Scott Derickson's Doctor Strange is the origin story of the titular Marvel hero, a surgeon who loses control of his hands in an accident and goes to the mystical Kamar-Taj, where he learns to become a sorcerer.
Benedict Cumberbatch is a great actor, and does great here as Stephen Strange. He is perfectly cast and shows great growth and subtlety in his character. Tilda Swinton does very well as The Ancient One, despite the controversy around her casting. Benedict Wong and Chiwetel Ejiofor both do well in their roles as well. Mads Mikkelsen does the best with what he's given. Like a lot of Marvel movie villains he isn't given much to do and is mainly there to move the plot forward.
The visuals are amazing. Visually spectacular. See it on a good screen if you still can as it will be worth it. Scott Derrickson, a director who mainly worked in a genre I am not a fan of: horror, really shows off his talent here.
In Short: Doctor Strange is a hugely enjoyable, effects filled comic book film with many good performances.
Tuesday, 29 November 2016
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back review
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is directed by Edward Zwick and features Tom Cruise returning to the Jack Reacher role, and teams up with Cobie Smulders to clear their names.
I like the first Jack Reacher, it's a fun action thriller with some good action scenes, a great car chase, a very powerful opening scene and a plot to hold it together. Never Go Back was fun while I was watching it but, just like The Magnificent Seven remake, it is very forgettable. I can't tell you the plot, the villain and what happens in the middle of the film.
Tom Cruise is good as always, but his characters unlikableness, something which I liked about the first one, is toned down here. Partially because of the writing, but also because of a side plot about a girl who may or may not be his daughter.
In Short: JR:NGB is enjoyable at the time but completely forgettable.
I like the first Jack Reacher, it's a fun action thriller with some good action scenes, a great car chase, a very powerful opening scene and a plot to hold it together. Never Go Back was fun while I was watching it but, just like The Magnificent Seven remake, it is very forgettable. I can't tell you the plot, the villain and what happens in the middle of the film.
Tom Cruise is good as always, but his characters unlikableness, something which I liked about the first one, is toned down here. Partially because of the writing, but also because of a side plot about a girl who may or may not be his daughter.
In Short: JR:NGB is enjoyable at the time but completely forgettable.
I, Daniel Blake review
I, Daniel Blake is the new film by Ken Loach about a man who recently had a heart attack trying to apply for jobseekers allowance and tries helps a single mum who recently moved.
This is a very well made, slow paced, look at a man's life as he is trying to earn enough money to live. Dave Johns gives an excellent performance of the struggling Daniel, and helps to make him believable in this situation. There is also a strong political theme running through the film that may be lost on viewers outside the UK. However, I think that the themes present in Daniel's struggle will help make audiences outside the UK enjoy watching the film.
In Short: I, Daniel Blake is a excellent depiction of a man struggling to make a living, while deconstructing the job finding process.
I have wrote my Allied review but I am keeping it for now so that my reviews are in chronological order. Also you may have noticed this review was slightly shorter, as will most of my reviews before the Allied review.
This is a very well made, slow paced, look at a man's life as he is trying to earn enough money to live. Dave Johns gives an excellent performance of the struggling Daniel, and helps to make him believable in this situation. There is also a strong political theme running through the film that may be lost on viewers outside the UK. However, I think that the themes present in Daniel's struggle will help make audiences outside the UK enjoy watching the film.
In Short: I, Daniel Blake is a excellent depiction of a man struggling to make a living, while deconstructing the job finding process.
I have wrote my Allied review but I am keeping it for now so that my reviews are in chronological order. Also you may have noticed this review was slightly shorter, as will most of my reviews before the Allied review.
Friday, 25 November 2016
The Girl on the Train review
The Girl on the Train is a thriller directed by Tate Taylor about a woman who goes missing(Haley Bennet), her neighbour(Rebecca Ferguson) and a woman who sees her everyday from the train(Emily Blunt).
The main cast all give good performances, with Emily Blunt standing out as an alcoholic divorcee. If the performances were not convincing in a film like this then it would all fall apart. The Girl on the Train didn't need bad performances to derail it, instead it had a laughably bad ending and an extremely obvious twist.
In my Miss Peregrine review earlier today I talked about how the ending made me think less of the film. The ending for this is so horribly bad and obvious that it takes it from a decent mystery thriller to a disappointing mess. I enjoyed the first half of the film and was going along with it. But that ending is just awful... I really want to go in depth with spoilers but you might want to see it so I won't. The writing is quite good in the first half as well, but as the film goes on it gets progressively worse. There were moments when people in the screening I was at were laughing at the (I presume) unintentionally bad dialogue.
In Short: The Girl on the Train starts off well and has good performances, but has a predictable plot and gets progressively worse as it continues.
I probably won't post any reviews at the weekend but I might have a review for Allied on Sunday.
The main cast all give good performances, with Emily Blunt standing out as an alcoholic divorcee. If the performances were not convincing in a film like this then it would all fall apart. The Girl on the Train didn't need bad performances to derail it, instead it had a laughably bad ending and an extremely obvious twist.
In my Miss Peregrine review earlier today I talked about how the ending made me think less of the film. The ending for this is so horribly bad and obvious that it takes it from a decent mystery thriller to a disappointing mess. I enjoyed the first half of the film and was going along with it. But that ending is just awful... I really want to go in depth with spoilers but you might want to see it so I won't. The writing is quite good in the first half as well, but as the film goes on it gets progressively worse. There were moments when people in the screening I was at were laughing at the (I presume) unintentionally bad dialogue.
In Short: The Girl on the Train starts off well and has good performances, but has a predictable plot and gets progressively worse as it continues.
I probably won't post any reviews at the weekend but I might have a review for Allied on Sunday.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople review
Taika Waititi's Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a comedy about a troubled teenager and his foster father who decide live in the New Zealand bush after an unfortunate event.
In my Swiss Army Man review I mentioned Wilderpeople as one of the funniest films I have seen this year. It is my favourite comedy of the year, due to it's characters, story and all round likeableness.
Julian Dennison and Sam Neill work brilliantly with each other. They have great comedic chemistry and have two of the best characters I have seen this year. I like Sam Neill in this films I have seen him in, but he is absolutely brilliant here as Hec. Julian Dennison is even better as Ricky, and gives some of the best one liners out of any film I have seen this year.
It's not just the main characters that are well written, but the secondary characters have some lines that are just as good as Ricky and Hec's. Standouts are Rachel House's social services worker and Taika Waititi and Rhys Darby's cameos.
Of all of Waititi's work I have only seen this and What We Do in the Shadows(which he co-wrote and directed with Jemaine Clement), and I really want to see more of his films. He is a very good comedic director who knows how and when to put in deeper and more emotional moments. I am a fan of comic books and superheroes, and with Waititi's involvement in Thor: Ragnarok, I am now more excited to see it next year(and the Team Thor short is great too).
In Short: Hunt for the Wilderpeople is one of the funniest films of the year with great characters, a hilarious script and very well done direction.
In my Swiss Army Man review I mentioned Wilderpeople as one of the funniest films I have seen this year. It is my favourite comedy of the year, due to it's characters, story and all round likeableness.
Julian Dennison and Sam Neill work brilliantly with each other. They have great comedic chemistry and have two of the best characters I have seen this year. I like Sam Neill in this films I have seen him in, but he is absolutely brilliant here as Hec. Julian Dennison is even better as Ricky, and gives some of the best one liners out of any film I have seen this year.
It's not just the main characters that are well written, but the secondary characters have some lines that are just as good as Ricky and Hec's. Standouts are Rachel House's social services worker and Taika Waititi and Rhys Darby's cameos.
Of all of Waititi's work I have only seen this and What We Do in the Shadows(which he co-wrote and directed with Jemaine Clement), and I really want to see more of his films. He is a very good comedic director who knows how and when to put in deeper and more emotional moments. I am a fan of comic books and superheroes, and with Waititi's involvement in Thor: Ragnarok, I am now more excited to see it next year(and the Team Thor short is great too).
In Short: Hunt for the Wilderpeople is one of the funniest films of the year with great characters, a hilarious script and very well done direction.
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children review
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is a fantasy film directed by Tim Burton, based on the book of the same name about an American teenager who finds a children's home in Wales filled with peculiar children.
I like Tim Burton. I've seen most of his films and I always enjoy his distinctive style. It definitely works with this film. Miss Peregrine is not his finest film but he certainly worked hard to make it look great.
I have read the first two books and enjoyed reading them. I was fine with Burton and screenwriter Jane Goldman changing the ages and powers of some of the characters. However, they completely changed the ending and I really didn't like it. There are some adaptions where a change to the ending will be an improvement. But the end was completely changed and made it much worse. The antagonists, The Hollows, are shown to be terrifying and hard to kill throughout most of the film. They are then made a mockery of at the end and are shown as foolish in a bright and colourful sequence with techno fairground music playing. It feels completely out of place with the rest of the film and makes it too cheery.
The main actors all do well in their roles, even if Samuel L. Jackson didn't realise he was no longer working on Kingsman (nothing against him, but he plays them both the same). There is a twist involving a character that is handled poorly, and I would have preferred if they had it in a similar way as to how it plays out in the book (I realise the book and the film are separate but it's hard not to compare them).
The beginning and middle of the film I enjoyed. There many good moments between the characters and there are some interesting ideas. It's a shame the ending overpowers that tough.
In Short: I like the director, I like the cast, I like the book, but I don't like the film.
I like Tim Burton. I've seen most of his films and I always enjoy his distinctive style. It definitely works with this film. Miss Peregrine is not his finest film but he certainly worked hard to make it look great.
I have read the first two books and enjoyed reading them. I was fine with Burton and screenwriter Jane Goldman changing the ages and powers of some of the characters. However, they completely changed the ending and I really didn't like it. There are some adaptions where a change to the ending will be an improvement. But the end was completely changed and made it much worse. The antagonists, The Hollows, are shown to be terrifying and hard to kill throughout most of the film. They are then made a mockery of at the end and are shown as foolish in a bright and colourful sequence with techno fairground music playing. It feels completely out of place with the rest of the film and makes it too cheery.
The main actors all do well in their roles, even if Samuel L. Jackson didn't realise he was no longer working on Kingsman (nothing against him, but he plays them both the same). There is a twist involving a character that is handled poorly, and I would have preferred if they had it in a similar way as to how it plays out in the book (I realise the book and the film are separate but it's hard not to compare them).
The beginning and middle of the film I enjoyed. There many good moments between the characters and there are some interesting ideas. It's a shame the ending overpowers that tough.
In Short: I like the director, I like the cast, I like the book, but I don't like the film.
Thursday, 24 November 2016
Swiss Army Man review
The Daniels' Swiss Army Man is a tale of life, love, and friendship featuring a shipwrecked man (Paul Dano) and a magical farting corpse (Daniel Radcliffe).
I was intrigued about seeing this film ever since hearing about the walkouts at Sundance, where I thought "This sounds hilarious". I didn't like the film at first. The first ten minutes or so were unfunny and slightly boring. But then a moment happens and I was invested until the end. It is one of the funniest films I have seen this year, alongside Deadpool,The Nice Guys and Hunt for the Wilderpeople(more on that later). There are some extremely laugh out loud moments, be it the bodily functions of Manny the corpse or what occurs during the more existential and thought provoking scenes.
There is a major problem I had with the film. There are two or three musical montages during the film. During these moments a thought popped into my head: "These are quite music video like moments". Later I had another thought: The film felt like an idea for a music video stretched out to future length. Given The Daniels past directing music videos it makes sense. Once I realized this I couldn't get the idea out of my head.
In short: Unlike a lot of reviewers, I neither loved it, nor hated it. It's just a hilarious film with a problematic story and structure.
I was intrigued about seeing this film ever since hearing about the walkouts at Sundance, where I thought "This sounds hilarious". I didn't like the film at first. The first ten minutes or so were unfunny and slightly boring. But then a moment happens and I was invested until the end. It is one of the funniest films I have seen this year, alongside Deadpool,The Nice Guys and Hunt for the Wilderpeople(more on that later). There are some extremely laugh out loud moments, be it the bodily functions of Manny the corpse or what occurs during the more existential and thought provoking scenes.
There is a major problem I had with the film. There are two or three musical montages during the film. During these moments a thought popped into my head: "These are quite music video like moments". Later I had another thought: The film felt like an idea for a music video stretched out to future length. Given The Daniels past directing music videos it makes sense. Once I realized this I couldn't get the idea out of my head.
In short: Unlike a lot of reviewers, I neither loved it, nor hated it. It's just a hilarious film with a problematic story and structure.
Deepwater Horizon review
Sorry for not posting any short reviews but homework and procrastination happened.
Deepwater Horizon is directed by Peter Berg and is the story of the disaster on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in April 2010.
My delay actually helped me here. Since it's based on a true story of a terrible disaster, I wanted to think of a way to write this review honestly while being respectful. Being respectful to those involved and those who lost their live on the oil rig is something Peter Berg and writers Matthew Michael Carnahan and Michael Sand did very well. They could have made it a big effects extravaganza, but instead focused on the characters trying to survive the disaster. If they had gone for the former then it would be a case of literally profiting off of death, injury and disaster. Berg instead goes for a more human tale of surviving against the odds.
The film wouldn't work without people that you care about that you want to see survive. Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, Gina Rodriguez and Dylan O'Brien all do a good job of making you care about these people and give good performances all round of people just doing their job trying to survive after BP wants the process rushed. Speaking of BP, John Malkovich gives a very good performance of the BP employee who you can tell doesn't really want to be there and doesn't care about the delicate process that must happen for the oil to be obtained.
Mark Wahlberg's Mike Williams is the main character. The film opens with him and mainly follows him. We see the most of his family out of the employees, and the scenes where he is with his wife and daughter at the beginning help to establish him as a good person. As I said, this is a human story of survival, and there is a very well done scene at the end of the survivors off the rig that ends the film in the only way I can think of that would work.
Peter Berg has found his niche in making based on true story films that show the triumph of the human spirit in the face of extreme conditions. Both this and Lone Survivor are well made tributes to the men and women who had to endure these adverse situations. He and Mark Wahlberg obviously work well together and I'm interested in seeing Patriot's Day when it's released.
And the sound during the scenes of the oil rig undergoing the oil spill is very well designed and used.
In short: Deepwater Horizon is a very well made tribute to those that had to endure these events with good performances, good direction and great sound design.
Deepwater Horizon is directed by Peter Berg and is the story of the disaster on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in April 2010.
My delay actually helped me here. Since it's based on a true story of a terrible disaster, I wanted to think of a way to write this review honestly while being respectful. Being respectful to those involved and those who lost their live on the oil rig is something Peter Berg and writers Matthew Michael Carnahan and Michael Sand did very well. They could have made it a big effects extravaganza, but instead focused on the characters trying to survive the disaster. If they had gone for the former then it would be a case of literally profiting off of death, injury and disaster. Berg instead goes for a more human tale of surviving against the odds.
The film wouldn't work without people that you care about that you want to see survive. Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, Gina Rodriguez and Dylan O'Brien all do a good job of making you care about these people and give good performances all round of people just doing their job trying to survive after BP wants the process rushed. Speaking of BP, John Malkovich gives a very good performance of the BP employee who you can tell doesn't really want to be there and doesn't care about the delicate process that must happen for the oil to be obtained.
Mark Wahlberg's Mike Williams is the main character. The film opens with him and mainly follows him. We see the most of his family out of the employees, and the scenes where he is with his wife and daughter at the beginning help to establish him as a good person. As I said, this is a human story of survival, and there is a very well done scene at the end of the survivors off the rig that ends the film in the only way I can think of that would work.
Peter Berg has found his niche in making based on true story films that show the triumph of the human spirit in the face of extreme conditions. Both this and Lone Survivor are well made tributes to the men and women who had to endure these adverse situations. He and Mark Wahlberg obviously work well together and I'm interested in seeing Patriot's Day when it's released.
And the sound during the scenes of the oil rig undergoing the oil spill is very well designed and used.
In short: Deepwater Horizon is a very well made tribute to those that had to endure these events with good performances, good direction and great sound design.
Monday, 21 November 2016
The Magnificent Seven (2016) review
Antoine Fuqua's The Magnificent Seven is the story of seven outlaws who band together to protect a town from evil people(I honestly can't remember what they were).
The problem with this review is I can't remember the villain and his faceless army, along with other aspects of this film. I remember enjoying it at the time but now I realize it is forgettable. It suffers from the same problem as Man of Steel, and that is the last 30-40 minutes is pure action and destruction. In MoS I find the city destroying action to be out of place with the rest of the film(the first two thirds is the best film Zack Snyder has made), while The Magnificent 7 I feel earns its long climactic action scene as the majority of the film is building up to it. Having said that it all blurs into one and there are only a few memorable sequences from it.
I remember the seven being likeable and working well together, even if Manuel Garcia-Rulfio and Martin Sensmeier were there to fill out the seven and were given no character development outside of the wanted Mexican and the banished Native American. I was quite glad that they didn't take the easy way out and had characters die and make reasonable decisions instead of everyone miraculously surviving and making unrealistic plans.
I realise I've not talked about much but as I said, I've forgotten a lot of it.
In short: The Magnificent Seven is forgettable but has a cast that work well together and is fun at the time.
The problem with this review is I can't remember the villain and his faceless army, along with other aspects of this film. I remember enjoying it at the time but now I realize it is forgettable. It suffers from the same problem as Man of Steel, and that is the last 30-40 minutes is pure action and destruction. In MoS I find the city destroying action to be out of place with the rest of the film(the first two thirds is the best film Zack Snyder has made), while The Magnificent 7 I feel earns its long climactic action scene as the majority of the film is building up to it. Having said that it all blurs into one and there are only a few memorable sequences from it.
I remember the seven being likeable and working well together, even if Manuel Garcia-Rulfio and Martin Sensmeier were there to fill out the seven and were given no character development outside of the wanted Mexican and the banished Native American. I was quite glad that they didn't take the easy way out and had characters die and make reasonable decisions instead of everyone miraculously surviving and making unrealistic plans.
I realise I've not talked about much but as I said, I've forgotten a lot of it.
In short: The Magnificent Seven is forgettable but has a cast that work well together and is fun at the time.
War on Everyone review
War on Everyone is a comedy by John Michael McDonagh about two corrupt cops(Michael Peña and Alexander Skarsgård) who get involved with a dangerous crime lord.
This film is not for everyone. If you're offended easily you will hate it before the first five minutes are over. It goes out to offend everyone in it's sights, and has a lot of fun doing so. Your enjoyment of the film is based on whether you are able to laugh along with the film at the cast of racist, sexist, homophobic, all round terrible people. If it had been made with proper hatred by McDonagh then it would come across as so and the film wouldn't be anywhere near as funny as it is. But there is the sense that he is doing it all tongue in cheek and just wanted to make the most politically incorrect movie he could.
Which brings me onto the story. It is rather weak and is used as a way for the characters to get from one joke to another. In this case it doesn't seem as though McDonagh ever wanted to create a complex case for these two to be involved in and wanted to focus on the characters instead. On the surface Terry and Bob are shallow and hateful, but are much more complex than that. I've seen Michael Peña in several comedic roles in the past, but I don't remember Alexander Skarsgård ever making me laugh as much as he did. His comic timing was perfect and I would quite like to see him do more comedic roles instead of the usual dark and dramatic roles.
In short: War on Everyone is good fun as long as you are able to go along with it's dark and offensive tone.
This film is not for everyone. If you're offended easily you will hate it before the first five minutes are over. It goes out to offend everyone in it's sights, and has a lot of fun doing so. Your enjoyment of the film is based on whether you are able to laugh along with the film at the cast of racist, sexist, homophobic, all round terrible people. If it had been made with proper hatred by McDonagh then it would come across as so and the film wouldn't be anywhere near as funny as it is. But there is the sense that he is doing it all tongue in cheek and just wanted to make the most politically incorrect movie he could.
Which brings me onto the story. It is rather weak and is used as a way for the characters to get from one joke to another. In this case it doesn't seem as though McDonagh ever wanted to create a complex case for these two to be involved in and wanted to focus on the characters instead. On the surface Terry and Bob are shallow and hateful, but are much more complex than that. I've seen Michael Peña in several comedic roles in the past, but I don't remember Alexander Skarsgård ever making me laugh as much as he did. His comic timing was perfect and I would quite like to see him do more comedic roles instead of the usual dark and dramatic roles.
In short: War on Everyone is good fun as long as you are able to go along with it's dark and offensive tone.
Kubo and the Two Strings review
Tis is unreasonably late, I realize that. I can try to think of an excuse but I can't, and I'm sorry for that. But it's better to do short reviews for everything I've seen in the last two months than to give up completely on something I said I would start. I'm sorry if anyone has been waiting patiently for more reviews, though unless a following has been formed in my absence I doubt it.
Travis Knight's Kubo and the Two Strings is the story of a boy named Kubo who, along with a monkey and a beetle, tries to fight back against evil forces.
Laika are masters at stop motion animation. Along with Aardman they are helping keep this classic animation style alive while more and more animated films opt for the computer animated approach. Obviously there's nothing wrong with cgi animation, but there is a sense of reality lost when it is not hand drawn or sculpted. Some of the set pieces in Kubo made me wonder how they were able to achieve it, particularly the giant and climactic scenes. Kubo, like Coraline, has a strong story at the centre, which compliments the fantastic visuals and makes the film as a whole more complete. I'm not saying Paranorman and The Boxtrolls have weak stories, I'm simply saying that the stories of Kubo and Coraline are more integral to the films working, while Paranorman and The Boxtrolls will occasionally rely on jokes. It is especially obvious how important the story is as the first lines are the Michael-Caine-esque "If you must blink, do it now".
A problem I face with Kubo(which has nothing to do with the predominantly white cast) is that it's too short. I wanted to spend more time with these characters and learning about the mythology of this world. But stop motion is a lengthy process(as seen in the end credits) so it would have taken a lot longer to make the film if it were two hours long. And there was a moment which I saw coming for reasons completely unrelated to the film which I shouldn't have put together.
In short: I really enjoyed Kubo and the Two Strings and would highly recommend it to anyone, whether it be for the fantastic visuals or the complex and emotional story.
Travis Knight's Kubo and the Two Strings is the story of a boy named Kubo who, along with a monkey and a beetle, tries to fight back against evil forces.
Laika are masters at stop motion animation. Along with Aardman they are helping keep this classic animation style alive while more and more animated films opt for the computer animated approach. Obviously there's nothing wrong with cgi animation, but there is a sense of reality lost when it is not hand drawn or sculpted. Some of the set pieces in Kubo made me wonder how they were able to achieve it, particularly the giant and climactic scenes. Kubo, like Coraline, has a strong story at the centre, which compliments the fantastic visuals and makes the film as a whole more complete. I'm not saying Paranorman and The Boxtrolls have weak stories, I'm simply saying that the stories of Kubo and Coraline are more integral to the films working, while Paranorman and The Boxtrolls will occasionally rely on jokes. It is especially obvious how important the story is as the first lines are the Michael-Caine-esque "If you must blink, do it now".
A problem I face with Kubo(which has nothing to do with the predominantly white cast) is that it's too short. I wanted to spend more time with these characters and learning about the mythology of this world. But stop motion is a lengthy process(as seen in the end credits) so it would have taken a lot longer to make the film if it were two hours long. And there was a moment which I saw coming for reasons completely unrelated to the film which I shouldn't have put together.
In short: I really enjoyed Kubo and the Two Strings and would highly recommend it to anyone, whether it be for the fantastic visuals or the complex and emotional story.
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