Stan and Ollie stars Steve Coogan and John C Reilly as Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, the legendary comedy double act that went to the top in Hollywood in the 1930s but in 1953 as both of them are getting older in years and aren’t enjoying the huge success they once did they embark on a tour of the UK hoping to also get a new movie project off the ground and proving they still have it.
Stan and Ollie is a very nice movie that is elevated in a very large way by its 2 central performances by Mr Coogan and Mr Reilly though Coogan is the better of the two men though at times I thought that he sounded like Sam Neill as for Mr Reilly he is good in the film even if some of the facial makeup is very noticeable at times but there were also times where I could not help but think just how good John Goodman would’ve been in his role as if there was anyone born to play Oliver Hardy it was him but the two of them do a good job with the light hearted script material they have to work with.
While watching it though I did begin to think of when I use to do my old Radio show with my friend Selina as like those 2 men I couldn’t have imagined doing my old show without her and while there are huge differences between what we did and what those 2 men did together the sense of that double act and not being able to do that one thing without that person to act as the ideal counterpoint and deliver that chemistry really got to me in a way that I did not expect it too.
Hell I very nearly skipped this movie feeling I was all caught up before Captain Marvel was due to open but I decided to stick with it and I am very glad I did even if it did make me miss my old friend.
And so that was Stan and Ollie and it’s a very nice movie with 2 great performances that got to me in a more personal way that I ever thought it would, 3 out of 5.
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Film Review - Happy Death Day 2 U (2019)
Happy Death Day 2 U is the sequel to the surprise of 2017 Happy Death Day and Tree (Jessica Rothe) is out of the death loop that set her back in the first film but now her boyfriends roommate Liam is stuck in a death loop of his own which does not make Tree very happy.
I was very excited for this sequel as I was very much surprised by the first Happy Death Day movie, it was a film that I really only went and saw to fill a slot on my old Radio show with ABC South East but to my surprise I found myself really enjoying it so a sequel has come and could it deliver or fall in with the bulk that just end up disappointing.
Well with regret this is in the latter camp as I was left very underwhelmed with this sequel but before I delve more into that I want to talk about what I did like and that once again is Ms Jessica Rothe she is as good as she was in the first film and she gets some great scenes in this sequel as well as carrying the film effortlessly on her own shoulders, I hope that she gets to do more movie work as she has a great screen presence especially when handling comedy.
But this sequel suffers from what I like to call the Planet Zeist Syndrome and allow me now to explain what that is, well in the original Highlander movie from 1986 we didn’t know much about the origin of the Immortals and we didn’t need one but so many enquired about it that those in charge of Highlander 2 felt they had to explain it and the explanation they came up with was that they were Space Aliens from a Planet called Zeist and it went down very very VERY badly with the Highlander fans.
Here in this movie Science is used to explain away the rather interesting concept of this Groundhog Day attempt at a horror film that the first film did and it got so convoluted and messy on screen that after a while I found myself losing interest and thinking that while I loved the first film I was not feeling it with this sequel and I got kind of bored with it after a while.
And so that was Happy Death Day 2 U and it joins the sorry ranks of Glass and the Lego Movie 2 as being another underwhelming sequel for 2019 and it is a real shame as I was very excited for all 3 of those films these things happen I suppose, 2 out of 5.
I was very excited for this sequel as I was very much surprised by the first Happy Death Day movie, it was a film that I really only went and saw to fill a slot on my old Radio show with ABC South East but to my surprise I found myself really enjoying it so a sequel has come and could it deliver or fall in with the bulk that just end up disappointing.
Well with regret this is in the latter camp as I was left very underwhelmed with this sequel but before I delve more into that I want to talk about what I did like and that once again is Ms Jessica Rothe she is as good as she was in the first film and she gets some great scenes in this sequel as well as carrying the film effortlessly on her own shoulders, I hope that she gets to do more movie work as she has a great screen presence especially when handling comedy.
But this sequel suffers from what I like to call the Planet Zeist Syndrome and allow me now to explain what that is, well in the original Highlander movie from 1986 we didn’t know much about the origin of the Immortals and we didn’t need one but so many enquired about it that those in charge of Highlander 2 felt they had to explain it and the explanation they came up with was that they were Space Aliens from a Planet called Zeist and it went down very very VERY badly with the Highlander fans.
Here in this movie Science is used to explain away the rather interesting concept of this Groundhog Day attempt at a horror film that the first film did and it got so convoluted and messy on screen that after a while I found myself losing interest and thinking that while I loved the first film I was not feeling it with this sequel and I got kind of bored with it after a while.
And so that was Happy Death Day 2 U and it joins the sorry ranks of Glass and the Lego Movie 2 as being another underwhelming sequel for 2019 and it is a real shame as I was very excited for all 3 of those films these things happen I suppose, 2 out of 5.
Film Review - Cold Pursuit (2019)
Cold Pursuit stars Liam Neeson as Nels Coxman a local Snow Plow driver who is awarded as the town of Kehoe’s local citizen of the year but when his son Kyle (Michael Richardson, Neeson’s real life son) is found dead of a suspected drug overdose Nels seeks revenge against those responsible.
The first half of Cold Pursuit is a lot of fun with some great MA15 rated violence, Liam Neeson enjoying himself for a change as opposed to just sleep walking through a movie and just wanting the pay cheque at the end of it and some very funny humour even if most of the time all I could think of was the Mr Plow episode of the Simpsons (at one point I thought Linda Ronstadt was on the soundtrack) and during the films first half I just kept thinking of lines from that episode such as:
- So Long Superman, Your Secret Identity is Safe with Me
- We won’t miss a minute of School thanks to your father
- Say Hello to the Plow King
Among other lines plus I was thinking of Forbidden Widows Peak I know this sounds awfully silly as the two are very different in their feel but hey that’s just how I felt while watching this movie.
Unfortunately the second half becomes a little more serious in its tone and it wasn’t as much fun as the focus shifts towards these rival drug dealers and it got a little boring especially as Neeson has very little to do with this section of the film, as for Ms Laura Dern who plays his wife in the film she has a couple of moments and then leaves while the drug dealer villain was kind of boring and it’s a real shame as when this movie was fun it was a lot of fun to watch.
And so that was Cold Pursuit and “Call Mr Plow that’s his name that name again is Mr Plow” sorry I couldn’t resist though this is best saved to watch when there’s nothing on at 3.17am I’m afraid, 2 out of 5.
The first half of Cold Pursuit is a lot of fun with some great MA15 rated violence, Liam Neeson enjoying himself for a change as opposed to just sleep walking through a movie and just wanting the pay cheque at the end of it and some very funny humour even if most of the time all I could think of was the Mr Plow episode of the Simpsons (at one point I thought Linda Ronstadt was on the soundtrack) and during the films first half I just kept thinking of lines from that episode such as:
- So Long Superman, Your Secret Identity is Safe with Me
- We won’t miss a minute of School thanks to your father
- Say Hello to the Plow King
Among other lines plus I was thinking of Forbidden Widows Peak I know this sounds awfully silly as the two are very different in their feel but hey that’s just how I felt while watching this movie.
Unfortunately the second half becomes a little more serious in its tone and it wasn’t as much fun as the focus shifts towards these rival drug dealers and it got a little boring especially as Neeson has very little to do with this section of the film, as for Ms Laura Dern who plays his wife in the film she has a couple of moments and then leaves while the drug dealer villain was kind of boring and it’s a real shame as when this movie was fun it was a lot of fun to watch.
And so that was Cold Pursuit and “Call Mr Plow that’s his name that name again is Mr Plow” sorry I couldn’t resist though this is best saved to watch when there’s nothing on at 3.17am I’m afraid, 2 out of 5.
Saturday, February 16, 2019
A Broly-ous Experience
So about a week or so ago I got to finally go and see Dragon Ball Super: Broly on the big screen and to say that I was excited for this movie is a severe understatement as this was my most anticipated movie of 2019, yes I was more excited for this movie than I am for Avengers: Endgame and I am very very excited for that movie although I’m also equally nervous about it but that’s another matter.
Getting back on point I began to think about Broly as a movie more and more in my head and I had such a great time watching it on the big screen, my mouth was agape, I was grinning from ear to ear and I felt that sense of exhilaration and adrenaline that I rarely feel when watching a movie nowadays the last time I felt that emotional jolt to the sense was Bohemian Rhapsody late last year though I will say that it was nice to feel it watching a movie that felt even in its tone and where everyone involved showed up to work and give it their all.
But there are 2 main reasons that I feel this new Broly movie is worth celebrating.
- First the film is a great celebration of the long legacy of the Dragon Ball franchise and this year 2019 marks the 30th Anniversary of Dragon Ball Z’s airing in Japan and Dragon Ball Super: Broly celebrates this legacy by first giving its fans a proper look at the backstory of the Saiyans (The majority of it was written by the TV Anime staff with Akira Toriyama only writing the Dragon Ball Minus manga back in 2013.) and surprisingly it is very consistent with what fans have come to know of it in the various episodes and specials and manga.
And also the long history of the characters is properly acknowledged be it Goku and Vegeta’s rivalry, their collective hatred of Freeza, the new relationship with Whis and Beerus and their long standing familial relationships with Bulma and Piccolo and everyone of these characters gets a great moment to shine in this movie be it a plot point or a fight scene or a comedic one liner designed to bring some humour into the story.
But also the fights in this movie are truly amazing and this series has had some spectacular battles in the past both individual characters and using the full roster of the Z Fighters here Goku, Vegeta and Freeza get to take part and it is terrific, both beautifully animated and very well edited even if at times they can be a little too fast to follow.
- And secondly the film very nicely charts a promising new direction for the franchise going forward now I don’t want to say too much because of plot spoilers but Broly himself is now finally a proper character and not the one dimensional punching bag yelling “KAKAROT, KAKAROT” that he was back in the 90s when the character first appeared in a movie special and the film positions him well enough that he will be sticking around for the foreseeable future.
Secondly Freeza, Whis and Beerus are now cemented as long term characters going forward as well, Whis and Beerus first appeared in 2013’s Battle of Gods movie which introduced fans to the realm of the Gods and opened up an entirely new direction for the franchise after being dormant since 1996 in Japan and it’s a great credit to Toriyama and the team behind that film that it was pulled off very well and fans embraced both characters warmly and got back on board with the series.
Freeza himself once the emperor of the universe is far better integrated into the series in this movie than he was in Resurrection F where his return properly was meant to be a celebration of the character and his long popularity with the fans but failed to give him a worthy story whereas here in Broly he has a far better story arc that makes him feel useful while also letting his fans relish in the characters strengths.
And also it is certainly nice to see more female characters joining in on the fun as it is fair to say that Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z didn’t really do an awful lot with the ones they had, Chi Chi got relegated to the traditional concerned wife role that Adrian played in the Rocky movies, Bulma was the tech guru who also got relegated somewhat to a mother hen role after the Freeza arc while Launch was criminally tossed aside and all because Toriyama forgot about her.
Oh dear oh dear.
Happily that was then and this is now and not only do you have Chi-Li who is a very likeable character and will most likely be sticking around for the foreseeable future but you also had female Saiyans from Universe 6 and a roster of female warriors in the Tournament of Power arc that ended the Dragon Ball Super TV Series in March last year and all of those fighters were great and had some very memorable fight scenes and techniques and for a franchise that can be very male centric it is nice to see some women in there joining in on the fun.
But lastly all of this and here is where I will wrap this column up helps to build a great sense of confidence in the Dragon Ball brand and reviving a classic brand like Alien, Star Wars, Terminator and Lord of the Rings to name a few examples hasn’t been easy with almost all of those brands offering up new movies based on them not quite living up to the great success they enjoyed in the past.
And confidence in a brand is essential to maintain its health and growth going forward and its fair to say that brands like those mentioned above or studios like MGM/UA in the early 90s suffer when brands either aren’t there to lift a studios books like back then when they desperately needed James Bond or are able to successfully carry on the legacy of that brand with new entries that rival the success of the original entries that gave birth to it.
Well that is not the case with Dragon Ball as the huge success of this movie and the recent Dragon Ball Super TV series help ensure that as long as the quality is maintained and those involved give it their all then the brand will stick around positively for years to come.
Well that’s that my further thoughts on Dragon Ball Super: Broly a film that was so so much fun to watch on the big screen (and how I wish I could do it all again) but also a celebration of the franchise, its legacy and popularity while also charting a very promising new course for the future.
Getting back on point I began to think about Broly as a movie more and more in my head and I had such a great time watching it on the big screen, my mouth was agape, I was grinning from ear to ear and I felt that sense of exhilaration and adrenaline that I rarely feel when watching a movie nowadays the last time I felt that emotional jolt to the sense was Bohemian Rhapsody late last year though I will say that it was nice to feel it watching a movie that felt even in its tone and where everyone involved showed up to work and give it their all.
But there are 2 main reasons that I feel this new Broly movie is worth celebrating.
- First the film is a great celebration of the long legacy of the Dragon Ball franchise and this year 2019 marks the 30th Anniversary of Dragon Ball Z’s airing in Japan and Dragon Ball Super: Broly celebrates this legacy by first giving its fans a proper look at the backstory of the Saiyans (The majority of it was written by the TV Anime staff with Akira Toriyama only writing the Dragon Ball Minus manga back in 2013.) and surprisingly it is very consistent with what fans have come to know of it in the various episodes and specials and manga.
And also the long history of the characters is properly acknowledged be it Goku and Vegeta’s rivalry, their collective hatred of Freeza, the new relationship with Whis and Beerus and their long standing familial relationships with Bulma and Piccolo and everyone of these characters gets a great moment to shine in this movie be it a plot point or a fight scene or a comedic one liner designed to bring some humour into the story.
But also the fights in this movie are truly amazing and this series has had some spectacular battles in the past both individual characters and using the full roster of the Z Fighters here Goku, Vegeta and Freeza get to take part and it is terrific, both beautifully animated and very well edited even if at times they can be a little too fast to follow.
- And secondly the film very nicely charts a promising new direction for the franchise going forward now I don’t want to say too much because of plot spoilers but Broly himself is now finally a proper character and not the one dimensional punching bag yelling “KAKAROT, KAKAROT” that he was back in the 90s when the character first appeared in a movie special and the film positions him well enough that he will be sticking around for the foreseeable future.
Secondly Freeza, Whis and Beerus are now cemented as long term characters going forward as well, Whis and Beerus first appeared in 2013’s Battle of Gods movie which introduced fans to the realm of the Gods and opened up an entirely new direction for the franchise after being dormant since 1996 in Japan and it’s a great credit to Toriyama and the team behind that film that it was pulled off very well and fans embraced both characters warmly and got back on board with the series.
Freeza himself once the emperor of the universe is far better integrated into the series in this movie than he was in Resurrection F where his return properly was meant to be a celebration of the character and his long popularity with the fans but failed to give him a worthy story whereas here in Broly he has a far better story arc that makes him feel useful while also letting his fans relish in the characters strengths.
And also it is certainly nice to see more female characters joining in on the fun as it is fair to say that Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z didn’t really do an awful lot with the ones they had, Chi Chi got relegated to the traditional concerned wife role that Adrian played in the Rocky movies, Bulma was the tech guru who also got relegated somewhat to a mother hen role after the Freeza arc while Launch was criminally tossed aside and all because Toriyama forgot about her.
Oh dear oh dear.
Happily that was then and this is now and not only do you have Chi-Li who is a very likeable character and will most likely be sticking around for the foreseeable future but you also had female Saiyans from Universe 6 and a roster of female warriors in the Tournament of Power arc that ended the Dragon Ball Super TV Series in March last year and all of those fighters were great and had some very memorable fight scenes and techniques and for a franchise that can be very male centric it is nice to see some women in there joining in on the fun.
But lastly all of this and here is where I will wrap this column up helps to build a great sense of confidence in the Dragon Ball brand and reviving a classic brand like Alien, Star Wars, Terminator and Lord of the Rings to name a few examples hasn’t been easy with almost all of those brands offering up new movies based on them not quite living up to the great success they enjoyed in the past.
And confidence in a brand is essential to maintain its health and growth going forward and its fair to say that brands like those mentioned above or studios like MGM/UA in the early 90s suffer when brands either aren’t there to lift a studios books like back then when they desperately needed James Bond or are able to successfully carry on the legacy of that brand with new entries that rival the success of the original entries that gave birth to it.
Well that is not the case with Dragon Ball as the huge success of this movie and the recent Dragon Ball Super TV series help ensure that as long as the quality is maintained and those involved give it their all then the brand will stick around positively for years to come.
Well that’s that my further thoughts on Dragon Ball Super: Broly a film that was so so much fun to watch on the big screen (and how I wish I could do it all again) but also a celebration of the franchise, its legacy and popularity while also charting a very promising new course for the future.
Thursday, February 14, 2019
Film Review - Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
Alita: Battle Angel is directed by Robert Rodriguez and co-written and produced by James Cameron and takes place 300 years after the Fall and a cybernetic surgeon (Christoph Waltz) finds the remains of a young girl named Alita (Rosa Salazar) in a junkyard, she is reassembled with a new body and begins to learn all about the world as she tries to rediscover her memory and evade the dark forces who want to capture her.
I enjoyed Alita: Battle Angel though mainly for its amazing visual effects and action setpieces, the level of detail in the world Cameron and Rodriguez create is amazing and first off the motion capture work here is superb and tops the work Cameron did on Avatar 10 years ago it all looks very lifelike and very real, almost as real as watching actors live on set performing the scenes and Ms Salazar is very good as Alita bringing a real sense of humanity to what could have been a cartoon character with no life behind the eyes.
The action set pieces here are also very good with a real sense of clarity and movement to them, every move is easy to follow and it nicely remembers to keep Alita’s actions in her fight scenes front and centre, the Motor Ball scenes in particular are a lot of fun and seeing all of this detailed effects work has got me wondering what Cameron truly has in store for us with the Avatar sequels as I have the feeling we will not be disappointed.
As for the other performances Mr Waltz is fine but he’s kind of starting to play himself by this point and he could really do with a strong hand on the directorial whip to guide him somewhat into giving a great performance, it was nice to see Jennifer Connelly in a movie again and she has aged very very well and Maehershala Ali is his usual king of cool and captain of charisma self and he is reminding me an awful lot of Denzel Washington in his younger days when he held both of those titles.
As for the storytelling itself it is okay but it lacks that certain Cameron touch that he brought to the likes of the 2 Terminator films, Aliens, Titanic and even Avatar which was a very traditional natives vs colonisers story but it was one I thought worked quite well whereas here it was the standard sort of cyborg teen girl story which again was okay but is easily this movie’s weakest link.
And so that was Alita: Battle Angel and the Visual Effects and Action setpieces are breathtaking even if the central storytelling was not as good, 3 out of 5.
I enjoyed Alita: Battle Angel though mainly for its amazing visual effects and action setpieces, the level of detail in the world Cameron and Rodriguez create is amazing and first off the motion capture work here is superb and tops the work Cameron did on Avatar 10 years ago it all looks very lifelike and very real, almost as real as watching actors live on set performing the scenes and Ms Salazar is very good as Alita bringing a real sense of humanity to what could have been a cartoon character with no life behind the eyes.
The action set pieces here are also very good with a real sense of clarity and movement to them, every move is easy to follow and it nicely remembers to keep Alita’s actions in her fight scenes front and centre, the Motor Ball scenes in particular are a lot of fun and seeing all of this detailed effects work has got me wondering what Cameron truly has in store for us with the Avatar sequels as I have the feeling we will not be disappointed.
As for the other performances Mr Waltz is fine but he’s kind of starting to play himself by this point and he could really do with a strong hand on the directorial whip to guide him somewhat into giving a great performance, it was nice to see Jennifer Connelly in a movie again and she has aged very very well and Maehershala Ali is his usual king of cool and captain of charisma self and he is reminding me an awful lot of Denzel Washington in his younger days when he held both of those titles.
As for the storytelling itself it is okay but it lacks that certain Cameron touch that he brought to the likes of the 2 Terminator films, Aliens, Titanic and even Avatar which was a very traditional natives vs colonisers story but it was one I thought worked quite well whereas here it was the standard sort of cyborg teen girl story which again was okay but is easily this movie’s weakest link.
And so that was Alita: Battle Angel and the Visual Effects and Action setpieces are breathtaking even if the central storytelling was not as good, 3 out of 5.
Saturday, February 9, 2019
Film Review - Dragon Ball Super: Broly (2019)
Dragon Ball Super: Broly is the newest entry in the Dragon Ball franchise and is again written by its creator Akira Toriyama and the story here sees Broly, a Saiyan exiled from Planet Vegeta when he was a baby and as a result spared the destruction of that world by Freeza, now many years later Freeza brings him and his father Paragus to Earth for the Dragon Balls and revenge against Goku and Vegeta but Broly may not be the Saiyan people think he is.
To say that I was excited for this movie is something of an understatement I am a huge Dragon Ball fan going back to when it first aired on Australian TV in January 2000 and the previews for this movie looked fantastic, some great fighting scenes, Toriyama writing the Saiyan backstory and some intrigue in regards to Broly but could it meet such high hopes or fall flat like many other films I look forward to.
Happily, most happily I will say this is a case of the former as I loved watching this movie and had not only so much fun but felt genuine exhilarated while watching it and it has been a fair while since I felt that sense of exhilaration while watching a movie in a cinema I would have to go back to X-Men Apocalypse, Dunkirk and Kingsman 2 to go back to feeling that way in my cinema seat.
But I’ll save you all the gushing response and give you the clinical response and first off I love that this movie actually does take the time to tell a story which has been somewhat lacking in the Dragon Ball universe where for the most part the story is there for some setup and then the fighting begins, not so here the story takes time to unfold and its great to see Toriyama properly write the Saiyan backstory here, those scenes are fantastic and add so much to the history of the series and also when the fighting does start it feels so much more satisfying.
This leads me to my second point the characters, Broly here actually feels like a character not the one dimensional punching bag yelling “KAKAROT” like he did in the earlier films here you get a sense of what his upbringing was like, what his life is and was like and also how deep down he’s a good guy who wants to do the right thing and it wasn’t his fault that circumstances changed his life for the worst and Vic Mignoga does a good job voicing the role.
And also the main group of characters are very well utilised here, Freeza far more justifies his presence in the story than he did in Resurrection F and he has a lot of the films best scenes plus some great laughs, Goku and Vegeta really shine as a pair here and they play off each other so very well while Piccolo has a nice scene here towards the films end.
If there is one character that does suffer it is Paragus and it is where I will start to talk about the nitpicks I have with the film Paragus is set up as a major character vowing revenge on King Vegeta and his bloodline over the treatment of his son but that story element is forgotten about (no doubt one of the things that had to go from Toriyama’s 3 hour treatment) and while the big fight scene between the 3 Saiyans is superb there are times where it all goes a little too fast to follow with your eyes.
And lastly I wanted another 20 minutes in this movie now this could be seen as me either wanting more for more’s sake or wanting more to flesh out the story and in all honesty it’s a bit of both the additional 20 minutes would’ve smoothed out some of the choppy editing the film has at times and develop some of the story points a little more allowing for a smoother watching experience but hopefully the DVD will have a longer version like Battle of Gods did where those problems are lessened or done away with entirely.
And so that was Dragon Ball Super: Broly an exciting and exhilarating film that I had so much fun watching on the big screen despite some minor nitpicks, 4 and a half out of 5.
To say that I was excited for this movie is something of an understatement I am a huge Dragon Ball fan going back to when it first aired on Australian TV in January 2000 and the previews for this movie looked fantastic, some great fighting scenes, Toriyama writing the Saiyan backstory and some intrigue in regards to Broly but could it meet such high hopes or fall flat like many other films I look forward to.
Happily, most happily I will say this is a case of the former as I loved watching this movie and had not only so much fun but felt genuine exhilarated while watching it and it has been a fair while since I felt that sense of exhilaration while watching a movie in a cinema I would have to go back to X-Men Apocalypse, Dunkirk and Kingsman 2 to go back to feeling that way in my cinema seat.
But I’ll save you all the gushing response and give you the clinical response and first off I love that this movie actually does take the time to tell a story which has been somewhat lacking in the Dragon Ball universe where for the most part the story is there for some setup and then the fighting begins, not so here the story takes time to unfold and its great to see Toriyama properly write the Saiyan backstory here, those scenes are fantastic and add so much to the history of the series and also when the fighting does start it feels so much more satisfying.
This leads me to my second point the characters, Broly here actually feels like a character not the one dimensional punching bag yelling “KAKAROT” like he did in the earlier films here you get a sense of what his upbringing was like, what his life is and was like and also how deep down he’s a good guy who wants to do the right thing and it wasn’t his fault that circumstances changed his life for the worst and Vic Mignoga does a good job voicing the role.
And also the main group of characters are very well utilised here, Freeza far more justifies his presence in the story than he did in Resurrection F and he has a lot of the films best scenes plus some great laughs, Goku and Vegeta really shine as a pair here and they play off each other so very well while Piccolo has a nice scene here towards the films end.
If there is one character that does suffer it is Paragus and it is where I will start to talk about the nitpicks I have with the film Paragus is set up as a major character vowing revenge on King Vegeta and his bloodline over the treatment of his son but that story element is forgotten about (no doubt one of the things that had to go from Toriyama’s 3 hour treatment) and while the big fight scene between the 3 Saiyans is superb there are times where it all goes a little too fast to follow with your eyes.
And lastly I wanted another 20 minutes in this movie now this could be seen as me either wanting more for more’s sake or wanting more to flesh out the story and in all honesty it’s a bit of both the additional 20 minutes would’ve smoothed out some of the choppy editing the film has at times and develop some of the story points a little more allowing for a smoother watching experience but hopefully the DVD will have a longer version like Battle of Gods did where those problems are lessened or done away with entirely.
And so that was Dragon Ball Super: Broly an exciting and exhilarating film that I had so much fun watching on the big screen despite some minor nitpicks, 4 and a half out of 5.
Film Review - The Lego Movie 2 (2019)
The Lego Movie 2 takes place 5 years after the events of the first Lego Movie and Bricksburg has now become Apocalypseburg after the Planet Duplo invaded and destroyed their home and now Lucy (Elizabeth Banks) and their friends have been kidnapped by the Sistar System and its up to Emmett (Chris Pratt) to go and save her and prove that everything can indeed be awesome.
Lego Movie 2 had an awful lot to live up to as I was very nicely taken by surprise by its wild imagination, great characters, fun storytelling and that damn song Everything is Awesome which I must have sung for about 2 days straight after seeing it but now we have a sequel which has to build on those expectations but can it do so like a master builder or is everything not so awesome second time around.
Sadly very sadly I must say everything is not awesome second time around and instead everything is okay, it’s a fun sequel but it falls very very short of the great heights set by the first film and first off once again the wild imagination is on display and these films have worked best when it shows those huge worlds and inventive humour and there is plenty of both.
I will say however that the humour this time around didn’t make me laugh as much as it did in the first movie parts of it did make me laugh and there were times where I was the only person laughing in my session but it wasn’t as effective for me as it was in the first film.
And I would also say that of the films overall storytelling again it isn’t bad but it isn’t as effective as it was in the first film, it blends in the live action element a lot more here and much like in the original film it doesn’t work as well and here there is a lot more of it and also the storytelling in the Lego World didn’t quite feel as inventive as it did in the first film, it feels more sketchy and messy like a bunch of ideas written down to form a story.
And lastly I wasn’t as fond of any of the songs as I was Everything is Awesome from the original film and again don’t get me wrong they are fun songs that work well in the film but I didn’t find them as catchy as I did the song from the first film.
And so that was Lego Movie 2 and it’s a decent enough, fun enough sequel but it falls very very short of the original film and given how much I enjoyed the first film it is majorly disappointing, 2 out of 5.
Lego Movie 2 had an awful lot to live up to as I was very nicely taken by surprise by its wild imagination, great characters, fun storytelling and that damn song Everything is Awesome which I must have sung for about 2 days straight after seeing it but now we have a sequel which has to build on those expectations but can it do so like a master builder or is everything not so awesome second time around.
Sadly very sadly I must say everything is not awesome second time around and instead everything is okay, it’s a fun sequel but it falls very very short of the great heights set by the first film and first off once again the wild imagination is on display and these films have worked best when it shows those huge worlds and inventive humour and there is plenty of both.
I will say however that the humour this time around didn’t make me laugh as much as it did in the first movie parts of it did make me laugh and there were times where I was the only person laughing in my session but it wasn’t as effective for me as it was in the first film.
And I would also say that of the films overall storytelling again it isn’t bad but it isn’t as effective as it was in the first film, it blends in the live action element a lot more here and much like in the original film it doesn’t work as well and here there is a lot more of it and also the storytelling in the Lego World didn’t quite feel as inventive as it did in the first film, it feels more sketchy and messy like a bunch of ideas written down to form a story.
And lastly I wasn’t as fond of any of the songs as I was Everything is Awesome from the original film and again don’t get me wrong they are fun songs that work well in the film but I didn’t find them as catchy as I did the song from the first film.
And so that was Lego Movie 2 and it’s a decent enough, fun enough sequel but it falls very very short of the original film and given how much I enjoyed the first film it is majorly disappointing, 2 out of 5.
Film Review - The Favorite (2018)
The Favorite is directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and stars Olivia Coleman as Queen Anne during the time of War with the French, her aide Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz) is her right hand but one day Sarah’s cousin Abigail (Emma Stone) comes to work at the palace and starts to covet favour with the Queen which makes Lady Sarah jealous.
I have mixed feelings of the film now that I have had a chance to think it over a little bit and let it stew in my mind and to start I will go with the positives the sets, costumes, cinematography and editing are all superb, the film is gorgeous to look at with its candle lit sets, well tenured palace grounds, large halls with giant portraits and paintings and enormous bedrooms that befit royalty plus the editing here is smooth and flows really nicely with hardly any real cuts at all.
The film also has a fantastic performance by Ms Coleman who really threads the needle between serious drama and black humour and her skills in both fields over the years (to me she will always be PC Doris Thatcher in Hot Fuzz) serve her very well here, I also really liked Nicholas Hoult as the British Opposition Leader hungry for power and he really plays that kind of foppish ponce really well and I wish he was getting more awards love for his performance.
But alas I think the film suffers from some slight tonal issues between the black humour and the serious costume drama and I enjoyed the film the most when it was that black comedy with everyone swearing their heads off as opposed to the costume drama the film seems to settle into in its second half which kind of left me a little bored after a while.
And also as good as Ms Weisz and Ms Stone are I didn’t think they were that good here now don’t get me wrong I don’t dislike their performances at all but they stand no chance against just how good Ms Coleman really is and she just blows both of them away.
And that was my review of the Favorite and I am mixed on the film it looks great and technical elements shine as does Ms Coleman but the costume drama second half bored me, 2 and a half out of 5.
I have mixed feelings of the film now that I have had a chance to think it over a little bit and let it stew in my mind and to start I will go with the positives the sets, costumes, cinematography and editing are all superb, the film is gorgeous to look at with its candle lit sets, well tenured palace grounds, large halls with giant portraits and paintings and enormous bedrooms that befit royalty plus the editing here is smooth and flows really nicely with hardly any real cuts at all.
The film also has a fantastic performance by Ms Coleman who really threads the needle between serious drama and black humour and her skills in both fields over the years (to me she will always be PC Doris Thatcher in Hot Fuzz) serve her very well here, I also really liked Nicholas Hoult as the British Opposition Leader hungry for power and he really plays that kind of foppish ponce really well and I wish he was getting more awards love for his performance.
But alas I think the film suffers from some slight tonal issues between the black humour and the serious costume drama and I enjoyed the film the most when it was that black comedy with everyone swearing their heads off as opposed to the costume drama the film seems to settle into in its second half which kind of left me a little bored after a while.
And also as good as Ms Weisz and Ms Stone are I didn’t think they were that good here now don’t get me wrong I don’t dislike their performances at all but they stand no chance against just how good Ms Coleman really is and she just blows both of them away.
And that was my review of the Favorite and I am mixed on the film it looks great and technical elements shine as does Ms Coleman but the costume drama second half bored me, 2 and a half out of 5.
Tuesday, February 5, 2019
Film Review - Mary Queen of Scots (2019)
Mary Queen of Scots stars Saiorse Ronan as Mary the Queen of Scotland who feels she has a legitimate claim to the throne of England currently held by Elizabeth (Margot Robbie) but there are those on both sides who would vow to keep her from taking her rightful place on the throne.
Mary Queen of Scots has some great sets and gorgeous costume design but it is also a very boring movie to sit through and it astounds me when I think about it that a film with these elements plus some gorgeous cinematography of the Scottish Highlands that made me think of Highlander and the Quickening could be so utterly boring.
And on top of all that once again Ms Ronan shows us what an underrated powerhouse of a talent she is and she’s only 23-24 years old but here not only does the camera seem to love her but also she gives a terrific performance while also nailing the Scottish accent which can at times seem cartoonish outside of Disney’s Ducktales.
But why did this movie bore me, let me count the ways:
- Firstly the film itself feels like it has 3 different tones fighting for each other, one of those is the period costume drama the second is a Game of Thrones style of scheming and plotting with dashes of extreme violence and sex and the third is a “They may take our lives BUT THEY’LL NEVER TAKE OUR FREEDOM!!” Braveheart style of the brave Queen rallying the troops to fight for her country and all mixed together they make for a frankly very bland stew without any of the taste that those styles on their own have proven to be very successful with critics and audiences.
- And secondly there is a lack of a beating heart at the centre of this duelling queen conflict as a lot of it is done via emissaries or letters and it robs the film of some major emotional stakes and when the 2 ladies finally come face to face it is frankly very very underwhelming and it has no power or emotion behind any of it.
And so that was Mary Queen of Scots and I thought this was a very boring movie despite a great performance by Ms Ronan and some great costumes, sets and cinematography but rent Braveheart instead of watching this, 1 out of 5.
Mary Queen of Scots has some great sets and gorgeous costume design but it is also a very boring movie to sit through and it astounds me when I think about it that a film with these elements plus some gorgeous cinematography of the Scottish Highlands that made me think of Highlander and the Quickening could be so utterly boring.
And on top of all that once again Ms Ronan shows us what an underrated powerhouse of a talent she is and she’s only 23-24 years old but here not only does the camera seem to love her but also she gives a terrific performance while also nailing the Scottish accent which can at times seem cartoonish outside of Disney’s Ducktales.
But why did this movie bore me, let me count the ways:
- Firstly the film itself feels like it has 3 different tones fighting for each other, one of those is the period costume drama the second is a Game of Thrones style of scheming and plotting with dashes of extreme violence and sex and the third is a “They may take our lives BUT THEY’LL NEVER TAKE OUR FREEDOM!!” Braveheart style of the brave Queen rallying the troops to fight for her country and all mixed together they make for a frankly very bland stew without any of the taste that those styles on their own have proven to be very successful with critics and audiences.
- And secondly there is a lack of a beating heart at the centre of this duelling queen conflict as a lot of it is done via emissaries or letters and it robs the film of some major emotional stakes and when the 2 ladies finally come face to face it is frankly very very underwhelming and it has no power or emotion behind any of it.
And so that was Mary Queen of Scots and I thought this was a very boring movie despite a great performance by Ms Ronan and some great costumes, sets and cinematography but rent Braveheart instead of watching this, 1 out of 5.
Friday, February 1, 2019
Film Review - Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)
Velvet Buzzsaw is the new Netflix film written and directed by Dan Gilroy who made Nightcrawler back in 2014, the story here concerns an art critic (Jake Gyllenhaal) and some other people who work in art galleries in LA (Rene Russo, Toni Collette, John Malkovich among others) when they discover some art in an apartment and put it on sale, little do they know that the art might have sinister intentions.
Velvet Buzzsaw has some good visuals that look great in 4K be it the night sky, the lights of Los Angeles and the weird and wacky art installations and there is also a great performance by Toni Collette who seems to be on a real roll lately with this and her work in Hereditary which garnered great praise last year and she just knows how to play this kind of shallow bitchy character and still have great fun while doing so.
But fun was something I did not have while watching it as I hated this movie and its main culprit is the script, firstly the storytelling is deathly dull and while there is some fun bloody violence to be had I just didn’t really care all that much this time around and a lot of the scenes felt like they just dragged on and on and on while the characters talked about sweet nothing.
This leads me nicely to my second point which is the vast majority of the characters, they are so god damned insufferable to watch for the vast amount of the films running time and this film has some world class talent in it like Mr Gyllenhaal, Ms Russo, Mr Malkovich and all of them are so boring to watch as they are stuck with this leaden dialogue and ponderous characterization that I didn’t even enjoy seeing them die a terrible, terrible death.
And lastly the dialogue is so full of itself you can practically smell the pretension all around it, again huge amounts of this movie’s run time are devoted to people spouting utter nonsense that sounds like it’s a goddamn alien language and after a while I just kept thinking “Could Someone Please Talk Like a Normal Person” and I just felt like giving up on this whole bloody film by the end of it all.
Then again why am I surprised as increasingly it feels like unless it’s a filmmaker like Alfonso Curaron or the Coen Brothers, Netflix has just turned into the new dumping ground for either straight to video movies or the kind of films that so intrigue their makers yet studios quite rightly say “Nope we’re not making this” and if they want to play with the big boys of the movie studios its high time they started to behave like one and not just doll out cash to anyone who wants to make a film and not take any kind of studio note because as much as people hate on them sometimes they exist for a damn reason.
And so that was Velvet Buzzsaw and Netflix for the 2nd year running puts out the first genuine dud of a year last year it was Mute by Duncan Jones this year its this movie, 1 out of 5.
Velvet Buzzsaw has some good visuals that look great in 4K be it the night sky, the lights of Los Angeles and the weird and wacky art installations and there is also a great performance by Toni Collette who seems to be on a real roll lately with this and her work in Hereditary which garnered great praise last year and she just knows how to play this kind of shallow bitchy character and still have great fun while doing so.
But fun was something I did not have while watching it as I hated this movie and its main culprit is the script, firstly the storytelling is deathly dull and while there is some fun bloody violence to be had I just didn’t really care all that much this time around and a lot of the scenes felt like they just dragged on and on and on while the characters talked about sweet nothing.
This leads me nicely to my second point which is the vast majority of the characters, they are so god damned insufferable to watch for the vast amount of the films running time and this film has some world class talent in it like Mr Gyllenhaal, Ms Russo, Mr Malkovich and all of them are so boring to watch as they are stuck with this leaden dialogue and ponderous characterization that I didn’t even enjoy seeing them die a terrible, terrible death.
And lastly the dialogue is so full of itself you can practically smell the pretension all around it, again huge amounts of this movie’s run time are devoted to people spouting utter nonsense that sounds like it’s a goddamn alien language and after a while I just kept thinking “Could Someone Please Talk Like a Normal Person” and I just felt like giving up on this whole bloody film by the end of it all.
Then again why am I surprised as increasingly it feels like unless it’s a filmmaker like Alfonso Curaron or the Coen Brothers, Netflix has just turned into the new dumping ground for either straight to video movies or the kind of films that so intrigue their makers yet studios quite rightly say “Nope we’re not making this” and if they want to play with the big boys of the movie studios its high time they started to behave like one and not just doll out cash to anyone who wants to make a film and not take any kind of studio note because as much as people hate on them sometimes they exist for a damn reason.
And so that was Velvet Buzzsaw and Netflix for the 2nd year running puts out the first genuine dud of a year last year it was Mute by Duncan Jones this year its this movie, 1 out of 5.
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