Pinocchio

Now I'll be honest I haven't really been excited for this film especially when it hasn't really been marketed that much and its a Disney+ release only and this may be controversial but I don't really like the original Pinocchio either. The one saving grace that made me have a little bit of confidence in it was Tom Hanks was cast and considering once in a blue moon he does a bad film, I thought there had to be a reason he wanted to do this film.

Well turns out the moon was blue when this film was released because wow was this a real misfire. I was left wondering if Tom Hanks was blackmailed into doing this film because he is so much better than this film.

And that is my first positive. I just love Tom Hanks and any film he is in is a pleasure to watch just for him. He does bring some nice charisma and joy with his scenes. There's are some nice performances also from Joseph Gordon Levitt, Luke Evans, the voice actor for Pinocchio himself etc. The acting is really good I will give it credit for that.

Now whilst there aren't many, there's one change in particular I did like and that was making Monstro a sea monster rather than a whale. When this film has talking foxes and crickets and transforming donkeys, a sea monster doesn't sound too far fetched so I did like that.

And in fairness I will say this is a watchable film. I don't think it's good but if anyone I know wanted to watch it, I wouldn't hate it all the way through. I can have a decent time whilst not liking it.

Now moving onto the negatives. Let's just the easy one out of the way. This film is a shot to shot remake with very little difference to the original. Because of this, it feels unnecessary and feels very uninspired. As someone who champions remakes, it really disappoints me when studios decide to remake a film by just translating the original shot by shot. It's so lazy and an obvious cash grab. If you're gonna remake a film, keep the main concept but change the story or tell it differently.

I've always felt the story of Pinocchio would make for a great horror film. If you really think about the original film and break it down, it's actually quite scary and has potential for a visually stunning horror film so I'd love to see that dome someday.

And because its shot for shot, it commits the same flaws I feel the original makes and first it feels a little overstuffed. It's longer so it's got time to spread the plotlines out more but it does still feel overstuffed.

Also one of the reasons I don't like the original Pinocchio is because i have never liked the donkey subplot. It's a very dark subplot for a kids film and I find it very distasteful but most of all, once Pinocchio escapes its forgotten about. So when Pinocchio is continuing with his journey, I'm still thinking about how the donkey subplot was never concluded and the remake does nothing to update or fix that. All it does is add a musical number which left me wondering what the point of that was.

Now moving onto a more technical side, this film is very weird to look at. What I mean by that is when you have Tom Hanks surrounded by CGI characters and odd looking green screens, it makes this film feel really weird to look at. Also whose idea was it to make Pinocchio look like a cartoon character? He looks nothing like a boy made out of wood. He looks like he was plucked from the original film and had updated animation added onto him.

But what really got to me about me was how this film ended. It really felt like director Robert Zemeckis gave up, stop the final scene and went home. The third act feels so incomplete and there's a couple of plot points which seem to set up the epilogue of the 3rd act which in retrospect just now feels abandoned.

Overall this film really felt like a misfire and it wouldn't surprise me if reports came out saying there were production troubles because I do got the feeling there may have been some interference with the film the more I think about it. It baffles me how Disney came release a film like this that just feels unspired and just pointless.

⭐️⭐️

Bullet Train

This is my most anticipated action film of the year. I really like David Leitch as an action director, Brad Pitt doing an action film had me interested and I just liked the idea of it taking place on a bullet train. I did however get very burned out on seeing the trailers over and over and over (and over...) again whenever I went to the cinema but now it's finally out.

So kicking off with the positives, the best thing about this film is the action. The fight choreography, the hand to hand combat style, using anything you can as a weapon, it is all so well handled and staged. You can see everything that's happening and it's not overly edited.

David Leitch really knows how to handle action and although I'd like to see him take on different genres sometime, if he handles the action genre the way he is now, then by all means carry on with it. I mean fans of action films will absolutely enjoy what they get. There are broken bones, guns firing, blood splattering etc.

The cast is pretty great as well. I absolutely loved Brad Pitt in this film. Ever since I saw him in that big brutal fight sequence in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, I've wanted him to finally star in a big action film and maybe even have an action resurgence like Liam Neeson and he does not disappoint. You've also got standouts like Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Joey King and some A List cameos that I will not spoil so overall a pretty great cast.

There's some very well executed humour as well which mixes well with the style of the film. I was laughing a lot, the cast are making funny quips at one another, there's good physical humour, there's a flashback sequence where it kind of breaks the 4th wall, there's even a very funny moment involving a snake. That's all I'm gonna say.

And finally, it may be a 2 hour long film but it's so energetic and fast paced, you don't feel the runtime. There's not a boring or dull moment in the film, you're never tempted to check your watch, it's just an endlessly good time at the cinema.

But its not without its flaws so we got to move onto the negatives and the first thing that comes to mind is the storytelling feels very muddled. What I mean by that is the film will play chronologically first then pause for a flashback then play that into the current timeline and it does that throughout the film to the point where it gets repetitive.

And despite what I said about the runtime, the flashbacks do feel a bit like filler at times. Some of, if not most of the flashbacks aren't actually needed in the film and because the film is trying to tie all the flashbacks to the current events, it leaves the film feeling extremely messy and muddled.

But my biggest issue is the entire third act of the film. Once the third act kicks in, it becomes so over the top, so cartoonish, so CGI heavy and green screen reliant, it does take you out of the experience when the first 80% of the film is all grounded and mostly set in one location and you have to suspend a lot of disbelief as well.

And my final negative which I confess is a nitpick but it did bug me a bit is Brian Tyree Henry needs to sack his dialect coach. His British accent went in so many places. First he's cockney, then he went northern then you could hear his natural American accent as well.

But overall I did have a good time with this film. This would have been a great action film if it wasn't for the third act and whilst I will say this is the best action film of the year, unfortunately its not a very high bar for action films this year.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Prey

As someone who is a fan of the original Predator, I wasn't sure what to make of this film. So much of it sounded good but I didn't like the idea of it being straight to streaming, that always seemed like an odd thing to do.

So starting off with the positives, the best thing about this film is its pretty much a back to basics Predator film and what I mean that is there's no overreliance on technology, there's no world ending stakes, there's no expanded convoluted mythology, its just a self contained easy to watch Predator film.

It also helps that that this is a really well paced film. It's only 1h and 40mins, there's never a dull moment, it gets straight to the point and there's plenty of moment's to keep you entertained.

I also really liked the time period for this film. First I just liked seeing the Predator with all this futuristic technology going against these 1700 Comanche tribe warriors but like I said before, setting it in the 1700s helps feel like it's going back to its roots.

Moving onto the characters, I really liked the lead character. She's someone who you can connect with, very likable and charismatic and she's the sort of character who uses her survivalist techniques to take on the Predator. It's an example of lead characters who don't need to be professional fighters, who don't need to be massively buffed up and just need to use their mind to take on the threat.

The Predator itself is utilised very well as well. It actually feels like a character in this film because we spend time with it, see it adapt to its new environment and you root for it at times when it's attacked by other wildlife threats. It also helps that it just has an intimidating presence that keeps its original design but also has a couple of updates which really work.

The action is pretty great in this film. The action is shot really well and brilliantly choreographed. Limbs are cut off, blood is splattered, spines are ripped out and it is glorious to watch. There's one sequence in particular with the Predator that had me in awe at how well it was staged.

And finally I just appreciate we have gotten a great mid budget action thriller film. Blockbusters nowadays are always like $100-$200 million projects that sometimes feels unnecessary to be that overblown and here, we just have a film that is less than $100 million, has great practical effects, filmed on location and I would love to see more of these films in the future. Not everything has to be overblown.

Moving onto the mixed aspects and this isn't really good or bad, these are things you should know going in. First it states that it's a prequel to the original Predator but I would say you can watch this film on your own terms though I do recommend watching the original Predator.

Second as much as I enjoyed Prey and how great I thought it was, I wish I got to see it in the cinema on the big screen. Releasing it to streaming just didn't feel right for this sort of film and I think it would have easily made back its budget if released in cinemas.

Lastly, there's a good use of practical effects and CGI throughout the film but some of the CGI is very noticeable and at times feels unnecessary. It's not bad CGI but for what you get, you could easily achieve what you want practically.

Now moving onto the negatives and I don't have many at all. First and this is an odd one but the use of dialogue felt very strange. First I don't think this film even needed dialogue and could have worked better as a non speaking film but most importantly it felt weird having this 18th century comanche tribe speaking English throughout the film especially when they start using modern dialogue.

And my final negative and without going too far into negatives, I would have liked a more darker and ambiguous ending. I think this film could have benefited very well from that.

But overall this was a very refreshing great film that I would love to see a follow up to and I like and can have fun with most of the other Predator films, this feels like a truly great follow up to the original Predator.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Elvis

I'll admit I originally had no plans to review this film but after talking about it to others and thinking about the film, I felt influenced to get a lot of my thoughts out and as a point of reference, I like some of Elvis Presleys music but I wouldn't say I'm a massive fan of his.

Starting off with the positives, easily, without question, Austin Butler is amazingly cast as Elvis himself. Because he's such an iconic legend in music, Elvis has become a very easy target for many impersonations so I would say he's a very easy person to impersonate but such a difficult character to portray and Austin Butler absolutely embodies the character. He captures his mannerisms, his voice, his body movements without any of it coming off as cheesy or a bad impression. He feels like the character all throughout the film.

I think it also helps that Austin Butler isn't a known actor. I've heard of him but I've never seen him in anything and this is gonna be his breakout role without question. He shows he's got such potential as an actor when you watch this film and you just seen the character. Never once do you think you just see a performance, you see a character achieving his true potential as a megastar and although my brain isn't wired for oscars, Austin Butler is that amazing as Elvis Presley, he is my pick to win best actor as the next oscars.

Another standout is Tom Hanks. Now we know Tom Hanks is an amazing actor, he's been around for so many years and it's easy to forget just how good he is when he's such a iconic actor and he as well disappears into the character of Colonel Tom Parker. It probably helps he's covered in makeup and prosthetics but he gives such an incredible performance, he is my pick for best supporting actor. Again my brain isn't necessarily wired for Oscar's but how can you not think this once you see the main two performances in this film.

I also love that Baz Luhrmann just makes this film his own by injecting so much energy and style to it. It baffles me how a director like him can sign on to a project like this and come out with such an original stylistic format and I feel if any other director tried to do this film, no matter what they'd do, it would feel generic so Baz Luhrmann was just perfect to direct this film.

And luckily, it never feels like style over substance because ultimately this film does capture a lot of heart and emotion all throughout the runtime. When Elvis hits the high points, you feel it but when it hits the emotional low points, my god you feel them even more.

The production is also fantastic. From the set design, to the camera filters, to the costume recreations, you buy this film takes place between the 50s and 70s. Even when you get to the concert scenes, they feel so real, you feel like you're part of the screaming fans in the film.

Now I've hears a lot of criticism for choosing to tell the story of the film by focusing on Tom Parkers perspective but for me, that was a clever choice of storytelling because not only does it help Tom Hanks portray such a despicable character but it also helps root for the character of Elvis and want him to succeed.

And my final positive for this film is because of the high energetic concert scenes, the music stays in your head and urges you to listen to his Elvis's music after seeing the film or at least that has been my experience. I saw this film on Friday and the day after I started listening to his music and I haven't been able to stop.

However this isn't a perfect film so let's move onto the mixed aspects of the film. Now like I said, I love how stylistic this film is as it gives the film its own flavour but I am overall mixed over it because it does get a bit much at times. Half hour into the film, I already felt exhausted and still had a long way to go.

Now it's time for the negatives and don't worry, I don't have many at all but I do have to be honest.

This film is at least 20 minutes too long. It's 2 hours and 40 minutes long and by the 2 hour and 10 minute mark, I started to feel the film dragging on a bit. I think if it was tightened by 20 minutes, this would have been an almost perfect film.

Finally, (told you I didn't have many) and just to clarify this is a me thing but because of everything I said regarding the films style and runtime, I don't think this is a very rewatchable film. I can't see myself watching this film again for a long time now. I wouldn't be opposed but if I had the choice between this or another film I enjoy but of a lesser quality, I'm more than likely to go for the latter because its an easier watch.

But overall this is an incredible film that has so much award potential from the performances, to the screenplay, maybe even to the production. Austin Butler delivers a career defining performance and Baz Luhrmann could even get a best director nomination. I will even go as far to say this is the best made film of the year and I wouldn't argue if this was someone's favourite film of the year.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Jurassic World: Dominion

I have been really excited for this film since the ending of Fallen Kingdom. What that film sets up just made me love the concept so much and the potential it had. To also learn we'll be getting the original cast back as well just sealed my excitement but unfortunately I left the cinema feeling disappointed.

But first starting off with the positives.

I think this is easily the best cast we've got in this franchise and yes that is purely because we got Sam Neil, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum back from the original film and mixing them in with Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard and Isabelle Sermon just gives us an ensemble cast with great chemistry and some pretty good dynamics.

But we've also got Campbell Scott who was a nice surprise to see, DeWanda Wise who I've never seen before, the actor who was in Archive 81 earlier this year so this is a really strong chemistry filled cast and there's one shot in particular with most of them together that I just loved.

As usual the special effects are spectacular and you get a lot of really good dinosaur action all throughout this film so this is certainly an entertaining film due to the dino action and there's different varieties as well. There's a fantastic chase sequence, a plane sequence, an explosive third act so you never feel bored by the film.

And my final positive is Maisies human cloning storyline gets some more depth than it did in Fallen Kingdom and by the end has a really nice resolution to it and had some strong emotional scenes as well.

Unfortunately we now have to move onto the mixed aspects of the film.

So first is the characters. Like I said it's great to see these characters again and they have great screen presence but with Claire and Owen, they lack any sort of development that advance their characters further and with Ellie and Alan, whenever they appear for the first half of the film, their scenes felt like the least exciting part of the film and with Ian, he doesn't feel like a needed part of the story until again after the first half and even with his first scenes, they feel confusing in motivations.

Now let's talk about the character of Maisie. When this film gets to a certain point, you do become invested in her character quite a bit and she gets a very good character arc as well. But when she first appears for the first act, she is very unlikeable especially when you take in the context of the ending of Fallen Kingdom and the beginning of this film.

Now this film also explores some new story ideas that I appreciate. I've always liked this trilogy is exploring new elements to the franchise and its nice to see the franchise go in a different direction but the problem is whilst some of these stories are good but they feel like they belong in a different film and at times it feels like we're watching a different film at times.

There's also some scenes in this film that are going to divide audiences and they will call these scenes respected callbacks or uninspired rehash moments and whilst for me, I saw them as callbacks, I couldn't argue with anyone who saw them as rehash moments.

Now onto the negatives, let's get the easy one out of the way. This film fails to deliver the premise that was set up in Fallen Kingdom that had me excited the most. It focuses on it for like 20 minutes, forgets all about it and goes in the least exciting direction.

The next big issue with this film is the script is all over the place and filled with unnecessary plotlines. I counted at least seven different plotlines going on and because of all these plotlines, this film suffers on a main focused story. In fact if you asked me after seeing this film, what is the story to this film? I couldn't tell you because I would be giving you some individual plotlines instead. It actually felt like someone was running down a hall with different scripts for different films, tripped and fell, got all the scripts mixed up and just handed them to the Dominion team.

The biggest disappointment though I feel are with the dinosaurs. This is the only film in this film where the dinosaurs don't feel like a focus in a film that's about dinosaurs. They've always felt like characters in each films of the franchise but in this film, they instead feel like background noise or plot devices. This film features insects that are more prominent in a film about dinosaurs.

There's also another evil cooperation in this film but I was so confused at what their motivations were and the dialogue just felt like mumbo-jumbo. Never once did I feel a clear motive within this company and the villain in charge who was the most predictable villain I've ever seen is one of the worst characters I've seen this year.

Finally the way this film ends just makes all the events in this film just feel like filler and the ending of Fallen Kingdom feel pointless. It doesn't help that we get some very cheesy scenes that feel like they're from a bad wildlife documentary.

I'll be honest, doing this review has actually made me drop my score for this film and I'm a little nervous to rewatch it. I've was always entertained by this film but now I'm wondering if I'll even like it if I see it again. It's got enough entertainment value and great actors to work with but with a lack of main focus, a messy script and a failure to live up to the hype, this is a very disappointing film and so far the film that has disappointed me the most this year.

⭐️⭐️

Top Gun: Maverick

I originally had no intention to see this film because I am not a fan of the first film. Nothing against it but it just wasn't for me but I heard a lot of buzz that this film was supposed to be better and some friends were urging me to see it. So hesitantly, I went to see it convinced I would be the one to say it was overhyped and didn't enjoy as much as everyone else.

So kicking off the positives, let's just cut to the chase; I loved this film, I thought it was a massive step up from the first film and did a fantastic job of taking an 80s classic, keeping what so many fans loved about up and expand on the foundation that the original film set up. This film raises what's at stake, keeps the story simple, easy to follow and does it all with respect.

What helps most is this film has a great cast. Tom Cruise is back as Maverick and I just love that whilst he's known for being a major action star, you kind of forget what a great actor he actually is, you've got Miles Teller who I haven't seen for a good while, Jennifer Connelly, Glen Powell, Jon Hamm, Lewis Pullman who I didn't recognise until after halfway through the film and Ed Harris in a very small role.

I mean that's only a handful of who I mentioned and this cast is really impressive. They handled well by director Joseph Kosinski, they all give great performances, no one is the weak link of the ensemble and they all have great chemistry amongst each other.

Now I wanted this to be a separate placement but let's discuss the Val Kilmer appearance. Yes Val Kilmer is in this film and his scene is treated with such professionalism and respect. Its well known Val Kilmer has been seriously ill and had throat cancer so now he has trouble talking properly and integrating his illness into this film was just a beautiful scene to watch. It was easily my favourite scene of the whole film.

The flight sequences are outstanding to watch. Because the actors are actually flying the jets themselves, you feel their struggles, you feel their fears and when you see their faces contort due to the velocity, you really feel it. You know anything could possibly go wrong and because of that, the tension of the film keeps rising up and never stops until its over.

This film also features some surprising humour. Not a huge amount, it doesn't take away the tone but there's some very funny dialogue and well timed humour at times. There's one scene where Maverick has to climb out of a window and what happens during that scene has the funniest scene but also one of the most sincere and genuine heartfelt moments of the film.

This is also quite a thematic film that takes on the themes of redemption, regret, wishing you could've done things differently. These themes help work when you have a bunch of complex and interesting characters to work with and the journey that they go on in this film makes the story that this film features ultimately a redemption story and we get a lot of hard hitting and emotional scenes that these great actors are able to pull off.

But what made me really fall in love with the film is the amazing 3rd act. First the action sequences are amazing to watch and stunning to visualise but what really makes it work is the amount of payoff this film has for the character arcs, it completes subplots for the characters and even redeems a couple of characters as well. The third act even features such a crowd pleasing moment, it's hard not to cheer out loud which I will admit to doing. Sorry I honestly couldn't help it.

And as my final positive, the song "Take my Breath Away" is nowhere to be heard during the duration of this film. Why is this a positive? Because the original Top Gun made me hate that song the amount of times it played throughout that film and I have hated it ever since.

But unfortunately this is not a perfect film so let's move onto the negatives.

And the biggest fault with this film is somehow the entirety of the younger cast know all the lyrics to "Great Balls of Fire" and I do not buy that at all.

Yeah I'll be honest I was struggling for the negative and that's the best I could come up with. This is an incredible film and I really can't think of another negative for this film. I was so genuinely surprised by how much I loved this film and can see myself rewatching it a whole lot.

Overall I highly recommend this film. This is a legacy sequel that will please old time fans and will bring in newer fans as well. It has a whole lot of heart to it and if I had another way to describe it, it would be respectful.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Men

My anticipation for this film has been similar to the previous A24 films - low expectations, not really knowing what I'm in for however, so far the first two that I've seen have reached my top 10 so I wondered what this film will do for me. And as of right now, I am still processing what I've just watched.

Starting off with the positives, easily the best thing about the film is the visual side of it. From the countryside setting which is beautiful to look at, certain imagery which can feel creepy at times and especially the ending where gory events take place, and I've no idea whether CGI or practical effects were used but it looked so real.

Next on my list, the performances are fantastic. Jessie Buckley is able to carry this film all the way to the end and she does an incredible job with it.

Rory Kinnear pretty much has the most work to do since he is playing so many different characters which I will further talk about later on but from an acting stand point, they were incredible to watch.

I also loved the sense of dread and atmosphere amongst this film. The scene tunnel that is usually featured on the posters is the best standout. Just that one scene was able to show the eeriness this film reaches and during the night scenes, you just get the sense of how bad things are going to get. Wherever Jessie Buckleys character goes, nowhere feels safe whether its day or night. 

Even the use of lighting I just loved. From the creepy use of colour, to the uncomfortable use of darkness.

Revisiting my thoughts on the film, I think I do actually like the writing and storytelling for the film. Without going into spoilers, the reasons for Jessie Buckleys character going to the country house, her experiences all throughout and the non linear style approach in particular enable the feeling of a very well crafted and at times clever and thematic story of guilt.

However I did have some big problems with this film but let's moved into the mixed aspects first.

The only thing to talk about here is the pacing. Now this is a very slowly paced film and that works in its favour for some well executed build ups of tension. Unfortunately some scenes seem to go on for longer than they should and the first half does feel a bit too drawn out.

Now let's move onto the negatives. 

Now as much as I really liked the storytelling style, one aspect I didn't get is Rory Kinnear portraying all the men in the village of the film. I don't understand the artistic merit in that. Now it does lead to some creepy performances but the different wigs, fake facial hair and prosthetics just lead to some unintentional humour and it just took me away from the film at times. It also features Rory Kinnears face badly CGI-ed onto a 14 year old and wow, that was so distracting

Next, as much as I loved the look, some of the imagery was a bit much for me. I have a very strong stomach and have seen some very gory films in my life but some of the imagery especially towards the end was a bit much for me, I'll admit.

My biggest issue with this film is it portrays every man in this film as a misogynist. 

Now please do not take my words out of context. I'm very supportive of women and equal rights. I'm not someone who gets offended by women's views on patriarchal issues and the fact that some men have a very negative attitude towards women. That's not the reason I did not like the approach in this film. The reason I didn't like it first of all is because Rory Kinnear is portraying nearly all the men in this film, it becomes very predictable.

Second, it creates a metaphorical message that all men are the same and it is not just because of the characters Kinear portrays. All the other men in the film commit acts against women and it would have felt refreshing to have at least one other man in this film who doesn't hold misogynistic views or commit such actions against women so that it would have evened the film out a bit more. 

Thirdly, and I do understand there are some horrible evil misogynist men out there in the world but imagining a woman watching this film, if they're able to understand it of course; I think it would be pretty damaging to view a film that tells us "Men don't respect women", and that alone.

It also doesn't help that some of the dialogue does feel very preachy at times, in particular with a scene between Jessie Buckleys character and a vicar and I do feel these sorts of stories are always best told in a more subtle way so audiences don't feel like they're being preached at.

And finally whilst this film does feel very grounded in reality, there's some supernatural and let's just say unrealistic events during the third act that felt very out of place.

Overall this is a frustrating film because it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The more I think about it, I start to like it even more and there is a lot to admire performance wise, filmmaking wise and storytelling wise but it's mainly the message it attempts to convey, and certain creative choices that went a bit far for me and the third act does fall apart from reality.

Senior Year

I'll be perfectly honest, I had no intention of watching this film because I sort of knew I wouldn't like it but I wanted to be optimistic and give it a chance. It had also been a while since I watched a new Netflix film so I just figured why not. I've seen some bad or distasteful films this year so this couldn't be as bad as I thought and I was wrong. This was so much worse.

But I will be fair and start with the positives first as always (trust me, this will not take long) and in all fairness, Angourice Rice gives a really good performance in this film. She was my favourite performance in fact. It helps that besides Rebel Wilson, she's someone who I'm very familiar with and I do enjoy her as an actress. It was also a nice surprise to find out she's actually Australian. I always thought she was American but besides her, the rest of the cast, besides one who I will talk about, are fine. Just fine. No one in particular standouts but no one is completely terrible either.

And my final positive for this film is its on Netflix so if you really get tired of it that much, you can stop it whenever you want and never watch it again. It won't charge you anything besides your monthly Netflix charge and you do feel a big sense of achievement that you actually managed to make it through the film. Yeah I was just desperate for a positive at that stage.

Now onto the negatives. My god this film is insufferable to the point where I wanted to take a cheese grater to my head because that would have probably been more fun. But onto why, let's start with the biggest reason: Rebel Wilson. I have never liked her as an actress in any way and this film just affirms it for me. She is just cringe worthy all the way through and when she tries to go dramatic, I don't like to criticise acting but she's really bad. She attempt to cry and she looks like she's being blinded by a light whilst suffering from a toothache.

And it does not help that her character is equally just as bad. She is one of the most unlikeable protagonists I've ever seen. She's self indulgent, selfish and even though she does have an arc, it doesn't feel like she undergoes any sort of transformation.

And the characters in general are just as bad. They don't act like normal human beings at all. They feel so cartoonish is every scene they're in. The students feel like an exaggerated stereotypical definition of a typical student and the teachers are either bland or embarrassing to watch.

Now let's talk about the comedy. Where is it in this film? The comedy is nowhere to be seen and when there's attempted comedy, you are just cringing at the screen or just not laughing. There's just nothing funny about this film and that saddens me because the comedy genre does feel like its dying nowadays. Comedy is always going to be subjective but it feels like nowadays we just get the laziest possible jokes or attempts.

The writing in this film is also pretty terrible. First yes I know I'm watching a comedy but the concept of a cheerleader falling into a coma and waking up 20 years later just feels cheesy like it's from a Disney channel film. Then you have the school scenes which if you are bothered by a films interpretation of high school before, this one will bother you even more. Two students make out in class and the teacher just kindly asks them to stop like he's intimated by them and that's in the first 10 minutes.

The choices of music is also very odd. This is a film set in 2022 yet the music choices feel quite outdated. The first 20 minutes make enough sense but after that, the songs playing feel like they're in the wrong time period. I know this is a nit pick but when you're really not enjoying the film, you start to pick up on certain things.

And finally this film has some of the worst uses of political statements I've seen in a film. Now I would like to point out I am not against a film having something to say on society so please don't twist my words but the best way to do these sorts of messages is to interwoven it with the theme, tell it through story, make it relevant to the film. Senior year decides to make these statements by pausing for 5 minutes and talking about different subject matters like they're reading lines from a Wikipedia page and what's worse about that approach is you make the audience feel they're being preached at but not only that, the fact that this film is talking about multiple subject matters just make the film feel thematically unfocused.

There's one sequence in particular that got me the most. The film in one section wants to talk about consent which again is such an important issue to address and should be done more carefully than this film approach. I won't spoil it but the sequence in question feels quite offensive to the subject matter itself and what it's supposed to stand for and I've even spoken to women who were equally disgusted with this films approach.

So overall I hated this film. This is the first film this year I finished and just hated watching. I do not recommend it at all and this is also a film that I'd love to be a fly on the wall and just watch the actors reactions to the scenes they had to film. It's just baffling to me what the actors actually had to do.

⭐️

Firestarter

When this remake was first announced, I was very intrigued by the concept and the potential the story could have but my main worry was that it was under the studio Blumhouse and they have one of the most inconsistent quality controls of any studio out there. They have made films that are regarded some of the best of all time but they also have films that are some of the worst of all time so this was a nervous factor. And the fact that all the reviews claimed how bad this film was, my expectations were very low

But I was optimistic, I never watched a trailer and I will openly admit I have not seen the original so whatever I think of this film, Its purely based on what I watched but to my surprise and I may be in the minority here but I really liked this film.

So starting off with the positives, I really loved the main two stars of the film. Ryan Keira Armstrong is proving to become one hell of a rising star. I have only seen her in little parts but this is the first time I've seen her in a lead role and she completely holds her own in this film. Zac Efron actually surprised me a bit. He seems to be an actor who everyone, even me, forgets just how talented his really is. I never once saw him as a horror actor and was intrigued how'd he do in this film and he did really well. I would interested to see him do more horror work in the future.

Now the story was my main intrigued to this film and that did not disappoint. Now this is a similar concept to the film Carrie. A young girl with powers who gets made fun of and has no control over them. But this film does a good job at going in its own direction and not become a carbon copy of Carrie and in fact, ultimately this is a story about a man trying to protect his daughter and help her control her powers and as a fan of Sci-Fi, fantasy, superheroes etc, there are some scenes where I felt those moments. You get invested that this young girl could either use her powers for good or has the ability to cause global destruction unless she has proper guidance.

My biggest surprise with this film however is the world building. Without going into spoilers, as we get to learn the characters more, the world surrounding them starts to get more interesting and I'm unsure if this is  a change for this version or if it was in the original film but it was a pleasant surprise.

As a film that's just over 90 minutes, I think it's paced very well. There's never a moment where you feel the film is dragging and you're always engaged. Even when there's not a lot happening, you get some really nice heartfelt scenes.

As for the action, it's pretty well handled, there's a very good choreographed massacre scene at some point during the film, there's some decent kills and good injury detail and that is satisfying as a gore fan.

I also really liked the score to this film. It's composed by John Carpenter who can do some really iconic scores and whilst this isn't his best, it fits the film really well and sticks with you even when the film ends.

And finally this is a film that I can see at some point becoming a franchise. In an era where horror sequels feels more forced just for money, this film feels like its laying down the foundation for at least one sequel or a spinoff to explore more of the world that has been built up in this film.

Onto the mixed aspects, for me, its the ending. Without going into spoilers, I liked most of it but there are some choices made during the ending that had me a little frustrated and touching onto something I'll mention more in the negatives, one moment didn't feel fully earned.

Onto the negatives now and the first thing is besides the main two characters, the rest of the characters are pretty forgettable. They feel like they're there to fit the purpose of the story rather have their own arc. Even when it comes to the mother of the film, she's essentially a plot device to serve Armstrongs character development.

This is also a film where it felt very unfocused at what it wanted to be. First of all, this film never once felt like a horror film. It feels like a mix of drama, Sci-Fi, thriller but never once did I get any horror vibes which was disappointing.

And finally I think this film should have been close to 2 hours rather than 90 minutes as some story elements feel rushed especially when it comes to exploring the characters powers and abilities.

So overall this is nowhere near the inferno (excuse the pun) I expected it to be. This is not the best horror film I've seen this year, mainly because it never felt like one but it's certainly not the worst or even in my bottom 10 of this year and I would urge people to give it a shot.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Doctor strange in the multiverse of madness

Now going into this film, I wanted to be as blind as possible. I avoided all the trailers I could, I logged out of social media, I even went as far to cover my phone and tablet screen when I went on YouTube in case of any leaked footage and I think it's a shame it has actually come to this in this day and age. Its hard to market movies nowadays due to trailers showing the entire film but then to have trolls intention leak spoilers for their enjoyment is a really crappy feeling for people who want to be genuinely surprised by these sorts of films.

But it's now time to talk about the positives of Doctor Strange 2 and I have a lot. For me the best thing about this film is this is the first time probably since Captain America: The winter soldier I felt such freedom from a director to tell their own story. I love the MCU but even I have to admit a lot of the films feel very similar due to the tone. A lot of directors styles get sacrificed to fit with the MCU tone and brand. However Sam Raimi has his own freedom and ability to change all that. His brings his own style to this film with plenty of goofy and dark moments.

And when he goes dark, as a horror fan, it is just beautiful. There are a couple of moments where there's a couple of jump scares and not only do they feel like fun call backs to his earlier films, they also feel very earned. It also surprises me how much freedom he had. This is also the first time since The Winter Soldier I have felt such genre blending within the MCU. Its part superhero and part horror but explores a lot of elements within the latter genre. One scene in particular had me really excited as a slasher fan. I will say no more. But most of all, this is a film with a lot of heart to it and can be quite thought provoking I have to say and I love it when a film can blend multiple genres but can still feel tonally consistent.

Moving past that, I think this film improves amomg the characters and the dynamics between them. The first film suffers from bland characters and an severely underused Rachel McAdams. This film changes that. The bland ones are either not in this film at all or are regulated to cameos and Rachel McAdams becomes a main part of the story in a great way. Wong also gets some great moments within this film.

America Chavez is also a great addition to this film. Now she is the main narrative driving this film and that does risk her feeling like a plot device but she is also able to stand out on her own as a character and there's some really touching scenes between her and Doctor Strange and I wouldn't oppose to her starring in her own solo film.

Now let's talk about the main two stars, Benedict Cumberbatch and Elizabeth Olsen. Cumberbatch is incredible as Doctor Strange and his characters feels so much more utilised than the first film. From his development as a character, to his power ability to his placement in the story. But Olsen actually steals the show for me personally. She has the best standout moments in my opinion but the best thing about her is it feels like she has a true character arc across her journey in the MCU.

Now talking on a technical basis, I really like the colour pallet throughout the film. From bright colouring to a sort of dull look at times but dull in a good way, I cinematography is very creative at times with its shot transitions and the score feels more fleshed out thanks to Danny Elfman. Its been a while since he's done a score that has stood out to me. The visuals are also outstanding, I love how technology has gone forward we can have visuals and special effects as good as these are.

Now there are some cameos but I am not saying anything other than they are welcome to the film, there are some nice surprises, they fit among the story and they don't feel like glorified eye rolling moments.

The humour is still there as always and thankfully the humour feels more organic in this film. Again in the first film, the humour felt incredibly forced but in this film, there was some genuinely funny moments due to the dialogue or character interactions.

This is also quite a thematic film brought on from the consequences of The Blip in Infinity war and is current throughout the film. Is the hero the danger of the story, that is a very interesting subject brought to us and I love it when a film has a film going through it.

To my surprise as well, for a film that's is just over two hours, it actually felt longer and I say that as a good thing. It doesn't feel rushed to me, at one point I felt this must be secretly more than 2 hours but no. Its just over two hours long and it feels evenly paced out.

And my final positive for this film is this genuinely feels like the first film on the MCU that feels different and I appreciate that so much. I do hope Marvel Studios learns from this and allows directors to inject their own style in their films to be more versatile and evolve even more.

However now it's time to move onto the mixed aspects of the film. Now the MCU is known to be more targeted for families due to the Disney brand, not thats a bad thing but this is the first time where I do think parents should see this film first before taking their kids due to the horror content. It's not nightmare inducing but horror is subjective amongst people.

Also because this is starring Wanda and takes place after WandaVision, I do think you need to watch WandaVision before seeing this film. You can work out the main plot in context if you really watch and think about it but it will help you understand the story if you watch WandaVision first.

Finally there are two post credit scenes, one sets up a future film and is very exciting to watch, the next is very fun and quite clever but not really worth sitting through the credits.

Now onto the negatives, Mordo felt wasted in this film. Story wise, his presence kind of made sense but his placement could have been any other character in this film. He doesn't add anything to the story in my opinion which is a little disappointing given the character comic counterpart.

There also feels like a bit too much is going on at times within the story. Certain story elements feel they could have dedicated a bit of extra time to them or cut them out and save them for a third film that we are getting.

But overall I loved this film. Now granted this is a first time watch and I'm almost finished with an MCU film ranking and I do want to rewatch it but I think this could potentially be top 5 MCU for me personally. I loved so much of this film and I think it will win the hearts of those who weren't fans of the first Doctor Strange.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Morbius

Let's be honest, no one has really been excited for this film but I was always curious what it would be like. I like the character of Michael Morbius but never really liked the idea of him getting his own solo film but I was always at least a little intrigued and after seeing it, let's just say I have some thoughts.

Starting off with the positives, for all that it's worth, I think Jared Leto does give a very good performance. He does feel like a good casting for the character of Michael Morbius. I also do like Matt Smith as the villain. A little over the top, yes but he does give a good performance. Its also nice to see other actors like Tyrese Gibson and Jared Harris as well.

I also do like the design of Morbius. Not only does he look like an actual vampire but he does feel comic accurate and has a nice intimidation factor to him.

And whilst I do have some further thoughts on the film, I do think this is a watchable film. If its background noise or sometime to watch if there's nothing else on, I could see myself rewatching this for a bit of entertainment. I also do like the score to this film.

Moving onto the mixed, first is the action. Now whilst I like some of the set pieces and sequences in the film, there's times where you can't really see what's happening and feels a little messy.

I'm also mixed on the story. Now the idea of a scientist who's dying, turns himself into a monster, tries to fight it and slowly succumbs to the urges sounds incredible. In fact if this film got the Joker treatment and wasn't a superhero movie, I think this film would be a great film. Unfortunately the execution just felt a little off.

And finally whilst I do like the design of Morbius, it's obvious they're using CGI rather than makeup and prosthetics and it feels very distracting at times.

Now onto the negatives, I forgot about the film straight after watching it. That's how forgettable it is. Now some people have accused me of falling asleep but that's not the case here. This is a highly forgettable by the numbers generic superhero movie that has nothing to say other than boxes it's trying to tick. Everything in it feels dull and bland.

I also feel sorry for the director because this film feels like the studio made the entire film and he was just a credit. Everything in this film just feels lifeless. There's nothing distinct or memorable about this film. With the Venom films, you have the bromance between Eddie and Venom as the standout. With Morbius you just have nothing that sticks out to you. Nothing feels inspired at all.

And as much as I like Tyrese Gibson, he's just given nothing to do by the script and as someone who's known to have a wide personality or play characters with them, he gives such a lifeless performance to the point where he feels bored.

You can also tell this is a film that was heavily reworked and mandated by the studio. You can see plotlines that are forgotten about or glossed over. I also felt the origins and transformation for Morbius was extremely rushed.

Now let's just talk about the marketing and this is the big one. Sony added in Spider-Man references and other previous Marvel aspects to trick audiences into seeing this film and play with their expectations and they are nowhere to be seen besides one scene which I will talk about and that angers me. Sony hasn't made a film for the fans, they've made a cash grab with trailers that manipulate people in seeing their content and that is unforgivable.

It also makes me wonder how Sony have come to this. They used to be a great studio but since The Amazing Spider Man 2 controversy, they have become a toxic studio. How they treat their directors and play with the fans expectations is why I have grown not to trust them anymore. Why I do not want an 3rd film in the Amazing Spider Man series is because I just do not trust them to do it well.

Now there's one more thing I want to talk about but I want to talk about it in detail so first I'm going to provide my rating and recommendation.

Overall this film is a dull lifeless film with nothing to show. I will neither disappoint nor surprise you. It just leave you feeling nothing which is what I felt. Do not waste your time or money. Just wait for it to stream or just avoid it.

⭐️⭐️

Now this next part will contain spoilers so I highly urge you to turn away now if you have not seen the film. Or if you're not bothered about spoilers then read freely.

So there's a post credit scene with Michael Keatons Adrian Toomes from Spider man Homecoming appears after being transported to the timeline due to the events of No Way Home. First that makes no sense because of what was happening in No Way Home, characters who knew Spider-Man were coming into his universe. Not leaving his universe and those who did leave his universe were never part of his universe where Adrian Toomes is part of his universe.

Then later on, he appears as the Vulture and talks to Morbius about getting revenge on Spider-Man. That is where my anger resurfaces. First and a minor thing but his Vulture suit seems different. A slight modification, I could be wrong though so don't quote me on this one.

Now let's delve into the bigger ones. First Toomes Vulture suit is made from Chitauri metal so how did he manage to recreate the suit? But the bigger reason why I don't like this is it ruins the character of Adrian Toomes. He was just a man who wanted to provide for his family, got stopped by Spider-Man but never wanted revenge on him. He kept his identity secret from others to protect him and that's what made such a great character. Now they've taking that great character and just potentially made him a generic villain and worse of all to set up a sinister six team up.

Now first Morbius doesn't even know who Spider-Man is and we don't even know if Spider-Man exists in this universe. Second, I would love to see a sinister six team up someday but Sony are seriously fumbling it all up. Instead of slowly building it up properly, they are once again rushing and even cheating to get it done and this just feels like a very shallow attempt at it.

That's all I wanted to say really. This film had a little of potential but I will be surprised if we ever see a follow up to this film and I am now looking forward to the upcoming Kraven film even less than I was before. And don't even get me started on the Madame Web movie.

Ambulance

This is one of my most anticipated films of the year. I love Jake Gyllanhael as an actor, this felt like a high action blockbuster and just the concept itself had me excited and wow. Was this film disappointing!

But I will be kind first with some positives. The cast overall are really good. Jake Gyllanhael just chews up the scene as this deranged character, Yahya Abdul-Mateen brings a lot of complexity and moral to his character and Eiza Gonzales is a great strong Co lead and her and Mateens characters were my favourite parts of the film.

I also liked the some of the ambulance procedural stuff that gets introduced to the film. It's used very efficiently and at a point of the film, it becomes a crucial stage of the film with the few bits of tension that we get in the film.

And with the aerial shots that we get and the driving sequences, the city of Los Angeles feels like a character within itself. In fact the city has so much screen time and feels so prominent to the film, I'm surprised it didn't appear with the lead cast during the credits. At one point I started wondering who we saw more of? The characters or the city of Los Angeles! There's also some nice usage of stunt work and practical effects.

Unfortunately now its time to delve into the negatives and I will be honest. I don't even know where to begin with this film. This is one of the messiest films I've seen in a long time. On concept and on a character based level, this should be a film with a lot of complexity and high stakes to it and yet it becomes such an incomprehensible mess.

First of all, who the hell filmed this film? Did Michael Bay become desperate and hire a child or was the camera man drunk throughout this film? The film making is terrible. There's so many shots that appear out of frame and so much shaky cam involved as well. It baffles me that this actually made to the release stage of the process. And with the amount of aerial shots and camera maneuvers, it actually starts to become a little disorienting. I also started wondering at one point who had more screen time in this film.

And with this being a Michael Bay film, you'd expect to see at least some decent action right? Unfortunately not because it is horrendously edited to the point of so many quick cuts, you can't make out what is happening. You can't feel the stakes because you can't see who's getting shot at. You can't get invested into the action because the editing is so bad.

The tone is a bit of an issue as well because it tries to be this serious action packed film but it has a lot of unnecessary humour that makes it feel tonally confused.

Now let's talk about Jake Gyllanhaels character. His performance, great! His character though is very one dimensional and lacked a lot of development and when it seems he is going to get some, I never really bought it and it never felt earned. 

There's also some really weird choices of music involved as well that does not fit the film at all and just feels incredibly random. And speaking of music, the score to this film is just as bad. It just feels like musical noise rather than a film score.

I also felt this film had a lot of logic issues as well from the ambulance never running out of fuel, to the medical procedures, it just never felt like the writing was ever at thought during this film.

And finally because this film is so chaotic, you don't ever feel the stakes, you don't think anyone is in danger and eventually you start to feel bored and mostly because this film is 136 minutes long where the concept itself feels it should be a little under 2 hours so this really stretches its runtime to an extreme.

So overall save your money because this is a film that is not worth it. This was such a disappointing experience and is so far the worst film I've seen this year. Do not waste your time with it because even the worst Transformers film is a better film than this. I just can't recommend it at all.

⭐️

X

This is a film that has had me curious since I first heard about it. Now I love slasher films and I liked the idea of the premise but I had one major worry and that was this is a film made by the studio A24. Now if you're unfamiliar with that studio, they are known for making very slow artistic styled films and despite a couple here and there, I haven't really enjoyed much that they've released. However on this occasion, that is not the case.

Starting off with the positives, the best thing about X is that this is a film going for a more ambiguous story. A lot of slasher films end up just going for a cheesy B movie type experience and whilst I do naturally enjoy those sorts of films, it's nice to see a slasher film go for a more prestige direction and taken seriously.

And what helps enhance the story is that we spend time with the villains of the film. We get to explore things from their point of view and their world differences and you get to a point where you actually understand and sympathise with their motivations. With the villains, you eventually get an understanding for the story this film is going for and in a weird way and without going into spoilers, you feel a mix of sadness and heart towards the villains.

Next we have to talk about the characters and now I will say these are not the best characters I've seen but they definitely standout in this film and are very entertaining due to their personalities. You have the over the top alpha male who had me laughing throughout the film, the shy quiet girl type who's trying to come out of her shell, the cameraman who feels like he's out of the A24 archives, two women who are, putting it nicely, the more sexually active of the group and there's a good cast assembled as well. No one was badly acted or the weak link.

Now there's one character I want to talk about who I didn't include with the main cast and that is Kid Cudi's character. This guy had me cracking up throughout this film. This guys starts the film looking like a 70s disco tribute act then later on, this guy is naked pretty much the rest of the film and it made me laugh so much how often this guy would happily walk around fully nude.

And as this is an A24 film you have to talk about the filmmaking itself and the camera work is great. Unlike previous times where it felt pretentious, the camera work in this film actually helps increase the tension, depending on whether it zooms out or makes quick cut edits, the cinematography just makes this film feel more eerie and tense. Even when the colour correction is used, it makes certain elements feel creepy and will make the audience uncomfortable.

Speaking of creepiness, I really liked the farmland setting. This is a great example of a setting that feels so open yet so enclosed. Its a great big area that never makes you feel safe and has you on edge. The moment the characters arrive, that's the moment everything just feels unsafe.

Of course, as a slasher you have to talk about the kills and for a film that is staying grounded, the kills are very good. Not the goriest I've ever seen but like I said, for a grounded film, they are effective enough and there's a really nice buildup towards the first kill. Throughout the film it sort of has a macGuffin moment of who will be the first victim and once that kill happens, I never thought I'd say this regarding a slasher but it feels earned and sets the carnage in motion.

And just a couple of small details, this film had a good use of foreshadowing whether its based on dialogue or events set in motion, there's some nice 70s references and aesthetics used that help you believe this is set in the 70s and there's some nice homages to previous slasher films as well.

Now let's move onto the mixed aspects of the film and these aren't necessarily good or bad points, these are things you should know going in. First I would avoid the trailer, it doesn't reveal the whole film but it definitely reveals moments that the audience can work out for themselves.

Second there's a lot of nudity in this film and if you don't like that, this may not be the film for you but if you can look past that, it shouldn't affect your experience too much.

Finally there's a revelation about one character that is good for development but the placement of the twist just felt like it had no affect for the character or the story.

Now onto the negatives and this won't take long because I don't have many. First as typical for an A24 film, this film does take a while to get going. It doesn't drag too much but just enough to wonder where events are going.

And my only other negative is there's some clichéd contrived moments where in order for something to happen, a character needs to be in the right place, has to make a specific decision etc. There one kill especially that though its set up earlier, the timing of it felt very convenient.

But overall I loved this film. Now whilst I don't think every A24 will ever be for me after this film, if they continue to make more like this then I will be happy. This was a pleasant surprise and a film I would recommend to all horror fans.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Batman

I've been looking forward to this film for so long even after Ben Affleck dropped out of the film and role. All you would have to say to me is Matt Reeves is directing and after his work on the Planet of the Apes films, he's shown to be a incredible director so this has been so anticipated for me and I am pleased to say I loved this film.

Starting off with positives, this is a tightly crafted grounded mystery film that feels inspired by the movie Seven yet being its own thing and not being derivative. This film gives us a Batman that we've seen elements of but this film allows us to see Batman as a true detective and not just a brawler. You see him mentally and psychologically tested as well as physically tested. It gives us a interesting story to watch and get invested in. The clues are written really well and the answers are cleverly hidden. This feels like a film that once Matt Reeves was brought in, he wrote every aspect of it first and waited until the final draft was perfect before filming.

Talking about the fantastic ensemble cast, Robert Pattinson delivers, I believe, to be the most intense and menacing Batman we've seen. I loved every aspect of his Batman so much from his subtle voice work to his nicely designed Batsuit. Even the way he walked, so slowly yet with an intimidating presence. Zoe Kravitz gives us another sassy, sexy version of Selina Kyle and is so well cast in the role. Paul Dano brings the darkest and eeriest Riddler we've ever seen and brings a lot of mystery to the character and as you get further into the film, we get some great moment that cements him as one of the best villains we've had in film. There's even a scene that could challenge the incredible Joker interrogation scene in the Dark Knight. The rest of the cast are just as great especially an unrecognisable Colin Farrell but those were my main three standouts.

The action is also really nicely handled. We see everything that happens onscreen and it's choreographed really well. We see Batman as a brawler but we also see him as a skilled fighter and someone who can take a beating and still get back up. I also loved the use of practical effects that are clearly used throughout, effective stunt work, wire work etc.

Now let's take about the aesthetics because wow that is what impressed me the most. This film has some of the best use of dark lighting I have ever seen. Dark lighting is hard to do sometimes because a lot of the time you can't see whatever happening onscreen but it is used so well in this film. I won't spoil too much but let's just say the tag line "Batman wears black because he doesn't want his enemies to see him coming" is used very efficiently and that is helped by the incredible cinematography. I really loved the way the Batman walking moments were framed and during a car chase especially you feel how dangerous it is despite the camera just leaning in on the two characters it centers around.

This is also probably the darkest Batman movie and I mean that tonally and visually. Gotham looks like a darkened lived in city and weirdly enough, the darkness in places feels like a character in the film as well.  This also goes for a noir thriller tone but this is the closest Batman film we'll get to a horror film. Some of the imagery and especially the presence of Riddler is just horrifying to watch.

This film also has a great use of sound design. The roaring sound of the Batmobile is the easiest standout but even little things that stood out, particularly the sound of tape ripping had a painfully sharp sound to it.

The production is just brilliant to watch. This does not feel like a film made km a studio, this feels like a movie filmed within a massive city that has been Gothamised. The aspects of Gotham City looks gloomy but in a great way and at times does feel like a character itself within the film.

There's also a nice sense of humour in segments of the film. It's not overused and it doesn't tonally change the scene but it's very cleverly placed within the dialogue. One moment involving Penguin had me laughing out loud.

And how this film meets its climax, some may feel disappointed, I felt satisfied as it fits the story and tone and also breaks the superhero formula and template. Also I have to say, this is a nearly three hour long film and for me, it really didn't feel like it. When it ended, it felt quick, I checked my phone and it fit the time frame. This is a very well paced film that, for me, never caused me to feel its length.

Now I just want to state I loved this film but I did have some issues so let's move onto the mixed aspects of the film and I only have one. There's a character who appears in the film that made me roll my eyes because we have seen multiple versions of this character a lot across the years and the reason it'd mixed for me is because I know a lot of people will be excited for this character so it feels unfair to refer it as a negative.

Also just to say, there is not a post credit scene but there is a little something at the end that you can wait for if you'd like to but it's not worth watching the credits for like seven minutes.

As for negatives, I also only have one and for me, whilst I found Robert Pattinson to be a great Batman, I found his version of Bruce Wayne to be very dull. Now I will say Bruce Wayne is not in this film for long so this has time to be fixed in the next film and this negative could change upon rewatch but for me, he's a great, intimidating Batman but a very boring Bruce Wayne.

But overall, I knew this film would be safe in Matt Reeves hands and this is easily my favourite film of the year. It met my expectations and could go up within rewatch. Now I will say do not go in with the expectations of this being better than your favorite Batman film because that is ridiculous. Just expect this to be a great Batman film and look forward to the sequel which I am.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Sorry its been a while since I've done one of these. I've had a lot of stuff and work to do in my personal life and just didn't have time to do a review but I really want to get back to them.

So this is a film I have pretty much had no faith in. I'm not a fan of the texas chainsaw franchise besides the 2003 remake and prequel to that film, what I heard they were doing felt like another weak attempt to revive the franchise, I didn't like the look of Leatherface and finding out it was being released to Netflix felt like the final nail in the coffin. Then the day it came out, I remember seeing a review state its one of the worst horror films ever made so I was prepared not to like it.

But whilst I don't think this is a particularly good film, it is far and I mean far from being one of the worst of the franchise or horror films in general. This is what I like to call an entertainingly bad film that I can happily rewatch.

Starting off with the positives, what I liked most about this film are the kills. I am a huge fan of slasher films and this gives me what I am looking for within a slasher. The kills in this film are gorey and filled with brutality. From what I could tell as well, it looked like practical effects were used for the kills as well which is always a big help for helping them feel real.

Now whilst I do have thoughts about the look of him, Leatherface is a terrifying presence and badass in this film. From the moment he appears onscreen, he just has this menacing presence throughout the film. I was sceptical about them making Leatherface an old man but it worked out really well for me.

There also a nice bit of growing tension during certain sequences throughout the film especially the scenes featuring Leatherface. Even when you know what the outcome will be, you can't help but get engrossed in certain scenes.

I also like this is a film that has Leatherface as the sole villain. One of my gripes with previous films is that his family have been more interesting and scary than the deranged chainsaw welding killer which is shocking so its nice to see Leatherface stand out on his own.

As for technical aspects, the location scenes are gorgeous to look at and the film throughout is shot really well. I'll be honest I'm stretching for positives at this rate.

Now let's move onto the mixed aspects and the big one is a sequence on a party bus. Without going into spoilers, on paper I love the idea of it but execution-wise it is horrible. The character decisions are ridiculous and there's a comedic scene that just feels out of place but the kills are really good so that's mainly why it's mixed for me. I didn't fully hate it, there's a version of it that is actually brilliant but the version we get is a bit embarrassing to watch.

Also I'm mixed on the look of Leatherface. Now I'm not an idiot, I understand the lore of Leatherface but every time I saw him in this film, he looks more like Victor crowley from Hatchet. Its not a terrible look ill admit but it just doesn't look like a Leatherface look.

Now moving onto the negatives and I have quite a few. First off the characters are pretty much forgettable in this film and I just didn't care about them in general. But there's one character in general this film just absolutely fails and that is the return of Sally Hardesty. First off it feels like a rip off of Halloween 2018 but what makes this the worst part of the film is they don't invest any time in her character at all. Instead they make her very uninteresting and they make her unlikeable so you can't root for her.

The plot device chosen for the characters coming to texas and introducing Leatherface is a pretty odd one and it feels badly written as well. You're left with many questions that you shouldn't even be asking in a slasher film.

Speaking of bad writing, what the hell was that ending? Not only is it a really annoying horror film cliche and is so obvious where its leading to but it felt like a last minute reshoot that didn't hold up to the rest of the film.

And finally there's a lot of character decisions that really frustrated me. Again I won't go into spoilers but some of these characters make really annoying decisions and one in particular during the 3rd act actually made me shout at the screen.

So overall this is a film that I feel has a lot of problems but i think is highly entertaining to watch and I would recommend to slasher fans. If you're not into slasher films this might not be the film for you but this gave me what I mostly wanted from a slasher and in fairness, it was better than I assumed it would be.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Last Night In Soho

Now I will fully admit I am not the biggest Edgar Wright fan. I love Shaun of the dead but besides that, I haven't been a fan of any film he has made and I wasn't particularly excited. But I heard reviews and really great things about Last night in soho so I felt I had to check it out and whilst I will say there is a lot to appreciate about this film, I feel this is possibly the most overrated film of this year.

Starting with the positives, the best thing about this film for me is the casting. Thomasin McKenzie is fantastic all throughout this film. You absolutely buy her as this brave but shy and naive girl who is excited for her new path but is scared and overwhelmed by everything as well. And as the film goes along, you see her psychology break down and she's got to portray so many emotions and feelings. I've seen her in stuff before but this is my favourite performance of hers.

But this film is packed with great actors. The late fantastic Diana Rigg, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Richard Madden and Sam Claflin in very small roles, Terence Stamp who looks unrecognizable. This film also has unknown stars who I can see becoming bigger actors in the future so the cast overall is fantastic.

Another great thing about this film are the aesthetics. This film is just gorgeous to look at. From the colour correction to the lighting, it's just beautifully made and filmed. The cinematography is also handled really well and smartly used. There's a sequence where Anya Taylor-Joy and Thomasin McKenzie have to perform a filming technique called the Texas Switch where two actors perform the same scene but the camera has to transition from actor to actor and it must have been so hard to film.

It's also very impressive to see the film transition from present day to the 1960s and it very much feels like a 1960s era. The production for it is just incredible.

I also admire Edgar Wrights style and approach to the story. If you break it down, it's a familiar story but because of who Edgar Wright is, he's able to turn it into something visually original so I do have to applaud him for what he was able to do. He's even able to take familiar horror film tropes and visualize them into his style to make them feel current.

And finally I loved the 1960s soundtrack to this film. So many songs from the 1960s converted into present day sounds amazing and it's used very well to the tone of the film. Even in the 60s era, the soundtrack is used very efficiently.

However whilst there is so much to admire and appreciate about this film, I did have a few problems so time to move onto the negatives. Now as I go into this, I just want to say there will be people who watch this film and will love it. They will say it's one of the best films of the year and and that is fine. I have a feeling I will be very much in the minority when I talk about how I felt about the film and I'm fine with that.

Now for my issues and really there's only one but it's quite significant, this film felt very much like style over substance. Yes I love the style of the film but there's time where scenes feel too stylized and what affected it more for me was the story. Edgar Wright feels more invested in styling his scenes and because of that, it makes the story feel incomprehensible and it's all throughout the film so it made me struggle to enjoy it.

This film is an example how a film can have so many things right with it but it's enjoyment is down to whether it's the film for you and if you're the target audience for Edgar Wrights style of films and I feel that I am not. Whilst I appreciated and loved so much about the film, I just didn't enjoy it that much. I felt it was massively overhyped and very overrated.

⭐⭐⭐

Halloween kills

I was a big fan of Halloween 2018 and have been really excited for this film ever since. In fact, I decided to watch the entire franchise for the first time in anticipation and it definitely got me more excited for the film and as a result, I thought this was a good but flawed film.

Starting with the positives, just like the first film, the best thing about this film is james Jude Courtney as Michael Myers. He is fantastic in portraying this evil killer. The way he walks, his presence, his brute force, he is the best portrayal of Michael Myers and seeing Michael Myers causing chaos and mayhem is such a delight. I also like his burnt disfigured mask.

The overall performances of the rest of the cast are really good as well. Now with how some of their characters are utilized, I will talk about that is a different section but the actors give a standout job. I also appreciate that this film brings back several original characters into the franchise.

Now there's one character I really want to talk about and that is Dylan Arnolds character Cameron. Now before in the last film he felt like a pretty meh character who I didn't care about and for whatever reason, the moment he appears in this film, he feels like better, more established character with a bit of an arc and that made me care about his character. He knew he did wrong in the last film and in this film, this is sort of like his redemption story and I enjoyed it. I'm not sure if I'm on an island with this thought but we'll see.

There's also several great flashback sequences that take place 40 years ago and it feels like it. The aesthetics, the camerawork, the way the characters talk and look, it feels like a sequence that was made in the 70s and part of me wonders of it was deleted footage from the original film. I don't know but if it's not, they did a great job at making that sequence.

Now let's talk about the big one. The kills!!! This film has some of the most creative and best kills I have seen in any slasher film but what I loved most about the kills is that it made me fear Michael Myers. I've never found Michael that scary of a character but after this film, I definitely fear him now. These kills are brutal and gory and make michael a force to be reckoned with.

And finally I do like the setup for the 3rd film and the possible direction they could take Michael in.

Moving onto the mixed aspects now and the big thing is this is Michaels movie. He gets the most screen time and is this films main focus. Now whilst I enjoyed that side of it, Michael isn't really an interesting character to watch for an entire film. We're just watching him kill people. Literally that's it. He's not got much of an arc, if he is with other people, it's not for long because they're dead after ten seconds so as this films main lead, he's more of an exciting villain than lead character.

Also I avoided all the trailers for this film and was surprised by a lot of what happened but I know some of the trailers revealed quite a lot so a lot of people may be disappointed or may find this film predictable.

Now let's talk about the negatives, the big problem with this film is ultimately it's a filler film. There's no overall story. There are plotlines and subplots but unlike the first film, there's no story or progression of plot. Instead it's essentially Michael stalking the streets killing people and yes you can argue it's a slasher film and whilst I did enjoy the slasher element, what made me love the first film was the story and this film has no story.

Another way the last film was so good was the characters. They helped the story and plot progress and unfortunately the characters in this film either barely any further development or are really badly utilized. Even the characters who are brought back are not used to the best they could have been. Instead they either have nothing to do or they make really bad decisions.

And that will bring us to my next negative: the decisions the characters make are incredibly frustrating to the point where you think they want Michael to kill them. Have these people never seen a horror film before? It really bugged me that so many characters decided one of the best to do is to split up. Even the characters who live together.

And finally the mob subplot I think was very poorly executed. I love the idea of it but execution is a big deal and it comes off as very cartoonish and goes in a direction that felt completely unnecessary but also has a big plothole within the plot.

But overall, I did enjoy this film. I heard reactions that this is one of or the worst Halloween film (clearly no one has seen Resurrection) and one of the worst films of the year and I think those claims are very exaggerated. For me, this is a middle of the road Halloween film that is not the best nor the worst. Just in the middle.

⭐⭐⭐

No Time To Die

I'm gonna confess, I am not a bond fan at all. In fact before I had no interest in seeing this film but I decided to eventually just for how hyped up it was so I watched all the Daniel Craig films to prepare for it and I'm gonna say it right now, I loved this film.

Kicking off with the positives, the best thing about this film is you feel it's a massive blockbuster spectacle filled with size and scope. This also feels like the blockbuster we have waited for this entire year and I kind of feel all the delays and anticipation worked in this film favour as it felt needed for the cinematic experience.

Moving right along, we've got to talk about Daniel Craigs performance and I think this is his best performance as James Bond. It's well documented Daniel Craig wasn't happy with the final result of Spectre which he originally intended to be his last film and I think you feel it in this film. He feels more committed to the role and more determined to appeal to the fans and within that, he gives his best and most versatile performance probably since Casino Royale.

The rest of the cast are really good. Rami Malek is a welcome addition to the franchise though I will have some further thoughts with his character, Lashana Lynch and Ana De Armas are also great additions to the cast and even some of the returning cast members are still as great and memorable as they were before.

As this is a james bond film, you've got to talk about the action and for me, I thought the action was fantastic and extremely versatile throughout the film. There's fights, gunfire, car chases and explosions all throughout and its great to watch. There's also a great one shot sequence during the 3rd act and that was impressive to watch. Some of the aesthetics during the action is also really well done. One scene has Bond surrounded by fog and avoiding gun shots and that scene was probably the most atmospheric sequence. Not only did you feel the tension but whilst being a wide open space, it feels very claustrophobic.

I also liked the location settings throughout the film as well. Not only are they beautiful to look at, they feel environmentally fitted for the action especially for the opening action sequence.

And for something different, I really liked some of the sound mixing for the film. An explosion happens and you hear muffled sound and ringing, you hear characters on coms with each other and you hear how distorted their voices are. It makes it more realistic for the context of the film.

There's also some nicely added humour that felt organic and never felt forced. This is probably the funniest of the Daniel Craig Bond films.

But finally what I feel is this films biggest strength is it's reliability on previous films to complete this films story and how it ties it's central theme of humanity to James Bonds character arc. By the end of the film, how Bonds arc and culmination of his series comes to an end, you feel emotion and it feels like an earned conclusion. In fact, I don't think there was any other way to end his era during this film.

However this film isn't perfect so let's move onto the mixed aspects of the film and these aren't necessarily good or bad, these are things to keep in mind. First this is a very long film, 163 minutes so if you can handle this runtime, absolutely see it in the cinema but if not, maybe wait til it's available to stream.

Second thing is despite this being a nearly 3 hour film, some characters don't appear as frequently or as much as you may like. In particular, there were at least two characters for me I would have liked to have seen more of.

Lastly is the films central villain. Now I enjoyed Rami Malek and the villain in general I felt was good but at the same time, I felt some more development was needed to make him more memorable.

Moving onto the negatives, the main thing is the pacing. After the opening sequence, the films slows to a halt and drags quite a bit during the first act so I wish they found a way to speed things up a bit.

And as a final nitpick, one minor character felt very out of place tonally within the film to the point where I found the character to be very annoying.

However despite those two negatives, I honestly loved this film and it was a complete surprise for me. I've seen it twice now and I think this is my favourite film of the year so far. That's how much I loved it.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Sorry for how late this review is. I had a lot on when Shang Chi came out and when I finally had time to review it, I couldn't remember much about it so I watched it yesterday to refresh my mind and now I'm glad I did because now I'm certain it's a great film but slightly flawed.

Starting with the positives, the best thing about this film is the action. This film probably has the most versatile action in any MCU film. There's hand to hand combat, martial arts, CGI fights and it's all filmed so well. You can see some actors are doing their own stunts and it's really impressive to watch.

I also really enjoyed the cast. Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Michelle Yeoh, Tony Leung and more, they all play great roles and all have standout moments, especially Simu Liu. I'd never heard of him before he was cast and now I'm excited to see him carry on the character of Shang Chi. And how can you forget Ben Kingsley. This man is fantastic and a true breath of fresh air and I want him to be in more MCU films.

I also love, despite the MCU being around for over a decade, there's still room for world building with other heroes and there's plenty with Shang Chi especially when we get to a section of the film where we see the exploration of the East Asian culture and how they fight and survive. It's a part of the film i'd like to explore more in the future if Shang Chi is lucky to get his own franchise.

Now let's talk about the villain, The real Mandarin or just Wenwu to make it easier. What a strong and complex character he is. He has a really strong character arc and is developed really well. You can sympathise with him and while you don't agree with his motivations, you believe that he believes what he's doing is right and how they conclude his arc ultimately feels like the best way to do it.

Now I'm not the biggest fan of slow motion because of how goofy it can look at times but this film has one of my favourite uses of multiple slow motion scenes as it helps us see how the featured characters are feeling, the emphasis portrayed on their face and I thought that was a really good touch.

And finally I loved the 3rd act, the final battle. Without going into spoilers, the final battle goes from small stakes to high stakes the moment the big threat is realized, our characters achieve their goals and realize their destinies and it features one of my favourite team up tropes.

Moving into the mixed aspects and the only thing is the humour. Now this is a very funny film and I was laughing an awful lot. But the reason it's mixed for me and this is actually a mixed negative is whilst a lot of it works, it causes the film to become inconsistent with the pre established tone. This film works better as a dark character study and I'd rather see a version of this film where there's no humour and is instead played all serious throughout the entire duration.

Now moving onto the negatives and staying in line with the humour, whilst it does land a lot, there are certainly moments where it feels really forced and is misplaced at times. There's at least two moments where there's really interesting exposition being given and it gets cut off for humour and it just doesn't feel right.

And along those same lines, the film does suffer with some familiar MCU tropes and whilst I do love these tropes, once again they feel forced.

Also what was Abomination doing in this film? He had no purpose at all. I wouldn't mind if he was a different character but considering he was established before and is set to reappear in the future She Hulk series, I expected him to have a bigger role and you can literally edit his scene out and it wouldn't affect the film at all. His appearance feels like a gimmick for the trailer to bring in audiences if I'm perfectly honest.

Finally and this is a nitpick, there seemed to be a script issue with the continuity of the film. What I mean by this is Awkwafina's character on two occasions struggles to understand Chinese but then there's other moments where she's spoken to in Chinese and she seems to understand what's said to her. It's a small thing but it did bother me.

But besides that, I did love this film and I'd love to see a sequel made which I'm sure will be done and this is a film that MCU fans will really enjoy.

⭐⭐⭐

The Green Knight

Now if I'm honest I wasn't sure if I was going to watch this film because I have a mixed relationship with A24. I like some of their films but others are just not my sort of thing and A24 are known for making artisticly styled and prestige type films but the one thing that did make me think I'd like it was I enjoy adventure and fantasy films and this seemed like an interesting one.

Starting off the positives, as always with most A24 films, the cinematography is just fantastic and how some scenes are framed, it makes the scenery really beautiful to look at. This is probably one of the best looking films of the year.

This is also a very well produced film. As well as location based scenes, the set design is really impressive and very believable. I also really like the look of Ralph Inesons character as it has quite a distinct and mythological design to it.

And like I said before, although period pieces aren't really my thing, I do like the premise and appreciate the genre blending of period drama, fantasy and adventure. It's quite a consistent mix.

And finally I really like the cast and performances. Dev Patel, Alicia Vikander, Ralph Ineson they are just some of the actors in this film and they fit their roles quite nicely and I like seeing them onscreen.

However my suspected fears came true regarding my enjoyment of this film so let's move onto the mixed aspects of the film and this is neither good or bad, this is just to say A24 do their usual niche of mismarketing the trailers. They portray this film as a fantasy film filled with interesting world-building when in reality and without going into spoilers, this is nothing like that. It's a much more slower paced character study and I feel whoever the target demographic are for this film will be divisive.

And this will transition into my overall negatives for this film and this film just wasn't for me, I wasn't the target audience at all. I found myself getting very bored to the point where I almost fell asleep at one point and ended up getting my phone out. I tried to stay interested but I couldn't wait for it to be over. This is probably the most boring film I've seen this year.

And whilst this has a straightforward premise, like a lot of A24 films, I found it very incomprehensible at times at the themes and character motivations. I couldn't even connect with the characters at all because I was struggling with the following with the plot.

And please understand that I am not saying this film did anything bad, I just didn't connect with it or fine it interesting. It's not my sort of film at all or where my interests  lie in.

So overall I would only recommend this film for people who are big fans of A24 and if you are, I do respect you and if you get something out of this film, I'm happy. I just didn't get anything out of it besides boredom.

⭐⭐