisma were put to nice use here no doubt due to both Singer and Chris McQuarrie knowing how to use him and play to his strengths as a performer the others perform as you would expect them too and no one was really bad here I thought.

And so that was Valkyrie a well made, nicely paced thriller with good performances that is worth watching for World War 2 buffs out there, 3 out of 5.

Film Review - The Disaster Artist (2017)

The Disaster Artist is directed by and stars James Franco and is based off of the making of the 2003 cult hit the Room which was directed by and starred Tommy Wiseau it follows his journey to make the film and then its trials and tribularions of production and he did not hit her, he did not hit her, he did nooott.

Oh Hai Mark.

If you’re a film lover like I am you really owe it to yourself to check out this movie as it is a lot of fun and has a number of great laughs in it as well as some really fun cameos but Franco is the star here as Mr Wiseau with that very peculiar voice he does and weird kind of body posture that looks like someone who just refuses to sleep at all (I’ll live while I’m alive and I’ll sleep when I’m dead could be tattooed on this man) and he’s never made a clown too much nor is he boring to watch.

But others are fun as well including Dave Franco, Seth Rogen, Josh Hutcherson and Jacki Weaver among others and to watch what is clearly turning into a trainwreck of a movie unfold was also a lot fun as well as you see it turn from a disaster to a cult hit because its such a disaster to watch and I got a good amount of satisfaction out of that.

And so that was the Disaster Artist a shorter review compared to others for new releases but it says what I want to say clearly enough its good fun but mainly recommended for movie lovers, 4 out of 5.

Film Review - Paddington 2 (2017)

Paddington 2 is the sequel to 2014’s Paddington and Ben Wishaw once again voices Paddington Bear as he enters the workforce to raise money for a popup book to send to his Aunt Lucy but when the book goes missing Paddington is sent to jail and now must find a way to clear his name.

Sitting through Paddington 2 one thought entered my mind and that was “SEE THIS IS HOW IT CAN BE DONE!” and by that I mean movie sequel as this one is that rarest of birds a sequel better than the first film in almost every aspect the first film was great but this one does what a great sequel should do which is deepen the character relationships, take advantage of the fact that the first film set everything up and set off right away on a new adventure.

Wishaw deserves a most special credit here for his voice work as Paddington as he brings so much heart, warmth, sincerity and soul to this character that you just cannot help but want to give him a big warm cuddle as you are instantly on his side in whatever he does whether its getting a ride around his neighbourhood or trying to clear his name in prison.

There is also ample back up work by Sally Hawkins, Hugh Bonneville, Julie Walters and Brendan Gleeson and Gleeson is particular is very funny as Knuckles the prison chef and the film itself has some really really funny moments in it that had me laughing a lot out loud throughout the movie.

But the show stealer here is Mr Hugh Grant who plays Phoenix an actor reduced to eating Dog Food in commercials which by the way reminded me of the scene in Red Dwarf where Lister ate the Dog Food in the episode Marooned and he is a fabulous villain here and he is why this sequel is a better film than the first one and I loved that and the villain Nicole Kidman played in it but this one Hugh shamlessly lampoons his British rom com roots and finds a way of being hammy and over the top but also being lots of fun at the same time.

And who knew that this family film series would be one that has great villains in it both of them are clearly defined have a set goal they want to accomplish and for me I had great fun watching them go about that goal and villains in these family films can at times be as important as they are to an action/genre type of film and when they go right in both accounts the films are better for it.

But also the way that Diversity Is handled in this movie as well as the first film is a real treat as it paints a great portrait of Modern London and the diverse streets and neighbourhoods of those that live in them its done in a way that says this is how things are and we’re used to it sometimes stuff like this can go wrong and go wrong very badly but here its done correctly and it paints a great environment for the younger audiences.

And so that was Paddington 2 and please go and see it as its that rare sequel better than the first film in almost every way, 4 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is written and directed by Rian Johnson and follows on from where 2015’s The Force Awakens left off with Rey (Daisy Ridley) going off to find Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) while the Resistance is fleeing the increasing might of the First Order (Adam Driver, Domnhall Gleeson and Andy Serkis) but even when times feel dark there is always hope.

The Last Jedi sadly is a bit of mess movie wise don’t get me wrong there are moments here that are very strong and the plotline with Ridley and Hamill is great and both of them do a lot to lift this movie out of the bog of a messy story but outside of them there is a shaggy mess for these reasons:

- First off Finn and Poe who were built up so well in the Force Awakens are pretty much relegated to background fodder where Finn has a totally pointless story arc that feels like a distraction from the main action going on screen and Poe is reduced to running around and barking orders in so much of the running time when in the Force Awakens he was the dashing handsome Maverick of the X-Wing fleet flying out there in the Danger Zone whereas here he just does a lot of running and barking of orders.

- Secondly there is no sense of threat from the First Order at all they just come across as a bunch of shouting, whiny nitwits that only seem to have gotten this far because of their actions in the Force Awakens and Driver does okay here but Gleeson is as horribly over the top as he was in the previous film and Serkis is FLAT as Snoke and the promise of that character from the Force Awakens is now gone.

And compare these to the might, the strength, the force of the Galactic Empire in the Original Trilogy with that DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN of the Imperial March plus Lord Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine who were not just evil but crafty (remember the Emperor’s plan in Return of the Jedi brilliant stuff) and also imposing as Lord Vader was where much like Freeza in Dragon Ball if you fail him, you die.

- And lastly this movie is far far too long running for 152 minutes and a good 25 minutes or so could have easily been cut out of this movie just by tightening a very long Resistance sideplot and by rewriting entirely Finn’s storyline to something that feels more meaningful and like Poe not a near complete waste of those characters.

And so that was Star Wars the Last Jedi a film that has some great moments and performances that are trapped in the Bog of a messy storyline that wastes not only key members of its trinity from the Force Awakens but also any kind of threat its villains might have had I honestly don’t know how this trilogy is going to end but I sincerely hope it’s a good one, 2 out of 5.

New Radio Ep

Well folks here is my last Radio episode covering the best and worst of 2017.

https://soundcloud.com/abclocalradio_sa/friday-flicks-dec-8-final

This episode also marks the end of my time with ABC South East SA after 3 and a half wonderful years there, I am a little disappointed to not be continuing with them going forward but life goes on and I think of the many wonderful friends I've made and the people I've met along that road.

Not to mention all of this has opened up a great career path for me going forward and I will forever be thankful for this period of my life and forever grateful to those I've met.

To Infinity and the Cosmos

Well its finally here boys and girls and its so devishly exciting I could squeal out loud hell I already did when watching it.

And that is the first official trailer for Avengers: Infinity War which dropped last Wednesday night Australian time and OH! MY! GOODNESS!!

It is a truly fantastic piece of trailer making and I love me a good trailer but this one was so good and so well cut together in terms of its beats both musically and editorially that I can’t help but want to watch it over and over and over again and save for the Frank Sinatra trailer for Kingsman the Golden Circle this is my favourite preview for this year.

But there also three huge reasons as to why I feel this trailer works so well:

- Firstly the glimpses of the spectacle on shown here look HUGE and not just in a “Aren’t these effects neat” kind of a way but it just feels like a huge movie in terms of its effects work both on Earth and in Outer Space but also its stakes in terms of “Thanos has to be stopped or he will destroy the entire Universe” and from what I’ve seen of his chief minions the Black Order they remind me an awful lot of the Ginyu Force from Dragon Ball Z.

- Secondly the characters and their interactions all look and sound terrific it feels like a real thrill to see Dr. Strange, Wong, Tony Stark and Dr. Banner together same with Captain Rogers, Black Panther, Black Widow and Bucky plus Thor meeting the Guardians of the Galaxy in the end of the trailer.

But it isn’t just that this is an exciting thrill it also feels very natural these interactions as Marvel Studios has spent an entire decade building this universe with not just 2 previous Avengers films prior to this one but also multiple films with Thor, Iron Man, Captain America and the Guardians of the Galaxy plus solo films for Doctor Strange, Ant Man, Black Panther and Spider-Man so by the time we get to this major movie we’ve seen plenty with these characters and their journeys so seeing them all together doesn’t feel rushed in any way.

And lastly it just feels right to see them all together even Loki who has a great great shot in this trailer holding the Tesseract in his hand while he has this look of complete fear on his face as if he’s seen some bad shit go down and also this kind of reaction is what happens when a studio like Marvel and its leader Kevin Feige have the patience, the discipline and the vision right from the beginning and set about executing it in a methodical way that yes has seen some changes along the way but the leadership did not crack so those changes were added seamlessly to the overall universe and its come out stronger as a result.

- Lastly Thanos and finally after so many times that I have written here and said on air in my Radio show Marvel Studios’s weakest link for me and it has hurt the long term replay value of their films in my eyes is their villains almost all of them save for Loki have been either meh or miserable failures but here Thanos looks great.

And its not just in terms of his visual look which looks very believable in terms of you can see and hear Josh Brolin under all that purple skin but also the glimpses we get of his dialogue are great as well and when he has lines like “In time you’ll know what its like to lose, to feel so desperately that your right yet to fail all the same.” And “Fun isn’t something one considers when balancing the universe.” I squealed big time.

Because here finally we get a proper villain in one of these films and it feels like its been so long since a movie villain really resonated with an audience the last one I can think of was maybe the Joker in the Dark Knight but since then it feels like the focus has been so much on the heroes that the villains have been forgotten about in terms of how much they can resonate with an audience but also their true importance to these kinds of stories and I fear that Thanos could end up potentially the same way as audiences now may well have forgotten what a good movie villain feels like.

Now I could be wrong and I hope sincerely that I am but I just can’t help but feel that way right now that audiences have become so used to villains being a forgettable part of the story that Thanos might not resonate with those audiences the way he should but we wait and see.

Now here is where I will not only start to wrap things up but also compare this trailer to the leaked trailer from Comic Con earlier this year and by and large they have a similar feel but the cosmic side of the story was featured more heavily and some of the glimpses we see in this trailer are extended out more but the combination of those and this official trailer give us a look at a film that will have plenty of the Marvel humour but also feel like a large spectacle with great character work and a memorable villain and that’s all you really want a film like this isn’t it.

Isn’t it?

So that was my take on the Avengers Infinity War trailer and it’s a great trailer and I cannot wait to see the movie next April.

New Radio Ep

Well folks here is my final review show for the year where I reviewed:

- Geostorm
- Murder on the Orient Express
- Thor Ragnarok

As always you can listen here: https://soundcloud.com/abclocalradio_sa/simon-nov-17-final

Film Review - Suburbicon (2017)

Suburbicon is co-written and directed by George Clooney and concerns Matt Damon as an office worker whose home is broken into and his wife (Julianne Moore) is killed but meanwhile a black family moves into their neighbourhood and chaos ensues.

This movie is frankly awful and not unlike the Snowman from last month I cannot believe that this many highly talented people are involved in a gigantic mess of a film which is that way for these reasons:

- Firstly it is now crystal clear that Clooney hasn’t a fucking clue how to properly execute a script on film and it isn’t just with this movie it was also with the Monuments Men from 2014 the story here feels all over the place and Clooney just cannot make all of these elements come together in a harmonious fashion.

But a movie he produced did that beautifully and that was Argo a script by Chris Terrio that easily could have been a mess but Ben Affleck made sing like a hummingbird and it won Best Picture and whenever I watch that movie I think “How the Fuck did he pull this off” and I can’t help but think that Clooney felt “Pfft Show Off I’ll show him that I can do it too” and well twice now he has shown that he cannot do it at all which means this soufflé should be thrown out in the trash.

- Secondly the script by Clooney, Grant Heslov and the Coen Brothers (to be fair they themselves have been hit and miss for me) is a real mess I mean here you have a fascinating story of the first black family moving into a prominently white suburb and it’s the Fucking side act of a really boring story about the mob being owed money and insurance fraud and riots and none of it did anything for me at all as the humour wasn’t funny and the racial stuff is not given the story thrust it should have gotten as it could have been an interesting reflection on contemporary times but it’s just thrown in there.

- And lastly the performances here are dreadful, Damon is incredibly flat and during the home invasion I wanted him to just take the glasses off, turn into Jason Bourne and beat the shit out of them, Moore is really cartoonish here as both the wife and the Sister in Law and it feels worse here than her turn in Kingsman 2 as at least that film was a more cartoonish movie here it really feels out of place given the seriousness of the film itself.

But the biggest waste is of Oscar Isaac as he is barely in this film (really only 2 scenes) and when he is in the film you think “Even he can’t save this movie” and when that happens you are in deep deep trouble as this man can lift pretty much every movie he’s in up another notch he’s that good of an actor but yeah this is a rare exception to that role and I really liked him as Apocalypse last year and that’s saying something.

But that was Suburbicon and it is awful on almost every key level, the direction, script and performances are all over the place and have no unifying tone to them and I don’t want to recommend it to anyone, 1 out of 5.

Film Review - Justice League (2017)

Justice League is the newest entry of the DC Cinematic Universe and concerns Batman (Ben Affleck) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) having to pull together an alliance of warriors consisting of The Flash (Ezra Miller), Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) as Bruce fears that the end of the world is near following the death of Superman (Henry Cavill) but the world can’t be saved alone and with no Lanterns and no Kryptonians this world will fall, like all the others.

I was very excited to see this movie mainly because not only did I love Wonder Woman from earlier this year but the previews for this film got better and better showing not only the promise of a good villain steeped in the DC lore (Superman the Animated Series deals with this well if you want to find somewhere to catch up) but also the combination of director Zack Snyder’s visuals with Joss Whedon’s script writing flare what could possibly go wrong?

Well actually not much as I loved and I mean Loved this movie for these reasons:

- First off I want to start off with Ciaran Hinds as Steppenwolf I had read some criticism of him as a villain before seeing this movie but I enjoyed him in this movie mainly because he felt like someone that could tear through worlds much like Apokolips and the slaves of Darkseid and seeing him take on the Amazons from Wonder Woman was a real thrill and then to see him mock Diana because of it was just as thrilling as was his battles with the overall league.

- Secondly if you know your DC lore as I do having watched the animated Superman series as well as the first two seasons of the animated Justice League show I visibly gleed in my seat and had my mouth wide open at what I was seeing here not just the references to Apokolips and the New Gods but also Boom Tubes, Mother Boxes and Para Demons who serve a better purpose than the Chi-Tauri did in the first Avengers film and they tie into the main storyline very well I thought.

- And lastly I want to talk about the League overall and the films action sequences the League is very well realised with all the members getting good amounts of screen time and action beats and all of the members particularly the Flash are well developed Miller is a lot of fun as the Flash and he brings a real quirky energy to the role Momoa and Fisher are fine and Gadot and Affleck serve well as the 2 anchors of the team in terms of the leadership.

The action scenes here are terrific with a lot of high energy editing, huge battles and great dialogue throughout the fights in the past and with Steppenwolf in the present in particular were quite good and had me smiling in a big way.

However this film has one major problem and that is it doesn’t do enough to really setup the history that’s being portrayed in the movie in terms of Steppenwolf and the Mother Boxes and how it all ties to the various locations of the Universe there’s a little bit of it but those sequences really needed to be fleshed out more I wonder if Whedon and Snyder had a cut that was 140-150 minutes that did all that but then when Warner Brothers decreed that it must be 2 hours as has been reported recently all of that had to be cut back but there’s always Warner Home Video to do a longer version right.

And lastly the 3D is terrible I saw it in 2D and 3D and the 3D adds nothing its dark and murky and it looked really bad, the 2D however looked picture perfect.

And so that was Justice League and as someone who loves the DC world and the Animated Universe this was a real treat and while this phase of DC experimentation is over the trinity of Whedon, Snyder and Patty Jenkins is a strong one that this franchise needs to keep together going forward as what lies ahead is going to be very exciting, 4 out of 5.

Film Review - Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

Murder on the Orient Express is based off of the novel by Agatha Christie and is directed by and stars Sir Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot who boards the Orient Express train in the hopes of returning to London for a well deserved break but a passenger is later murdered and its up to Poirot to solve the case.

This isn’t one of the best films I’ve seen this year but I did enjoy myself quite a bit with this movie and a lot of that comes down firstly to Sir Ken for not only does he direct the film well with lots of interesting angles including his infamous dutch tilts but also by maintaining a tight pace to proceedings and also by making sure the story and the mystery never stray too far away from the train and thus rob the story of its momentum or tension as Poirot solves the case.

And also Branagh himself does well as Inspector Poirot and look the moustache is silly I know but it is what it is okay so I’m going to move on and leave it there as what it far more important is how Branagh goes as Poirot and as I mentioned above he handles himself very well in the part and watching him here made me go “I wouldn’t mind seeing a few films of him as this character” and some of his reveals in both the role and in directing the film are also good for a laugh.

But secondly the films overall cast consisting of Michelle Pfeiffer, Daisy Ridley, Derek Jacobi, Josh Gad, Johnny Depp, Willem Dafoe, Dame Judi Dench and Olivia Coleman among others are also pretty good and it was sure nice to see Ms Pfeiffer in a good role again plus Depp not come across as a slobbish drunken buffoon pissing his great legacy against his wall after a bender the night before and part of me also did swoon a little whenever Ms Daisy came on screen.

Though thanks to Red Dwarf I knew the outcome of the case the Murder on the Orient Express is a well made and engaging murder mystery and is worth seeing, 3 out of 5.

Film Review - The Snowman (2017)

The Snowman is based off of the novel by Jo Nesbo and stars Michael Fassbender as Harry Hole a detective who finds himself investigating a series of missing persons case where the clue is a snowman planted at the scene but he finds himself with some help in the form of Rebecca Ferguson and managing his ex-partner played by Charlotte Gainsbourg.

This movie is absolutely pathetic and I really felt when it was over that my time was wasted the whole 2 hours I mean you have:

- Tomas Alfredson the director of Tinker Tailor Sailor Spy and Let the Right One In
- Houssen Amini the screenwriter of Drive
- Martin Scorsese as Executive Producer
- Thelma Schoonmaker one of the top editors in the world editing this movie

And finally a great cast of Fassbender, Ferguson, Gainsbourg, JK Simmons, Val Kilmer and Toby Jones and yet not one of these people the production team in particular and especially Universal Pictures see with their own eyes that this was a disastrous mess that has no real story to it whatsoever.

And not only that but its editing is so very poor and a lot of times it falls back on the “Voice over exterior scenes” that often becomes a quick fix in the editing room and the overall editing here doesn’t give you a sense of a story or a mystery unfolding or even being told in a competent way and as a result it feels like very little is happening on screen.

The film does have some nice winter landscape shots but big fucking deal when the filmmaking here is so piss bloody poor it takes a great cast and flushes them through a toilet and this is a great cast but no one really gets a chance to shine and poor Val Kilmer sounds like his voice has been dubbed now he himself is said to not be in good health but sometimes his vocals don’t match the lip movements on Kilmer’s voice so he had to have been dubbed in the editing process.

Now there was indeed a potentially interesting murder story here to be told but when as Mr Alfredson is said to have stated that 10 to 15 percent of the script was not even filmed then that creates clear problems in terms of telling a coherent story that has a beginning, middle and end still it is just staggering how poorly this film comes together.

The Snowman is a pathetic mess and the very worst film I’ve seen this year I cannot believe so many high quality people some of the best of both past and present eras of filmmaking put out such a horrible incompetent mess of a movie I still feel angry about this, 0 out of 5.

Film Review - Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Thor: Ragnarok is the 17th Marvel Studios production and is directed by Taika Watiti who also made last year’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople the story here sees Thor (Chris Hemsworth) trying to prevent Ragnarok the end of everything but when a coup by the Goddess of Death Hela (Cate Blanchett) sees him and Loki (Tom Hiddelston) exiled from Asgard and stuck on planet Siccar they have to find a way home to stop Hela and also pick up an old friend.

Thor: Ragnarok is a lot of fun for two key reasons:

- First Watiti’s signature droll humour is on full display here and there are many times where I laughed a lot 2 references in particular had me laughing properly out loud in the cinema and much like the Wilderpeople there are a lot of jokes thrown at the screen but its done in a way that doesn’t make them feel overcooked they’re layered jokes that work on multiple levels and they work in a way that treats the audience with intelligence.

- And secondly a lot of the performances are quite good Hemsworth finally gets to show what a funny and charismatic lead he can be in the right hands and its definitely his best work in this series so far he’s been good in other films like Rush with Ron Howard but here his charisma and great sense of comic timing really shine here, Mark Ruffalo returns as the Hulk and he too is pretty good while Tessa Thompson does what she can with Valkyrie but doesn’t get a lot of screen time to shine, Tom Hiddleston meanwhile continues to be a bright light for this universe and it only cements my proof that he should be playing Prince Vegeta in a Dragon Ball Z film.

But alas there are two big issues with this movie:

- Firstly the film is far too long its 130 minutes and it could’ve easily lost 20 to 25 minutes off that length the Wilderpeople by contrast was only about 101 minutes and that film felt a lot punchier in terms of the impact of its humour and also the overall impact of the film itself whereas here the long runtime drags down the impact of its jokes and it makes the more heavier scenes feel out of place and this movie has that feel of the original Ghostbusters from 1984 in terms of balancing the seriousness with the comedy but that film was also only 105 minutes long and if Ragnarok had been around that runtime it would’ve worked much better as a film.

- Secondly and y’all know where this is going and it’s the same old song with the Marvel Studios villains and Blanchett is good in the film but she has very little screen time and a lot of her scenes feel disconnected from the main storyline as they have a much more serious feel to them and at times it takes away from the fun action sci-fi comedy tone the film strives for the most.

But again if the film had only been at that 105 to 110 minute length this might not have been such a problem but it is and it has also made me feel even more impatient for Thanos to show up in Avengers Infinity War next year and really emerge as the Mad Titan as Marvel Studios is in desperate need to make its villain work especially that one.

And so that was Thor: Ragnarok a really fun film even with that long length, 3 out of 5.

Film Review - Geostorm (2017)

Geostorm is directed by Dean Devlin who worked with Roland Emmerich on Independence Day and Stargate among other films and tells the tale of an Earth ravaged by extreme weather so the worlds scientists devise a satellite system called Dutch Boy to contain them but when the head of the project named Jake Lawson (Gerard Butler) is fired from it 3 years later Dutch Boy begins to fail so Jake is recalled to action to get it working again.

Geostorm is a fun disaster film that really works because of two things:

- First is its disaster visual effects almost all of which are pretty cool with giant waves, tornadoes, lightning storms that look like mighty Thor is dropping for a visit, high winds, heavy hailstones all of which cause mass destruction across the world and had me going “This is so cool ha haha” and also making me think of Apocalypse from the X-Men and his quotes like “From the Ashes of their World we’ll build a better one” and “You can fire your arrows from the Tower of Babel but you can NEVER STRIKE GOOOOODDD” and “Nothing can stop the Apocalypse.”

- Secondly the cast know what their in for and have fun for the most part Butler does his usual thing of being the macho hero who helps save the day, Abbie Cornish has a good role as a secret service agent and Andy Garcia and Ed Harris are fun as well as US Presidential people who might hold the key to the project.

Alas however the films story is sadly pretty forgettable concerning government espionage, a conspiracy of power and what ends up becoming just another techno thriller where take phone calls and then are dead the next day to cover the tracks and other stuff has to be done to crack the code and save the day and after a while I got a bit bored of it.

And I couldn’t help but think that if Emmerich had directed this film instead of wasting his and our time on an utterly pointless and boring Independence Day sequel this could have been a fun companion to his underrated Day After Tomorrow but alas we got what we got.

And so that was Geostorm a fun if forgettable disaster film, 2 out of 5.

New Radio Ep

Well here is my new Radio ep where I reviewed:

- Blade Runner 2049
- Happy Death Day
- The Mountain Between Us

As always you can listen here: https://soundcloud.com/abclocalradio_sa/friday-flicks-oct-20-final

Film Review - The Mountain Between Us (2017)

The Mountain Between Us stars Idris Elba as Ben and Kate Winslet as Alex two complete strangers with a flight to catch desperately so they charter a flight which later ends up crashing in the mountains and with only weeks to survive the 2 must quickly find a way to get back to civilisation.

The Mountain Between Us is both a survival disaster film but also a melodrama love story and unfortunately the latter ends up undermining the former though the mountain scenery and the chemistry between Elba and Winslet is good and both of them do the best that they can.

But the script here just gets ridiculous at times especially with its love story sideplot and so much this was the case that I’ve been nicknaming the film differently as it gets too silly for my liking at one point towards the end of the film and it made me go “What, Nah nah I’m sorry but I am not buying this at all” and it was after that point that I really lost my patience with this movie and though “I love these actors both are very charismatic and likeable but this is terrible.”

Up until that certain scene I was prepared to let this movie slide into the “It’s fine but utterly forgettable” to “This is terrible” and yeah I cannot recommend this movie because of that, 1.5 out of 5.

Film Review - Happy Death Day (2017)

Happy Death Day is produced by Jason Blum who also produced Split and Get Out earlier this year and concerns Teresa (Jessica Rothe) nicknamed Tree here she is a College student who wakes up on her birthday after a big party the night before and then not only finds herself murdered by a man wearing a baby mask that is the mascot of their College but she wakes up to find herself reliving that very day over again now the game’s afoot to find out who is responsible for her death.

Happy Death Day at first made me think of the Red Dwarf episode “Thanks for the Memory” as that episode took place on Rimmer’s Death Day and concerned a whodunit though one that is very different but also like that episode is a heap of fun and I found myself being very surprised at how much fun I had with this film and a lot of that is due to 2 things:

- The first is the great concept this film uses to make as its horror basis and Split from earlier this year also produced by Mr. Blum had a similar feeling in terms of being both a fun horror film as well as something else and this kind of horror is the type I prefer as opposed to the Conjuring type of horror with its endless jump scares, quick cuts and loud noises.

- The second is the way the storytelling unfolds Rothe makes for a very likeable and charming lead and watching her put the clues together and figure everything out even to the point of using the time of her death to her advantage is very good and as a result you become more invested in her as a character and the final reveal was not one that I saw coming and like a great twist reveal should do you end up going “Ah I see well done” though that can be very difficult to pull off especially in heist films so to see it done well here was very good indeed and made me that much more happier with the film when it ended.

And so that was Happy Death Day and I didn’t have a triple fried egg sandwich with chilli sauce and chutney before watching it but I did have a great time watching it, 3 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Blade Runner 2049 is directed by Denis Villenuve and Ridley Scott who directed the first film serves as executive producer here the story features K (Ryan Gosling) a new Blade Runner detective in 2049 who is assigned to track down a new replicant who may have gone off the grid this leads him to both Niander Wallace (Jared Leto) and Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) from the first film and just like that movie K will soon see things these people wouldn’t believe.

I hold Blade Runner from 1982 as one of my top 10 movies of all time for creating both an incredibly imaginative visual world one of the best in movies as well as great modern detective story with Deckard and one of the best villains in all of cinema in Rutger Hauer’s Roy Batty whose search for life was equally compelling but in a world where 9 out of 10 sequels miss the mark could this one be the exception or be another one in a long line of failures.

Well it’s a bit of both as I am very mixed on this movie overall firstly I will start with the craftsmanship here consisting of Denis’s direction, Roger Deakins cinematography, Dennis Gassner’s production design and the visual effects work it is impeccably crafted and seeing it perfectly projected on a big cinema screen not once do you think the visuals are boring because there is such love and care and precision in every detail and every image on that basis alone this movie is worth the cinema ticket.

And also some of the performances here are quite good Gosling is fine even if he does a lot of staring in the film, Ford does the usual thing he’s been doing for a long while now which is play the grumpy old man, Robin Wright was quite good as the LAPD boss even if she has little screen time but Sylvia Hoeks was the standout for me as the right hand to Wallace with some fierce killing skills of her own.

However the central mystery at the heart of this film I found to be really weak and at times I went “What the Fuck” to myself in some scenes towards the end of the film now I won’t say too much more as I have no desire to give a lot away but I went to myself “Oh it’s that” in the early scenes and kept waiting for the film to catch up to that point and as great as the craftsmanship was I got a little bored after a while before Deckard’s arrival into the story helped to pick things up and pull them into focus.

And lastly Leto’s Wallace is just not that great a villain and Roy from the first film had a compelling narrative of his own in his search for more life which combined with Deckard’s detective investigation really helped to make that film more than just a great visual feast as their clash in the climax of Blade Runner 1 was all the more riveting because you were invested in both of their journey’s here Leto walks around stares up at the ceiling and he acts more like Dr Herbert West from Re Animator it really feels like at times that Leto is imitating Jeffery Combs from that film.

And also what Roy did was the give that first film it’s heart and it’s soul and when I think about this movie and how poor a villain Leto is again it leaves a very large hole that is very difficult to fill and as greatly crafted as 2049 is for me not having a dynamic villain or compelling mystery makes me feel very mixed on this movie.

And so that was Blade Runner 2049 a very mixed bag of a sequel with great craftsmanship but not having a great mystery or a dynamic villain, 2 and a half out of 5.

New Radio Ep

On this episode I reviewed:

- Kingsman the Golden Circle
- IT
- Captain Underpants
- Lego Ninjago

As always you can listen here: https://soundcloud.com/abclocalradio_sa/friday-flicks-sep-29-final

Film Review - Lego Ninjago the Movie (2017)

Lego Ninjago is the third film in the Lego series and this time concerns the Ninja Force a team of high school kids who pilot giant Mechs and protect their home city Ninjago from an evil warlord named Garmadon but when he destroys their mechs in an attack the Ninjas must travel through a secret forest to uncover the true secret of their power and stop Garmadon once and for all.

Lego Ninjago is sadly a big disappointment of a film and it’s a real shame as I really liked both the Lego Movie from 2014 and this years Lego Batman movie and like those films this one has some nice Lego visuals that do make you go “Wow this looks really neat” and also makes you wonder how all of it was built plus there was a cute Kitty Cat in the film.

But unlike Lego Movie and Lego Batman this movie does not have either an interesting story or interesting characters and after a while I started to get really bored and checked my watch more than once as it all feels very predictable with the father and son reconnecting, the team learning to work together, the big revelation where everything comes into focus which sometimes can work but most times just feels like an attempt to wrap up the plot in a quick manner and the whole learning to love your true parentage which again can work but sometimes like here can feel very patronising.

And so that was my review of Lego Ninjago and it’s a real letdown from the 2 previous Lego films and I would watch those instead, 1 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Captain Underpants (2017)

Captain Underpants is based off of a series of books and tells the tale of 2 young school boys George and Harold who create their own comic strip called Captain Underpants a loveable but dim witted superhero but when their school principal Mr Krupp threatens to put them in separate classes one of them hypnotises the principal into becoming Captain Underpants.

I don’t really have a lot to say about this film other than I laughed a lot pretty much throughout the whole film and many times out loud the film has a very brisk pace and sharp writing that feels like its piling on gag after gag after gag much like Airplane, The Naked Gun or Hot Shots would do and like those films I really laughed a lot.

Not to mention this movie actually has a really fun villain in Professor P (to reveal his full name would spoil the surprise) and his plan was pretty damn good and unlike so many supervillains in the Marvel Studios and DC film universes he wasn’t boring or forgettable he had a plan and he was great fun to watch while doing so.

And so that was Captain Underpants a film that made me laugh a lot and had a great villain which is more than most big budget superhero movies nowadays accomplish, 3 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)

Kingsman the Golden Circle continues on from where 2015’s Kingsman the Secret Service left off and also sees Matthew Vaughn return to direct the story here sees Eggsy (Taron Egerton) settling into his life as a Kingsman agent but when their headquarters is destroyed in a missile attack by the reclusive super villain Poppy (Julianne Moore) he and Merlin (Mark Strong) make their way to the Statesman in the US where friends and foes old and new await.

I was very much looking forward to this movie as I adore the first Kingsman it was dark, comic, violent, stylish and right up my alley in terms of what I like to see in entertainment films plus it had great suits something that I thought of when I went to the Gold Cup in Mt Gambier earlier this year plus the preview with Frank Sinatra’s My Way did a lot to get me excited for number 2.

However in that intervening time we got Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 and John Wick Chapter 2 and both for me were decent enough, entertaining enough but also nowhere near as good as their predeceasing films and in all honesty going into Kingsman 2 I was expecting the same thing.

Happily very happily I was wrong as this was a really fun sequel even if it is not as good a film as the first Kingsman was and first off I want to start with Vaughn’s direction here having proved himself with number 1 it feels like the training wheels are off and its time to go speeding down the highway at full bore and he does that bouncing from characters to action to locations to storylines as if he was infected with the crazy gene from the first film and at times it is dizzying to watch but I was never bored despite the lengthy 141 minute running time.

Secondly the performances here are all very good Egerton continues to prove what a great young actor he is and he is very charming and likeable here Colin Firth makes a welcome return here even if his side plot ran on a scene or 2 too long Strong is also quite good here and the Statesman actors Pedro Pascal, Channing Tatum, Halle Berry and Jeff Bridges who actually talks normally again are also great fun.

But the 2 best performances have to be Moore and Sir Elton John who plays himself and is just a delight to see taking the complete mickey out of himself and Moore despite her charming persona plays a ruthless villain well once more having done President Alma Coin in the Mockingjay movies and like Jackson in the first film has a nasty streak to here as well.

And finally in the positives the film has some great high energy action including a true pre credits sequence set to “Let’s Go Crazy” from Purple Rain that also helps to set the frantic tone for the rest of the movie and a gadget laden 3rd act climax with dogs looking like Ravage from Transformers is also great fun.

However as much fun as this movie is it sadly lacks the bite the first film and that comes down to the plan Samuel L Jackson’s character had in mind it gave the film a much more weighty feel whereas this sequel goes for a much more cartoonish and comedic tone not like the James Bond film Moonraker which was a very comedic and large scale film that has divided audiences and like this film you go with that or you don’t.

And so that was my thoughts on Kingsman the Golden Circle a great fun sequel even if it lacks the first films bite, 4 out of 5.

Film Review - IT (2017)

IT is based off of the novel by Stephen King and concerns the tale of 7 kids known as the Losers as each don’t have a lot of friends (the kids are played by Jaeden Lieberher, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Wyatt Oleff, Chosen Jacobs and Jack Dylan Grazer) but they have each other and all of them see visions of a terrifying clown named Pennywise (Bill Skarsgard) who likes to pray on their worst fears in life.

IT is an okay horror film that is mainly lifted up due to the strength of its young cast all of whom are terrific both as individual young actors and as an ensemble group they hold your attention, have good chemistry and you come to root for them and want them to succeed plus the film had a couple of nice references to the 1988/89 setting that made me smile and their side of the story these young kids who are bullied and become this close knit group was a very interesting story.

Sadly the horror aspects of the film feel very very over produced and all the hallmarks are on show:

- The jump scares
- The loud soundtrack that goes DA DUM!
- The crew splits up and then starts to get picked off
- The dark corridors where the crew gets lost
- Someone tries to disrupt the crew’s plan

And so on and so on and after a while it really started to bother me and I begun to check my watch just waiting for all the jump scares and loud noises and quick cuts of monstrous Pennywise to end and all of it as I mentioned just felt so over the top that it did not feel all that scary and sometimes for me at least all you need is a good actor being let off the leash to be scary.

And we have had that example this year in James McAvoy in Split who was both scary and fun and without the need for quick cuts, jump scares and loud noises on the soundtrack M Night Shymalan simply put his trust in him and you only had to look at what he could do soon he shall show the world how powerful the Horde can be.

I’ve gone off track so I will wrap up this review here in short the kids are great but the horror stuff feels over produced, 2 out of 5.

New Radio Ep

Alright folks here is my new Radio episode where I review:

- Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
- Logan Lucky
- The Dark Tower

As always you can listen here: https://soundcloud.com/abclocalradio_sa/friday-flicks-final-aug-25

Film Review - The Dark Tower (2017)

The Dark Tower is based off of the series of novels by Stephen King and stars Idris Elba as the Gunslinger the last of his kind and Matthew McConaughey as the Man in Black determined to destroy the Dark Tower that binds the universe together but a young boy named Jake may hold the key to save the Tower from destruction.

Part of me was not looking forward to this movie mainly because of the very poor track record of King adaptations on film and to be honest the only really good one that comes to mind for me is Misery from 1990 by Rob Reiner so this one did not have a high tower to climb so to speak to deliver the goods.

And by that standard it delivers but it’s also a very bland and predictable film that’s only really elevated by Elba and McConaughey as the 2 main characters both bring a lot of charisma, charm and determination to their roles and when their on screen they do enough to hold your attention.

But when they’re not on screen the film feels very predictable in terms of its storytelling in that you think to yourself “That’s gonna happen, that’s gonna happen, that’s gonna happen” and it does and the film has a very bland look that feels contrary to the striking horror esque imagery King’s writing tends to put in your mind and one wonders or at least I did if this movie might have benefited from an MA type of tone that would properly do justice to King’s writing.

And so that was the Dark Tower and again its fine but forgettable and given the poor track record of King adaptations that’s more than enough, 2 out of 5.

Film Review - Logan Lucky (2017)

Logan Lucky is directed by Steven Soderbergh and stars Channing Tatum and Adam Driver as a pair of brothers Driver’s character only has one arm while Tatum’s is laid off due to insurance liability so he decides to rob the Charlotte Motor Speedway but to do that he will need the help of Joe Bang (Daniel Craig) who is currently incar-cer-rated.

Logan Lucky is a good dose of silly fun that is mainly elevated by its performances, Tatum and Driver are a good pair and they commit fully to their roles even if Tatum himself can be a bit dull at times, Craig is really fun as the ex-con with the southern accent as are Katie Holmes (a surprise I know), Riley Keough and Hilary Swank and boy was it nice to see her again in a movie it has been far too long.

Unfortunately this movie suffers from a common ailment of heist flicks which is a tendency to over complicate the heist to the point where it’s all supposed to come together you still find yourself getting a little lost as to how it all came together and with a good heist film when you get to the reveal you want to go “Oh so that’s how it all happened very good” whereas here it doesn’t quite do that and as a result when it all ended I found myself feeling a little cold about the film.

Now don’t get me wrong Logan Lucky is good clean fun with southern accents but its also a bit forgettable so I’d wait for a matinee session before seeing it, 2 out of 5.

New Radio Ep

Here is my new Radio episode where I reviewed:

- Baby Driver
- Dunkirk
- War for the Planet of the Apes

If I sound a little sniffy its because I was getting over a cold when I recorded it.

As always you can listen here: https://soundcloud.com/abclocalradio_sa/friday-flicks-aug-3

Film Review - Valerian (2017)

Valerian is directed by Luc Besson who also made the 5th Element and the Professional and is based off of a French comic book and tells the tale of Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and his partner Laureline (Cara Delevingne) who are asked to investigate the capture of a top commander (Clive Owen) who may be hiding much more than they know.

I had a lot of fun watching this movie and there is no denying whatsoever how crazily ambitious Besson is as his direction has a real focus and energy that is reminiscent of his Sci-Fi classic the fifth element as the look of the two films are very similar but here it feels like he has the time, the money and the resources he never had on that film and it is a gorgeous film to look at from the sets, the colours, the various alien species, the worlds both planetary and the world of the Alpha space station itself which is like Deep Space Nine crossed with a high rise tower and I was never bored looking at it.

Seriously the visual effects work here is fantastic and it shows just how to spend 200 million dollars on a Sci-Fi spectacle and much like Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk it demands to be seen on the big screen but as much as Besson shoots for the stars in a major way there are 2 big faults that keep him from succeeding in his quest.

Firstly DeHaan is horribly miscast as Agent Valerian now I like him quite a bit as a young actor and he has done good work in films like the Place Beyond the Pines but here as a leading man he falls very short as his slightly gravely voice sounds horrible at times and he has very little chemistry with Delevingne as the romantic scenes between the two I found a little hard to believe at times.

And secondly Bessons script feels very clunky at times and though the film clips along at a nice pace some of the dialogue here is horrendous and falls very flat and it’s a real shame because his world building and his work overall on this movie succeeds for the most part perhaps much like Ridley Scott or Tim Burton he should have hired a strong right hand as his main screenwriter to make sure the storytelling matched the great visuals on show here.

And so that was Valerian a Sci-Fi spectacle I thought was fun and is well worth seeing on a proper big screen, 3 out of 5.

For Love of the Dragon

This column has been stewing in my head for a long while but now I feel confident in wanting to put it down into something written and coherent as much as possible.

And that is my love of a Japanese Manga/Anime called Dragon Ball and its sister series Dragon Ball Z.

My love of this show started way back in January 2000 which is also when it first premiered here in Australia first on Cartoon Network and then on Channel 10's Cheez TV block which used to play 3 cartoon shows at a time from 7am to 8.30am before finishing for the day and before it started on CN an Austar/Foxtel channel I saw little ads for it before it started and decided to give it a look the morning it premiered (January 4th 2000 was when it first began.)

I watched the first batch of episodes and then Goku the main character of the show dies and it was only 4 episodes into the series run needless to say I was taken aback but in a good way as later that night I became inspired to find out what happened next as by this point those episodes had long since aired in the United States so knowing the rest of the storyline was not easy to find through an Internet search.

Needless to say I was inspired to keep on watching but I feel I really got hooked on it when the Z Fighters fought Nappa later that season and that sealed it from then on out as here was the brave six staring down him, Vegeta and their Saibamen soldiers and within one three episode block half of them are dead and though they walked around that in the dialogue by saying they went to the next dimension I could easily read between the lines.

And this cartoon series really came along at the right time as I turned 14 the year it premiered here and almost all Western cartoons that I watched never and I mean never touched the subject of death in any meaningful way some cartoons like Reboot from Canada did go in a darker direction but even then no one meaningful really died they were sent off for sure but they were later rescued but here three of our main heroes die in one battle and in 2 of those situations for nothing and then the one person that can help bring them all back to life dies as well in self sacrifice pretty heavy stuff for a fun cartoon show.

But there are 3 other reasons I love this show firstly the roster of heroes here is very well developed and not just Goku but also his son Gohan, Krillin, Piccolo, Yamcha, Tien and Chiaotzu. Yamcha and Tien in particular really struck me from the moment I saw them as Yamcha had long hair and scars on his face and Tien was bald with 3 eyes and instantly I wanted to know them more but sadly they ended up doing very little afterwards and Krillin became the main human fighter to get the majority of the screen time and back then he kinda bothered me a fair bit I tended to find him annoying at times.

The second is the brilliant roster of villains especially in the first 3 seasons of the show which are known as the Vegeta and Frieza sagas (even back then it was 3 seasons on TV it didn't come about with the revising season rosters of the box sets) the first time I heard Brian Drummond as Vegeta I thought he was awesome and I really loved watching that character as well as Goku really learn about their true heritage as peoples of the Saiyan race and how Frieza ties into that.

And lastly that storyline of Frieza and the Saiyan Race which he ruled over with an iron fist and later became so scared of he wiped them from existence was not only exciting to watch action wise but also looking back very thematically interesting as not only the Saiyans were affected but also the Namekians a peaceful race brutally murdered for the mere trinkets they owned affected not just Goku and Vegeta but also Piccolo and still today us as fans are still living with the aftermath of that arcs popularity.

But there is also a more personal side to this that I want to write about as well and that is my love of this series very nearly inspired me to learn Martial Arts in real life but given I was in my early teens at that time I didn't really put the dots together back then as I look back now and perhaps feel that if I had the kind of thinking that would put those together perhaps I might of but hindsight is such a lovely thing isn't it.

However in the early to mid 2000s I started to lose interest in a big degree in the series as the Cell saga had put a pretty definitive end to the storyline and it became clear the Friday after that final episode had played on TV that perhaps the show was not coming back and back then it was really disappointing as it was my favourite show to watch even though others like Nickelodeons Rocket Power was more popular with some of my peers even though I didn't understand that all that well at the time I do now and slowly but surely I moved on.

But then cut to 2015 and Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F I learned was coming to my cinema now I had heard about it and the previous film Battle of Gods but BOG got a very limited release here in Aus back then and I didn't really have much desire to see it even when it came out on disc but hearing that Resurrection F was coming to my main cinema I had to go as I used to dream of a DBZ film and what that would be like and now here it was and not like the turgid live action film from 2009 which was one of the worst films I've ever seen.

This time it was animated, Akira Toriyama himself was intimately involved with it as well as the Japanese company Toei and it had the proper voice cast not a bunch of stars pretending to be those characters and that night seeing it on the big screen was amazing a packed crowd, big screen and big sound it was something else and it became one of my top 3 films of that year.

But this year 2017 has been when my love of the series has really come back in a big way for three key reasons:

- Firstly I really got to learn more about Akira Toriyama himself the kind of person/writer/creator he was as well as how he plotted out the original manga and how that differs somewhat from the TV series not to mention the rocky relationship he had at times with his Manga editors and it was rather fascinating learning at least for me.

- Secondly to finally be able to watch the original Dragon Ball series from start to finish and this plays into the very different world that was when the series was first on TV as a group of episodes would play and then it would end and maybe never come back and for a serialised show like this one it was terrible but through the DVD compilation sets I was able to see it all from beginning to end and fully uncut plus the option to watch the original Japanese episodes if I so wish.

- And thirdly the opportunity to revisit the first 3 seasons of DBZ fully uncut and without the heavy editing that was done to fit US Broadcast Standards was a real delight and also to do so having watched the original Dragon Ball beforehand and seen the characters really come into their own and in the space of the first 5 episodes watch everything fans thought they knew fundamentally change and some of the character deaths have much more impact and it has made the revisit feel both old and new at the same time not to mention watching it with the proper Japanese music score.

All that being said I have to say that DBZ sadly became another example of a series that just went on for too long and that started with the final battle between Freeza and Goku as a Super Saiyan it just went on and on and on to the point where I gave up watching it it was so long and it only got worse with the Cell and Majin Buu arcs but alas the fans and powers that be in Japan wanted more and well we got what we got even though Freeza would’ve been the ideal end for the series.

At the same time though and here is where I’ll wrap things up the 2 films plus the currently running Universe Survival arc where fighters from the 8 different universes deemed unworthy duke it out for survival have been terrific and shown the series back at its best since the Freeza arc from the late 80s and early 90s though it is a shame I will say that that Tournament isn’t a 2 hour film and the third film in a trilogy with BOG and RF had that happened It would’ve been my runaway favourite film of 2017 so far and been hard to dislodge from top spot at year’s end though these also prove to me that I don’t mind a franchise running this long if the quality is good.

And so that was my love of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z in a column I wanted to get it off my chest and write about it because it's a series I love and has inspired me personally to some degree I hope people enjoyed reading it.

Film Review - The Big Sick (2017)

The Big Sick is co-written by and stars Kumail Nanjiani a Pakistani man who falls in love with a white woman named Emily (Zoe Kazan) but their cultural differences see the 2 separate and Emily then falls into a coma which makes Kumail realise that he has made a mistake and has to make it right.

I was pretty mixed on this movie in all honesty but before I delve into that I want to talk about what I did like and firstly the performances here weren’t all that bad I do like Mr Kumail as a romantic lead and he has a certain charm to him that makes him endearing to you watching him, Kazan is pretty good here as well and both Ray Romano and Holly Hunter are very good here as Emily’s parents.

I also really liked how this movie explored how a cross cultural/inter racial relationship might look like and how the differences are inherent especially for someone who immigrates to a Western country like the United States and has grown up in that country and with its values for so long that that’s how they see themselves as compared to their more traditional minded parents who still want to cling to the old ways despite their new home and how a relationship with a white woman can be complicated at times.

Unfortunately as great as that is the film tries too hard to go for laughs and I didn’t really find it to be all that funny and the more I’ve thought about this movie the more I wish it had a more serious tone to it instead of trying to be a nice and sweet rom com for some relationships at least to me of which this is one of should be treated more seriously as they do have serious repercussions and seeing these really awkward laughs in the film kinda pulled me out of it and it’s a shame as its subject matter was really interesting.

And so that was the Big Sick which had an interesting look at a cross cultural relationship but I wish it hadn’t felt like a twee rom com and been more serious minded, 2 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Atomic Blonde (2017)

Atomic Blonde is set in November 1989 one week before the Berlin Wall fell down and a MI6 operative named Lorraine (Charlize Theron) is sent behind the Iron Curtain to track down a list that contains every double agent and her contact is David Percival (James McAvoy) but life in Berlin in the 80s is a murky place where information, secrets and loyalties can be bought at a price and survival is key.

I was really looking forward to this movie mainly because it looked like for me a throwback to the 80s eurotrash action thrillers we got a lot of back then and it had both Theron and McAvoy who in particular was coming off his huge success in Split but could the film deliver the goods?

Absolutely it did as I absolutely loved every moment of this movie and first off I have to start with the action sequences which are fantastic to watch as much like John Wick which was co directed by David Leitch who also made this movie you just feel every punch, hit, kick and use of weapons both gun fire and hand held and they have this very real and non choreographed feel to them and when put to some great 80s songs they really come to life.

And that is where I will go next and that is the soundtrack hearing all of these great 80s pop hits really brought the film to life and enhanced the murky world in which all of these characters live 2 real standout soundtrack choices were Cities in Dust by Siouxsie and the Banshees and I Ran So Far Away by a Flock of Seagulls.

But next I have to talk about the cast and first Theron is just fantastic here effortlessly carrying the film on her shoulders (this was very much a passion project for her as she also produced this film) and really throwing herself into the many fight scenes she has in the film, Sofia Boutella from Kingsman is also very good here as are Toby Jones and John Goodman but the show stealer here is definitely Mr McAvoy for not only does he look like a cross between Vernon Wells from Commando and a frontman for a Queen cover group but he just lifts every scene he’s in and infuses it with a great energy and charisma and shows once and for all that you just don’t fuck with the Horde.

But lastly I have to talk about just how well this movie captures that period of Berlin in the 80s first with the wonderful use of news footage from that period but also just how murky this world feels this was the epicentre of East vs West with some in the East going to great lengths to escape to the West and to freedom and it was also a place where as I described above is a place where information, secrets and loyalties can be bought and traded like commodities and as someone who loves this era and has read many newspaper stories and articles through news archives it all felt very authentic but this will be lost on some viewers.

And so that was Atomic Blonde which is easily one of my favourite films of the year so far and it felt like a film that Paul Verhoeven, Luc Besson or John McTiernan could have made back in 1989 or the early 90s I strongly recommend this one, 4 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)

War for the Planet of the Apes is the third in the new Planet of the Apes series and sees Caesar (Andy Serkis) trying to survive with his fellow Apes until he is captured by a ruthless Army Colonel (Woody Harrelson) who puts him and his other Ape captives to work building a wall which the Colonel hopes will fortify them from other soldiers determined to take his base.

I didn’t mind this new Apes film but I wouldn’t say I am raving about it very much what I did like was the motion capture work on the Apes themselves and especially Serkis himself who much like he did as Gollum/Smeagol in the Lord of the Rings series makes this character his own and makes you believe there is a real performance under all of that motion capture work plus the film has a great winter visual look to it as well.

Where it does fall over is sadly in Harrelson’s performance after seeing him as Haymitch in the Hunger Games series I found it a little difficult to believe him as this slightly crazy Army Colonel and also the film felt a little bit predictable in terms of its overall storytelling in terms of where it would go and how it would end and as a result I kinda got a bit bored with the film after a while.

And so that was War for the Planet of the Apes and sadly much like Alien and X-Men 2 other Sci-Fi franchises owned by 20th Century Fox it might have begun to run its course but this new film isn’t bad but its also very hard to top the original from 1968, 2 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Dunkirk (2017)

Dunkirk is the new film by Christopher Nolan and tells the true story of the evacuation of Allied Soliders off Dunkirk Beach in the early days of World War 2 but with each hour the enemy closes in time is fast running out to get them home.

This was my most anticipated film of the year by far mainly because of the true story of Dunkirk itself in which ordinary members of the British public heeded the call of their country and to me that was a great and powerful story waiting to be told and Christopher Nolan has proven himself as a big scope filmmaker capable of delivering dark emotional roller coaster films but could he weave that Dark Knight magic once again or faulter as he did with Dark Knight Rises and Interstellar.

Happily this is a stunning return to form for Nolan as this is a terrific, sharply focused, exciting and emotional ride of a film even though I saw it on a regular sized screen this film BEGS begs I tell ya to be seen on the largest screen you can find as the visuals here are stunning by Interstellar cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema are beautiful the wind of the bay, the oceans, the dark skies, the clouds above it all looks so real to the viewer so real even that when I was going around the bay of the town I visited to see the film I thought of the visuals of this film.

Meanwhile the sound design and action sequences are also fantastic, bullet shots and plane engines have a real ferocity to them that is rarely heard in action filmmaking but Nolan and his sound team do it in such a way that feels real and intense and several times I felt like I needed to cover my ears and look away as if I was one of those soldiers and also Nolan’s direction is simply outstanding here with a real focus that seems to have been missing from him since the Dark Knight in 2008 and while there are 3 distinct stories here none of them become a tangled mess that’s hard to follow plus his eye for scope never wavers.

But where to end simply the performances and everyone here is terrific to watch Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh, Mark Rylance, Fionn Whitehead and Cillian Murphy among others all deliver great work Murphy in particular has a great little side plot and Hardy is always fun to watch even if he is once again wearing a mask and making me think of Bane jokes as he’s flying in his plane shooting down enemy aircraft.

I can’t praise Dunkirk enough for its terrific storytelling, its sharply focused direction, wonderful sound design and action as well as great music and performances this is a film that must be seen more than once and I can’t wait to do so again as it ties with Split as my favorite film of the year so far, 5 out of 5.

New Radio Ep

This is another 3 film School Holiday episode with:

- Spider-Man Homecoming
- Despicable Me 3
- Cars 3

As always you can listen here: https://soundcloud.com/abclocalradio_sa/friday-flicks-july-14-final

Film Review - Baby Driver (2017)

Baby Driver is the new film by Edgar Wright and stars Ansel Elgort as Baby a young getaway driver who suffers from Tinnitus and plays music to drown out the ringing after working for a local mob boss (Kevin Spacey) he vows to go straight and take his new girlfriend Deborah (Lily James) with him.

I was so keen for this movie mainly due to it being Wright’s new film as I love and adore the 3 Cornetto films he made so anything he made I was always up for but could this pour on the petrol for another winner or would it burnout in the way I felt his Scott Pilgrim film did.

Happily it was the former as I really enjoyed this movie and I have to start at the top with Edgar Wright himself and his direction as it is fantastic and this movie very much reminded me of a film Tony Scott would’ve made in the early 90s when he made Days of Thunder, Revenge, The Last Boy Scout and True Romance and his direction, editing, staging, use of music and sound and chase scenes were all outstanding and it is very much the mark of a man who has studied films all his life and has grown in confidence to set his own style and not treat his audience like mugs.

The supporting cast are also terrific here, Spacey makes for an effective villain and chews up Wright’s fast paced style like a pro, Jon Hamm, Jon Bernthal, Jamie Foxx and Eiza Gonzalez are also very good as the other hitmen Baby works for and Lily James from Cinderella makes for a very likeable love interest combining both the dreamer role in La La Land with the Patricia Arquette character from True Romance.

Where this movie does fall over a little sad to say is with Elgort himself don’t get me wrong he’s fine but again like with Scott Pilgrim it just made me miss Simon Pegg all the more and also I began to think that perhaps Pegg was the secret ingredient to the success of the Cornetto series and that without him as his leading man there is a big hole left at the centre that capable actors can try and fill but perhaps not fill it enough.

And so that was Baby Driver which despite Elgort is a really fun film, 3 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)

Transformers the Last Knight is the fifth film in the series and is once again directed by Michael Bay and concerns the tale of the 12 Knights who guarded a sacred talisman that could help rebuild Cybertron but Optimus (Peter Cullen) and Megatron (Frank Welker) may once again find themselves on opposite sides.

I was not looking forward to this movie mainly because of the endlessness of this franchise and Bay’s involvement in it each of the films he has made have been long, loud, mind numbing, dizzy, head ache inducing and just no good fun at all but alas like the gigantic sucker I can sometimes be I’ll see a good preview for it and off I go and here it was hearing Welker so I went one please.

And actually it wasn’t all that bad for 3 reasons and I’ll start off by combining 2 of them into one and that is hearing both Cullen and Welker playing their iconic roles again did bring me some joy and also made me want to imitate their voices every time they were on screen though sadly they don’t get anywhere near the screen time that they should have gotten and the continuous waste of especially Cullen feels criminal given that he’s the main character on all of the advertising materials.

The third reason was Sir Anthony Hopkins who plays an English lord and hams it up to such a degree that you again just can’t help but smile at one point he barks at some people to shut up and I fully expected him to go fffffffffffff like he did in Silence of the Lambs if ever an actor has mastered the art of phoning it in, hamming it up for a big paycheque most likely for a nice new Ivory Backscratcher it is this man and he is a master of it.

Sadly however the film is a dizzying mess to sit through and I have to start with Bay’s direction as it is really bad every single shot, edit and cut is all over the place even to the point of the smegging aspect ratio changing from 1.85:1 to 2.35:1 it is of Starscream level incompetence and Megatron always knew to put him in his place with a nicely aimed shot from his Riot Cannon and frankly I wish he would use it to boot Bay from this series as it has gone on long enough.

As for the storyline well it is a mess regarding the Knights of King Arthur and WW2 and post Dark of the Moon and I just gave up trying to follow it and really enjoyed Sir Anthony Hopkins be a grade A Ham and Mark Wahlberg run out of breath every single line and Cullen and Welker go at it like they did in the original series and animated movie.

And so that was Transformers the Last Knight a dizzying experience that made me feel a little light headed but it is time now to end Bay’s involvement and reboot this series especially with 2 fantastic video games War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron begging for film adaptations as those were fantastic and would make fantastic films if done well, 2 out of 5.

Film Review - Spiderman: Homecoming (2017)

Spider-Man Homecoming is the first Spider-Man co production between Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios and sees Peter Parker (Tom Holland) continue trying to be both Spider-Man at night and Peter the high school student during the day but when a mysterious man with wings known as the Vulture (Michael Keaton) starts stealing high tech weapons for his criminal schemes it’s up to Spidey to stop him though Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) would rather he stay close to the ground.

This new Spider-Man film is actually pretty good fun its well made by director Jon Watts and moves along at a nice pace despite its 2hr and 15min runtime firstly Holland simply embodies the role at this point and while I really liked Andrew Garfield he did not have the support Holland has had to really shine in the role and every time he’s on screen you really get behind him.

I also liked seeing Jon Favreau again as Happy Hogan and Downey shines in the small screen time he has plus what the film does really well is create a picture of modern day New York in terms of Peter’s high school life it really feels like this is what a New York City high school would look like today and though Zendaya doesn’t get a lot of screen time she does have some good lines.

As for the villains (my main pet peeve of this entire genre) this is where the film does start to fall over for while they were okay but it’s really only due to Keaton that the Vulture really sticks out as on the page he comes across as a bit of a dullard.

And Spider-Man unlike the Avengers actually does have a good Rogues Gallery to draw from but alas Marvel Studios has struck again and their villain problem makes even this look dull and forgettable at times and I know I’ve said it before but it’s worth repeating it until I turn blue in the face but they simply cannot afford to let this happen to Thanos in the upcoming Infinity Stones films because if it does it could have devastating consequences for the entire MCU.

The other big problem is that despite being well made and good fun which it is there’s really little new here if you have seen any of the previous Spider-Man or Iron Man films as the themes of Peter balancing both identities, great power meaning great responsibility and whether it’s the suit that makes the man and vice versa play out here and it’s certainly not bad but just feels like been there seen that for the most part.

And so that was Spider-Man Homecoming a fun and well made Marvel Studios film but also very much a been there seen that kind of film, 3 out of 5.