Film Review - Greyhound (2020)

Greyhound takes place during World War 2 and stars Tom Hanks as the Captain of the ship called Greyhound which is on convoy escort duty through a place known as the Pit where allied ships are without air support and vulnerable to German U-Boats and Greyhound will be no exception as it tries to navigate the choppy waters.

 

Greyhound is a tightly made World War 2 submarine thriller that I found quite enjoyable and a lot of that comes from firstly how tight this movie feels, the film only lasts about 95 minutes or so but it doesn’t waste a moment of it, info is nicely given to the viewer while the ship is going through the waters while the action moments are nice and exciting.

 

Also one thing I did like about the films direction was that it makes nice use of the tight close up shots, yes you do get some wide shots particularly during the battle scenes but the scenes inside the ship are shot nice and tight and it really adds to the effect of what the crew of that ship went through especially with the technology they had at their disposal at the time.

 

Secondly Mr Hanks effortlessly anchors this movie and he’s virtually in every scene yet he’s never boring during this film, he’s calm, collected and its hard to imagine the movie without him.

 

There is one thing that also comes to mind while thinking on this movie and that is this is one that I really really wish I got to see on the big cinema screen with a great sound system (this was one of many that was delayed due to current events) as while watching it at home on my 4K TV was nice and all but this would’ve been a real treat on a booming cinema sound system with the various gun battles and crashing waves and depth charges being dropped you would have really felt it in a dark cinema but alas things went the way they did.

 

And so that was Greyhound it’s a good solid WW2 submarine thriller brilliantly anchored by Mr Hanks and one that I wish had gotten a cinema release, 3 out of 5.

 

Film Review - Rams (2020)

 

Rams is a new Australian film starring Sam Neill and Michael Caton as 2 brothers who run a Sheep Farm who lose their flocks due to a disease outbreak in their community, one of the brothers then hides 3 of his sheep in his house and doesn’t even talk to his brother much but that is soon to change.

 

I didn’t know an awful lot about Rams and I mainly saw it due to the cast and thought “Oh this could be fun” and sadly it wasn’t, the film has some pretty major tonal issues.

 

On the one hand you do get some fun antics with the 2 brothers and those scenes work well enough and Mr Neill and Mr Caton do good work in those scenes but on the other hand it tries to be this serious drama about their farm and bushfires and why the 2 brothers don’t speak to each other much and I wish their character arcs were better developed as the 2 brothers barely talk to each other throughout most of the movie and it really bogs down the film overall.

 

And so that was Rams and yeah despite 2 iconic Australian actors this movie didn’t do much for me I’m afraid, 1.5 out of 5.

Film Review - Tenet (2020)

 

Tenet is written and directed by Christopher Nolan and stars John David Washington (son of Denzel) as the Protagonist who is assigned a mission to recover some dangerous weaponry from an arms dealer (Kenneth Branagh) but his only call mark is a word named Tenet, a word that could spell disaster for the world.

I was very keen to see Tenet as it’s a new Nolan film and I had an inkling as to the kind of time games Nolan was going to play with this time and I was keen to see how it would go but alas current events delayed its release in my home state of Victoria but I finally got the chance to go and see it and was it worth the wait.

 

Absolutely it was as I had a great time watching this movie for three key reasons:

 

- First is the sheer craft that Mr Nolan brings to this movie, he’s always been an ambitious filmmaker but unlike the Dark Knight Rises or Interstellar where that ambition got the better of him, this feels more like the ambition of his previous film Dunkirk where everything felt tightly wound like a ticking clock and the audience was given only what they needed to know and then thrown into a situation and they were able to then fill in the blanks for themselves, the visual effects work and the sound design are also great to watch and I feel for those who will not get to see this on a big cinema screen with a great sound system that doesn’t drown out the dialogue which has been the case with some viewers though I also fully understand as to why viewers wouldn’t feel comfortable going to a cinema right now given current events.

 

One thing I also loved was the music score by Mr Ludwig Goransson who delivers a fast paced musical score that really adds to the amazing visuals your watching on screen.

 

- Secondly a lot of the films performances are great, Mr Washington is every inch his fathers son and commands the screen with a calm charisma that acts as the perfect anchor point for all the crazy story points the film throws at you and at times you can really hear a young Denzel in his voice, Robert Pattinson is also a lot of fun and not only does he share great chemistry with Mr Washington but is someone I would put in the running to be a new James Bond one day as he would based off of this movie do a great job with that role.

 

- And lastly I really enjoyed the time gimmick Mr Nolan gives us in this movie though it made me think of a certain Red Dwarf episode a lot of the time that comparison is not a bad one in the slightest and because of it I was fully onboard with the tricks the film plays on you and at times I thought to myself “Its like that, yeesh.”

 

What doesn’t work sadly is Sir Ken Branagh’s performance as his accent is really silly to listen to after a while and as much as I love Elizabeth Debicki as an actress and I really do her character didn’t work as well for me and a lot of the time I didn’t really get on board all that much with her sideplot.

 

And so that was Tenet and this is a great 2 and a half hour ride by Mr Nolan that despite some character and accent missteps was one I really enjoyed and I am very keen to get back on this ride again soon, 4 and a half out of 5.