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Category: Film reviews (2019) (Page 4 of 6)

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile review “Making serial killers sexy again…”

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile movie posterDon’t you just love a sexy serial killer? Hollywood certainly does. Recent onscreen depictions have been accused of romanticising men who have committed atrocious crimes because the actors chosen to play them are significantly more attractive. For example, Ross Lynch, the teen heartthrob star of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, played serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer back in 2018; a man who brutally raped and murdered 17 men and boys from 1978 to 1991.

In the same year, former Glee star Darren Criss was cast as Andrew Cunanan, the spree killer who murdered five people during a three month period in 1997.  Now it’s the turn of serial killer and rapist Ted Bundy to receive an aesthetic upgrade in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, directed by Joe Berlinger. Continue reading

Aladdin review “Don’t let us down Guy Ritchie”

Aladdin movie posterAlong with Beauty & The Beast and The Lion King, Aladdin is one of Disney’s most-loved animated films. With Disney’s penchant for remaking their classic cartoons over the last few years, it was always going to be the case that Aladdin was going to be on the cards.

Director Bill Condon’s Beauty & The Beast was an enchanting ride that just fell short of living up to its predecessor and The Jungle Book director Jon Favreau has been tasked with bringing The Lion King back to life in live-action. We’ll find out how he gets on in July. Continue reading

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum review “Have you ever heard exclamations of disgust and awe?”

John Wick 3 posterWhen John Wick came out in 2014, most people had written off Keanu Reeves as something of a Steven Seagal or a Jean-Claude Van Damme type, being big in the late 80s and throughout the 90s and now only starring in really bad movies, but after John Wick, Keanu Reeves is… well he still stars in a lot of awful movies like Replicas, but now he is also in an actually good franchise with the John Wick films.

The first film is an action-packed thrill ride which delves into a dark criminal underworld with a secret alliance of assassins and mysterious coins. The second film dives deeper into the world building and mythology of the John Wick Universe with learning more about the Continental hotel and the process of being excommunicated. Soon, we’re getting an entire TV Show about the Continental. Before getting into that though, let’s start with the third movie in the franchise, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, or as I call it, “John Wick and the movie with too many subtitles”. Continue reading

Pokémon: Detective Pikachu review “Totally Onix-pected”

Detective Pikachu movie posterBefore we begin, I must apologise for the bad pun, but if any franchise deserves a pun for their first live-action movie adaptation, it’s Pokémon. Growing up in 90s Britain, Pokémon was absolutely everywhere. You couldn’t turn a street corner without seeing Pikachu and  his sidekick Ash (or should that be the other way around) emblazoned across every toy shop window or on every bus. It was a true phenomenon that took the world by storm like nothing else.

Fast forward to 2019 and perhaps even more impressively, Pokémon is still very much in people’s consciousness. The adorable Pocket Monsters, if we are referring to them with their full title, are still something of a cultural mainstay across the globe – yet true global box-office success has eluded them. Continue reading

Tolkien review “We Get It! You’re Pretentious!”

Tolkien movie posterImagine a thin sheet layer of ice spread over a super deep lake. Now imagine that a person steps on the ice and falls through. When they try to get out, they can make some small dents, even punching holes through the ice at points, but at the end they remain stuck in the water. That’s how I’d describe Tolkien.

There is this thin layer of a really boring biopic about the life of J.R.R Tolkien, writer of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, and that person is this enjoyable romantic war film that I think is what this film should have been. Heck, it’s not like the Tolkien family actually worked with the filmmakers, they actually disowned the film! Well, that’s besides the point. Let’s dive right into Tolkien. Continue reading

Eighth Grade review “Charming and painfully honest”

Eighth Grade movie posterYouTube comedian-turned internet sensation-turned filmmaker Bo Burnham recently described his directorial debut as “an attempt to represent the kids who live their lives online.” To describe Eighth Grade (2018) as merely an attempt would be a true disservice. Burnham feature debut is a exquisitely insightful look into the agony of growing up in the age of the internet.

Hailed by many as a strikingly accurate portrayal of what it means to be a Gen Z-er, Burnham prompts an in-depth conversation about the plight of ‘post-millennials’ who, in his own words, have been “forced by a culture they did not create to be conscious of themselves at every moment.” Yet for all for it’s cutting cultural commentary, Eight Grade succeeds because Burnham has created a universally human story; one that gives you all the laughs and all the feels. Continue reading

Avengers: Endgame review “The MCU will never be the same again”

Avengers: Endgame posterI’m not going to sit here and tell you that Avengers: Endgame is the best movie of the MCU, because frankly; it isn’t. It’s not even in my top three. However, as a culmination of everything Marvel has been working up to since 2008, it has to be applauded.

From a technical standpoint, Endgame is like nothing else we’ve ever seen come to the big screen, with a cast that pushes the film to breaking point, characters we remember from movies past and some we had perhaps forgotten about hit the screen in epic fashion. But how good is the finished product? Continue reading

Us review “Smart and stylish”

Us movie posterPeele’s sudden and swift success with Get Out (2017) left many wondering if the sketch comedian turned director really could be the horror pantheon’s saviour. After a lean half century brimming with blood, gore and gratuitous torture porn, the genre emerged into something of a renaissance. Following the release of Get Out came a swath of imaginative and intelligent thrillers like Raw (2016), The Babadook (2014) and It Follows (2014) and the horror genre began to establish itself as the go-to vehicle for social commentary.

By far the most commercially successful iteration was Get Out, which grossed just over $250 million worldwide. But after such overwhelming success, could Peele really do it again with Us? Well, the answer is yes. Just as Get Out was a chilling survival horror that had oh-so-relevant things to say about the African-American experience, Us is a chilling survival horror that equally has a significant amount to say about duality, privilege and the swelling vein of apathy running through the heart of America. Continue reading

Stan & Ollie review “It’s not Bohemian Rhapsody, that’s for sure”

Stan & Ollie movie posterAfter Stan & Ollie finished, all I could think of was Bohemian Rhapsody. This was not unusual for me at the time. Bryan Singer’s travesty that we were politely referring to as a “movie” had really wormed its way into my psyche. Not just because it was so bad— and it was so unbelievably bad— but also because everyone seemed to like it. When I asked anyone why their answer was “it’s about Queen, why wouldn’t I like it?”

This shouldn’t surprise me, of course, people love biopics. There’s something exciting about seeing people who were real brought to life on screen. The issue is that biopics are often awful. There exists, I think, a desire to capture every part of a person’s life. Continue reading

The Dirt Review “Lives up to its name”

The Dirt movie posterThere has been an influx of movies about legendary singers and bands in recent times. From the Oscar-winning Bohemian Rhapsody to the soon-to-be-released Elton John biopic, Rocketman, audiences have been screaming out for their eyes and ears to be satisfied at the same time. It seems only fitting, then, for one of the biggest rock bands of the 80s to also get their own flick.

The Dirt follows the legendary group Motley Crue, as we chart their rise from messing about in their apartment to playing to thousands of people all over the world. It’s a tale of debauchery, hedonism, and downright dirtiness – but at least it lives up to its name. Continue reading

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